You know how it goes. You do strange stuff. People ask questions. And what could be more strange than EC? (EC, for those of you who may be unfamiliar, stands for Elimination Communication, the practice of helping babies use the bathroom from birth rather than always going potty in their diapers. You can read more about it here.)

A few weeks ago, a sweet young woman in Switzerland, who has dropped by my blog from time to time, contacted me and asked if she could interview me for a paper she was writing as part of her medical assistant program. (After e-mailing back and forth a few times, we discovered that she actually goes to the same church as our very dear friends in Switzerland–small world!) I was glad to answer her questions, and she graciously agreed to let me post the interview on my blog. I have divided it into parts, and her questions are in italics.

What was your motivation to start EC?

My original motivation for starting EC was that I hoped it would make potty training easier. As a mother of three, going on four small children, I was deep in the throes of potty training trauma, facing the laundry, the carpet cleaning, the wet footprints leading away from puddles, and worst of all, the awful frustration of having a toddler oblivious to messy pants. Proponents of EC claim that babies are born with the same aversion that older humans have to soiling themselves. It’s just that we train it out of them by forcing them to sit in their own waste for two years or so while they’re wearing diapers. Then one day, we decide it’s time for them to hate going in their pants and prefer going to the potty. But why should they? We just spent the last two years teaching them not to care.

After struggling through potty training two older children the traditional way and facing an upcoming third round with my toddler who was still in diapers, I was very interested in seeing if I could improve things the next time around by avoiding making my baby get used to going in her diaper.

But now, after nearly nine months of EC, I have a different motivation (though I’m still very curious to see how potty training goes). When I started EC, I was focused on the “E,” but now my focus is more on the “C.” The feeling of needing to go potty makes my baby uncomfortable, and I can help her feel better. It’s another need I can meet, another call I can answer. She talks, in grunty little baby words. And I understand, just like when she needs warmth, or food, or cuddles. I can’t imagine not doing it.

How is it possible to practice EC along with your busy daily routine?

Before I started, I was really concerned about the time investment. But usually, it only takes a minute to take her to the bathroom and let her go, and it slips easily into my day like nursing and changing diapers. If she finishes nursing, or wakes up from a nap, or is about to change positions (from baby sling to playing on the floor, for example), I take her to the bathroom to see if she needs to go. I don’t really notice the time loss any more than I notice the time loss from helping my older children in the bathroom.

Has the fact that you started EC changed much in your habits of caring for babies, for example, how you dress them?

My baby clothes preferences have changed a bit. I try to keep my baby in clothes that allow quick access in the bathroom and that also allow me to check easily to see if my baby has already gone in her diaper and needs a change rather than a trip to the potty. In the summer, dresses were ideal, but now that it’s cold, I mostly use sleepers with snaps on both legs that can be quickly opened on the way to the bathroom. And most important are old fashioned cloth diapers (not the super-absorbent modern varieties). The baby needs to connect the feeling of wetness with going in her diaper.

But the bigger change has been in how I respond to my baby. When my older children napped, I would usually wait until they cried before I went in and picked them up. Now that I’m paying attention to pottying, I’ve learned that my baby wakes up and lies quietly for a minute or two, goes potty in her diaper, and then cries. So, whenever I can, I try to get her before she cries. This is harder to catch, of course, but if I see her little eyes open, I scoop her up and take her to the bathroom.

I also try to pay better attention to fussing. My baby will fuss and squirm just a bit before she goes. If I don’t notice that, eventually she will go in her diaper, and then she will really cry. With my older children, when I heard the early fussing, I would often just give them a little bounce in my arms as if they were bored and needed a distraction. Now, I’m trying to take my baby to the bathroom. Old habits die hard, though. And I frequently will discover that she’s wet, and then look back and see I had tried to bounce her without even thinking.

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To be continued…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 at 9:42 pm and is filed under EC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.