Yeah, it's Potty Time! // Early Toileting

In the interest of documenting the rhythm of our days, I could not resist sharing a photo of something that is taking up a large part of home life right now! While it's summer we are working towards Eli moving out of nappies/diapers full time. Among other benefits, our obsessive little book reader is enjoying the opportunity to read even more - in fact he often says he needs to go potty just as an excuse to read a few more books, cheeky boy!

His big sister was potty-trained at this same age (18months), but before having my second child I started hearing and researching about some different 'toilet training' concepts, and so Eli has been using the potty more-or-less consistently since he was a baby, using the principles of Elimination Communication (EC) and a fantastic book called Diaper Free Before Three by Jill M Lekovic M.D. which is kind of a middle ground between E.C. and the 'wait till they are 'ready' around 2-3-4 years' theory. It gives a fascinating history of potty training (Ummmm yes, I realise how tragic that sounds, and rather indicative of this phase of life but HEY these are the times, right?! But truly - fascinating!!) and also the science/medical/developmental side of things - for example I was amazed to learn that it's really only since disposables became prevelant in the 70's that people started delaying potty training to 2/3/4years - before then (and still currently in many other cultures) babies were regular 'nappy-free' by about 12-18 months or even earlier! Very interesting and so different to much of the current potty training philosophy.

I like the concept of EC (tuning into your baby's natural instincts) and have always been intrigued by it - and applaud the parents who are dedicated enough to take the time to tune into their child's natural cues - however I just wasn't committed or consistent enough to take him more than once or twice a day. The basic idea of Diaper Free (similar to EC) is that by making 'potty time' a regular part of a child's routine even from before a year old, they will learn through cues and their own instincts to 'release' at those times (rather than waiting till a full bladder and having to learning to 'hold on' if you know what I mean!). At 6 months old, Eli had a regular routine of sitting on the potty a couple times a day and 'producing' most of the time - but I wasn't ready to go nappy-free just yet!

Now the weather is warm and with the added bonus of our new home having non-carpeted floors, he is going nappy-free (and wearing super-cutey-patootie-underwear) most of the time we are at home now and hopefully will be full time nappy free pretty soon!? We are not brave enough for outings just yet! I am curious to see how it goes as he has been going potty since he was so tiny so has much more association and awareness about his body, but then he is a boy and while Lily got the hang of things pretty quickly at 18 months (led by her own interest and awareness!), you do often hear that boys generally take a bit longer. So we shall see how we go! Anyway, not feeling stressed about it, it's a learning process for them and a bit more effort for me being on top of things but just another stage to move through, right?! I really prefer potty-training before two though as I find it avoids much of the power struggle that can happen later and instead becomes something they really desire to do and their ability to catch on just amazes me.

Anyway. If you had told me five years ago I would have been interested enough in such a topic to read a 'history' on it, I would have shook my head in dismay, lol!! But with little kids, I guess it is something I am not just currently in the midst of, but have obviously had to think through and work on. I wanted to record my current thoughts and how we got to the approach that works for us. I feel I should probably add that this is just what has worked for us and the approach I wanted to take because it made sense to me (and I had the time and inclination to do it too) - I know all kids are different and so are their parents in terms of what approach feels right for them (also depending on time, energy, philosophy, etc!). So yeah, this is simply our take on toileting, no single 'right way' just like pretty much all aspects of parenting!!

But for now.... I am laughing daily at Eli carrying the potty through the house with him wherever he goes (this is just his own initiative, funny boy!), chuckling when he shouts 'Weeeweeee! KhiKhiKhi!!!' (this is his version of me saying 'quick quick' when trying to get him to the potty on time! Occasionally, sighing when cleaning up a wet spot, and smirking when he insists he needs to sit on the potty, when the three books in his hands indicates he is really just after a little reading time with Mummy! ;)

Oh and I really must give a shout out to his biggest cheerleader, Lily - she always gives him cheers and cuddles at every success and is constantly enquiring if he needs to use the facilities!! A couple of extra delights in this process are more reading time with my little man while he is sitting on the 'throne'.... and the pleased and proud look on his face when he has a success, usually giving himself a little cheer too!

Way to 'go', Little E!


PS For the updated post on this subject a few weeks later, click here. Things went very well :)