About a year ago, I was reading a blog post and the writer mentioned that she used elimination communication (EC) with her baby, rather than diapers, and I was both intrigued and mystified. EC is basically letting your baby go diaper-free and watching his cues in order to predict when he needs to urinate or defecate. I had mostly forgotten about ECing until this morning, when I read that it's becoming a trend among attachment parenting New Yorkers. Now, I'm all about getting back to basics when it comes to parenting–I adore baby wearing, breastfeeding, and homemade baby food–but I'd venture to say that relying on an infant's ability to communicate when they need to use the bathroom is crossing the boundary from crunchy to extreme … or perhaps these parents are already well past that boundary.
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There are reasons that modern conveniences like diapers–whether cloth or disposable–have become so popular. Most parents in the Western world have a multitude of responsibilities to attend to each day, from work and social obligations to household duties, we are an ultra-busy society. I don't know a single parent who has the time to follow their baby around all day in an attempt to catch poop before it hits the floor. Sure, if you are potty training your 2-year-old you might be doing this for a week or so, but an infant? You could end up chasing feces for years! And what about when you have to run errands with your baby in tow? Last thing I want is to have to scrape poop off of a shopping cart because I couldn't make it across the store to the restroom in time. I understand that a lot of ECing parents do actually use diapers some of the time, but many don't, which is both inconvenient and unsanitary.
DiaperFreeBaby.org suggests the top two reasons to EC are to reduce irritation and the risk of diaper rash, but there are many, many other ways to achieve this. In fact, my son is almost one and has yet to have a diaper rash, and we use standard disposables. Many of the other reasons cited, including self-exploration, "impresses and amazes other people" and more opportunity to play in the bathroom mirror, are just plain cockamamie.
Of course, you can do whatever you want with your baby, but if I see you holding a 6-month-old baby over the toilet so he can poop, I'm definitely going to give you the side-eye. We do in fact live in a civilized world, so it might be a good idea to raise your kid like a baby rather than a puppy.
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