*** Just a warning… I’m going to talk about poop. There. You’ve been warned.***
I’m going to talk about something super controversial. And frankly, kind of strange.
My twelve-month-old poops on the potty. Like, exclusively.
I didn’t start out trying to do this, I promise. As far as potty-training goes, I’m in the more relaxed camp of let-them-be-until-they-show-signs-of-readiness. This happened to be just before age two with Milo and Oliver. But something funny has happened with Emil. Ever since he was teeny-tiny, he has hated the sensation of elimination. He would hem and haw and moan and groan, and seek out reassurance whenever he was about to poop. I mean, he was really upset by the feeling, so he would come find me and cry and cry while he was pooping. And no, he has never been constipated, so it isn’t that he was straining or in pain. He just didn’t like to poop.
So I would hold him, reassure him, talk to him about what was happening, and that was that. Until I started to realize that he was giving me fair time to teach him something. And by talking to him, I guess I was. But then I realized that instead of holding him on my lap, I could just place him on the little potty and reassure him from there. So I tried it. He would make the familiar sounds warning me that he had to poop, I would say, “Do you have to go poo-poo, buddy?” and take him over to the potty, take off his diaper and pants, and place him on the potty. I would stay with him and encourage him, and sure enough, he started going in the potty. Now, every time he has to poop, he runs to the potty and whimpers and looks at me. It kind of freaks me out that he is doing this so young, but it’s also kind of amazing, I think. He is clearly aware of this function (completely oblivious of peeing, though– that will come much later I think) and I find it fascinating that babies can learn things like this so young.
I had read about elimination communication a while back and remember thinking how crazy and weird and insanely time-consuming it sounded (especially for those who started the practice with their newborn babies!?! Ack!). Then this happened with Emil and I have realized that parts of it aren’t that crazy after all. With him, it just seemed normal. And I also realize that each baby is different and communicates differently. If, for instance, Emil were a secretive pooper, I never would have tried this. But, since he sought me out for reassurance every time he was going, it just seemed like the natural next step.
So is this crazy? What are your thoughts?
My thoughts are that this is amazing! Emil knows what is going on with his body and is obviously comfortable with the arrangement, so I don’t see how there can be anything wrong with it. Very interesting and I’m glad you shared.
I don’t think this is weird at all! He was showing you signs that he was ready, and that’s pretty awesome that he’s communicating so effectively at such a young age. I have seen the newborn elimination communication videos and after I stopped laughing, it was crazy to me how those people were able to “train” super tiny babies to poop into a little bowl.
Party on, Emil. I think it’s time that you subscribed to a real toilet magazine – Reader’s Digest. 🙂
It’s obviously crazy awesome
That’s super cool, I’m jealous. I think we are going to be late to the toilet game which I’m less than thrilled about since we mostly use cloth diapers and it’s pretty icky. W is a frequent pooper with no schedule and totally oblivious to it. I tried to introduce the potty and he hates it. I don’t know why but it was the opposite of love at first sight, and now if he sees anyone else on the toilet he tries to pry them off too and screams and cries. I think he’s trying to train us all to use diapers 🙂
I’m very impressed with Emil’s skills!
I’m just jealous! My boy didn’t potty train completely until 3 1/2, and at 2, the girl shows NO interest. Sigh.
Not crazy at all. Awesome? Yes.
It’s another example of the wide, wide range of EVERYTHING when it comes to children (and people in general). You are smart to go with it and not question too much. So this one was easy… he’ll challenge you in another way that you least expect 😉
Way to go Emil!
That’s totally a creepy baby move Emil the Elf! Actually, pretty awesome. Chalk it up to him being another high achieving family member: MD, PhD, Potty Pooper by age 1. All the same. Please tell me Oliver picks his nose or something?
Such a coincidence – I literally just read about the whole elimination communication process too (via Mayim Bialik’s book – I know, right?) and it was a whole new thing to me. I’m with you, it sounded like an INSANE amount of work regarding infants but what Emil’s doing is so so awesome! He’s ready for this and he’s communicating it! Can you tell him he’s got some impressed fans out here in blog land? 😉
xo
cortnie
Wow that is definitely awesome. I have a newborn and can’t imagine how time consuming elimination communication would be. That’s very impressive of Emil. Xx