Birthing Class & Infant Potty Training

From Labor Pains to Birthing Embrace

We couldn't find a live birthing class that fit our needs, price and location. So after some exhaustive research, we settled on the online natural birthing course by GivingBirthNaturally.com.

The E.P., ever my support partner, is taking the course with me. We've completed the first three lessons and I must say, the content is really good - exactly the type of natural approach we're into. We only receive two lessons a week and it's a seven week course, so there's a slight possibility the baby will be born before we finish it. I'm OK with that, I think I'll be prepared enough. The first few lessons are so powerful in talking about pain in giving birth, that I think if I suddenly went into labor right now, I could wing it if I had to, and it'd be OK.

Communication about Elimination

Finally, finally, I've started reading Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke. This is the definitive pseudo-academic-treatise on the practice of EC for Western parents. I loved the first book I read on the topic, but this one is so much better. I love all the anthropological research and infant behavior studies referenced in the very beginning. This book takes a different approach to telling us how to do EC than the other book, but having both perspectives makes it that much easier to envision in my head, and makes my willingness to do this much stronger.

After reading these books, I can't imagine not trying this approach. Ultimately, it's so much easier than trying to potty train a toddler. And there's nothing forced or unnatural about it - you just go with your baby's flow (literally) and just as you do with feedings and other baby bodily routines, and while doing so you develop a communicative bond with your baby about elimination. They become potty-independent on their own schedule, unlike what the critics of EC would have you believe. It does take more energy up front (i.e. constantly giving the baby an opportunity to go rather than letting them wet themselves) but I'm convinced that this minor inconvenience is worth it. I'm ready to give it a go.