EC Update at 1 year

We use the Baby Bjorn Smart Potty

We've been using Elimination Communication with Tye since she was two and a half months old.  As soon as she wakes up in the morning for from a nap, when we take her out of a carrier, and every time we change her diaper, we hold her over her potty chair to provide a "potty-tunity."  The very first day we tried this, we already had an over 50% success rate, but for us, ECing has been more about the process than counting catches (pees/poops in the potty) and misses (pees/poops in the diaper).  


Every time Tye eliminates in the potty, it saves a diaper from being washed, reducing the amount of water needed to wash diapers.  The best part, though, is catching her poops, which we do 99% of the time (that 1% is when Tye poops when we're out and about- which makes things more difficult).  No massive poopy explosions, no stained diapers, no messy cleanup- just flush the solids down the toilet and rinse the potty. 


Tye has never minded sitting on the potty, and because she goes right away, we don't spend long amounts of time sitting and waiting.  Recently, she's begun to show her appreciation for potty-tunities by clapping when she eliminates, even though we've never celebrated catches (that is one of the aspects of EC that differs from potty training).  Even when she doesn't have a full bladder, Tye will at least go a few drops when held over the potty, proving that she knows how to use the potty and has good muscle control already (lack of muscle control to hold bodily functions is often cited as a reason why children "can't" be trained early on to eliminate on cue- but EC disproves that theory completely).  Now that Tye has a larger bladder and is nursing much less frequently, we can go longer stretches between potty-tunities with a dry diaper.  On average, we have about 2-3 wet diapers a day, including her overnight diaper.


Looking forward in our EC journey, we have two next steps to work on: first, I'd like to occasionally move Tye to eliminate on the toilet instead of the potty chair so that she can comfortably eliminate over toilets, especially those in other locations, like homes of friends and families and public restrooms.  Right now, toilets are either distracting or scary, so we'll work on that.  Secondly, and simultaneously, I'd like to teach Tye to crawl (eventually walk) to her potty when she needs to use it.  If I leave the potty out near her while she's playing and have her sit every time she touches it, she should learn quickly that touching the potty means she'll be provided with a potty-tunity.  Then, when she feels the urge to go, she can make her way over.  


Using EC has become second nature to us.  I know the vast majority of people think EC is crazy- something only a psycho, over-controlling or uber-crunchy, hippie mama would do (and perhaps I qualify as the latter to some people).  For us, though, it has been an amazing journey during which we've been able to more fully meet the needs of our daughter and learn how amazing young bodies are.  Every time Tye pees or poops on the potty, I'm grateful that we had the courage and confidence to begin the EC experience almost ten months ago.