My experience with Elimination Communication.
Years ago I witnessed my friend holding her baby over a Tupperware, and making a ‘pssst’ sound as her baby peed into it. Blown away by this, I stored that memory for when I’d have a baby.
Fast forward to now, I’m in this same practice with my baby. Elimination Communication or Natural Infant Hygiene are some of the names for this totally natural early toilet training. In more indigenous cultures it’s the standard (there’s probably not even a name for it!). I put this practice in the same category as skin to skin, co-sleeping and honoring the fourth trimester. All these practices support a healthy secure attachment bond with my baby.
Attunement with her is one of my deepest intentions. This requires presence, listening to her subtle, and not so subtle cues, and responding to her body and sound communications. I want her to know she’s being heard and her innate intelligence is honored.
"I want her to know she’s being heard and her innate intelligence is honored."
Right from her birth I’ve been tracking her patterns of pooping and peeing and making a cueing sound of ‘pssst’ to associate with the elimination. I notice she pees shortly after she feeds and right when she wakes up. Most babies (like adults) don’t pee in their sleep but need to upon waking. In using cloth diapers I know immediately when her diaper is wet, changing it right away so she doesn’t get used to sitting in a wet diaper (this also avoids any diaper rash). All easy things to track!
At three weeks I began occasionally holding her over her “magic hat” (that’s what we call her baby potty). This past week all the pieces clicked together and we’re rocking the communication. I feel her body start squirming and that’s often her cue that she needs to eliminate. I then hold her over her potty, make the sound, and she pees. Voila!
It’s amazing to witness the clear intelligence of this little being. And the best thing is now we get to hang out diaper free at home more often. I still miss some cues and I’m in no rush to have this be 100%. It’s about communication, not end gaining. Wow, it’s incredibly satisfying to feel this clear channel of communication between us!
I want her to feel comfortable and confident in her body from the start and for her to have a positive relationship with her body and how it functions. I want to honor and celebrate her animal body that does all its creature expressions, and this includes her knowing and acknowledging when she needs to eliminate.
"I want her to feel comfortable and confident in her body from the start and for her to have a positive relationship with her body and how it functions."
I’m in awe of how responsive she is to this practice, recognizing, once again, just how intelligent babies are. They are communicating ALL the time, and when we listen and respond the bond deepens between us. She can trust I’m paying attention to her needs and honoring her body wisdom and in this she can also honor her own innate intelligence.
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