......And Potty Ev-er-y Day
Thursday, July 19, 2007

Scout went pee and poop in her Baby Bjorn Little Potty for the first time today. She will be 3 months old tomorrow.

I've noticed for a long time that she has a huge poop at roughly the same time every morning. She usually gets pretty squirmy right before she does it. Many times she'll wait until I get her diaper off to do it, as if she knows that it is not cool to poop her pants......So, I decided that it would be smart to go ahead and introduce her to the potty.

I had read a little about Elimination Communication on a website called DiaperFreeBaby.org before Scout was born. It honestly sounded a little far-fetched to me. I haven't read any yet, but there are a few books out there that teach about how you can learn your baby's cues well enough to be able to put them on the potty when they need to go....even as a newborn! My first thought when I learned about this was, "Babies pee and poo constantly! Wouldn't I need to hold my baby over the potty 24/7 to be able to catch her messes?" I still don't really know the answer to that question because I need to read more about it.

I don't know what the percentage is, but a large percentage of the world's population do not put their babies in diapers on a full time basis. Here is an excerpt from Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer, describing how other societies around the world help their babies to urinate and defecate on-demand:

"In traditional societies, cueing sounds for peeing often resemble the sound of flowing water, or urination itself. It's interesting that these sounds are quite similar from continent to continent. From India to Botswana to Peru, a "sss, sss" sound had become an almost universal mothering signal. In places, a sharp "pssss" or a softer "shhh" or "shuuss" is used. In Japan, the childhood euphemistic equivalent of pee-pee is "shii shii". A low whistle is also sometimes used in Japan, and a steady whistling sound is the primary signal in China. As these cultures move towards urbanisation, a running faucet sometimes replaces the gentle hissing-type vocalizations, for example when peeing the baby over a sink. Cueing for defecation is common as well. A grunting or straining imitation, such as "uhh" or the "ung-ga" used in Korea, is a frequent cue. Low humming or simply saying "hmmm" is also quite common."

I'm not sure how successful we'll be with catching ALL of her pees and poops. In fact, as of now I can't tell by her signals when she has to pee. But then again, I haven't really made an effort to observe her body language for pee yet. Maybe I'll get better about that with time. I don't know.

All I know is that Scout seems to like to poop when her diaper is off, and I don't think it's right for me to hinder that instict by insisting that she crap her pants instead. If I only catch that first morning poop and pee every day, I'll feel like I'm accomplishing something. If nothing else, it will help Scout to get used to the potty. As a toddler, she won't fear it because it will already be a part of her daily routine.

**ETA**
After her afternoon nap, Scout pooped in the potty again! That's right ladies and gentlemen, that first time was not a fluke! I took her diaper off as soon as she woke up. I thought it was too late because she was peeing as I was taking it off, but I sat her down on the potty anyway. Shortly after, she had a huge poop. I waited for a little bit and lifted her off the potty and wiped her bottom. Then she peed on my lap just as I was about to carry her to the changing table for a new diaper. Guess I should've let her sit on the potty for a minute longer.

Labels: elimination communication