On London Time

So many people voice their negative opinion about him sleeping in bed with us. But they aren’t there at night, when his heartbeat and mine start beating in sync, our personal song of love. They aren’t there in the morning, when he wakes up with a smile and the confidence from knowing he belongs. Because right now, at this time in his life, this IS where he belongs.

A couple of my friends practice elimination communication. It is exactly what it means: a way to communicate with your baby about elimination. I have been thinking ever since London was born that I would like to try this myself, but haven't yet taken the plunge. Well, this morning, we decided to start.

There really isn't a technique or a method, per se; it's more about learning to recognize your baby's signals, then responding to them. We already recognize a lot of signals our baby gives us, like when they start sucking on their hand when they are wanting to nurse, or when they make a funny face or grunting sounds just before they poo. EC is a way to take advantage of those cues, by recognizing when a baby is about to eliminate, and then putting them over a bowl/toilet rather than a diaper.

EC is not a method of potty training. It's just another way to communicate with your baby, with the pleasant advantage of having less mess to clean up. This isn't some kind of hippie fad either; other cultures around the world have been practicing EC for generations. Before I ever heard of EC, I used to wonder that myself. I enjoy wearing my baby, and I thought about women in other cultures who wear their babies 24-7, while working and traveling, and I wondered how they handled the potty issue. How do you suppose those village women manage to carry around naked babies all day long without getting soaked constantly? They just learn to recognize babies' signals, and allow them to pee or poo in an appropriate location.

When I first read about EC, my first impression was that it might be okay for women who spend a great deal of time outdoors, or who have nothing better to do than to hold a baby over a toilet every five minutes, but that it didn't seem like something I wanted to do. When I met people who actually do EC, I saw that it is much easier than that. Also, I learned that you can be as hardcore, or not, as you prefer. While some people may throw away all their diapers, and carry around a naked baby all the time, some people choose to only "potty" their babies at predictable times, such after naps or when making that poo face.

All this may seem like a lot of trouble to go to, but really, isn't parenting inconvenient by definition? You'll spend the time one way or the other, either holding baby over potty, changing a disposable diaper, washing a cloth diaper, or cleaning up after a poo explosion. I suppose given the choice of all those, I prefer holding the baby. There's a bit of a learning curve, but I think learning to communicate better with your baby is a worthy cause.
Here is one of my first week attempts with London so you can visualize how I'm holding him since that's the first question everyone asks! :)