hey there i'm andrew olson with NGO
diaper-free and this is me recording
podcast number 75 how to begin
elimination communication a little recap
of how to start easy at each agency age
at the end I will ask you to comment
below with some questions you might have
but the show notes are gonna be over at
NGO diaper-free com4 / 75 if you want to
enjoy the conversation there get the
free easy start guide stuff like that
okay so I'll see you at the end here we
go welcome to the go diaper free podcast
where we're all about helping you stop
depending on diapers as early as Earth
I'm your host Andrea listen author and
mom of five babies all a seed from birth
all out of diapers by walking this is
episode 75 how to begin elimination
communication a little recap of how to
start easy at each age and stage you can
read the written version of today's show
the full written version over at go
diaper free comport / 75 just in case
you get interrupted by cute little faces
during this show I will also
conveniently link to all the things I
mention in today's episode over there
and I reply to comments over there so
come on by when you're finished and ask
me questions alright so today we are
going to address something you may have
heard me talk about before many multiple
times many many times in many different
ways and I'm gonna talk about it today
in a little different way this time how
to begin easy at each age and stage
we're gonna go through this relatively
quickly today and very very simply so
you can get sort of a new glimpse of
what starting EC can look like and feel
way less intimidated to start if you
haven't already or if you've only
partially begun maybe this will help or
maybe you have asked it so far you know
who you are maybe this will help you too
the first thing we're gonna do when we
start EC or get recommitted to EC is
have a paradigm shift in our minds okay
from now on you will need to shift your
culturally ingrained perspective of
diapers as full-time toilets to the
diaper is now a backup for when we miss
one another when we aren't doing EC
right now when we are skipping every
other pee for example or when too much
is going on like I am making dinner or
ever
honest we're gonna have that diaper
backup on for when we are being lazy
even if you're just testing out EC to
see if it's for you please please PLEASE
re-envision the diaper as a backup even
if you never do ECB on your first tries
even if you end up doing early potty
training at 18 months instead which I do
have a resource for on my website you
have a much easier time if you keep your
brain in this new frame of mind please
see the diaper as a backup not a full
time toilet from today onward listen to
my episode that's all about the brief
history of diapers just to see that it
was only ever a backup up until
disposables fermented in 1961 all right
so now after making that paradigm shift
before starting easy let's look at some
highlights for each agent stage followed
by some brief starting tips we make it
really easy today so first we've gotten
newborns the secret to success with ICI
and newborns is to take advantage of the
wakeup P you guys it is our easy catch
number 1 in case you didn't know
newborns sleep all the time newborns are
mammals who emit a hormone to stay dry
during sleep when a newborn wakes up
this hormone wears off and she needs to
pee take her diaper off hold her over
the sink or receptacle like a newborn
top-hat potty from tiny Andy's calm make
the sound of running water or grunt like
a quiet gorilla or do the sound of
running water gently support her head
and body against her torso because we
all know we got to be careful at those
ages holding her with your hands under
her thighs in the classic easy position
there's a photo of it over on the blog
post go diaper-free comm forward slash
75 or try the classic cradled EC
position if your baby cries or feels
uncomfortable in the classic position
this is often really good for babies who
have a little bit of colic and there's
an image of the cradled EC position over
on the site as well on this post then
nurse your baby after he's gotten the
chance to relieve himself first
this causes feedings to go much more
smoothly and they get more fully fed and
who wants to be wet or soiled during a
feeding not me and neither does your
baby so the cycle is wake potty tunity
nurse
a tiny bit of a wake time pot eternity
before napping nap and repeat all day
long all night long because this is a
newborn this is the best time to start
you see hands down and that's basically
what I just summarizes the baby care
cycle it's a really great way to insert
EC from the get-go
with a pre mobile newborn baby basically
up to the time when they start to get
mobile now let's talk about mobile
babies the key with mobile babies is to
limit naked diaper free time unless you
have on carpeted floors we want to use
tiny trainers or a sumo-style diaper to
do observation and we will know
instantly when the baby is wet so during
observation we're going to modify things
by using something I recommend the aqua
blue color of the tiny trainers at tiny
Andy's calm for the ease of seeing the
wetness immediately it's just a great
color for that purple is also good right
down on your log when baby goes after
waking or feeding and keep track for a
few hours a day until you see some
signals or rhythm to the whole thing you
can grab my observation log over at the
shownotes post at go diaper free calm or
it slash 75 it is free you can download
it and print it out and then lastly
young toddlers here's my tip for them
with young toddlers ie they are walking
now you'll want to keep in mind the tips
that I just shared about tiny trainers
or sumo style and logging the rhythms
and signals but you'll also maybe want
to add transporting them to the potty to
the mix so see my book in the excerpt
for the hybrid plan for more on this but
essentially you're just gonna do some
naked observation time without trainers
on without a sumo diaper on where you
will bring the baby to the potty or the
potty to the baby every time he or she
begins to pee during that observation
time again grab the log that I mentioned
over on the post for the tracking of
each of these events now that we have a
few keys under our belts some first
steps I'd like to recommend here are
some first steps there are a few things
that will help you start easily so step
one is to download my free Easy Start
Guide for EC go to go diaper free com4
it's a start
grab a copy of it it's totally free you
will see a lot of the stuff I'm about to
mention on that guide there is also
a little place to get it on the show
notes as well then after you download
that do the following number one start
with the for easy catches if you're
skeptical or you want to test this out
and I'll talk more about these in a
second the second one is start with
observation to deeply learn your baby
and learn the four roads to potty time
number three do one of those first to
the other second but I would do the for
easy catches and the observation in
whatever order number four we're gonna
insert tiny habits into existing
routines number five we're gonna dress
for success and number six we're gonna
get the right potty okay so these are
the steps to starting AC no matter
really what the ages number one start
out with the for easy catches if you're
skeptical or you just want to test this
out on my easy start guide you'll see
the four easy catches you will see them
everywhere I post content they are so
helpful and you probably hear my baby
out there she's she's having a fussy
moment um upon waking at every diaper
change
just the poops and transition times
these are the four easiest time to offer
potty tunity to your baby and it will
really increase your odds of getting a
catch now a catch will build confidence
at this starting stage and you'll likely
continue to explore you see with your
baby because once you catch one you
usually don't want to ever turn back
most importantly your baby will be
thrilled that you finally understood
what he or she wanted you to do all
along so see my youtube channel for a
playlist of the for easy catches or on
podcast episodes 28 29 30 and 32 number
to start with observation to deeply
learn your baby and the four roads to
potty time you'll do observation with or
without tiny trainers or a sumo style
diaper and you'll see how often from
waking or feeding your baby peas or poos
this is observation you'll see if you
notice any signals before they go you'll
get the hang of the rhythm and patterns
hopefully and you'll also learn the four
roads to potty time these are number one
baby signals number two baby's natural
timing how often do they go
number three generic or common timing
which is something that I cover more in
my book you'll just learn those and
number four you're going to become aware
of your your own intuition like oh I
knew that you needed to go so these are
covered more in depth in my book but
essentially this is the learn your baby
stage where you get to just
ever more and more about your babies
inter-workings just by paying attention
it's pretty simple okay now for number
three these are the first steps to help
you start easily number three or do one
of those first the other second so how
can you try it out before easy catches
you can follow up with some observation
time where you deeply are learning your
baby or after you've done some deep
learning with observation time you can
integrate the for easy catches into your
day to day routines to help you find
success with the practice and I think
very least you will establish some very
simple rhythms to your day the point is
do both it will beef up your practice it
will build your confidence and it will
help you stick with EC and number four
I want to insert tiny habits into
existing routines we soap spoke about
this one last week on the last episode
of this podcast so please circle back
and read or listen to it if you missed
it it's good I prefer comma four slash
74 or just go to iTunes and Spotify
episode 74 basically we can create the
new habit of potting our babies when
we're just starting out by just
inserting tiny little trigger habits
into existing routines as I mentioned
last week we can have it stack after I
get baby out of bed I will potty her
after I potty her I will put a new
diaper on her after I put a new diaper
on her I will nurse her etc and we can
set an implementation intention which
attachment last week when X occurs I
will Y when I see a grimace I will hold
her over the toilet so she can poop
instead of waiting to clean it up later
so see that episode please I'm not
kidding do it now we'll finish this
first and now we're number five just
quick tips for starting Dress for
Success you guys we want to reduce any
friction for starting and keeping up
with this new aspect of baby care
dressing baby appropriately can only
help we're actually going to talk about
the EC wardrobe next week in episode 76
so come back for that for sure and
lastly number six get the right potty we
also want to reduce friction for you and
your baby both by choosing the correct
potty for the stage and age your baby is
currently in so you can totally just use
the sink or toilet you can put a low
stool in front of the toilet if you want
to squat on to that while you hold your
baby over the toilet you can use any
mixing bowl or you can use a top-hat
potty or a mini potty or toilet you
reducer and I've got all those linked in
the show notes we'll talk more about the
power of the right potty in an upcoming
episode episode number 77 so come back
for that one in two weeks okay all right
that's about it I hope this has helped
you wrap your head around how to begin
EC in the smallest nutshell I could fit
it I want I'm gonna start going over a
few things over the next few weeks where
we are unveiling things I've already
talked about but in different ways
because everybody usually has the same
little stuck points for more help with
this start with my easy start guide it's
free then move on to my popular EC book
go diaper free or just start with that
to create a potting routine that you can
actually
stick to and that will bring you and
your baby joy and diaper freedom we
don't know how to do this we live in a
diaper in culture it's just the way we
were raised so we kind of need to go sit
down and learn this again see the
written version of this podcast over it
go diaper free calm for its life 75 head
over and let me know what one thing are
you going to do this week to start easy
or make it better from what I've
mentioned today put that over in the
comments I'll see you over there til
next time when we unveil the EC wardrobe
happy potty you guys i'm andrea olson
and you've been listening to the good i
for free podcast at go diaper free calm
and that is it you guys please comment
below what one thing are you going to do
this week to start you see or make it
better from what I've mentioned today I
look forward to seeing you there please
subscribe and hit the bell and I'll let
you know when we have our next video
take care i'm andrea from good everfree
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