Blossom Lets Her Kids Poop On The Floor

[...] of baby news coming from former Blossom cast members. A couple of weeks ago, we found out that Mayim Bialik lets her kids poop on the floor. Now, rumor has it that Joey Lawrence — originator of the 90’s catchphrase [...]

Elimination communication may in deed “used in many places of the world,” as Bialik asserts, BUT many places in the world have an incomplete and false understanding of communicable diseases.

Proper hygiene to key to living in an urban community with high population density. This begins with handling human waste in a safe manner. It is one thing to let your child defecate if you have cement floor or your home is devoid of soft furnishings (ie, foam mattresses, upholstered sofas, carpets, hardwood that is not properly sealed, plaster walls, etc), but in our modern society it is dangerous to risk contaminating your home with germs and bacteria. Furthermore it is insulting for privileged westerners to pick and choose what they like from less-industrialized cultures and think that they are some how more enlightened.

Beatrice commented on Oct 27 09 at 6:02 pm

Oh Josh… really, now. Blossom does NOT “let” her kids poop on the floor — no more than the parent who’s conventionally diapering “lets their kid poop all over their own and their parents’ clothes” or “all over their crib and the wall”!

The point is that parents who EC learn their kids cues — just like for hunger (then feed baby), for sleep (help them to sleep)), it is the same for peeing and pooping (offering the potty instead of waiting for it to happen in the diaper). Do all parents ALWAYS get *every* cue right? No, of course not. But most of the time, there’s a good rhythm, and you get to know what’s typical for your own kid. AND you have tricks in your bag for those moments when you misinterpret a cue.

FYI, in western culture, the VAST majority of parents who practice elimination communication DO USE some sort of bum covering, or a combination of coverings (disposible and cloth in addition to designated bare-bum time). Instead of always using a disposable diaper and changing it every few hours, an EC’d baby might be in cloth diapers and offered the potty when the baby signals or if it’s been a while and they’re still dry, etc.. Another option is 2 pairs of cotton training pants - some absobency and protection, but easy for both baby and parent to know if elimination just happened! There are also EC-specific bottoms called “one-wets” that have mild absorbency and waterproofing but only contain 1 pee or poo - these might be used in some circumstances, but not others (ie., not the choice for the 5-hr car ride to grandma’s - then you use a regular cloth or disposable dipe).

See, NO piles of poo on the floor!!!

Last thing to consider is that, at some point in ANY parents’ experience, there’s going to be a kid poop accident. With both of our kids, we did practice EC — and our floors were very clean the whole time. My neighbor, who conventionally diapered, shared with me that her 16 month-old toddler would poop at naptime and then (because he didn’t like sitting in it!) he’d take off the diaper and paint on the crib and the walls with his poo. And this happened more than just a few times. WAAAAY more gross than ANYTHING we ever encountered in the 2 kids we EC’d! So what did my neighbor do? Instead of offering her kid the potty before naptime (clearly the mom knew the kid pooped at naptime, and clearly the kid knew he pooped and didn’t want to stew in it, which is why he took off his diaper in the first place), this mom put duct tape on the diaper AND put on zippered pjs backwards to “solve” the problem. The worst part? I thought this was a unique situation but I’ve since met MORE than 5 different families to whom this “poop drawings on crib and wall during nap” has happened. Should I scoff at and ridicule any family who conventionally diapers their kids? OF COURSE NOT. Just like the author shouldn’t spring to “Blossom lets her kids poop on the floor.”

miziki commented on Oct 28 09 at 12:11 am

I believe that it could work, the same way you know when your kid is hungry I think you can eventually learn to know when they need to go. However, I will never be able to try this technique since I work outside my home full-time and have wall-to-wall carpet at home. hehehe

Rosana commented on Oct 28 09 at 10:47 am

WOW!! Ummm dont knwo what to say except they do this is 3rd world countries with poor kids they ‘go’ opn the floor everymorning… it is definitley easy to potty train a kid that way and easy clean up on some floors….but still it wouldnt be my personal choices. On http://www.truuconfessions.com moms will agree with.

mommiedear commented on Oct 28 09 at 1:04 pm

Shame on you, Josh! For a parenting blog that touts being open-minded and up to date, this is a very ignorant, negatively biased article.

ECers are not just dirty hippies, nor do they allow their children to poop on the floor. ECers are helicopter stay-at-homers, though, who (due to the demands of the system) MUST be paying attention every minute for it to work.

Does it work? Yes. I’ve seen more than a handful of families successfully EC with their infants. Are there accidents? Of course. You get that with diapers - cloth AND disposable - too. Have you never been woken up by your curious 9-14 mo. old playing in a dirty diaper? If not, you’re a rare exception. ECers have “misses” instead of baby poo smeared on their walls.

Do some research into it. Talk to some actual families that EC. Educate yourself, and then pass judgement. Don’t let one wacked out hippy ex-tv star be the basis for your incorrect judgements.

MMCMomma commented on Oct 31 09 at 2:17 pm