Potty Learning

I used to think that elimination communication was some weird hippy thing.  What's the point of trying potty train a baby?  Sounds like a waste of time.  I always thought I would just go with the flow with potty training and start when Henry was "ready" at probably around 2 years old.      

Enter The Baby Whisperer.  This book helped us to get Henry to sleep in his crib for naps and bedtime.  A few days ago I noticed that the last chapter was on potty training and I decided to have a peek at it.  To my surprise, the author advocates beginning at 9 months old!  What??!  She makes a pretty convincing argument and since I have nothing better to do with my time, I'm going to try it.  Apparently, if I stick with it, he should have full day-time control by 15 months. 

Here are some interesting stats: In 1957, 92% of children in the US  were toilet trained by 18 months.  Today, that figure has dropped to only 25%.  In the rest of the world, more than 50% of children are potty trained by 12 months and 80% by 18 months.  

She talks about looking at potty training as just another milestone that takes time.  This is why I'm going to call it potty learning, because Henry is really just learning to use the potty.  Elimination has to become part of our daily routine.  The Baby Whisperer's plan is really basic: When he wakes up for the day and 20 minutes after eating or drinking, put baby on the potty for 3-5 minutes.  Sometimes he will go, sometimes he won't.  When he does, give him loads of praise.  This age is perfect because the baby wants to please you.  At age 2, you've missed the window and the child no longer is interested in pleasing you.

Another important thing is to watch the baby.  Watch for his elimination cues.  Start out with some naked time and observe how often he goes and what he does when he goes (facial expressions).  I'm not sure how this method is supposed to work for a working mum or when there is more than one child in the family.  Luckily, neither of those things are an issue for me right now.    

I went ahead and ordered the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair and I'm looking forward to starting as soon as it gets here!