Luke uses the potty!

Yes, it's true!  Believe it or not, our one-month-old baby has successfully used the potty.  Infant pottying is also called Elimination Communication (EC), but most of the world knows it as the norm.  Think about it - if diapers weren't so convenient, wouldn't we be eager to get our kids out of them sooner?  With super-absorbent disposable diapers and the great cloth options nowadays in our society, we are programmed to keep babies and toddlers in diapers for much longer than necessary.  I can imagine a time when diapers were merely a tool used to catch pees and poops when babies were very young, before their elimination patterns were clear.  Once parents understood their children's signals for elimination, diapers would be abandoned. 

What we have learned about EC is that it is mainly about communication.  Baby gives a signal that it's time to "go" and we have a chance to respond.  If we respond in a timely manner, we'll be able to get Luke to the potty or toilet in time for him to do his business.  Over time, we get better at reading his signals, and we establish a more consistent pattern of getting Luke to the potty.  We need to trust Luke to cue us, and he needs to trust us to respond.  Now, we are new to this, and we are in no way experts, but this is the premise, and so far, it's been working.

We don't catch every pee and poop, but since last week, we've caught at least one elimination per day.  I think that is pretty good considering our novice status. 

Now, you may be thinking that we are nuts, but do your own research, and you will find that nice, normal people do this worldwide. While EC is not the norm in America anymore, it once was, and still is in many other parts of the world.  Those in our country trying to revive this practice tend to be eco-friendly parents with attachment parenting tendencies, who also want to save a buck or two on diapering.  Now what can be wrong with that?!

Pretty soon, we'll post a picture or video of Luke using the potty.  We have some photos now waiting to be uploaded.  We haven't yet taken video, but we will do so soon.  I bet our readership will increase after that, with current readers telling their friends about "the crazy bloggers who make their newborn use a potty"!