Who are we and Why EC?

My name is Jennie. I am a stay-at-home mother to Lexi (short for Alexis) and wife of Chris. Chris and I have been married since 2002. We were high school sweethearts. We are originally from Arkansas, but moved from there so Chris could pursue promotional opportunities. We now live in Minnesota. Lexi was born September 25, 2009 – 5 weeks and 2 days earlier than her due date. She stayed in the NICU for 13 days before coming home. Lexi is truly a miracle – not only was our entire pregnancy high risk (with a threatened miscarriage), but she also was born premature – and relatively healthy. She's one tough cookie. Lexi is our first (and at this time our only) child. She is currently 11 months old. I have been teaching her sign language (and the whole family has helped – bless their souls) since she was only a few months old. She finally started making recognizable signs around 9 months of age. Now she signs over 10 words including: eat, more, milk, water, banana, bird, cat, dog, gentle, bath, potty, and hi/bye. She just recently added the "potty" sign to her repertoire. On top of that, she also had begun to have quite bad diaper rash – after a caregiver had not realized that she went potty in her diaper for a short time. Lexi had also begun to get quite squirmy on the changing table, and diapering was no longer a positive experience. I started thinking that if she can communicate to me that she needs to go potty perhaps I should actually take her there. This would resolve the diaper rash issue, changing table dilemma, and it also proved to me that she was aware of her toileting needs. She has to be aware of her bodily functions – she sometimes signs "potty" before she has to go. Although the majority of the time right now, she doesn't sign at all or only signs "potty" after the fact. In addition, I have to inform myself about potty training so she has a good experience. I rely on an implanted medical device in order for my bladder to function properly. So, this is very important to me (and to her) that we get this right!

EC (elimination communication) is a slow and positive process. Instead of utilizing modern potty training techniques where the child has to learn to "hold" it, we are using EC techniques where the child learns to "let go" when on the potty or signaled to do so. It seems like that removes much of the anxiety involved (which can actually cause an accident) in potty training. I also prefer the more positive approach. I choose to praise her after she has gone pee-pee or poo-poo in her potty. And when we have misses, I simply clean up and tell her with a positive tone "Poo-poo (or pee-pee) goes in the potty. If you'll let me know before you have to go next time, I'll help you put it in the potty." Or "It is so much more comfortable when you go pee-pee (or poo-poo) in the potty." My hope is that she'll develop a positive and relaxed relationship with the potty and the experience will be more pleasant for all involved. All the other possible benefits (fewer diapers to purchase, fewer dirty diapers to clean/toss, less diaper rash, potentially earlier potty independence, etc.) are just icing on the cake.

So, that's our story and why we're trying elimination communication. The future blog posts will discuss our EC Odyssey. Hopefully it will be light and fun!