Today I received an email from a friend who wanted to know how to get started with Elimination Communication. For many ECing seems like a time consuming and daunting process when it doesn’t have to be!
Here are my five tips on how to get started:
1. Put your baby on the potty at every diaper change – many babies won’t go in their diaper once its wet unless they really have to. After a while they will associate the potty with the diaper change and might even wait until you change them to go. If your baby objects, (arches their back, cries, kicks etc) put the potty away and try again later.
2. Make potty time fun - keep toys or books to hand when you put you baby on the potty. BiP’s personal favourites are board books and hand puppets. Sing songs or read a story between cueing “psst – psst” to help them relax and enjoy being on the potty. Maybe even try a fun potty. Give them time. Personally I recommend starting with 2-3 minutes, sometimes longer, after a while they will go within seconds of being put on the potty.
3. Make it part of their routine – most babies need to pee upon waking so try putting them on the potty at regular intervals; after naps, after meals, 10-15 mins after a feed etc … NOTE: Most babies tend to pee more in the mornings than the afternoons so bear that in mind when getting started.
4. Take your baby to the bathroom with you – put your baby on the potty when you go to the bathroom. Narrate the process (obviously to what extent you do this is a personal preference and I will leave that to your discretion!)
5. Relax! A lot of people put pressure on themselves to succeed from the very first time they put their baby on the potty. It’s not always that simple and you will have a lot of misses before you have any catches. Don’t worry about reading signs or signals – that will come.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask!
I'm Ameena, also known as Mummy in Provence.
Sounds like a great way to start potty training. I might give it a shot when my son is a little older. Thanks for the tips!
Keep me posted on how you get on!
[...] got the time? Check out my posts on easy how to’s on [...]
[...] is what I WANT to do with her. Yes, I breastfeed, yes I do Baby-Led Weaning (BLW), yes I part-time EC (Elimination Commuincation) her, yes I occassionally cloth diaper her, yes I occassionally, every minute of the day, love her. [...]
[...] commencé par aller faire un tour chez Mummy in Provence qui donne 5 astuces pour démarrer (en anglais.) Ça semble jouable. Et puis, en fouillant un peu, j’ai lu ses déboires [...]