A few weeks ago, I ran across Carrie Cox's website, Mountain Bugs, which details her experience with elimination communication. Cox's A day in the Life of an EC Family post is a nice sample of what it would be like to do EC full-time. What I really appreciate about her story is that she admits that there are times she doesn't catch her child's signals.
"Around eleven o'clock, just after our shower, Aiko signs for some milk. We snuggle up on the couch and he has a good feed and a cuddle. A half-hour later (usually on the nose) I take him to pee. I know he has to pee at this point but he sometimes resists - he is busy playing. I don't push it (this is the HARDEST pee of the day for me to catch)."
I am realizing that EC really is just parent training, not baby training. It requires persistence and forgiveness. There will be misses, and if a little urine is unacceptable, then EC probably isn't the way to go. I am considering trying a day actually diaper-free, since my son usually wears diapers "in case." Cox has me motivated to be braver and accept that we will make mistakes.
I am certain that Cox is an extremely patient, dedicated mother. She lives in a mountainous (undoubtedly beautiful) part of Canada, and it seems like her son gets to be outside and diaper-less more often than my little tike. Cox makes me wish I wasn't living in a city, where it probably wouldn't be all that socially acceptable for me to let my son pee while we are taking a walk downtown.
The second story about EC is from Diaper Free Baby. Kylene Grell shares what she's learned from having three children - all potty trained in different ways - the third using EC from birth.
"The first time I did EC I experimented with many diaper and diaper alternatives until I found items I was comfortable using. I am now less focused on finding the perfect training pants, small undies, or waterproof gadget. I now know what I like and don't need to spend time thinking about underwear, because the perfect underwear isn't as important as the communication.
Communication is half of the term “elimination communication” and it is at least as important as the elimination if not more. I don't feel like I really achieved the kind of communication with my son that was necessary for the kind of EC success I now enjoy with my daughter.
Now that the newness, excitement, and novelty of a baby peeing in the potty has passed I am more able to focus on the real communication."
I found Grell's description of her method with her second child to be very much the way I am approaching EC with my son. I am all about finding the perfect diaper that allows me to use EC without having to risk a mess, but the more I read people's experiences, the more I find that my use of this crutch is preventing real EC. It's just so darn scary!
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