Customer Reviews

The Diaper-Free Baby: The Natural Toilet Training Alternative

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I purchased this book because I was expecting a son and have two nephews who were not completely potty trained until they were four. It was not my intention to intensively EC. I really just wanted information on different potty training methods. I still do not intensively EC. What I DID do is follow the directions on giving the baby cues in an effort to just keep my son aware of his bodily functions. I honestly did not expect it to really work but I gave it a shot. Well, after that one thing led to another and my son now goes poopy on the potty! Now that he is 10 months I can't even tell you that I am sure what happened. Just taking this element from the book casually led us to this point. It's really terrific. My son has never had to "sit" in a dirty diaper. I have always been kind of on top of it because of trying to give him the cues. Now that he goes in the Little potty, it is so much easier to clean him up after a bowel movement and he is so much more comfortable. He has NEVER had diaper rash and I attribute it to this. The other day while he was eating he even "told" me he had to go potty. I was so amazed when he actually went. My husband was really skeptical when I told him we were going to casually try this but now he's happy with the results. I haven't been brave enough to try it with pee too much but I intend to start soon. Just to note...I did read the book by Laurie Boucke, it's very informative but kind of overwhelming and repetitive. If your just considering this method, start here. This book has the essential points and is a very easy read.

Maybe my expectations for this book were too high. I'm a big ec supporter and was so looking forward to it but felt let down when I finally read it. I found the books by the more established authors Boucke Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living and Bauer Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene far more complete and informative, so if you only plan to read one ec book, go for one of them instead.

I do like the writing style of this book (same goes for the other two ec books) and applaud the author for providing another book in this genre. A strong point is that this book urges parents to take things slowly by using ec part time or just occasionally, however this point and some others are made over and over again.

I didn't find much original material in the book. In short, a rehash with a slightly different emphasis and flavor.

The concepts contained in this book could be put into a pamphlet. The remainder of the book is testimonials by people who have tried to toilet-train their babies and been amazed by their success. This book was a good introduction to elimination communication for us and gave us what we needed to get started. And off we went with good success.
The thesis of the book is that if you pay attention to your child you'll figure out that she gives cues just before going to the bathroom. You can use those cues to dangle your child over the toilet. Since you'd be changing a diaper anyway it doesn't require more time investment. If you get it right, you and your child are both happy - and if you miss then you change a diaper. Give it a try - it's pretty fun.

This book might be worth it if you already have a more organized book about EC itself and want to hear about it from others. Reading quote after quote from parents who are learning/doing elimination communication strikes me as a waste of time and shows poor editing. The quotes might make you feel good, but they won't help you learn to "catch."

When I first heard about EC, I immediately wanted to read more about it, so I bought Ingrid Bauer's "Diaper Free!" since it was the most well-known EC book. She scared me so much with her preachy, holier-than-thou, all-or-nothing tone that I thought EC was not for me. Also, her other crunchy ideas about parenting are so different from most modern moms I know - I just couldn't relate.

Thankfully, I found "The Diaper Free Baby" soon after, and am fully on board with EC again. It is down-to-earth, non-judgmental and oh so practical. I love how Christine takes all the pressure off, and is so gentle and warmly encouraging. You never feel guilty for anything you have done or will choose not to do. All moms have different philosophies and come from different backgrounds, and she always takes that into account by providing different options so you can make EC work for you.

After reading this book, I am so excited to try EC (from birth!) with my next baby. If it were not for Christine's reassurance that part-time and occasional EC is just as good, I wouldn't even consider it. I hope everyone considering EC can get a copy of this book - it's honestly the best EC book out there.

This books was the most practical of the Elimination Communication books that I found. It covers all the how to basics in a clear manner and presents many different ways of incorporating EC into your lifestyle. Whether you want to practice EC full time or part time, starting with a newborn or toddler, this is a judgment free guide on how to learn to communicate with your child in a stress free way about a very basic part of being human. The guidance is clear and helpful and the tone is encouraging without prosylitizing (sp). The pictures aren't just cute but a part of the instruction.

After reading the book, I felt much more confident in practicing EC with my 5 month old. It really doesn't have to be about "potty training", which can be a stressful thing, but about communication so that your baby does not loose touch with a body awareness that he/she already has. Or if your baby is older, a gentle approach to re-contacting the body awareness with bowel and bladder.

I really enjoyed this book. I also bought "Diaper Free" by Ingrid Bauer and while I liked her writing, it seemed that she was more of a completely diaper-free person. Gross-Loh (this book) gave alternatives for Full-time, part-time and occasional use. It made it really easy for me to feel that it was adaptable to my situation and any way I did it was ok and their were some helpful guidlines. There were also helpful guidelines that I will prob try to impliment with my conventially diapered 2 year old. My daughter is now 3 weeks old and even with just our part-time/ occasional and a 2 year old we're catching 3 or 4 a day and most of the night time ones without stress or much effort. A beautiful concept that the Western world isn't in to, but soooo easy to do. I felt a bit overwhelmed thinking about doing it, but this book helped me feel that it really wasn't that big a deal and you just do what you can. Would definately recommend.

I have read two other diaper free/infant potty training books, and I found this one to be the most readable and "mainstream". I definitely enjoyed the other books, too - but this is the one I would recommend to other people to read. It's a great first book on elimination communication, and it has tons of practical advice - what products you might want and where to get them, lots of anecdotes from other parents who have been through the process.

I only wish I had gotten this book earlier. I am the mother of three kids but have only used this book with my youngest after she started to show clear signs of being aware of her bodily functions at age 10 months. We have not "graduated" yet (to use the terminology of the book) now that she will soon be 2 yrs old, because I have not really been sufficiently keen to go for it 100 %. And the book does not make me feel guilty about that. Reading the book gave me a better understanding of the process and it answered most of my "but...?" questions.
I do not think the method described would have worked with my first-born because we have later discovered that he had a KISS-KIDD diagnosis with pelvic problems. After he was treated (at age 6!) with manual therapy and core muscle training, he gained sensitivity and control of his bladder much later than he would have if he had not had this problem.
But with number two, with whom there is nothing wrong, I think this method would have worked wonderfully and I regret not having this book when he was newborn.
The great news is that it is not an "all or nothing" method! I do not believe in getting extreme about anything, but found it interesting to try (whenever it has been convenient for us) since my baby showed initial perceptibility so I just followed up on that.
Perhaps because I am European and used to being more direct in my language about such issues, I found some of the vocabulary fairly silly - so overly euphemistic. However, I decided to ignore that and focus on the actual message. The author seems like a sensible woman, she is probably not the one who has coined these expressions.

Gross-Loh's book is user-friendly, detailed, non-judgmental, intelligent, and very helpful. We've practiced EC with our son who is 20 months old; if I had had this book when he was born, I would have been braver about moving my son to underwear (a step we took when he was 17 months), and would have felt more confident about our decision to undertake this journey (a great journey, I might add!) I would buy this book as a gift for parents-to-be, and hopefully will convince many friends who feel that EC is too complicated or difficult that it would be a natural step and while not simple, much easier than what might be assumed.

Please read this great book. The babies are not training us; and, this book helps to make clear that a baby's understanding of his or her need for elimination is the same as his or her need for sustenance.