Customer Reviews

Potty Whispering: The Gentle Art of Infant Potty Training

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When I first heard of EC, I was skeptical. However, I liked the idea that my baby might get by without a diaper rash and would be out of diapers as soon as possible (typically by 25 months.) I added the books "Infant Potty Training" by Laurie Boucke and "Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene" by Ingrid Bauer to my prenatal reading list. What they said made sense and my husband and I decided we would try EC when our baby was born. WOW! I am so glad we went down this path.

This dvd is helpful for parents who are first starting out. Reading a book, looking at still photos, and joining online groups is nothing like seeing it in action. There's so much information in the dvd that, if I were inexperienced, I'd probably watch it a gazillion times (along with reading the books and joining the online groups.) What is most helpful is seeing so many different ways of working with so many different ages of babies and toddlers. There's no one right way, there's a different right way for each baby at each stage of their infancy and toddlerhood, and this dvd lets you see quite a number of different styles.

As someone who's almost 14 months into the process, I was encouraged by the scenes of older toddlers. It's so easy to get lost in where you are today that you forget the end result is an independent child. It was also fun to see how our style compares to that of other families. The little boy just waking up from a nap and holding his pee until he was given the cueing sound could have been my son. The woman from Australia made sewing pants for her baby look really easy. Then there's the scene of the young toddler ec'ing her doll. That had to be the cutest scene in the dvd.

For anyone uncertain if they want to undertake EC, the process is simple. Watching the dvd will not only reinforce the basics, but it will show you the subtleties. How do you hold a 1 week old? How does a toddler sign "potty?" What clothing, equipment, and bedding facilitate EC? Then there's the big question-why would anyone want to use this method? You get to meet a lot of different people to find out why and how they utilize EC. Additionally, if you're like me, watching the dvd will greatly reduce the fear at trying something you've never even seen done before.

The EC process:
1. Make the cueing sound (typically "pssss") whenever your baby pees or poops. They quickly associate the sound with the action.

2. Watch your baby for any signs they need to go. Not all babies will give cues. Sometimes you have to go by intuition. In our case, we've gone by timing. We've been at this for over a year and only timing has been successful for us. (Although yesterday, 5 days shy of 14 months, he actually used the hand signal 4 times to indicate he had to pee or poop! Today hasn't been so good, though. Typical up and downs of toddler learning.)

3. If you think your baby has to go, take them to the potty place and make the cueing sound. The potty place could be a bowl, an infant potty, the toilet, or the backyard flowers. If they have to go, they will. If it's not time, you try again later.

4. Relax. Don't plan on 100% success. This is not about "potty training." This is about taking care of your infant's needs in a healthful, economical, environmentally friendly way while you are also teaching them about their bodies.

One of the chief criticisms of this technique is that the parents do all the work. Of course they do. These are babies. They are incapable of taking off clothing, undoing diapers, wiping themselves, etc. Parents do all the work in standard American potty training. But they do it for a lot longer than people who EC. My son isn't even 14 months and he signed to me that he needed to poop. He went in the toilet and I used 1 wipe to clean him up. Yes, I did all the work, but he's the one who initiated it. I'd say he will be totally independent years before most of his peers. Also, he's never had a diaper rash and I doubt if he'll ever get one.

I've been so vocal about EC that a number of families I know have tried it. Most have done so on a part-time basis. They are keeping their babies aware of their bodies while living very busy lives.

I have been giving the Sears "The Baby Book" as a baby shower gift. I will now also give this dvd. Not all families will choose this method, but at least those I know will have the information should they decide to go this way. This dvd would also be great for skeptical relatives. There are so many families and medical professionals and so many babies who are just doing their thing. It really lets you see this is a gentle, baby-friendly way of taking care of an infant's basic needs.

This dvd provides info on local or online groups and lists various online retailers specializing in EC. For more information, you can also go to diaperfreebaby. It's a dot org site.

19 month update--Our son continues to do well with EC. He rarely has accidents in his training pants. Typically no more than once a day (and that's usually because we've just gotten home and I'm too distracted to remember to ask him to pee.) Sometimes he will sign "potty." Other times he just grabs my hand and leads me into the bathroom. He's still not totally independent in letting me know every time he has to go (there are just too many important things in the world to do to take a break to pee.) Most of the time I take him into the bathroom to sit on the potty. If he needs to go he does, otherwise we just read a book and come back later for another try. I can tell we are very close to being completely potty trained. I watch other people battling 3 year olds to change their diapers and I am so glad I don't have to do that.

It's one thing to read about infant pottying in theory. It's another to see it in action. That's the value of this video. I showed it to a friend of mine, who was convinced that it was too much trouble, yet interested to know 'the basics.' Shortly after viewing the first three sections of this video, her 3 month old daughter began to fuss and I suggested she try to pee her. And guess what? The mom was truly impressed and surprised when her baby peed into a potty for the very first time! It was so simple. Watching this video will help any parent learn the basics, and probably inspire them to give it a try! The interviews with professionals provide interesting research and commentary, and the portraits of different families give an in depth look at particular circumstances and special cases. Not only is this video an excellent learning tool, it is beautifully put together, chock full of charming footage of babies and families, with fun, upbeat music as accompaniment. It's not just a how to, or why to, it's a testiment to the love and warmth that develops between parent and child when potty training is done in this gentle way. Thus, it is a valuable tool for all parents who have young children.

I recently stumbeled upon the underground world of "EC" or elimination communication and this DVD was able to explain much of that technique to my partner who doesn't like to read as much. For those that aren't too framiliar yet, Potty Whispering is based on the logical thought that you can totally notice when any infant (like my newborn) is ready or starting to go to the bathroom. Instead of deficating in the diaper as usual, the technique teaches how to eliminate over a toilet, potty, etc.

I think this method is great. I am a new mom from NJ, (5 day old as of July 4th 2007) and caught my daughter's first poop today. I am using disposable diapers like most people, and consider this a "part-time" trial for now - which they teach in the tapes and books.

The way I see "part-time" is, even if you "catch" one poop and save ONE diaper, that's one less to buy, and one less to send to a landfill. If you like this tape, you might also like to buy "Diaper Free Baby."

I have used both of Laurie Bouke's books to learn more about the process of Elimination Communication (ie: Potty Whispering, Infant Potty Training, Natural Infant Hygeine) and have loved them. This DVD is just as great. When I watched it, I was in process of succesfully "EC-ing" my 9 month old. The video was very validating and entertaining. If you're a sceptic, or if you're a veteran "EC-er", I highly reccomend this DVD. Check it out!

Elimination Communication, infant potty training, diaper free - whatever you want to call it - is an excellent way of communicating with your baby. It's practiced in many societies and is very applicable in our own, modern-day, society. It's not at all bad for kids - going to the bathroom is as natural to them as eating, and dealing with it in a clean manner (such as into a potty receptacle) is, in my opinion, better for them than teaching them to soil their pants and try and train them out of that habit a few years down the road.

I really loved Potty Whispering. I've read a lot of books on diaper free babies but seeing a video was a new experience. Potty Whispering was so helpful. It's one thing to see something on the written page, quite another to get a good demonstration on video.

There were many video clips and lots and lots of still-shots. The information is comprehensive and well-organized. A lot of the material in the video is contributed by families with diaper free babies. This means the overall quality of the video is not "studio quality" - however, I don't think it takes away from the video at all. Rather, it gives the video a sense authenticity. It's also encouraging to know that I ca be successful just like the many families on the video.

I give Potty Whispering a high recommendation for being very practical, extensive, and well-organized. It's a great choice for anyone curious about infant potty training, or anyone looking for practical instruction and a wealth of ideas.

You can read my in-depth review of Potty Whispering here: [...]

This product is great for those interested in learning about infant potty basics. It is a great tool because it shows you how it is done. It gives a lot of information that really helps to understand what infant potty training is and how to get started. I really enjoyed this and have shared it with two other families so far.

We enjoyed both disks very much and learned a lot from them. It was fascinating to actually SEE how babies are toilet trained in other cultures and eye-opening to learn how western families can do it too; of course there are some differences between how it's done in different parts of the world (sanitation and caregiver assistance for example), and the DVD explains the differences. The stereotypical misconceptions about infant potty training are cleared up nicely. Also, it was refreshing to hear opinions from doctors who have actually had experience with it and who are knowledgeable about it.

On a personal note, both our girls love watching the many children who are featured and have learned from the behaviors of some of the kids in the video. There are cute and humorous moments that make us all laugh too. We are using potty whispering with our second child (didn't know about it in time for our first), are amazed at the results so far (only a few accidents a week at 22 months) and recommend it to families who are open to the concept. It's important to know in advance that there isn't a strict regimen, it can be done part time, and it is very hygienic (you can use diapers or training pants at any time you want) and "green" (helpful to the environment). We also learned a lot from the companion book Infant Potty Training.
Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living

I read Diaper Free Baby while I was still pregnant and became intrigued by the concept of Elimination Communication. I began giving my sons "potty-tunities" when he was only 3 weeks old and have been having tremendous success ever since! As described in DFB and this video, some babies are better signalers than others. It turned out that our little guy would usually yell right before peeing and he HATES being wet. He was the perfect candidate for EC'ing! I bought this video when my son was about 3 months old and, by then, it didn't add very much to the knowledge I'd already gained. However, I recommend this video to anyone who hasn't already started on their potty whispering journey. There is tons of footage showing babies happily eliminating on a potty that I imagine would have seemed really amazing to me had I not experienced it with my own child so many times already. It's a shame that they use the term "potty training" because it gives people the wrong impression. As clarified in the video, you're not exactly "training" your baby to do anything - and the process is in NO way coercive. Instead, you are learning your childs signals to keep him comfortable. Your baby has powerful instincts that tell him peeing and defecating all over himself isn't natural. Just think about this! In the wild, such behavior would quickly attract predators. Unfortunately, the conveniences of modern society have led many parents to ignore their babies' signals which, in my son's case, CLEARLY indicate a desire to eliminate outside his diaper. There's not a lot of new information in this video for someone that's already read a book on this subject. However, if you don't live near an EC support group, it's worth watching this just to see it in action. Even though I don't feel like I learned much from this, it felt good seeing footage of other families practicing EC. I don't know anyone that uses this technique and it was comforting to see I'm not the only person doing it.

My husband and I purchased and watched this video before our first baby was born. We heard about EC from a co-worker and were excited about the concept that we might significantly reduce the # of diapers our son would go through and get him potty-trained at an earlier age than average. We were able to learn the technique well enough from watching the video. However, the video was obviously low-budget production. I think someone should make a new version geared to a U.S. audience that is a more smoothe and slick production.

Unfortunately we did not end up practicing EC with our son. In the beignning, we tried making a sound cue every time he peed or pooed, so he would associate it with going. But, we didn't find our son's own body cues very easy to read in those first few months. He was exclusively breast-fed. In those first months he pooed constantly- at leat 12 times per day. He didn't show any obvious cues just before pooing or peeing. Also, since we kept him in a crib most of the time when he was sleeping (for fear of suffocation hazards if he co-slept in our own bed), it wasn't practical to practice EC while he slept.

EC is probably more easily done if you have hard floors and no-carpet, so messes are easy to clean up. I can't imagine dealing with messes all over our very light-colored carpet.

Now that our son is 9-months old and is eating a lot of solids, it is obvious when he is having a poo- because he usually grunts and sometimes his face turns red. I'm not sure if he shows any cues in advance of beginning a poo though. I still haven't noticed any pee-cues. We'll probably wait until he starts walking and then maybe attempt early, but more- traditional toilet training.

This DVD has good information in it, but it is extremely slow to watch. I'm sad to say that as much as I am interested in the subject, I still have not finished watching it, and I've tried at least twice. I've read most of her book though, Infant Potty Basics, and the concept makes a lot of sense. Whereas many books or DVD's seem to lack the proof of research or studies, it's obvious that this author has gone out of her way to study this practice around the world. I would give the idea 5 stars, but the video just became too boring, hence 3 stars.