Elimination Communication [EC] is so much EASIER and more enjoyable than the current mainstream method in vogue in our culture. It does not have to be an "all or nothing" enterprise. I think "part-time EC", where you keep diapers on your baby throughout the day to protect clothes and furniture, taking the diapers off to provide "pottytunities" when baby needs to eliminate is a more healthy, more fun way to approach things than training baby to eliminate on himself in a diaper 100% of the time, only to have to untrain that lifelong habit 2 or 3 or more [eek] years later.
It is a shame that the pediatrician interviewed for this piece mistakenly assumed that EC is an "aggressive" form of training with potential for harm. EC is gentle and responsive, not at ALL aggressive. It is obvious that this pediatrician only has experience with babies who have been diaper-trained from birth. I think a comment from a more worldly pediatrician would have been in order since the
majority of the world's babies are gently helped to eliminate away from their bodies during infancy, use diapers sparingly and are completely toilet trained by 18 months, before most Americans [and other industrial, disposable diaper using cultures] even begin the process.
www.DiaperFreeBaby.org is a good resource for more info.
-Nicole R, mom to three
Sophia: 5 years old, potty-trained the mainstream way before age 2
Joey: 3 years old, ECed from infancy, EC "grad" by age 2
Mia: 15 months, ECed from birth
