Elimination Communication, the Natural Infant Hygiene

Natural Infant Hygiene, also known as Elimination Communication (EC) is a way of communicating with your baby about his/her needs to “eliminate”. In other words, is the introduction of the baby to the toilet at a very early age, as early as newborn and, usually before 6 months old. Babies starting this process after 6 months old they are called “late starters”, and because they have already become conditioned to the use of diapers they might be less aware of their toilet needs.

As novel as this may sound, this is not a new concept; millions of women have done it in the past and, nowadays, it is still a normal practice in some parts of Africa, Asia and South America, here women carry their babies and are aware, at the same time, of their babies elimination needs.

The basic idea behind the practice of EC is the fact that, in the same way babies are aware of when they are hungry or tired, they are also aware of their needs to eliminate, which they try to communicate in a way or another. Although most of these babies are potty trained by the age of 18 months (usually when their diapered counterparts start this process) the emphasis of EC is not on how many pees you catch or how soon the baby is trained, but more in the process of communication between caregiver and baby and the special bond that is built as a result of this.

Among the benefits of practising EC are:

-Creates a special bonding between parent and baby, due to the close communication and awareness.

- Babies feel more comfortable. The practise of EC creates babies that cry less than their diapered counterparts, as they feel clean and dry. Some parents believe that the practise of EC prevents most of the baby rashes suffered by diapered babies.

-Promotes baby independence; as babies feel more in control and aware of their physical needs and ability to communicate them, babies become more independent and self-confident at an early age.

-It is a more economical solution, after all the practise of EC is a direct benefit for your family budget.

- Better for the environment; if you think “disposables” think better, actually they are NOT disposables. Diapers are not biodegradable and constitute the third largest contributor to landfills.

If you would like to give a try to Natural Infant Hygiene, these are two of the best books to get you started: