Being a little more green and reducing one’s carbon footprint is something that most people should strive for. But that becomes exponentially harder when you have a child and everything they use from diapers to baby food jars to wet wipes are all disposable. So what can an environmentally conscious parent do? There is a new method known as EC or ‘elimination communication’ that parents have tried to use on their newborns. This method is an attempt at a diaper-free approach and instead uses facial cues to recognize when your baby needs to go. EC is an old method that has been used on newborns since way before the invention of diapers. This method relies on knowing when your baby needs to go to the washroom and then holding them over the toilet at those times. The method, as tested by doctors Jeffrey Bender and Rosemary She, is ‘surprisingly straightforward.’ Parents can also rely on facial gestures and cues displayed on their baby’s face to dictate when they should rush them to the nearest toilet. Disposable diapers typically take over 500 years to completely decompose and it has been estimated that more than 27 billion diapers are used in the United States every year. Furthermore, using the EC approach can be beneficial for the child as well. It can reduce health problems such as a diaper rash, UTI’s (Urinary Tract Infections) and things such as Staph or MRSA infections. The two doctors state that they used diapers for their first two children. However, with their youngest daughter, they decided to take on a new approach. Their daughter, who is now 5 years old, apparently learned the rules of EC ‘within just a couple of months’ and with only a few ‘accidents.’ The two said that during the first two weeks of their daughter’s life, they used a cloth diaper and would regularly hold her over the toilet after every feeding and nap time. They also used musical intonation to incite their daughter to ‘get going.’ The couple would whistle two notes which their daughter began to associate with ‘peeing’ and pooping.’ The parents said that after the first month, they only experienced one or two ‘misses’ every day. They also said that they would travel with an extra set of baby clothes but would rarely have to use them. Jeffrey, in an interview, said: ‘the first time we got her to go poop in the toilet after eating and didn’t have to clean a diaper, that was like the best thing ever.’ He continued on by saying: ‘By about 6 months or so, we could go out with her and carry maybe a change of clothes, but rarely had to use them. I can’t believe we ever [used] diapers.’ Although the couple loves the idea of reducing waste and becoming diaper-free, they also acknowledge that this method is not suitable for all parents. Jeffrey said: ‘the way our society is, with a lot of children in daycare, this probably isn’t feasible. By no means do we feel this is for everyone.’ He continued on by saying: ‘we were fortunate and in a position to […] take alternate months off [when our daughter was a newborn], and a lot of parents don’t have that luxury.’ His wife supported that notion by saying that this method probably isn’t going to work for parents who put their child in a daycare setting. Source
