Elimination Communication with Your Newborn

Elimination Communication with Your Newborn

Elimination communication (also known as EC, infant pottying, or diaper free) is a process of tuning into your infant’s cues for peeing and pooping, responding in a way that is comfortable and acceptable to you both. For thousands of years, in the absence of diapers, humans have been responding to babies’ cues for elimination.

There are as many ways to communicate as there are babies. Start with these basics for learning elimination communication cues, and come up with your own variations. When you notice your baby peeing or pooping, get in the habit of making cuing sounds like “pshh, pshh” or “poo poo.” This will serve you well later when you start offering the potty.

Naked Time
Have you ever witnessed the joy a wiggly newborn feels at being diaper free? Dispensing with clothes helps caregivers, too. You learn immediately when your baby goes, and clean-up is quick and simple with no re-dressing. Simply keep your baby on a prefold diaper or old receiving blanket, wiping and swapping layers as necessary. Boys may need an extra layer on top. You can do this in cold weather, too – just keep your baby wrapped in a blanket.

Keep your baby naked on a prefold next to you in bed to help with nighttime EC. Use a waterproof pad to protect the bed.

Fitted Cloth Diapers
If you want a little less potential for mess, try a fitted cloth diaper without a waterproof cover. In addition to knowing the instant your child wets, you’ll get so good at it that you’ll feel the flush of warmth just before the urine soaks through, thereby avoiding messes on your own clothes.

Infant Gown Conversion
For the warmth of clothes with ease of clean-up, cut your infant gowns in two, creating shirt/skirt sets when you invert the bottom half. You won’t have to bother your baby by changing the top, and nothing is easier to change after a wet-through than those cute bottoms. Once you’re good at infant pottying, you may not even need a fitted diaper underneath. Have fun mixing and matching!

Once you have spent time with your baby and gotten to know her cues, you can try supporting her on an infant potty or holding her in position over a container, making your cuing sounds. Look for these common cues:

Pulling off the breast during a nursing session
Grunting
“The Look” – You’ll know this with practice. It’s a very direct, straight in the eyes gaze that is subtly different from other interaction.
Fussiness at the breast or other unexplained fussiness
Some babies take to the potty right away, while others may take a month or two. If your baby dislikes being supported over a potty or container, simply keep catching on cloth and try again later, experimenting with different elimination communication positions. Once he is ready, you’ll know everything you need to know to offer the potty at the right time.


The copyright of the article Elimination Communication with Your Newborn in Potty Training is owned by Julie Boerst. Permission to republish Elimination Communication with Your Newborn in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.