Alicia Silverstone has caused a stir in the last week with
her book the Kind Mama, in which among other things she advocates Elimination
Communication (EC).
Many journalists are having a field day describing her as “batty”,
dismissing the concept without a second thought. And why not? On the face of
it, it sounds insane, but actually thinking about it, nappies haven’t been
around forever. How was it dealt with 1,2 or 3 generations ago?
In a nurse’s handbook dated 1952 from the Great Ormond
Street Hospital in London, the first chapter describes and teaches nurses that “babies
know what is expected of them from a very young age and if held above a potty
at regular intervals very few dirty napkins will result”.
So how and why has society changed so dramatically in 60 odd
years? From toileting being dealt with naturally and as a matter of fact, to
celebrities and normal people alike who dare talk about EC, being openly ridiculed?
Popular belief is that parents should wait for a set of readiness
signals before which toilet training should not be attempted. This of course
also works for many and I am not here to judge anyone.
But there is an alternative way to go about it which also
deserves to be recognised and considered– without mockery.
Elimination Communication, better described as baby-led
potty training – whereby using the techniques of old, achieving a nappy
independent lifestyle is possible even in modern day life:
·
Listen and become in tune with your baby’s body
language
·
Use cue words/ sounds and or sign language for
action association
What needs to be remembered is that to practice EC does not
mean going nappy free all the time. Nor does it mean an instantaneously potty
trained child.
EC is about working together with your child and respecting
their biological instincts and capabilities.
This week is the EC awareness week where we hope to put the
EC alternative in front of parents and prospective parents for them to make
their own decisions.
There is free information and useful and relevant prizes to
be won by signing up to the WEBSITE
To help spread the word about EC please tweet or facebook
#happynonappy
This post was submitted by Caroline Williams from Happy No Nappy
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