elimination communication

[Jess]

Just wondering if anyone has tried 'elimination communication'? I read 'The Diaper-Free Baby' before DD was born and it says that babies are aware of when they need to go to the toilet and will give some sort of signal. Also, you're supposed to 'cue' the baby with a sound so she learns to associate going with that sound, and then later you can put them on a potty, make the cue sound and they will know this is a good time to go.
So, since birth we've been watching her during nappy free time, looking for her signals and saying 'pssss' when we notice her weeing. But she doesn't even seem to notice that she's weeing - there's no different expression, no change in movement, no noise, no anything! And when I make the 'psss' noise more often than not she looks at me in surprise and stops weeing. So, not going how we'd planned!
I love the idea of being able to offer my baby the opportunity not to sit in a wet nappy if we can avoid it. But I'm wondering if this is one of those things where all babies are different and maybe she just isn't aware of her elimination? Or should I be looking for something else, and/or trying different cues?
EC seems to fit with the parenting style of BB, so I'm hoping someone else out there will have done it and have some ideas for me

[BellyBelly]

You probably know about Dr. Sarah Buckley's work / information on this, but just in case:

Mothering, Mindfulness and a Baby?s Bottom: An introduction to Elimination Communication

There are some EC'ers on BB but not many

[~clover~]

I'm not sure how many have done it, but I know Sammiejane does, so hopefully she'll be able to answer some questions for you

[Smoke Jaguar]

It's a lot easier to pick up on signals if you wear your baby as well - as much physical contact as possible because that engenders that closeness that facilitates the 'communication' in EC
DD is only 3 weeks old, so I haven't done much with her yet, but I have caught some wees so far - it's very exciting! DS was nearly 2.5 yo when I applied some of the principles to night-time continence...took less than 2 weeks and he was essentially continent (with the regressions Ingrid talks about in the book).
There's a website called Part Time Nappy Free, and that ties into what the book says and is probably better suited if you're going to be doing EC on a partial basis.

[Smoke Jaguar]

OK, so this weekend I made more of a concerted effort to use the vintage enamel chamberpot I bought before DD was born. We ROCK! DS is getting in on it, too, making the 'psssss' sound when DD stirs and cries...sure enough, out comes a wee I even caught a poo today.
The hardest part, I think for me anyway, is getting the gumption to start. Like an assignment for uni - the hardest part is opening the Word document and starting the introduction. So, I just took off the nappy for longer than 'nappy free time' and it turned out to be easier today and yesterday to watch for the signs than to keep changing nappies as soon as they became wet.
I figure, if most of the world's population does it without reading books or thinking about it...what is stopping me from at least giving it a red hot go at home? It's actually nice to make a gesture to my baby that I am listening to her and wanting her to be comfortable. We'll see how we go - she's only 3 weeks old, after all

[Tish]

We did EC with DS from about 6 weeks old (he is now 1 year old).

I started by doing the psss noise whenever I saw him weeing or pooing - we were forever being weed on during nappy changes, so no shortage of opportunities. We did this from about 2 weeks old, and then at 6 weeks started holding over bowls and potties.

Have you tried using timing? I found I was almost guaranteed to catch a wee straight after a nap, or on waking in the morning and also 5-10 minutes after a feed (this got longer as he got older). I also used to offer him every 20 minutes or so until we both got the hang.

Probably the best tip I ever got (on the mothering dot com forums) was to just relax. If I was tense becauase I was overthinking it it generally wouldn't "work".

Have you heard of Dunstan baby language? Have a look on youtube - there are some videos. DS never had good body language cues, but I did discover he would make an "ungh ungh" noise when he needed to wee (when he was very little - after 6 months or so this stopped).

Also, we have been teaching DS sign language since about 6 months. He's just now starting to sign toilet after he has wet or pooed his nappy - which I count as a great victory even though it's after, because it means he's aware of what's going on. I'd strongly recommend sign language when your DD is a bit older because it's great that he can now use this to communicate with us since his cues are pretty much non existant now.

Well done for giving it a go and good luck with it! Just keep trying!

Tish
xx

[Smoke Jaguar]

Thanks, Tish - I was only reading about the signing last night in Bauer's book, so it's good to get the extra recommendation.
It might not get used much, but it would be great to have an EC general chatter thread, huh? Everytime I start a conversation about it here it gets lost in the threads eventually and someone starts a new one that also eventually gets lost!
Anyhow, in the 'general chatter' vein, I caught our first morning poo today, yay me! Caught lots of wees last night and this morning and in between (whilst sleeping) the flannel flats DD is wearing remained dry for ages. She's a bit of a screamer before it actually happens - she'll be sitting calmly over the chamber pot then she'll tense up and wail...then all is well once she's eliminated.
EC is so underrated!