I thought maybe I would share my frustration with an article I saw in the Toronto Star yesterday.
http://www.thestar.com/article/599942
There is the link for the full article. Basically it is a soon-to-be-mom journalist who is writing about environmentally friendly diapering practices and her plans for her baby:
"It's not just baby brain. I'm planning to start practising elimination communication: a method that teaches parents how to read their wee one's signals so the infant can go in a potty (with assistance, of course) rather than a diaper."
She's talking about a newborn infant.
"Here's how elimination communication works: In the first months of life, parents learn baby's approximate elimination body clock (infants consistently go after nursing and sleeping) as well as the subtle signals that indicate a spontaneous need to go."
Hey, I'm all for this if it works for her. Who am I to say that it won't work? But what I think is so annoying is that there seems to be no recognition that maybe she will have a baby with colic, or one that won't nap, or will have problems with nursing. These will become huge concerns and putting a squirming, crying, irritated baby on the potty 15 times a day may become not as much of a concern. For myself, I know that I had a lot of misconceptions about babies until Paige was actually born, and it seems that this writer might too! I also love how she thinks that in the first few months parents simply learn the cues, then....problem solved! This one article is part of a 3 part series on environmental issues with babies. I'm interested what she has to say next.
I browsed through the comments and am happy to see that other readers share my sentiments. Comments such as "this article is hilarious, "let babies be babies", "I wonder if you'll post if you fail", and others were fun to read.
3 comments:
Ha., she writes like someone that doesn't have children!!!!! Just wait till the baby wont stop crying for 3 hrs straight...haha potty time!!!! Right!
Love Gramma Val
I didn't read the article but I have seen a huge surge in interest in early elimination, as it's called. I started Leyla at 14 months on the potty with some success, but now her interest is completely gone. I do have several friends who are putting their infants on the potty successfully at six weeks old, six months old, etc. They learn the cues, they baby signs that they have to go. I've even watched it happen.
My issue is that it's the parent who is trained, not the child. When you are out in public or you are busy, and you miss your baby's cues, the baby will still soil his or her self. They are totally dependent. I had to start carrying a potty seat in my diaper bag because Leyla would tell me she had to go. She was far too little not to have a potty seat. You don't have as much time to wait as you do with an older child. I was dropping the grocery cart and running to a toilet. It can be done, it just makes life more difficult IMO.
interesting perspective Cara!
I actually didn't mention one part of the article that was kind of interesting which was that the baby wouldn't know the difference between sitting on a potty or going in a diaper. But like you said, the parent has to be trained to recognize the cues and if they fail then it is their own fault. I wonder what happens in the later stages...is it easy for the child to recognize the cues themselves rahter than the other way around?
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