Elimination Communication: Parent-Baby Bonding or Parent Training?

I remember hearing about Elimination Communication for the first time. I admit, my first thought: “Don't you mean parent training?” I wrote it off as one of those crunchy mom things that I would just never understand, but hey – more power to them, I thought sceptically. It's one of those attachment parenting techniques that just aren't me.

The first up-close experience that I had with EC was when we had dinner with a friend of my husband, his wife, and their baby girl who was 2 months younger than my younger daughter. Their family is very much “crunchy”, but although I might have expected cloth diapers, I didn't expect to see a five-month old baby wearing underwear. I thought it was kind of cute, but I sure wasn't about to give up my... well, her diapers. On a side note, our friends now have a son as well, but I don't know if they continue to use EC techniques.

The idea still intrigues me, though, so I've read about it on and off. There are entire website dedicated to it. Likely the most popular is Diaper-Free Baby. There you can read about techniques such as how to hold an infant over the toilet (which I imagine must be somewhat of a challenge), links to local support groups and an online store in which you can purchase underwear that will actually fit an infant (not readily available at Wal-Mart, I must say!)

There is also a list of 75 benefits of EC. Now, I have to say, I find some of them a bit of a stretch, but some do make sense. Here's a sample:

Reason # 1: Reduces irritation of baby's skin
Reason #2: Reduces risk of diaper rash
Reason #3: Keeps chemicals off baby's skin

I think that, in all fairness, counting these as 3 different reasons is cheating a bit, but still, you can't deny that it is true. No diapers, obviously no diaper rash. For babies who have really sensitive skin, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try.

The environmental reasons are also very hard to argue with:

Reason #20: Reduces the use of disposable diapers, a major contributor to landfill.
Reason #21: Reduces the use of water and detergents used to wash cloth diapers.
Reason #22: Reduces the use of disposable wipes used to clean baby’s bottom.
Reason #23: Reduces use of plastic bags used to individually wrap dirty disposable diapers.

Some of the other reasons, in my honest opinion, are a little out there, such as:

Reason #16: Fosters greater security in a baby: “Mommy and Daddy listen to what I am saying and respond to my needs.”

Yes, babies need to feel secure, but I'm not sure that I believe that they care all that much whether they go in a diaper or on the toilet.

Reason #53: EC is “family focused.” It benefits the entire family rather than being solely “child centered” like conventional toilet training.

Umm... how is it family-focused? Perhaps I just need an explanation? To me it seems like you would spend more time focused on the baby's signals, thus giving you less time to focus on your other children (if you have any) and spouse.

For the most part, though, the reasons that the site gives do make sense, and the parent testimonials certainly seem enthusiastic (not that they're likely to put testimonials from family for whom EC didn't work). I don't know how it could possibly work full-time with 3 other kids, but the one thing I liked about the DiaperFree Baby website is that they pointed out that you don't need to practice EC full-time. According to them, it can also be beneficial in the long-term to even try it once in a while. The idea is that using the toilet just becomes second-nature to the baby, so you don't have to “train” them as toddlers.

I have to admit, the more I read, the more tempted I am to just try it and see what happens. (Although I can guarantee that Baby J would be still wearing his diapers, I'd just try to reduce the number of them that we use.) I'm curious to hear if anyone else has tried it, and how it went. I am not a crunchy momma by any means, but after four straight years of diapers, and still having my two older kids in pull-ups at night, the idea of reducing the number of diapers we use (and have to change!) sounds awfully appealing.

I still don't see EC becoming the norm in North America. Without having tried it, my guess is that most parents don't have the time, or don't want to spend the time it would take to learn the baby's signals. It's one thing to recognize the signal that the baby wants to eat, or has already "eliminated" but I still question the idea of a baby being able to signal that they NEED to go (especially when it comes to pee).

I suppose you can't know unless you try it for yourself, though!