Elimination Communication

I love babies, and they’re damn cute all over the world, especially Chinese babies. Walking around the streets of Beijing, I soon began to notice that a lot of babies were inadvertently flashing and mooning me. They were wearing open crotch (and butt) pants with no diapers.

A few more days in and I saw a mom holding her baby over a public trashcan as the kid peed into it. The next day in the Forbidden City, a mother and son were next to a street gutter. The mom started clicking her tongue, the baby son, who could barely walk, squatted perfectly over the gutter and with a look of extreme concentration tried let one drop. The mom was clicking a little too early, the son in turns out didn’t have to go.

Sarah and I had already discussed the logistics of the Chinese baby pants. The conclusion was excremental chaos, babies would surely piss and poop all over their cribs, houses, and any relative holding them, disaster! Now I had seen that there was some sort of special communication between mother and child that could queue the child to go. And it seems as the baby grows a little older they learn to take care of it themselves.

With a look of intense concentration on his face, 21-month-old Zhang Xueyang explores the playground, ducking under swings and slides as fast as his legs can carry him. Suddenly, he stops in mid-stride and squats, the seam of his pants parting smoothly to allow him to urinate on the concrete.
Zhang is able to pee thanks to kaidangku. Such pants have been popular in China for decades.
The principle is clear: no-fuss waste disposal. They're split down the middle-in front and back-and provide what many parents say is maximum convenience with minimum coverage.

When searching for these pants online, I came across a term on a mothering site called EC-ing, further snooping around found it stood for Elimination Communication! Apparently there is a movement in natural mothering to develop this communication technique which apparently leads to a child becoming toilet trained much quicker. Here are the articles:

http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/elimination-communication.html

http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/ec.html

In a way I feel bad for the Chinese babies. I told Sarah that the previous summer I had spent nearly a month backpacking through Wyoming. I had soon become appreciative of nature’s call in the wild. Nothing like dropping trough and feeling a lovely breeze on your bottom. So when these kids graduate from the crotchless pants, surely having come to expect a bottom breeze, underwear must be a complete turn-off – stifling, uncomfortable, itchy, and just cumbersome. I’m sure many tears are shed when this dreaded day comes.

Unfortunately, the days of crotchless pants might be numbered according to this article in the China Daily http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-07/16/content_349150.htm. If I were you, I’d immediately buy stock in China Pampers and Huggies.