Elimination Communication…made easy :)

Written on 01/22/2011
Nadine Richardson

What is it?
Conscious infant toilet training where we learn to communicate with our babies about their peeing and pooing.
It is not really tt because none of the conventional procedures need to happen because our child has learnt to acknowledge the processes in their body rather than ignore them.
Why do it?
Less landfill in our environment
Huge monetary savings
Hugely satisfying for mum/family and baby – deepens our relationships. Needs/confidence grows.
I believe it also makes our child more intelligent and the mother more intuitive or empowered within herself.
More hygienic for baby.
A child stays connected to their body and also isn’t trained to negative associations their waste and their body. Eg. what do we do when our child does a big poo and we have to change their nappy?
The 5 steps:
Prepare – environment
Potty in lounge room – perhaps decorated with paints or stickers by you and bub together, bought together etc..
Step and childs toilet seat in bathroom
No rugs
Start on a good day – not tired, have nothing on, no visitors and can be consistently attentive for the next 2 days also
Have cloth nappies and liners and clasps or pins
Observe
Facial cues like grimacing and aural cues like grunting or silence
Genital cues, for boys this is when their penis raises up slightly full
Going to somewhere private, go quiet, squat down
Times ie first in the morning, then 20 mins later or 20 mins after a feed
Feeling the cloth nappies regularly and communicating to your bub – ooh that’s wet n yukky for you lets take that off straight away…and try and catch the next wee in the potty
Associate
Create an associative sound – sss or ssshhh is most common
Have an associative body position for the wee into the toilet
Maybe blow onto your bubs genitals
This will help you be able to encourage your bub to wee before you go out or in the car
The four P’s
Be positive – praise what they are doing ‘right’ and ignore what they/you are ‘missing’ with oh well and a quick wipe up with a nappy and disinfectant or poohs show them you flush it away…cool!
Be patient
Persistent
Do it your own way and the 3 principles of She Births
Have faith in the body and your intuition and your relationship and communication channels that you are strengthening together
Relax and enjoy the journey, it will be incredibly satisfying trust me!
Examples of starting:
You may start with just catching the first wee or a couple of wees a day for a week or more
You may wait until its sunny n warm or until they are walking but this is not necessary