A kind look at infant potty-training

by Sarah Gilbert (Subscribe to Sarah Gilbert's posts) Jul 17th 2005 9:39PM

Infant potty training - elimination communication - diaper-free babies. However you describe it, much of the recent coverage of the practice of putting very young babies on the potty has been skeptical. So I was surprised by the almost euphoric article in my local newspaper, The Oregonian, today. Many area parents are trying the practice, and as author Aimee Green notes, they are part of a "tiny but growing number of families in the United States, Canada, Germany and other modernized nations around the world that are ditching the diaper and embracing the way humans had raised their babies for millennia." One of the few pediatricians sympathetic to the practice warns that parents should remember they are "training themselves, not the infant" to respond to cues and get the baby to a potty or other receptacle (many infants first relieve themselves in a sink or bowl, not a toilet). Green - and parents who commit to diaper-free babies - call it a "respectful" practice.

We've covered this before: Keith has had on-again, off-again luck with his elimination communication efforts; and we've done a FAQ on potty-training.

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Comments (3)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Deb 12-18-2005 @ 6:50PM

My son was 8 months old when we began potty-training with him. He's now 14 months & uses the potty several times during the day. He knows that the potty is where he needs to eliminate, but he still wears diapers if we go out (just in case). I've been met with mixed reactions from many friends & family members for starting so early, but I would rather have him potty trained early, then to be worrying about it when he's starting preschool!

Kylene 12-18-2005 @ 6:50PM

HI,
Just read your 2 posts . EC. I would like to personally welcome you our DiaperfreeBaby of Portland meeting this Weds, July 20 at Wallace park.

P.S. Pooping all the time at a young age (i am assuming your son is 6 mo or less) is totally normal Don't stress about it. I promise all the sudden one day you realize ...hey he doesn't poop while nursing anymore!

Dianna 12-18-2005 @ 6:50PM

I respectfully disagree with the ped who says that it's training the parents, not the baby. With traditional potty training you have to teach the child to notice that they're eliminating, and to react to it by going to the potty. They have to learn how to pee/poo while sitting on a potty vs in a diaper. And they have to be willing to learn this, too.

With starting with an infant, you're teaching him/her this stuff earlier, so you don't have to try to teach a non-verbal kid what a potty is later. They already know this stuff, and the ONLY thing they have to learn is to initiate the process themselves, which they do at a much earlier age than most conventionally potty trained kids.