2010: A Potty-sey

When I first started practicing Elimination Communication with Benjamin two years ago, I got a lot of nay-saying. "Why bother?" "Let 'em go in a diaper as long as possible - it's just easier!" "Sounds like a lot of work." These were some of the comments I frequently heard. One Debbie Downer scoffed, "You only have one baby right now. Let's see you do that with two kids!" I have to admit that her comment did get to me. It made me doubt that I would be able to continue parenting the way I wanted to once I had more than one child. Well, guess what? I've got two kids now, and we're doing it!

.The first time I tried ECing Calliope was right around her six month birthday, and she was less than enthused. With Benjamin, ECing seemed to click right away. I put him on the pot and he went. Every time. With Calliope, she'd just give me a puzzled look with her big doe eyes and do... nothing. So, I put EC on the back burner. But then several weeks ago, Calliope developed an ear infection and had to be put on augmentin. I decided hat it was time to pick up the pottying again. If you're a parent who's ever experienced the pleasure of dealing with the gastrointestinal aftermath of a child whose been on augmentin, you can understand why.

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For whatevever reason, EC clicked with Calliope this time! She didn't squirm or fuss when I put her on the potty, and it took only a few dry runs for her to understand what she was supposed to do once she was sitting there. Of course, it helped that the augmentin had liquefied her insides and needed a place to go. Sorry, TMI? Looks like Benjamin thinks that there's TMS: Too Much Smell.
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So, after going through the EC process of with one and now starting with a second, I can say unequivocally that I'm glad we're doing it. Did it help get Benjamin into underwear more quickly? Yes. Do we still have accidents? Yes. But that's a part of the process. Potty training has been more of a gradual learning curve for us than the sudden shift it is for most kids, and having the occasional "oops!" is to be expected. I will, however, say that almost all of his accidents are pees and not the other stuff, and I credit EC 100% with that. In fact, most of the Boo's poos have gone into the pot since he was a year old, and in the few weeks that I've been doing this with Calliope, I've only had change about four dirty diapers. Big ups for that, because I'd much rather clean poop off of this:

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Than this:
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Next step in the Potty-sey: teaching Benjamin how to get dressed correctly.

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