The Ancient Rhythm of EC: Why We Cloth Diaper and Do Elimination Communication

The Ancient Rhythm of EC

My first baby was diaper-free during the days by 14 months and 100% diaper-free by 18 months. Either you're thinking I'm crazy and this is impossible, or you have heard of and practiced Elimination Communication (EC) with your babies and totally get what I'm talking about.

Before becoming a mom, I hadn't given much thought to diapering or potty-training, and I hadn't heard of elimination communication until I became pregnant. Funny enough, EC has been around a long time—a lot longer than commercial diapers, in fact. It just didn't go by the same term because it was simply how things were done.

What is Elimination Communication?

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, EC is the modern term describing ancient practices of tuning into our babies and supporting them in eliminating (pooping or peeing) in a toilet or receptacle from birth on. We use the brilliant Tiny Potty by Andrea Olson and it is a game changer plus great from about 6 months on.

You see, babies are much smarter and more in tune with their bodies than we give them credit for as a society. Odds are, you are probably already nodding your head in agreement with me. As mammals, we are born with an innate sense to not want to soil ourselves—imagine that! Babies have the urges and sensations, just like we adults do, and if we can practice hearing their communications, we can support them in emptying their bladder into a proper potty or receptacle.

Tuning Into the Cues

In traditional methods of carrying your baby on or close to your body for much, if not all, of their infancy, a caregiver (most of the time Mom) would pick up quickly on the subtle cues given by the baby that they needed to eliminate. Babies grunt, squirm, and cry when all other needs appear to be met. This is their communication—hence the term elimination communication.

Practicing EC with my first baby was so exciting. It sounds funny to say, but truly, I remember feeling so thrilled and in awe when we would catch a pee in the potty with our newborn. There was both shock and awe those first few times when I would intuitively or physically pick up on a cue from my baby, signal them (usually a psss sound) while holding them over the potty, and then hear the pee trickling into the receptacle.

When the baby was so young he couldn't crawl or walk, but he could eliminate in a potty rather than a diaper, that was just mind-blowingly amazing to me.

The Problem with Modern Diapers

The process is fairly simple, all in all. Especially if you are already tuned in to your baby’s needs, this just becomes second nature. The problem is modern expectations of outsourcing parenting to someone else—the systemic disconnection of Mom and baby—combined with commercial diapers that literally disconnect a baby from their own bodily process. Diapers have become a toilet rather than a backup.

Which brings me to my next point: diaper choice matters.

I'm sure if you have considered cloth diapers or done any sort of research into commercial diapers (even the “natural” ones), you've realized they are laden with issues from health to environmental, let alone the financial and time burden of constantly buying them. Should you choose to practice EC, cloth diapers beautifully support this process.

Mainly, cloth does not have the chemical absorbency agents that commercial diapers do. This is a massive benefit because it allows your baby to actually feel that they have eliminated. This normal bodily act that all humans share should be connected to a sense of awareness; it should feel uncomfortable to be sitting in one’s own urine or feces.

With commercial diapers, that feeling is entirely taken away. With long enough use, a baby loses the awareness of the sensation entirely. This is why in modern day we have “potty-training” and why it seems to be such a massive pain point for so many families. We are having to “train” our children to do something that they had a natural inclination to do, simply because we actually “trained” it out of them.

Cloth diapers also really encourage you to pay attention to your baby and catch as many poops or pees in the potty as possible—because that means fewer diapers you have to wash, hooray!