Discover "Elimination Communication" (EC)

So your baby is around 2 years old and you feel it is time to bring the potty into the bathroom and introducing them to the idea of ‘’no more diapers’’. In the next few months, you will endure many accidents, rushing to the potty in a panic and be asking the hard questions.

As I was looking for some tips and advice on the potty training technique, I discovered an article talking about ‘’Elimination Communication’’. As I started to read, I was more and more amazed. Elimination Communication, (also called infant potty training, natural infant hygiene, potty whispering) is a technique that can be apply almost from birth. The idea is that your baby will communicate you their need to wee or poo. With a bit of practice, you will recognize these signs and hold your baby over the sink or the potty when it’s time for them to do what they have to do.

I was shocked to discover that this training results in a nappy free baby, sometimes from the age of 1!!!

I also thought that this technique was new age and was coming with the wave of a more eco-friendly way of life, but I was wrong. Elimination Communication was and is largely used in the world, especially in India,  Asia and Africa. The movement started with Ingrid Bauer who, after traveling in these areas of the world, wrote the book ‘’Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene (2001)’’ (See link at the end of this post). During her trip, she observed all these mums carrying diaper free babies and at her big surprise, there was no mess to be seen.

When she came back, she spread the word and “Elimination  Communication” started to become popular.

The technique has some obvious advantages :

-Environmentally speaking your baby will have a reduced impact on our landfills.

-Diaper problems such as diaper rash, urinary tract infection etc. will be eliminated

-No more  battling  with your baby to change a nappy

- It’s Free for the family : no diapers, no rash cream to buy

-You create a unique bond with your baby

-The squat or potty position seems more comfortable for babies as it relaxes the pelvic floor muscles.

-When it’s time, potty training will be more easy as baby is already used to go on the potty, nothing new to learn!

-EC helps children to understand better and quicker their body, helps for their self-esteem, help them to understand cleanliness quicker.

That seems wonderful, doesn’t it? Hang on a minute, even if I believe that this technique is terrific, there are some disadvantages:

-Some experts think that potty training a baby too early could be stressful and psychologically damaging

-It can be challenging if you have to go back to work

-You will certainly encounter accidents, especially at the beginning.

-It can be challenging to apply when you are not at home

This technique is better if started before the age of 6 months (after that it is not impossible but it seems that your baby will be used to wearing nappies full-time and it is more difficult for them to understand EC) because it is not based on the same action. Traditionally potty training starts around the age of 2 years old and will ask your baby to hold on before they arrive to the potty. EC will ask your little one to let go when the time is right.

There are four important components in Elimination Communication, which are intuition, timing, cueing and signals.

-INTUITION :

As per parents who practice EC, intuition is an essential component. With time, the parents will feel when their baby needs to wee or poo and will take the necessary steps.

-TIMING :

New-borns and Toddlers are often really regular in their elimination , it can be after eating, walking, sleeping or a bath. Time in between elimination will increase as your baby gets older. Every child is different and has their own routine.

- CUEING :

This is when you will make a sound or another cue to indicate to your baby that he is allowed to go. For example, you can make a ’’ssss” or a ‘’shhhhhh’’  when baby is on the potty and ready to go. When you start EC with your new born, you will have to be aware of your baby’s signals and to do the cue when they are eliminating. Soon enough, they will associate this cue with the action of elimination. Within a few weeks this cue will become the signal for the baby to pee or poo. Therefore when they are in an appropriate place for it, you will make the cue and they will eliminate.

-SIGNALS : 

It is the way your baby will indicate to you that they need to eliminate. Depending of your baby (sometimes there are no signs, unfortunately), it will be really clear. It can vary a lot but generally your baby will communicate with a particular cry, squirming facial expression, grunt or pass gas…

This technique is non-conventional and if you chose to use it, it is likely that you will encounter many questions and perhaps judgments from other people. There are many advantages as well as inconveniences, but you will decide to use EC if you think it is worth it and if it suits your families lifestyle.

Many parents that are using this technique will tell you that it is not always easy but you will need to adapt your life as well. You do not have to do it full time, diapering your baby from time to time when you are out of the house, for a long car trip or even for day care will not be an obstacle to the success of EC.

We would love to hear from you and your experiences on "Elimination Communication". Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think.

References :

-I read this blog and I found that this story was pretty good. It gives a good idea of what you will encounter with EC :

http://www.naturalparenting.com.au/flex/no-more-nappies-an-introduction-to-elimination-communication/97777/1

-This video will give you a good idea of what EC is as well : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQk74whCabE

-http://www.naturalparenting.com.au/flex/no-more-nappies-an-introduction-to-elimination-communication/97777/1

-http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-parenting/baby-health/newborn-development/elimination-communication2.htm

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication

-Article Ingrid Bauer : http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/ingrid_bauer.html

Cloth nappies and early potty training....

As you may already know, it is easy to like the modern cloth nappies for many reasons: environmental , health and budget. But there is also another advantage,  these wonderful nappies could help our kids to be toilet trained earlier…. 

Just like the war between disposable and cloth nappies, there also divided opinions between early potty training your baby or waiting for them to be ready to decide themselves. Not every country is equal for the age of potty training, but what we have found is that since the disposables arrived on the market in 1960 (cloth nappies were the only diapers used before that), the average age of the toilet training went from 12-18 months to 3 years old (and sometimes 4).

The harsh toilet training techniques used in the 40’s gave way to gentler methods and in the 70’s the idea of toilet training a child before they were ready was leading to psychological damage.

And nowadays? Robin Barker, childhood nurse, believes ‘’that the pendulum for letting children decide has swung too far.’’

There are many advantages and disadvantages to early potty training.

On the positive side, training early is not just empowing and  encouraging their development but as well :

-will save you money (no more diapers, cream,wipes to buy) or save you loads of washing,

-will be better for your babies health (no more rashes),

-will educate them on the subject of personal hygiene,

-Will be better for the environment,

-and will also be easier for you to choose a daycare and not have to worry about how often your baby is change there.

On the other hand, training your baby too early could create distress and psychological damage. Paediatrician Chris Pearson, chairman of the child development and behaviour group with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians says ''Children should be toilet trained as soon as possible. But it's important not to create emotional issues for the child by trying to force them to do something they are not ready to do. As soon as the first sign of emotional distress shows up in the child, it is time to stop and try a different technique. If you are creating distress, you are highly likely to inhibit the success of training. As long as the child is co-operative and parents are willing to make an effort, it doesn't matter what age they start.’’

This venture will be time consuming as you will have to be always watching and asking your child regularly if they need to go. You will of course endure a number of accidents, so be prepared.

It is in fact up to you to decide wether the advantages outweigh the inconviniences.

So, why are our kids staying in their nappies longer?

As per Dr Linda Sonna ( psychologist working in Texas) ''The whole idea of waiting for a child to tell you they are ready comes from the disposable-diaper industry. The knowledge that it is even possible to train early has been completely wiped out.''

So, the big brands of diapers have no interest for us to potty traine our kids too early. In fact, ‘’In Australia, disposable ''pull-up'' nappies are now available for children 17 kilograms and over - the weight of an average four-year-old boy. The marketing techniques of disposable-nappy manufacturers have a lot to do with it. It doubles their profits to keep children in nappies for twice as long.'' Barker says.

Ouch…..I’m not sure if I want to help the big nappy manufacturers.

Thinking of that, wearing a wet diaper must be a pretty average feeling and must not be very comfortable. But because disposables diapers are so absorbent now, your child can’t feel that they are wet and don’t realize they have done anything.

You might have noticed that with cloth nappies you have to change your baby a bit more often. It is because they are made only of natural materials such as cotton or bamboo and they do not have any chemicals to attract the urine or moisture. Therefore your baby is feeling wet when they are peeing, they can now the uncomfortable feeling to the action. This is apparently what leads to success in early potty training.

If you think your baby is ready, there is many techniques out there you can use. After a bit of  research on the net, I found many interesting tips, it would be up to you to choose or invent something that will work you’re your baby. What is important after all, is that your child has fun and feels confident in their development.

We would love to hear about your own experiences and weather you think that cloth nappies lead to an early potty training or not.

Thanks for reading this blog!

References :

http://pottytrainingearly.com/the-advantages-of-early-potty-training/

http://ecobumsclothnappies.com/2012/07/are-cloth-nappies-the-answer-to-early-toilet-training/

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/diet-and-fitness/the-nappy-wars-when-to-toilet-train-20110609-1ftfi.html

How does the sun to disinfect and bleach the nappies?

Last Wednesday, as I was delivering some nappies, one of the mums using our service asked me  : "I don't understand...What detergent are you using? When I used to wash my nappies, I couldn't get rid off the stains..."

As I was driving back to Rescue Mum HQ, I started to wonder as well. That is true, we are using an efficient and eco-friendly detergent, but more than that, we are using the sun to dry the nappies. That is when I asked myself : "But how does it work? How does the sun to bleach and disinfect a fabric?"

To start with, I had to understand what was a stain made of. The simple answer is bacteria, viruses, or protozoa. BOUH!! Bacteria, really? In the freshly cleaned nappies? Yes, madam, it is!!

So there we go. not as fresh and clean as we thought!

But don't you panic! The sun is here to finish the job. I knew that sunlight was the most natural disinfectant and that it could kill pathogens causing diarrhea.Now, all I needed to know is how!

To understand the whole process, I had to know what a bacteria and the sun was made up of.

Here is a simple drawing of a bacteria composition. There are different types of bacteria, with many different shapes and sizes. The only thing that they will all have in common is their composition. What interest us here is their nucleoid or DNA. This is their genetic material, and therefore this will determine what  enables them to reproduce and infect.

 Let's talk about the sun now. It is made of hydrogen gas. It's enormous size and gravitational force squashes the hydrogen atoms together to form helium and energy, finally producing heat and different forms of light : visible light. infrared and ultra violet light (UV's). This last form of light is quite strong.

So the main element in the process that interest us are the UV rays. They are really unique and lucky for us, they fall in a certain range of wavelenght which makes them germicidal (A wavelenght is a unit of measurement indicating the distance between the peak of one wave and the next). What does that mean? Well, they are able to inactivate bacteria, viruses and protozoa.

It is actually a physical process. The microorganisms absorb this high and very strong UV energy that will change their DNA by creating new bonds in their molecule. As a consequence, they are rendered incapable of reproducing and infecting.

So that is how it works : the bacteria contained in the stains of our nappies will be killed by the ultra violet radiation when left in the sun for several hours = DISINFECTED!! These UV's will as well break apart the molecular structure that change the way the color is reflected back = BLEACH!!

The nappies are now white and bacteria free!! CLEAN and ready to be delivered.

ADVANTAGES OF THE SUN : 

* Kills the pathogen microorganisms such as bacteria. protozoa and viruses

* The most natural way to disinfect, no toxic product in the environment, not armful for our beautiful planet.

* Safer for clothes and nappies than chemical product (such as bleach) 

* It's FREE!!

We all now won't look at the sun the same way.

References : 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacteria

http://voices.yahoo.com/the-bleaching-power-sun-441157.html

http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/natural-alternatives-bleach-disinfecting-2724.html

http://www.sunjournal.com/2011-l-uv-disinfection-water/story/1032427