Elimination Communication Is Trending Among Celeb Parents Again

Elimination communication is all the talk of the town in Hollywood!

Celebrity parents Rumor Willis and the Bachelor’s Bekah Martinez have recently opened up about their appreciation for natural infant hygiene–also known as elimination communication. Elimination communication (EC) involves identifying an infant’s natural cues that signal they need to go and effectively using those signs to direct baby’s “elimination” into a potty rather than a diaper.

“It’s incredible. It’s so validating,” Willis told Bumpsuit founder Nicole Trunfio in a podcast episode. “We got a little potty. Derek even has a little potty song he plays for her.” After some encouragement from Trunfio, Willis sings a small bit of the song, going, “Poopin’ on the potty … poopin’ on the potty … elimination … communication,” in a sing-song voice.

Willis acknowledges that the process might be somewhat silly, time-consuming and impossible for parents who can’t be with their kids all the time but she’s “privileged to have gotten to spend every day with her [daughter]. I haven’t had to go back to work, so I totally understand that there are challenges that way."

Willis says that she and Thomas started to notice their daughter would "make these funny faces and she would start to furrow her brow and her mouth would look like she was sucking on a straw.” Imitating the face, she continues, “And then, I would hear her poop and it was super loud. So then we got this little potty and when she would make the face, we would just pull her diaper off and sit her on it.”

“Now if I can catch it, it’s so delightful,” she says, explaining, “Babies have bodily awareness, so they don’t want to poop themselves. We train them out of it by putting them in diapers and look, there’s no way I can catch all of her pees. They don’t make a cue for it, or maybe they do if you’re super, super aware. But I try to get as many as I can and it’s awesome. I think it’s so great.”

Willis isn’t the only one to sing praises of elimination communication. The Bachelor favorite Bekah Martinez recently shared on her Instagram story that she had started EC with her 9-week-old son.

“Also, on the subject of diapers… elimination communication is wild. Never really tried it with the other two kids, but I’ve sat Ernest on a little potty about a dozen times after he wakes up and every single time, he’s peed immediately and usually poops too,” Martinez noted. “I always thought it was just coincidence when I heard other people talking about getting their infant to go on a potty. But no — I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s like he knows — right away when I undress him and put the little potty underneath, he starts going.”

Willis and Martinez aren’t the first in Hollywood to discover elimination communication. Gisele Bündchen, Mayim Bialik and Alicia Silverstone have all spoken out about giving the method a try.

For parents looking to give EC a try, experts and even those in Hollywood stress the need not to stress over the process. This is not full-fledged baby potty training; instead, try to think of it as an opportunity to bond with baby on another level. Learn more about Elimination Communication how to use it here.

Please note: The Bump and the materials and information it contains are not intended to, and do not constitute, medical or other health advice or diagnosis and should not be used as such. You should always consult with a qualified physician or health professional about your specific circumstances.