EC stands for elimination communication:
That means communicating with your little one about going caca and sheshe, poopoo and peepee, or doodoo and weewee.
Its basically a diaper-free lifestyle that requires a level of attention that can seem daunting but also can get parents and/or guardians further along at a faster rate with the difficulties of potty training.
I nevber really read anything about it but just starting winging it with my little boy since he was about 3 months old- and now, at1 year 5 months, he today for the first time to date said "caca" with a little finger pointing to go to the toilet.
We were outside picking flowers, our usual morning routine and subsequently after the communication of needing to eliminate, we held hands and together walked inside to the little pink puppy head potty that Manu, my son has been using, and he sat down and had a poo.
It was a proud moment for this mama!
I've been catching his poops in the pink puppy head potty regularly since the beginning of this EC journey, but today was triumphant, today was the blue ribbon, today made it all worth it.
I haven't really thought about expectations with the potty training but we just do this to save on diaper laundry- and now it really seems to be paying off.
For a while he was actually only going #2 every other day- which was a bit of a concern for me and i soon realized, as he is still nursing, that I might be to blame for his sluggish digestion- because even though we eat fiber and he drinks plenty of water himself, i think my own personal dehydration is to blame.
I've had issues with my own sluggish digestion in the past though i have been easy going now for quite sometime; however, i do know that i slip into being dehydrated- and in the past few weeks i have had a bit of a cold and as a means of flushing my system, i have been drinking excessive amounts of water -almost a gallon a day- which is almost double the amount i should drink in one day according to my BMI (Body mass index: 1/2 your weight in lbs, drink that much water in ounces: ex: i weigh 135 lbs therefore i should drink like 70 ounces of water which is like a 1/2 gallon of water a day), and way more than i usually drink, but it really helps get the cold symptoms moving along.
And so since i have been drinking more water he has been going caca every morning again- and i have been surprised the past couple weeks as we would be out picking flowers in the morning and all of a sudden would get a poop in the pants because this mom was not expecting a movement.
It's not 100% confirmed but from my research it seems as though substantial water drinking on my part is creating a healthier elimination content (i feel so professional talking like this).
Coupled with learning the word caca we have finally made touch down and have connected the dots.
On the liquid side of things, we have been catching pees from very early on and are now at the point of not really using diapers- not even at night! we do get a peepee pants almost everyday and it depends on the evening as sometimes i do throw a diaper on just in case but for the most part we do not rely on the diapers any longer.
We have not said peepee or sheshe yet but it seems that the communication for us is coming after the action.
And what has been keeping the accidents easy going is our environment: we sleep on a vinyl covered mattress, the house has concrete floors and we spend a lot of time outside so if there is an accident its not a difficult clean up. After naps and in the morning and every couple hours we check and usually get a wee out. we go outside and pull the pants down and let it rip. And as for car rides, i throw on a diaper but we usually try and check before we get in the car.
For us the progression is slow and steady, with plenty of manageable eliminations.
The positive consequence seems to be this confidence and understanding that is growing side by side with everything else- him getting bigger, my growing patience, happiness and my heart geting bigger, our little life together, expanding in all directions.
I would love to know how other mothers have viewed this in development, but it seems so big kid and so worthy of attempting!
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