Infant Potty Training (a.k.a. Elimination communication)

Using the toilet at 6 months old

           
So, no one ever accused us of being "normal parents". In particular, I'm sure that when we told family and friends our 6 month old was using the toilet there were some raised eyebrows. When we went to a family wedding and we said she had not had a "poopy diaper" in over a week there were definitely some questioning looks. But, the truth is that with persistence and communication with our child toilet training has been almost stress free, and we have had to change almost no "poopy diapers since she was about 7 months old. We used this same method with our now six year old, and although we didn't start as early with our eldest child, even he was diaper free by 18 months old.

How did we accomplish this you might ask? First of all, we do not use "potty chairs". We use something similar to this (Infant Toilet Seat).

There are many similar seats, but this is the variety we've used and I know that a 6ish month baby can sit on it without falling through. Also the handles are nice so that when they want something to hold on to so they feel stable they are not grabbing the dirty toilet seat. The reason we do not use potty chairs is two-fold. First, your baby will not just stand up and walk/crawl away before they are done. Second, there is no clean up. Instead of having to wash the toilet out every time they go poop or pee you just flush the toilet. Not only is this much easier. It makes you more likely to put them on the toilet many times a day without worrying if you have time to deal with scrubbing poop. Since part of my motivation for early potty training is avoiding the hassle of dirty diapers, I don't want to create more work for myself.

Although many people begin Elimination Communication at birth we waited until 6 months when we began introducing solid foods. At this time she began having less frequent and more solid bowel movements.

When we first began  putting her on the toilet I would sit on the toilet and then hold her with her between my legs so she was sitting on the toilet but I was behind her supporting her. After she was comfortable with that for a week or two we moved on to the toilet. At first shen she sat alone on the toilet I would sit right next to her on a stool so she could get used to it and to make sure she was stable. Once she got used to the routine we can just sit her on it on her own.

In general, our strategy is to put her on the toilet before and after every nap and meal. We also put her on the toilet if she is acting like she needs to have a bowel movement or when she has a wet diaper we will set her on the toilet while we gather the supplies for a diaper change. Because around meals and sleep are natural times for a baby to go you are likely to be successful just with a luck right off the bat. When that happens we like to clap and cheer and of course the baby will join in. After a few weeks they figure out what the toilet is meant for and will make a concerted effort to go each time you put them on. For us it is rare for her not to pee when placed on the toilet. She usually will have a bowel movement around breakfast and dinner.

Like I said above there really is no reason not to try early toilet training, for us it has always just made sense. Baby is not getting used to soiling their diaper, and knows from early on what the point of the toilet is. You avoid the power struggles of training a toddler, and best of all you almost never have to change a poopy diaper.


I'd love to hear what you think, and if you did something similar how it worked out for you.

Walking!

So, it has been a bit since my last post. Not because we haven't been working on our program, but because we have been too busy. Add a mobile baby into the mix, and it's been hard to find time to update. I'd like to do a brief update on where we are today, and then go back in some future posts and fill in the gaps.

So, Arden began taking her first steps at 8 months (2/10, 4 days shy of turning 9 months) which falls somewhere between the superior and average according to the Institutes developmental profile. Over the past month she has progressed from a few unsteady steps to walking across the room.

This is a video of her at 8 months:

And this video at 9 months, just a few weeks later:

I attribute lots of floor time with her developing the strength to walk this early.in addition she had been pulling herself up to a stand since 6 months,which helped with strength and balance.

At this point her current goal is 40 feet of non-stop walking and a total distance of 200 yards a day (from "How to Teach Your Baby to Be Physically Superb" stage IV mobility Competence). We are working to accomplish this with lots of floor time and 20-30 guided opportunities to walk a day.

Rolling over

Right around the time our little miss turned 8 weeks old the stars aligned and I was finally able to get a video of her rolling over. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics most infants are able to complete this mile stone around 4 months,  whereas she was rolling over just one day past 6 weeks. I have no doubt that the extra time on her belly on the ground has really helped in this regard. In addition, the "balance exercises" in the "How Smart is Your Baby" book may have helped, as they include an exercise in which you help your child to roll over by allowing them to grasp your finger as you gently pull them over.

She has really been enjoying tummy time much more recently and we are really able to increase the time she spends on her belly. She has really started noticing her toys and books and is happy to spend longer periods looking at them and trying to reach out and grasp them.

Updates

As our little one turned 6 weeks old we have noticed some major changes. The day before she reached 6 weeks she began pushing her head and upper body up.

Then 2 days later she started rolling over! She rolled over 3 times that day and has rolled over a few times since. I keep trying to get a video, but unfortunately she has been too quick for me so far.

Another milestone is she has started purposefully using her hands. Her main hand activity to date has been using back of hand to push pacifier in mouth.

In other exciting news my 5 year old has started Saxon math. In our family we start Saxon at level 5/4. This is estimated to be at the level of an advanced 4th grader or average 5th grader. Prior to starting this we had him complete Singapore up through 2B. In addition, he does fact practice daily using Sterling Math Facts (http://www.supershareware.com/info/sterling-math-facts.html), and listens/sings along to the skip counting section of the Classical Conversations CD. Prior to starting Saxon we made sure that he was solid in all math facts through the 12's in all 4 operations. In his first few lessons he has been doing well and is so excited to be starting the same math program as his older brother.

Proudly holding up his first lesson