Have you ever wanted to try Elimination Communication (also known as Diaper Free or Infant Potty Training) but were intimidated by lots of wet and bulky clothes and cold weather? It doesn't have to be a full-time commitment to practice this method with your baby or child.

Summertime is the perfect time to try letting your baby be diaper-free!

Elimination communication or "EC-ing" is currently practiced around the world by many cultures and was probably used by most of our grandmothers in the United States, too. Parents watch for children’s cues and take them to eliminate in a toilet or outside. Babies learn to tell their parents when they have to go and this usually results in earlier-than-average potty training and a lot less money spent on diapers. Great right?!

Since EC is based on children listening to their bodies, it is possible to practice it part-time. Many parents who work or just find it too stressful to be diaperless all the time put their babies in cloth diapers and then take them to poop or pee when it feels right.
By using cloth diapers and changing them every pee the child learns when he or she is eliminating and doesn’t get used to being in soggy diapers. I for instance usually use diapers when we go out because getting peed on while out with four children is less than desirable. When we’re home, my one-year-old walks over to her tiny potty and brings it to me to pee or poop. If it’s been a while I will ask her to try (she thinks it’s fun to sit on so she mostly obliges).

This article was written by an EC-ing mama where her grandmother tells her about infant potty training her siblings. I thought it was pretty interesting how similar it is to what I do in my family. The grandmother in the article used cloth and also watched for babies' cues and took them to the bathroom. This makes for less wash and cleaning of diapers, and no need to worry about poop and pee around the house. I love when she says “Children never wear nappies over summer – they just run around outside. It is too hot for nappies.”

Summertime is a perfect time to try having your baby diaper-free because babies are wearing less or no clothes anyway. It's also great to give tiny butts a break from hot soggy diapers. So if you have an infant, a toddler, or a child somewhere in between, try to watch and see what they are communicating to you. You just might be surprised at how well your baby can communicate and how well you can understand.