2 Months of Elimination Communication Status Update

Little Baby Communicator is about two months old now! Here is a quick rundown of how things are going.

• Since he can't stand or sit up on his own we just lay him down in the changing area and put cloths over his goodly bits to eliminate. Low stress. Works well enough for now. 
• He uses his own word "Ghoo" to indicate that he needs to go, or he wiggles his legs a lot. He recently started reaching his hand down towards his crotch and bringing his legs to his chest. That is a good way to know he needs to go rather than is just playing. I still make the "sssss" sound and say "Shash koni" (Farsi for "go potty") to tell him when to go. I also use his word. 
• We catch the potty more than the poop. The poop requires some effort on his part so it seems easier to just go through the process while he is eating, but we will catch one once in awhile. I don't want to stress him out in the changing area so if it isn't happening then we just let him go in the diaper.
• I counted one day, we caught 13 pees, 2 poops, used two diapers, and had 2 false alarms. That was a really good day with no interruptions or anything unusual going on. On normal days we catch more than half though.
• When we go somewhere or have people over we don't catch as many. This is obviously mostly my fault for either not paying enough attention or not having a place I can really bring him to let him go conveniently. 
• Cute Baby seems to love it so far. He likes being clean and dry. He tells me when it is time to go, and smiles when he is finished.

I am surprised at how well this works for how young he is. People underestimate babies way too much. Although I don't think we are close to being "diaper free" I see so much promise in using Elimination Communication! I think Natural Infant Hygiene does work and Dad and I agree that we are glad we are trying it.
I'm looking forward to seeing what another month brings!

Baby Bjorn Potty Chair Review

I ordered the blue potty seat from Baby Bjorn hoping I might find a way to make it work for baby. All I can say at this point is

• It is very good quality
• The plastic is smooth
• It has a splash guard for boys
• The color is pretty
• It has a non slip bottom so it doesn't slide around on the floor
• It is too small for newborns. Baby is about 24" and probably around 12 lbs at this point and it really doesn't work for him yet. That's not a poor reflection on the product, just a note for anyone considering it for natural infant hygiene. He is about two months old so I didn't really expect to find a potty chair to fit.

I will probably have to use an old yogurt container if I want to have him eliminate while he eats. At this point, though, I think I will be pretty happy if we catch all the poos except the ones while he is nursing. If we were ever to get to that point we could consider another option.

Great quality product, we just aren't ready to use it yet. I will write a more hands on review once we have used it for awhile.

Pardon the Mess...

I'm currently working on getting this blog all organized and easy to use. Thank you for bearing with me while I work through it! As it turns out, babies require and deserve a lot of attention and time. Some things just don't seem as important when babies are around. My mom sent me this poem and I love it...

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait til tomorrow,
for babies grow up we've learned to our sorrow,
So go away cobwebs.
Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

...makes me cry just a little bit to read it again. It is good to remember what is important.

Natural Infant Hygiene with Diapers

Well he already started in his diaper, why not just let him finish?

I've thought this several times. Well, I already failed, why not just let him finish going in his diaper? Here are several reasons why not to just ignore it and to continue with natural infant hygiene even though this diaper has already been soiled.

- The point of NIH isn't just saving diapers.

- It doesn't teach him anything.

- It may have just been gas.

- If he isn't finished he still has an opportunity to learn.

- Why let him sit in that dirty diaper pressing against his delicate skin?

- He might fall asleep and then he will be in a dirty diaper even longer.

- Why risk a leak?

Reasons I do leave him in a dirty diaper to finish:

- He is in the middle of eating. It will cause a fuss that it isn't worth. Usually it will only be another ten or so minutes anyway.

- I'm lazy. I feel bad but it happens. Not a good reason, more of an excuse.

- He is asleep and I don't want to wake him up. If he goes while he is sleeping I'm probably not going to wake him up to change him.


So every diaper situation is different. If I take the time to assess my motives I generally don't think it is a good idea to let him just wallow in his own filth. I feel so bad when his poop is dried on to his little bottom because I left it too long. Poor guy.

A loss of a diaper isn't a loss of an opportunity. Can't win them all completely but it is still important to keep trying.

Little Natural Infant Hygiene Man

Like a man...

Sometimes I hold Cute Baby up so he can walk on the bathroom counter when he is trying to eliminate. I figure putting him in the squatting position might help him to push it out.

He has fun with it, too, so why not? The best part is that he has discovered peeing standing up. He thinks it is pretty fun and does it sometimes. No big deal, just wash the mirror more often.

Natural infant hygiene is such a cool adventure!

Natural Infant Hygiene with Newborns

Methods we have figured out for newborns.

For awhile I was just holding the baby over the sink. He got heavier and that wasn't easy even when he was little.

I ordered a potty seat hoping to find a way to make it work even for a seven week old baby. It is too big for now. Cold and disruptive. We have it for later though.

So lately what we have found to work is to just lay him on his "changing table" which is just the counter in the bathroom with a towel on it. Then when we take off his diaper we put a washcloth over his penis to collect the urine. We place a rag under him to collect the poop. And, if anything leaks it just goes on to the towel under him and we get a dry one for next time. No big deal.

So far this works great. No one has to hold him so we don't get tired if it takes a little longer. Everything is there and ready for cleaning up. It is in another room, specifically the bathroom, so he gets used to the idea that eliminating usually takes place in another area.

This is the method that has worked best for us so far.

Even Dad Can Participate in Natural Infant Hygiene!

Dad even did it!

I got to go grocery shopping by myself yesterday. What a treat! Even though Dad has expressed an interest in elimination communication and encourages me to do it, I never really expected him to try it himself. And, that's fine. Natural infant hygiene isn't for everyone and it won't do any damage to our progress.

But about twenty minutes after I left I got a text message from Daddy asking, "Does he usually have to go to the bathroom when he wakes up?"

He took him to the bathroom and successfully caught a pee and lots of poop. I told him he doesn't have to do natural infant hygiene if he doesn't want to or if it seems like too much effort. He said, "He seems to like it."

That was so great to hear because I don't want to do anything that makes him miserable. I'm glad it is working for the whole family.