Infant Potty Training

Hi A.,

Well, in my humble opinion, I don't feel that infants need to be potty trained. With my older daughter, who is now four, we didn't even broach the subject until she was nearing three years of age. She is now totally potty trained. It was not without its bumps, but it's done, so that's all we wanted. We'll do the same with her younger sister, who just turned one.

I know there is a school of thought about infant potty training, but to me, it sounds more like a novelty than anything that's really necessary.

Just my opinion.

E.

1 mom found this helpful

A.,
I did not do the whole no diaper thing, but I did a version without knowing anything about it.... at about 9 months, I realized that I could tell when my daughter was going to poop. I would put her on the edge of a toliet and she would poop in the toliet.

I had been using sign language with her since about the age of three months (starting with milk then drink). So I taught her a sign for pooping (we made one up). she would sign when she had to poop and we would go to the potty and she would go (at about 9 months). This made potty training very easy (not to say we still didn't have accidents, but I am sure that they were much less than most experience... and hardly any poopy diapers starting at 9 months was a blessing!!!).

One thing that made me happy about getting her out of diapers early was the thought of all those chemicals wrapped around her tiny, developing genitals. I can not imagine that is very healthy. I think that I would have tried this had I known..... then again I was pretty tired. What ever you chose to do, do it with love and patience. Think of everything you do as fun and bonding and then nothing is alot of work. It is all in how you approach every task (and that can be hard when you are sleep deprived).

The first year flies- enjoy EVERYTHING about it. And yes, children are smart enough to do this!!! Look at other countries!!!!

I highly recommend teaching your baby sign language!!! It does not have to be a whole bunch of words, but it is so rewarding and bonding to be able to communicate things like drink, milk/nurse, eat, cat, dog,finished... they feel more in control and you know what they want. It was a blast!!! and people are sooooooooooo amazed and think you have a genius child!

One other thing... reading books and learning is great, but there is nothing that should replace your motherly instinct- trust it. All children are SOOOOOO different. What works for you and your child may not work at all for someone else (and visa versa).

All the best and have FUN (that is way important!!)!
C. Hiebel
www.candlewealth.com/soy4u
www.braveheartwomen.com/kolohe

1 mom found this helpful

I had thopught it sounded very intersting too. I have never done it but think it would be worth a go especially if this is your first and you can really focus on it. I did not hear about it until child 7 or so and never felt like I had time to try something I didn't really know how to do and knew no one who did. I would love to hear how it goes and be your cheer leader if you need it! ____@____.com if you need encouragement let me know!

Sincerely,
K.

1 mom found this helpful

I used it with my son and loved it. We started when he was 5 months old and used a combination of EC and cloth diapers. By 8-9 months he was pooping in the toilet all the time. We also used sign language and taught him the sign for ‘toilet’. That was really helpful. They definitely know when they have to go and can hold it if they know that you will respond. I realized one day (when he was around 18 months) that he had the same diaper on for a couple of days (clean obviously :), and realized he was ready for trainers. He has been out of diapers (day and night) ever since.

For those that say this is ‘parent training,’ they are right, but so is every other part of raising an infant. They give us signs that they are hungry, tired, over-stimulated, cold, etc. Our job is to learn these signs and respond to them. All EC’ing is, is learning to pick up on and respond to the sign that they have to go to the bathroom. You don’t force them to do anything. You just give them the opportunity to go (in the toilet, a bowl, outside). I don’t think it is any more work than diapering, just different in that you have to take them to the toilet (or bowl or outside) instead of waiting till they go and then changing the diaper.

My advice would be to try it. If you feel overwhelmed by motherhood in the beginning, then maybe wait a little while till feel more in control. As someone else said, the beauty of EC is that it is not ‘all or nothing.’ You can just focus on specific times that you know they have to go (say after naps or after nursing) and/or at specific time intervals. If you miss some, it is no big deal. If you ‘catch’ some, well, that is that many less diapers you have to wash (or throw in the landfill). If you have specific questions on how to go about it, just let me know, I’d be happy to help.

S.

1 mom found this helpful

Dear A. ---Please save yourself some frayed nerves and let your baby be a baby for awhile. I think infant potty training is both nerve racking and unproductive.
You have little enough time to rest as your baby grows....but putting the poor little one on the pot every few hours just adds stress and strife to what should be a time of love, peace and bonding....
Take a nap..
Good luck mom,
Nana

1 mom found this helpful

I haven't tried it, but I believe the proper phrase is 'parent potty training'. You will have to be the one to take them until they can communicate that they want to go potty? Are you ready for that?

I wait until the child is ready (I potty train my children about 2.5yo) and they are wearing underwear day and night from day one on.

I do have a friend that potty trains her little ones when they are about 18 months old...some kids are ready for that at that age.

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

My children's nanny was from Ghana and there they potty train infants. If you have ever seen an African woman with an infant on her back, one thing you haven't seen is a wet back!!! They train the infant to eliminate by making a sound like a snake for "'peeing' and a grunt sound for "poop". The practice is very common in many countries. You just need to be in tuned with your infant body language. I am always amazed at how smart babies are. We don't give them the credit they deserve!!! I am pleasantly surprised that there is talk in this country about doing it. We stifle our children so much in this country out of fear and convenience. I wish you the best and I hope you try it. There is a lot we can learn as mothers from mothers in other countries!!!

All the best and I hope you have a great birthing experience!!

1 mom found this helpful

I know someone that tried it, and was successful with both of her children but it takes ALOT of time and you have to watch your baby carefully to figure out their signals, and not all babies signals will be obvious.She also taught her babies baby sign language.

1 mom found this helpful

i know a couple of moms who have practiced Elimination Communication (EC) and have had much luck. It also bonds you even closer, learning to read them so early in life. I would reccomend using what us in the cloth diaper world call "doublers" in their pants, it's shaped kinda like a pad, used to increase absorbancy in a diaper (made of cotton or hemp usually), just so you don't end up very wet. and with EC, there is not the pressure that you have to be on it 100 percent of the time, and it still works. I personally love using cloth diapers so I didn't look into ECing, but I say go for it. Sounds like quite a journey. congrats on the new soon to be baby.

1 mom found this helpful