Potty Train yout baby from birth?

[CharityLynn]

I was just watching the local news and they did a story on a group of people that are potty training their children pretty much from birth. The people they interviewed were potty traing their 7 weeks old... I found it all a bit strange.. Here is their Mission and Philosophy statement, I’m curious what everyone thinks about this.

By the way the website is: Diaperfreebaby.org

Mission and Philosophies

Our Mission
DiaperFreeBaby is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families around the world discover and enjoy the emotional, developmental, environmental, and health benefits of practicing Elimination Communication.

DiaperFreeBaby carries out this mission through local support groups, internet resources, community outreach, and other educational initiatives.

Our Philosophies
• Babies are aware of their elimination needs from birth and communicate about those needs through various vocal and bodily signals. Within the first few months of life, babies have the ability to consciously release their bladders and bowels. By taking them to appropriate elimination places during infancy, we enable them to maintain a connection with their bodily sensations and learn from an early age what to do when they experience those sensations.

• Elimination Communication should always be gentle, non-coercive, and based on babies' interests and needs. Communication is the most important aspect of Elimination Communication, and should be the focus.

• Elimination Communication is begun in infancy - starting as early as possible is recommended. After one year, Elimination Communication principles can be applied to toilet learning.

• Practicing Elimination Communication allows families to avoid struggles sometimes associated with diaper changes and toilet training. Elimination Communication can also account for and reduce some “unexplained” fussiness in infants, and eliminate diaper rash.

• Elimination Communication can be done using diapers all of the time, some of the time, or not at all. By reducing the number of diapers used, Elimination Communication provides a more environmentally-sound option than conventional cloth or disposable diapering.

• Elimination Communication can be practiced full-time or part-time, by stay-at-home parents or by working parents. Elimination Communication can be practiced by people of all income levels and physical abilities.

• Prompt loving attention to our babies' needs promotes strong baby-parent bonds, fulfilling natural human instincts. The bond of trust built through feeding and comforting is strengthened when caregivers respond to the baby's elimination needs. Elimination Communication helps strengthen communication with our babies and is consistent with Attachment Parenting practices.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

There was a HUGE discussion about this on the DIS a while back (maybe a couple of years?)...very interesting, to say the least. Not something I'd ever be interested in doing, and thankfully, my kids are long past that stage.

 

[Beth76]

Yeah, that's for people with waaaaaay too much time on their hands.

 

[Talking Hands]

Who is being trained? The parents or the child? Methinks the parents.

 

[golfgal]

Just the term "Elmination Communication" turns me off. You just have to wonder about some people.

 

[Annette_VA]

Who is being trained? The parents or the child? Methinks the parents.

Exactly!

I read an article in People magazine (maybe?) about this not too long ago. A woman who used this method and she was bragging that her kids were PT'ed by 23 months or so. Well, hello - a lot of kids who wear diapers & get PT'ed the "normal" way are trained by that age! All she's done is train herself to hold her kid over a potty for 2 years.

John Rosemond, a pediatrician who has a syndicated column that runs in our Sunday paper talked about this method last week, too. Quack that he is (IMO, of course) he thinks it's a brilliant idea.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

John Rosemond, a pediatrician who has a syndicated column that runs in our Sunday paper talked about this method last week, too. Quack that he is (IMO, of course) he thinks it's a brilliant idea.

He does??? Ugh. I usually like him. (Is he a pediatrician? I thought he was a psychologist.)

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I've potty trained seven kids and I'm sorry but this sounds like a bunch of malarky to me. I think it's training the parents not the child. All kids get trained. Some parents drive themselves nuts trying to get an 18 month old child trained. Believe me when they are graduating from college no one is going to remember if they were 2, 3 and 4 when they were trained (except the mother).

 

[krystyana]

Kids become potty trained when they are physically capable of controlling the muscles necessary to do so, and psychologically ready. That's why the age varies from child to child. It seems like this venture is meeting a need for the parents, not really benefitting the child.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Interesting that the article says that it can be used by working parents as well an stay at home parents. What child care facility is going to accept a 6 month old without diapers? The child care worker is for sure NOT going to stand over the potty with a 6 month old baby all day!!!
I first read about this several years ago about people in Russia that did this kind of training. But it was more out of necessity of not having to buy diapers.

And what about in the middle of the night? Is that same 6 month old going to pull himself up in his crib, hurl his pacifier at his sleeping parent and ask to go potty?

 

[CharityLynn]

The woman made a comment that she didn't want her baby to have to sit in pee or poop. She seemed very disgusted at the idea...I wonder if her son will hold her over the potty when she's too old to control herself?...

 

[misslissa]

Hi there,

I agree with many of the opinions here but have a very close friend who used this practice with her daughter who is now almost two. The little girl was younger than one when she finally was able to go on her own.

Even when she was much younger, my friend said that she could go shopping without a diaper on her daughter and would just take her into the mall bathroom, hold her over the toilet and she would go... there were all kinds of techniques that she used (yes, even during the night) but by paying attention to times of day... and keeping them regular, it worked for her. There were also many accidents along the way though... so it isn't without faults.

I would not do this myself... but, it worked for her and she would swear by it.

 

[PrincessPatty]

This is very hard to believe from a psychological background. The Piagetian Theory (Jean Piaget-very interesting read) says that children develop in stages. This has been tested. What he says seems to reign true. Psychologially a baby would not be ready for potty training.

 

[Puffy2]

Personally, I think there is something wrong with parents (mentally) who fixate on the potty training issue.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

There was a HUGE discussion about this on the DIS a while back (maybe a couple of years?)...very interesting, to say the least. Not something I'd ever be interested in doing, and thankfully, my kids are long past that stage.

Try a month or so ago.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=931954&highlight=potty

Technically it isn't potty training as all you are doing is anticipating the infants needs. The child is still "trained" at roughly the same age time as regular kids at 18-36 months (and by trained--they say " i have to go potty" and then go to the potty themselves successfully).

This method is about the parents who for whatever reason (envirnomental, psychhological, whatever) don't want to use diapers of any kind. The idea being that in other cultures, they do this very thing (well--typically b/c diapers are not a common commodity!).

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

Getting pee'd on is not an enjoyable experience, thankyouverymuch.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Try a month or so ago.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=931954&highlight=potty

Darn! I missed it.

Also, if there are "many accidents along the way", then it's not doing anything but sometimes catching it, sometimes not, and the many accidents wouldn't be worth it to me.

And as far as the woman who was disgusted by the thought of her child sitting in pee or poop...she's not disgusted by being peed and pooped on, or her child doing it around the house, frequently over many months? Oh well...if that's what works for you.

 

[disneymom3]

.

John Rosemond, a pediatrician who has a syndicated column that runs in our Sunday paper talked about this method last week, too. Quack that he is (IMO, of course) he thinks it's a brilliant idea.

Well, of course he does!! This is the same man that says NO self respecting child over the age of two should be wearing diapers. And if they are it is because the parents don't have enough control in their home. The guy is a fruit.

I will say though that in many other cultures around the world, babies never wear diapers and while I am sure their mothers don't call it "Elimination Communication" (gag) They do follow the signals of their babies and are ready when they need to go.