Editing Elimination communication (section)

== Origins ==
Keeping babies clean and dry without diapers is standard practice in many cultures throughout the world. While this practice is only recently becoming known in industrialized societies, it remains the dominant method of baby [[hygiene]] in non-industrialized ones.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

The terms ''elimination communication'' and ''natural infant hygiene'' were coined by Ingrid Bauer and are used interchangeably in her book, ''Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene'' (2001). Bauer had traveled to [[India]] and [[Africa]], where she noticed that while most mothers carried their diaperless babies constantly, she saw no elimination "accidents" as would be expected in [[Developed country|industrialized countries]] where babies wear diapers almost continuously from birth. Subsequently, she raised her own children with minimal use of diapers, and eventually began to share her approach with other mothers and caregivers—initially through Internet-based parenting support groups and eventually through her book and website.<ref>''Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene'' (2001)</ref>

Prior publications introducing [[Western world|Western]] parents to this practice include the booklet ''Conscious Toilet Training'', by Laurie Boucke (1979), the book ''Trickle Treat: Diaperless Infant Toilet Training Method'', by Laurie Boucke (1991), a pamphlet entitled ''Elimination Timing'', by Natec (1994), and the more extensive ''Infant Potty Training: A Gentle and Primeval Method Adapted to Modern Living'', by Laurie Boucke (2000). Boucke was influenced by an Indian friend who taught her how mothers in India care for babies without diapers, and she adapted the method to fit her Western lifestyle. Boucke later co-produced an in-depth [[DVD]] entitled ''Potty Whispering: The Gentle Practice of Infant Potty Training'' (2006) and co-authored articles for medical journals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=DetailsSearch&term=boucke+rugolotto&log$=activity|title=boucke rugolotto – PubMed – NCBI|author=pubmeddev|work=nih.gov}}</ref>

While the terms ''elimination communication'' and ''infant potty training'' have become synonymous, many caregivers who practice EC do not consider it to be a form of "training", ''per se''. "Nappyless technique" is a term some mothers in the [[United Kingdom|UK]] prefer to describe babies who use a [[Chamber pot|potty]]. EC is viewed primarily as a way to meet the baby's present needs and to enhance attachment and communication in general. In that sense, EC is often likened to [[breastfeeding]]. "Toilet mastery is, of course, an inevitable consequence", writes Bauer, "Yet it's no more the goal of Natural Infant Hygiene than weaning is the goal of breastfeeding" (2001, p.&nbsp;217).

Today, one often hears the terms "natural infant hygiene", "infant potty training", "nappy-free", "infant pottying" and "elimination communication" used synonymously.

The method of holding a baby out to trigger the reflex to urinate and defecate has presumably been used by mothers since the first ''Homo sapiens''. The English doctor Pye Henry Chavasse suggested in his 1839 book "Advice to a Mother on the Management of her Children", that the baby should be held out over a pot at least a dozen times a day at 3 months old; if this were done, there need be no more nappies at 4 months.<ref>Chavasse, Pye Henry 'Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children' (1839)</ref> In 1912 Edward Mansfield Brockbank advised that babies should be supported on the pot from two months old.<ref>Brockbank, Edward Mansfield, Children, Their Care and Management (H, Frowde, 1912)</ref>
The practise was commonplace up until the fifties, when Dr Spock's method of delaying the start of toilet training until 18 months became popular.<ref>Spock, Benjamin "Dr Spock's baby and childcare" (1946)</ref> This, coupled with the advent of disposable nappies meant that the practise of BLPT diminished. Although some mothers still used the method, learning about it either by accident or intuition, or from knowledge passed on by grandparents, the method dropped out of common usage. From the nineties until the present, official UK health advice suggests that it is counter-productive to start toilet training before 18 months, and the standard advice is to wait until children showed signs of "readiness" (but not before 18 – 24 months of age). Amongst some health professionals there is a received wisdom that babies have no bladder or bowel control under two years.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.babycentre.co.uk/x548924/when-should-i-start-potty-training |title=When should I start potty training? |publisher=BabyCentre |date=2000-01-01 |access-date=2014-02-20}}</ref>