It is generally believed that little babies have no control over the muscles used in elimination functions. The truth is that a newborn baby does have control over those muscles. Whether baby pees or poops in a diaper or in a container, the baby often does so consciously and deliberately.

An observant and in tune parent can work with her baby on the timing and location of those elimination functions. The result is another way to bond with baby and the use of a few less diapers.

People who practice elimination communication (EC) do so on a number of different levels. You have the people who believe diapers are evil and get their babies completely out of diapers within a few months of birth. On the other end, there are parents who keep their babies in diapers for pretty much as long as is normally expected and they work on elimination communication on a part time basis. It is my belief that most of us will fall into that second category. While it is possible to completely potty train an infant, it is a rather time consuming process and you will have a lot of misses, and therefore messes, along the way.

I want to establish right now that elimination communication is not an all or nothing proposition, and it does not mean you have to dump your diapers. You can successfully practice it part time. Any amount of time spent working with your baby on elimination will benefit both of you and will lay a good foundation for future potty learning. In other words, you have nothing to lose by trying.

You can start working with a baby on potty functions at any time. However, it is easier if you start before the baby is four months old. I'd recommend beginning somewhere around ten days to two weeks after baby's birth. In my experience any earlier is overwhelming, though more die hard ECers say it's best to start with the baby's meconium movement.

In the time that you're not ECing your baby, you're most likely noticing when the baby is wetting and soiling his diaper. Maybe baby pees right after nursing, or poops at ten every morning. A real good time for elimination is first thing after baby wakes up and right after a nap. When you start noticing a pattern over a few days, you can anticipate your baby's elimination and be ready with a container of some sort.

The container can be a small potty, your sink, bathtub or toilet. It can even be a dry diaper. Remove baby's diaper before he goes, hold him over your chosen container and wait. You can hold baby gently by his thighs and allow him to rest on your forearms. When baby eliminates, give him a cue. It can be a "psss" sound or a phrase. You will use the same cue each time you see baby eliminating. At first, you wait until baby eliminates to give him the cue. After a while, you can use the cue to encourage baby to go.

Once you catch one pee or poo, EC can get pretty addicting because it really is a lot of fun. Here are some important points to remember: This should be fun for both you and your baby. If it stops being fun, it's a good idea to take a break for a few days. It's not about catching everything or seeing how quickly you can get baby out of diapers. It's about bonding and learning with your baby. It should never ever be punitive in any way. While some of us may indeed find we can confidently take our baby out of diapers much earlier than what's considered normal, most of us will just steadily EC our babies a little here and there and one day, that ECing will morph into gentle potty learning for our toddler.