elimination communication
to help your baby understand and communicate their toileting needs. It's respectful to them, positive for their health, and good for the environment. Our guides, features and community will support you as you go.Did you know...?
In cultures around the world, parents use elimination communication (EC) to assist their babies with toileting from the first weeks or months of life.
Many children taught from this age develop continence and the ability to communicate their toileting needs by between twelve and eighteen months of age.
ec babies will show you how you can help your child to do the same.
How it works
ec babies encourages progression through a five step program. It will help you to:
Recognise when to assist your baby with potty use
Getting to know your baby's wriggles, facial expressions, sounds, and timing, will help with this.
Become familiar with the holds that work for you
Before your baby can sit by themselves, they'll need support during potty use. There are many options.
Make EC part of your routine
By using the potty more often, your baby will associate having a full bowel or bladder with getting help.
Progress together
Soon, your baby will wait for the potty. Before long they'll communicate when they need to go.
Pathways
Classic or Signing?
Before babies can talk, they're very good at finding other ways to get our attention and tell us things.
With regular EC it's quite common for babies to develop gestures as a way of letting you know when they need to go.
As a parent you can wait for your baby to develop their own gestures, or encourage them to use specific ones.
ec babies supports two pathways for gesture encouragement; classic, or signing.
Classic
The classic approach to EC is to let your baby develop their own way of communicating pottying needs. They may move towards the potty, point to it, or use word-like sounds.
Signing
Encourage your baby to use a specific hand gesture. Try one adapted from adult sign language or perhaps the chest slap as described in this video by Jenn Philpott from Born Ready.
App
Guides, progress and community
The ec babies' app is home to a set of guides to help you get started and grow in confidence with EC.
It's also used to create child profiles and record events.
Events are a baby's toileting actions; a few clicks capture enough information to measure current progress and set goals.
Additional carers can be added to a child's profile. They can get involved with EC and record events that happen while baby is in their care.
Everyone is welcome in the community area; it's a place to share experiences and support each other.
Step by step
A structured method inspired by how babies learn
The ec babies program builds on a step based method described in an academic study from 1985, see FAQs for details.
The ideal time to begin is between birth and eight months. During this period babies learn in a unique way, they begin to construct mental models based on the sensations they feel, experiences they have, and the sequences in which events happen.
Starting later might be challenging because most babies will have begun to expect a routine around relieving themselves into a nappy and receiving a change afterwards.
That said, many parents who begin using EC with babies aged between 8 and 12 months still find success with it!
Drop us a line if you have any questions.
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Success and impact
cleaner nappies, and more...
Whatever your motivation, you'll find a counter to illustrate achievements and inspire progress.
Selected: Co2 avoided
1.0 Kg
avoided
What's included?
Features and benefits you'll experience with ec babies.
Guidance
Get started and keep going with comprehensive guides and support.
Support
Hints, tips and expert advice to help ec babies work for you.
Community
Find help and help others through the ec babies forum and your local socials.
Structure
Use the simple app to keep track of progress and know when to move to the next step.
Environment
Achieving continence early reduces nappy dependence, which in turn, cuts greenhouse gas emissions and waste generation.
Save Money
Using nappies for one year instead of two or three has the potential to save money or reduce the laundry load.
Respect
In a recent survey, the number one reason parents gave for using EC was that they felt it was more respectful for their baby.
Health
EC practices have been linked to improved bladder emptying, which can reduce the risk of urinary tract infections.
Social & Environmental Benefits
It's no secret that making, washing and disposing of nappies uses a staggering amount of natural resources and energy, and produces huge volumes of waste.
Potty training earlier means less dirty nappies and therefore a reduced environmental impact, amazing. But the benefits of EC don't stop there.
Studies have shown that children that are assisted with toileting from the first few months of life develop more complete bladder emptying. This in turn reduces their risks of experiencing urinary tract infections.
Other studies have shown that babies that begin toilet training before 6 months are least likely to develop childhood bladder and bowel problems such as incontinence or problematic constipation.
So why, as a society, are we delaying toilet training? There's no single answer, but it's fair to say that corporate advertising including use of professional influencers plays a part. It works hard to normalise ever bigger babies still in diapers.
ec babies wants to buck this trend and normalise helping babies learn healthy toileting through early assistance.
We are keen to work with others to achieve this. Please get in touch if you would like to collaborate.
Frequently asked questions
