Elimination Communication, otherwise known as EC, is something I've been thinking more about these past few months. Admittedly, when I first heard about it, I thought EC was a little silly. There is a certain convenience associated with diapers that cannot be denied! Nevertheless, it seems that each time I've potty trained one of the girls, I use this method to some extent. I mean, as a parent, we do tend to observe our children's cues and tell them to "Run to the potty!" when we see them look like they might need to go. If you start when they're even younger, it stands to reason that they wouldn't get used to the feeling of a messy diaper touching their little bottoms and would tend to dislike that feeling.
When you take your first unassisted steps at age 3 but don't start walking independently until you're 3-1/2, it also stands to reason, that you would be well used to the feeling of messy pants, and it just wouldn't bother you all that much. Or, that would stand to reason if you knew Lily and Leah, because not caring if they're wet or poopy has (or had, in reference to the latter) been an issue and a potty training hindrance for both girls.
Additionally, I've always felt that the ability to be independent plays a big role in potty training, and that having those gross motor skills (like walking) would be a huge help in the bladder control arena. EC-ers would probably disagree with me, and at this rate, I think I might even agree with them!
And, who ARE these people that say you can potty train your child in just one day or even in a week?! That has never been my experience! Nev-ver! As much as I would like it to be easy, even just once, potty training has not at any time been a painless experience for us. And, "they" say girls are supposed to be easier to train than boys.
I laugh in "their" faces on that one!
Okay, so back to June. One day in June, I ran out of pull-ups, and I didn't buy anymore. Lily has been in panties with rubber pants for over 3 months now, and she is still not trained. I am relatively trained (I say relatively because there are times when I forget to remind her for a couple of hours, and then she will usually have an accident. Heck, even when I do remind her, she still has accidents!), but she is not.
Yes, things are better now than they were at first. Perhaps, 10% of the time she will tell me when she has to go, as opposed to the 0% when we began. It's an improvement, to be sure, but we still have a loooooooooooong way to go!
I try so hard not to get frustrated by her failure to advance. Really, I do. Eventually, I know she'll get it. She must! Yet, "these people," the ones who say never to get frustrated when your kids have an accident and to always stay calm about it, I'm pretty sure they never had to do this THREE MONTHS with very little improvement!
Don't get me wrong, she has gotten a little better, no doubt. Unfortunately, she still has a ways to go. I'm certain Lily is fully capable of succeeding in this. She stays dry all night, pretty much every night. My guess is going in her pants is a habit, and like any bad habit, it will take awhile to break it.
So we persevere.
Anyway, after all of this, I really think elimination communication doesn't seem like such a bad idea. In all seriousness, it's no different from what I'm already doing!
And, if we ever have another baby, don't be surprised if you see me setting my little newborn on the potty before putting her cute, little cloth diaper back on her!
Oh, and if you're still wondering what on earth my goal was, 3 fully potty trained girls was it. Well, as Meatloaf says, "two out of three ain't bad....." [grudgingly] I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment