The Go Diaper Free Podcast
Andrea Olson
Andrea Olson of Go Diaper Free explains elimination communication - the concept of pottying your baby, as early as birth - which is what people have done for all of human history and in today's world where there are no diapers. She makes it easy to integrate EC into your modern lifestyle as a new parent, demystifies how to know your baby needs to go, how to take them to the toilet instead of primarily relying on the diaper, and makes EC approachable, accessible, and fun, for all parents...whether part-time, with or without diapers, and in any region of the world. Contrary to popular marketing messages, diapers are tools, not toilets, and babies are ALL born "ready" to use the toilet. Learn how to connect with your baby on this very natural level with Andrea's expert guidance, and experience the freedom of a life without dependence upon diapers, a life without traumatic toilet training, a life where your baby gets a head start on developing motor skills, communication, and learning by prioritizing this age-appropriate skill (0-18 months). EC honors your baby's dignity and makes parenting THAT much easier! Stop changing blowouts...and learn how to listen to your baby's requests for good hygiene. Learn more at godiaperfree.com. (PS - Andrea also occasionally covers potty training, for those of you who find us after 18 months.)
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 12, 2021 • 10min
#124 How do I balance bare-bum time and diaper-free time
When doing elimination communication with your baby, how much bare bum, naked time do you allow, and how much "diaper-free" time (with some type of a back-up) do you do...and does any of this even matter? Yes, it does. Today I answer this question from multiple mamas in our audience who wonder how to balance these two very important parts of infant potty training: bare-bum and diaper-free time! Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/124 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Jan 5, 2021 • 13min
#123 Mess-free potty learning from birth?
Today's guest post from certified coach Louisa Rickman of the UK is like an overview of EC as a viable potty learning option, from birth onward...very helpful refresher and a great introduction for those of you who are new to EC and Go Diaper Free. Potty training doesn't have to begin with older toddlers. EC is a gentle, child-led method of infant potty learning, suitable from birth to 18 months. If this is the first you've heard of Elimination Communication, it probably sounds a bit weird! But once you get used to the idea and consider the benefits for baby, parents and the environment, you might never look at nappies (diapers) the same way again! Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/123 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Dec 29, 2020 • 11min
#122 How do I move from part-time ECing to more full-time ECing?
Maybe this has happened to you: you've been doing just the morning pee or just poops and feeling pretty good about part-time EC, but now your situation has changed, or your energy has picked back up, or you're just tired of using diapers anymore...how do you move from part-time elimination communication to full-time ECing? What, exactly, is the next step in potty training our infants and moving towards being truly "diaper-free?" One of our readers asked this question, so today I'm gonna give it a full answer. Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/122 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Dec 22, 2020 • 11min
#121 Praise
Is praising during potty training good or bad? Should we praise our babies when they use the potty while doing elimination communication? This is a great question and one that I feel fairly strongly about...and I'll answer whether you should praise your baby (with stickers or M&M's or good job's) while doing EC or potty training (or not). Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/121 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Dec 15, 2020 • 12min
#120 Clean-up
Clean-up, clean-up, everybody do your share...how do we clean up during observation and after pottying our babies with elimination communication, and are there any tricks? Today we'll answer this question from one of our readers. Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/120 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Dec 8, 2020 • 11min
#119 How to Transform Your Onesies Into Tiny T-Shirts
Today's show is a guest post from Coach Natalie in Indianapolis. Please see the written version at godiaperfree.com/119 for all the photos of today's tutorial! If you're like me, the moment you started practicing EC, those onesie snaps became one of your biggest headaches, right? I mean, snapping and unsnapping every couple hours….no big deal. But every 30 minutes?!?! Forget it. And so…the snaps were left hanging unsnapped, they were snapped to the side, sometimes snapped over the shoulders. Snapped everywhere except where they were meant to be snapped. Add in cloth diapers and Tiny Trainers, and you really get tired of those onesies! There's a practical solution to this difficulty - turn your onesies into t-shirts! The pattern I'm going to share with you today is SO easy - anyone can do it, even if the only sewing tools you own are a needle and some thread. Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/119 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Dec 1, 2020 • 12min
#118 Starting EC and observing a naked baby if really busy or traveling
Many people say "I can't start EC because I am too busy. This baby pottying business is NOT for busy moms." But I say, "Baloney!" I have 5 kids spanning 8 years and run two businesses...busy is my middle name, and I've pottied all 5 of my babies from birth. Not to brag, but I'm definitely fully qualified to share some tips about how to start EC when you're super-duper busy in today's show. Whether you're traveling or too busy to focus on starting elimination communication with your baby, this episode is for you! Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/118 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Nov 24, 2020 • 14min
#117 4 Reasons EC Works
Elimination Communication often puzzles new parents because it doesn't fit in with what we have heard or seen about parenting. In our culture, babies wear diapers. They wear diapers all day long, all night long. Babies have a diaper on their butt practically from the moment they are born until they are "ready" to potty train, usually around age 3. To understand why EC works, we need to forget everything we heard about full-time diapering and delayed potty training for a second. If we change our paradigm for a moment, we can see that EC actually makes a lot of sense. Let's look at 4 reasons this is true. Today's show is a guest post I'm sharing from Ariane Blais-Lacombe, our certified coach serving Quebec, Canada. Enjoy and please join us over at the full show notes, and add your comments or questions, here: https://godiaperfree.com/117 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Nov 17, 2020 • 4min
#116 Potty Location
Placing the potty in each room, potty here/there/everywhere... how does pottying your baby in multiple locations affect elimination communication, and should we be pottying our babies in the same place every time? Super confusing! Today I'm going to answer that specific question from one of our community members. PS - in the written version of today's post (godiaperfree.com/116), we've included a little gallery of some of our readers' potty stations. Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/116 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
Nov 10, 2020 • 16min
#115 Balancing Work and LIfe
Working from home adds an extra challenge to the already-demanding task of caring for a baby. Or is it the other way around? Caring for a baby (or toddler) can make work extra challenging. I would argue that practicing Elimination Communication can actually make your working and caretaking struggles easier. Here's how - in a guest post by one of our certified coaches, Natalie Robbins. Get full show notes and add your comments or questions here: https://godiaperfree.com/115 Get my free easy start guide for EC at https://godiaperfree.com/start Start EC with your baby today with Andrea's popular book, Go Diaper Free: https://godiaperfree.com/thebook
