Time for another guest post on infant diapering and today we have a goodie! Julian (@pocketbuddha) from Pocket Buddha shares with us her adventures in late starting elimination communication. Here is her adventure in her own words:
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Late starter Elimination communication is an adventure. An
adventure that is awkward and sometimes difficult but can also be really
rewarding. My decision to adopt Elimination Communication (EC) techniques with
my son when he was 10 months of age was not an easy one. I had a few major
misconceptions to deal with before I could accept the practice. (You can read
about how I overcame those first impressions here) When I finally decided on
EC, like when I put my mind to anything, I dove right in head first.
Looking back, I think I may have been a little ambitious
about the whole thing. My intention was never to ‘potty train’ my infant, I
knew that EC is a slow and gradual process for families, and especially
families who decide to get started after their babies are 4-6 months of age. I
knew that toilet learning wouldn’t be an overnight success. What I didn’t
appreciate is WHY it is a slow and gradual process. It’s not because using the
toilet is a learned skill that evolves as children develop (although it is and
it does). It’s because teaching a child
how to use the toilet is a learned skill that evolves as parents develop.
At first glance, teaching a child how to use a toilet sounds
easy. After all, actually using the toilet is easy for me so what could the big
deal be? According to my research all I had to do was show Oliver how to use
the toilet by welcoming him into the bathroom and letting him see what it is
for, ‘offer the potty’ after naps and meals when it is likely that he will
eliminate, then learn his elimination cues, and build his association with the
toilet over time by ‘catching’ more and more eliminations. Sounds simple no? As
it turns out, none of those steps are without their obstacles.
