Elimination Communication or Nappy Free

No Nappies is the thing! This concept is all about meeting the toileting needs of our tiny babies and accessing their ability to communicate and meeting their toileting needs in the present moment.

Why do it?

Half the world’s population still raise their babies without nappies and they don’t all get peed and pooed on constantly. Nappies have only been around for a hundred years or so and babies were successfully raised without them for thousands of years.

The basic idea is that babies do signal their need to go to the toilet and it is possible to pick up on their signal and meet their need to eliminate cleanly. It’s the most natural thing to do for the baby’s physical comfort, to avoid nappy rash and digestive problems that can result from nappy use, to support the baby’s body awareness, for environmental reasons, to prevent toilet training struggles and to reduce nappy use.

The greatest benefit is that parents feel they are responding to their baby’s needs in the present moment and this can enhance their bond and develop a deeper, closer communication and trust. The concept is the same as picking up on when your baby is hungry and feeding him/her, tired and helping them to sleep, windy and needing to burp.

So rather than inadvertently teach your baby to pee and poo in his/her clothing and then cleaning up after the fact you learn to listen, look and respond in the present moment to your babies needs and communication.

I am not an expert in this but Anna Hughes has written some articles on it and has a Facebook page all about it too...so if you are game, have a go....it has been done for centuries!

http://wearingyourbaby.co.nz/elimination-communication/
http://wearingyourbaby.co.nz/ec-the-second-time-around/
And the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/nappyfreebabiesofAotearoa/

What can you do…..check with your council what can and cannot be recycled.  Try to minimize packaging and get packaging that can be recycled where possible.