Diaper Free Baby

I came across the book Diaper Free Baby when I was buying the Baby Led Weaning book (more posts to come about our experience with BLW). The cover of the book caught my eye because it was a very young baby on a potty and I had been joking with my family about potty training Sophia really young. I really just wanted her to be used to the potty well before the age that most people begin potty training. Diaper Free Baby is really all about elimination communication (EC) and really reading your baby and instinctively knowing when they need to go potty just like you know when they need to eat.

Most people would probably think that it is a crazy concept but to me it made total sense. In fact, in other countries elimination communication has been used since the dawn of time. My mom laughed at me when I bought a baby potty for Sophia. She thought the whole concept was ridiculous. But after reading the book and learning about it I really wanted to give it a try. After all - what could it hurt?

The first time I EC'd Sophia I did it while holding her over the big potty. She peed pretty much instantly and I couldn't have been more proud (she was aroung 3 months old). After that I bought the Baby Bjorn potty and she began sitting on her potty instead. Here she is on her potty for the first time (1st photo) and here is her output (2nd photo). I ec'd her making the 'pssssss' sound to get her to pee. A lot of EC'ers begin with poo since the signs are easier to read but I started with pee because that was easier for me at first. My mom was amazed the first time she saw Sophia go to the bathroom on her potty and immediately ate her words.

I started out EC'ing by having diaper free time and just getting to know Sophia's signals for peeing. I noticed she gets fussy or her attention goes away right before she pees. She also shivers. I did diaper free time a lot in the beginning week. Keep in mind that a lot of people EC full time from birth and their baby never wears diapers. I really admire these people and wish I could be one of them but I have to work so we EC when I'm not working and can pay full attention to Sophia's signals.

I think Sophia was aroung 4.5 months old when she began doing number 2's in her potty. Her signal's for #2 are pretty easy to read but she only has about 1 -2 poopy's a day now. She usually grunts and has that far away look in her eye. I can usually EC for all her number 2's since she only has 2 max per day.

I put her on her potty whenever I have to go. She always pees and sometimes will poo as well. Especially in the morning when she first wakes up and also when she wakes from naps or right after eating. Having part-time EC'd for over 3 months now I think doing EC full-time would not be that much work.

The thing I mainly wanted out of EC was getting Sophia used to the concept of going to the potty and making it second nature to her. Our experience with it so far has been wonderful and I highly recommend trying it if you are curious. The last photo is of Sophia on her potty today (6 months old). :)