Elimination Communication Supplies
What to Buy for Diaper Free Potty Learning and Toilet Training
Nov 2, 2009
Elimination communication is an old practice that’s generating new enthusiasm. While infant potty learning has been widely practiced in many countries around the world for centuries, recently it has become more popular in North America due to ecological concerns and a growing interest in attachment parenting practices. While elimination communication is a way to avoid using piles of diapers, it’s also a good way to get very connected with a new baby.
What is Elimination Communication?
Elimination communication is a way of communicating with a baby about its need to eliminate. Parents learn their baby’s cues and start to use these cues to encourage their baby to use the potty. Of course, when the baby is a newborn, this means that parents need to be vigilant and place the baby over a potty or a toilet. When the baby is older, she may be able to sign for the toilet or crawl over to a small potty and use it with some assistance. Like early breastfeeding, the early steps to elimination communication are all about watching for a baby’s cues.
Why Do Elimination Communication?
Children who use diapers get used to eliminating in a diaper. They need to learn how to use the toilet. Diapers keep waste close to the body and may lead to diaper rashes. Children are also exposed to the chemicals in diaper detergents or disposable diapers. While elimination communication requires some work at the beginning, it pays off when the child learns how to use the toilet readily.
What Do Parents Need to Begin Practicing Elimination Communication?
There are a number of useful items that parents can keep in the home to make the path to diaper freedom easier.
- Small, movable potties that a baby can sit on with assistance. Many favor the Baby Bjorn little potties. Some people just use the toilet, but it is helpful to have potties in different parts of the home. Others use a large bowl for this purpose.
- Baby leggings or knee pads like Baby Legs. These allow a baby to have warm and comfortable legs and an exposed bottom.
- Split pants. These Asian-inspired pants have a hole in the bottom so that babies can be taken to the toilet and do not need to be fully undressed.
- Very thin diapers, if the family decides to use them. These diapers should hold no more than one pee, so that the child can be changed quickly and will not get used to feeling wet.
- Cloth wipes for accidents.
Resources to Help Parents Assist Children With Early Potty Learning
There are a number of websites, message boards, and books that can help parents as they work with their child on potty learning. The Diaper Free Baby website hosts a store and a list of elimination communication resources in specific areas. There are several books on the topic, including Ingrid Bauer’s classic Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene (reprinted by Plume, 2006) and The Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh (Harper Paperbacks, 2007).
While elimination communication may not result in immediate freedom from diapers, for many parents it is a way to extend their communication with their child from birth. It’s also a way to reduce the environmental impact of diapers and to help children stay clean, healthy, and to develop a good awareness of their body.
 |
