Infant potty training: What it is and how to do it | BabyCenter
What is infant potty training?
Also called "elimination communication" or "natural infant hygiene," infant potty training is the practice of introducing your baby to the toilet or potty at a very early age – usually between birth and 4 months.
Some parents who do this avoid diapers completely by racing their baby to the nearest bathroom whenever they anticipate a poop or pee. Others use diapers on and off. By 18 months, in most cases, their children have "graduated" – that is, they know when they have to use the toilet and get themselves there successfully.
While the notion of potty training a very young infant seems radical to many American parents, it's not a new idea. Before 1950, most children in the United States were toilet trained by 18 months. And today, most African, Asian, and European babies are trained well before their second birthday.
So why are American babies and their parents so attached to their diapers? Many think it's due in part to the changing views of experts about toilet training, as well as the invention of disposable diapers.
In the 1950s, pediatrician Benjamin Spock and other experts began advocating a more relaxed approach to toilet training. Then, in the 1960s, pediatrician and parenting expert T. Berry Brazelton advocated an even gentler, more "child-centered" philosophy: He encouraged parents to allow children to follow their own timetable when it came to giving up diapers.
Brazelton's view caught on around the same time as disposable diapers, which tend to be more comfortable for babies (they're so absorbent that babies don't feel wet) and easier for parents to deal with. Against this backdrop, it's no surprise that the average age of toilet training crept up.
What are the advantages of infant potty training?
There's little scientific data on toilet training in general, much less on infant potty training. But proponents claim many advantages:
It promotes parent-baby bonding. Advocates assert that infant potty training brings you closer to your baby. Because you're constantly watching your baby for signs of being about to eliminate, they say, you become more in tune with his needs. Says Jennifer Lynch, a mother of two (both potty trained as infants), "The best thing about it is that you're more connected to your kid. There's this 'conversation' you're having with your 3-month-old."
Parents who use the technique are also likely to embrace attachment-style parenting – an approach to childrearing that encourages practices like the family bed, prolonged breastfeeding, and carrying your baby close in a sling.
It's more comfortable for your baby. Infant potty training advocates believe that babies often cry and fuss because of diaper discomfort, even when they're wearing disposables, and that you can spare your baby rashes by allowing him to go diaper-free.
It allows your baby to exert his growing independence. As he becomes more mobile and starts wanting to do things his own way, it can be easier to encourage him to "crawl to the potty" or "go use the big boy toilet" on his own than to engage in daily diaper change battles.
It reduces diaper waste. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, disposable diapers last for centuries in landfills, and a typical baby goes through about 8,000 of them. Using fewer cloth diapers helps the environment, too, since those require energy and other resources for washing and delivery. And reducing your diaper use isn't just good for the earth; it's a nice break for your family's budget.
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