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Thursday, February 10, 2011

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EC Light + Cloth

Even before I was pregnant - I knew I didn't want to use disposable diapers.  I read about a method that women in other parts of the world used, which is now, commonly called, "Elimination Communication," or "EC".  Some missionaries watched these tribal women carry their naked baby with them in a cloth pouch all day long.  They were amazed that the pouch was not soiled at the end of the day.  They studied what these ladies were doing and then wrote a book about it.  The idea is that babies don't want to mess on themselves and can "tell" us when they need to go - just as they "tell" us when they are hungry or tired.

I was intrigued by the method and knew I wanted to give it a try.  I also knew, however, that i would need to use some form of backup method if I ever wanted to leave the house.  That's when I discovered cloth diapers.  I used BumGenius one-size with my first child, along with the EC method.  By eight months old, she only used a couple of diapers a day - and never for anything but urine.  After a year, we no longer ran a regular wash load of diapers.  She only wore a diaper if we were out for long periods - and, even then, she would use a public restroom and the diaper would remain dry.  She never had to go through traditional potty training.  When her brother came along, she was 23 months old and it was so nice not to have two babies that needed diapering.

We started the method with our son when he was old enough to hold up his head.  He is six months old now and doesn't poo in a diaper at all.  He can nap without a diaper and sleeps in a dry diaper - waking to nurse and potty in the night.  We go through a diaper or two a day - and only because I am sometimes busy with his big sister when he gives me a cue that he has to go.  Many days, we use the same diaper all day long.  When we go out, we keep a small, potty in the car or in the diaper bag.

Cloth diapers have been an amazing help with the EC method.  Some hardcore EC moms would scoff at my method.  Many do not use diapers in any form.  I call what I do "EC Light".  It is more convenient for me and much more manageable.  I also get peed on less this way.

Submitted by Amanda W.

9 comments:

T Rex Mom said...

LOVE this! We had some friends who started their son at age 5 days. I thought this was a bit much but it did get me to thinking about it. We decided to give it a try at age 2 months. We are experiencing similar results now that she is just barely age one. I totally thought EC was crazy until I saw a 2 month old peeing in the toilet. Thank you for your wonderful posting.

Anonymous said...

Amanda-

I have never heard of this method, but I am intrigued. Thanks for the post! I'm going to start researching this method as well.

Jenni said...

How interesting... Do you know the title of the book?

Lisanne said...

When I first heard about EC I was sure it was too much work. We lived in Europe and the public restrooms are few, far between, and most of them require that you pay. We also walked and took trains so keeping a potty in the car would not work for us. We used cloth diapers for both children. Now that we are back in the US and traveling less I am seriously considering this for our next child.

Unknown said...

GREAT POST! I'd like to know what the book was called that the gentlemen wrote regarding tribal EC'ing.
Thanks CDW!

monica said...

i thought the idea of EC was nuts until i youtubed "elimination communication" and found a video of a 5-day old pottying into a bowl held between his mom's legs. i did a bit more research and found tribalbaby.org a great resource for information about EC and other "crunchy" baby topics. as suggested, i attempted to try my first time with my then 2-month old daughter right after her afternoon nap. i held her over the sink and within about a minute, she peed. i was stunned! the second time i tried this, she went #2 and it was then that i realized how much easier it was to clean up after her rather than a messy diaper. i was so excited i took a photo and send it to my husband. =) we've been EC-ing ever since and at 18 months old, she has mostly dry days and nights and wets maybe 1 or 2 diapers at most. there have been days where she hasn't had a single wet/dirty diaper. it has definitely cut down on laundry!

Hannah said...

We did this just a tiny bit by setting our son on the potty after naps starting at 6 months. We had good results for several months but then we took some breaks for travel and we moved. I definitely think it was worth it though. He is used to sitting on the potty and knows what it is for.

Alycia said...

Wow, that's amazing! I dabbled in EC when my son was around 8 months and was able to catch a few times, but they were easy ones like after nap and before bath. It may not have worked for us but I think it's awesome for those it does work for. Good for you!

adamswifey said...

the title of the first book is "to train up a child". i didn't like the book except for the part about EC. the other book i recommend is called "diaper free".