Natural Birth and Baby Care.com

Why do you EC? What do you like/dislike about it?

by sarah
(ft lewis washington)

I have a friend who uses elimination communication. I have read a wee bit about it. But I just don't get it.

Would you not be just training yourself to hit the potty each time they show signs of needing to go? Essentially it seems like potty training a big boy/girl only doing it with a younger one.

How does it work when they are older, do they know when they need to go? Or do they need mom to tell them?

I have yet to potty train my two year old, for many reasons, but am looking at starting to do that when my youngest is a little older(2months at the moment).

So I was wondering, what do you like about it, what do you not like, and why would someone want to do it?

Answer:

A lot of people say things like "EC'ing is just parent training." I don't really know how to feel about that.

You are training yourself to listen to the baby's cues.

But then, I guess you're "training" yourself to change poopy diapers when they need to be changed.

You're "training" yourself to feed your baby when baby needs to be fed.

You're "training" yourself to rock your baby to sleep... to dress your baby for the day, for bed... to play with your baby... to cuddle your baby when baby wants comfort...

Of course you have to make the effort to take them to the bathroom when they need to go but to me that's no different from making the effort to nurse your hungry child. After all, your baby won't be able to prepare their own meals for years...

That doesn't stop you from feeding them, does it?

And yes, one of the points of EC'ing is that your child doesn't lose that awareness of needing to go potty. They remain aware of their need to go.

I'm on my 4th baby now and in my experience, life with the EC'd ones has been much better than with the one I didn't EC with. His bathroom needs and habits have been a trial, to put it mildly. I would much, much rather hold my babies over a toilet than deal with years of issues and frustrations trying "traditional potty training."


The child knows when they need to go. I might say "It's time to try and potty." No doubt mothers who use conventional potty training (or "potty learning" if you want to use the new politically correct term) do the same thing. How many times have I heard other moms say "go potty before we leave." or "go potty before bed."

It's not just children who are EC'd. And my EC'd children are perfectly capable of taking themselves to the potty. When my Cassidy trained at under 2 years she was taking herself potty when she needed to go - she only needed my help wiping.

Really it comes down to this - do you want to do it or not? Lol. If you want to use elimination communication, then you're going to be holding your baby over the potty - and you may be cleaning up some accidents. If you don't want to, you're going to be changing poopy diapers, and you're going to be potty training, and you may be cleaning up some accidents.

Either way you go, eventually your child is going to be pretty potty independent. There are some babies who wear diapers all the time and still potty train fast. There are some EC'd babies who train a little slower. But it is true that EC'd babies usually train faster.

For me EC'ing means my child always knows the potty is the place to go. He (or she) remains aware of their elimination. And I have tons less poopy diapers to clean up :) Which suits me fine. For me the time I spend EC'ing is well worth it.

That might not be the case for another mom. There are many benefits to EC'ing and I've written a lot on the elimination communication pages. Feel free to read more there. And there may be some benefits to not EC'ing - I just don't pay attention to those ;p

It really comes down to what you want to do with your baby - I don't think either way is "right" or "wrong" and you just do what seems best to you - once you've researched and made your choice don't worry over it :)