EC Essentials | Pre Order - Send out Late October
Your perfect kit that has everything you need to get you started with Elimination Communication (EC). We have put the essentials together so you can read the book and get into it right away. Please note that the Top Hat Potty is for babies aged 0-12 months.
Kit includes:
1 x Top Hat Potty (your choice of Sage, Peach or Grey)
1x Grip Band and Seat Cover
1 x Potty Travel Bag
1 x EC Basics Booklet
Meet Our EC Essentials Kit
We know how hard it can be to find simple-to-follow instructions on how to start EC, so we have curated a kit with all the essentials and information you need to begin your Elimination Communication journey.
Don’t worry if you are a complete EC newbie. This is knowledge lost to our western culture since the commercialisation of nappies, particularly disposables, in the 1960s. If you asked your Grandparents or Great Grandparents you might have more luck gleaning some nuggets of EC wisdom from them. This was once known as 'holding the baby out'.
In other places around the world, it is still commonplace and part of the daily routine - and always has been. Humans have been doing EC since the start of time. Here you can learn how to be be responsive to your babies cues and get them pooping and peeing straight into the potty. You’ll also cut down on the diaper waste/washing, nappy costs, and nigly nappy rashes with our EC Essentials Kit.
EC Essentials Kit Details
Frequently Asked Questions
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Top Hat Potty
Sage, Peach or Grey
Unisex design and 3 colours to choose from.
Recyclable, BPA-free Top Hat Potty.
100% cotton fleece Top Hat Potty Cover for comfort
Includes a grip band made (natural rubber band), to be placed on the neck of potty to prevent slippage.
The mesh cotton bag keeps the potty and accessories in one place and is great for traveling.
For use between birth and 1 year of age.
Makes EC with young babies a whole lot easier!
EC Basics Booklet
An introductory booklet that takes you through how to do EC step by step, how to hold your baby, recommendations, and others' experiences with EC. If the information about EC is unclear to you so far, this booklet should clear everything up and give you the information you need to get started. In this guide, you will find:
Benefits of practicing EC
Clarification of EC specific language
How to do EC: Step by Step
EC holds explainedEasy Captures
Recommended tools and products
FAQs and troubleshooting
EC stories
Further reading recommendations and online resources
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This kit provides you with the basics for you to get started with EC
The EC Booklet helps you and any other carers understand EC quickly
The Top Hat Potty makes EC so much easier
Please note that most babies will outgrow the Top Hat Potty by 1 year of age.
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Top Hat Potty
1. Place the Grip Band around the neck of the Top Hat Potty, where your legs will go.
2. Place the cotton cover on the top of the Potty.
3. Sit down and place the potty between your legs.
5. Place your baby on top of the potty. You may need to gently hold down the genital area if you have a boy.
6. Follow the EC process - when your baby has finished, you can use a Reusable Wet Wipe to clean their bottom.
7. Empty the Top Hat Potty in the toilet by removing half of the cotton cover and pouring the waste. Clean as required.
The Top Hat Potty is excellent to keep handy in the living area during the day or by the bed. It is perfect for taking out of the house or when you need to potty in the car and on-the-go. Please see more detailed instructions on the blog here.
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Potty Dimensions: 17.8cm x17.8cm x 11.4cm
Weight: 141.8 grams
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Top Hat Potty:
Recyclable, BPA-free Plastic
Top Hat Potty Cover: 100% cotton fleece
CaliBaby, under CaliWoods, is a bCorp-certified social enterprise that is woman-led, and NZ-owned.
EC Booklet:
Printed in NZ on recycled paper
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No extra packaging.
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To Clean:
For day-to-day washing of your potty, please use warm water and soap.
For additional cleaning, use boiling water and soap or a vinegar-water mixture in a spray bottle.
Machine wash the Top Hat Potty Cover on a normal, warm machine wash cycle. Line or tumble dry low.
Care:
The Top Hat Potty is pretty low maintenance and easy to look after just please don’t put it under anything heavy.
End-Of-Life:
1. Donate or sell your Top Hat Potty on a second-hand marketplace. This gives it a second life and helps us to produce less and use fewer resources.
2. If your Top Hat Potty has reached the end of its life, remove the Grip Band and the Top Hat Potty Cover and then place it into your curbside recycling. Please landfill the grip band and the cover.
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Top Hat Potty
Tiny Undies, USA, in their China factory.
EC Booklet
Created by the CaliWoods team and printed by our local printing partner in Auckland, New Zealand
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Shipping costs, shipping materials, carbon offsets, and estimates for delivery times can be found: HERE.
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EC is an option for families to potty babies by responding to their signals, natural rhythms, and parent/caregiver intuition. Their pees and poops are 'captured' in a potty, toilet, or out in nature, as opposed to relying solely on nappies. Nappies are used as a backup as there will be 'misses'.
To learn more about this have a read of the blogs HERE or join our Sustainable Babies in NZ support group HERE.
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Once you understand the basic techniques, EC is easy and slips into your daily routine. The hardest thing is overcoming our notions (and society’s!) of what the newborn and toddler period looks like. In Western culture, EC isn’t the norm, so there isn’t the family and cultural support that you would find in the East.
EC is an option that can be so rewarding for you and your baby! You will likely have nappy freedom earlier, less mess to clean, little to no nappy rash, and could even benefit from a less grizzly baby.
Each baby is different, and so is each parenting journey - commit to learning and have patience and compassion for you and your baby.
Resources:
1. The EC Basics Booklet has everything you need in hard copy to start. It’s an easy read for partners or family members to get them up to speed.
2. The Sustainable Babies in NZ Facebook group is a supportive community we created that has every question and EC-related topic we could think of to help you on your way.
3. The CaliBaby Blog has different posts that will help you get started with EC and the Top Hat Potty.
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From birth to 12 months old.
Some babies will be able to use the potty after 12 months but this will depend on size. Often the behavioural patterns will change too and your toddler could prefer to use a floor potty or toilet.
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Babies ages 0-18 months is EC. After 18 months, it is toilet training and the approach and techniques are different.
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You can certainly do EC without a Top Hat Potty, the first year just won’t be as easy. There’s something magic about not having to get down onto the floor each time or being able to easily do EC in the car.
We did EC from birth and for the first few months we had no Top Hat Potty because we had to ship the potty from the States. We knew nobody who did EC before, and we weren’t sure it was actually a thing that would work. Let’s just say it worked really well and having the Top Hat Potty in the first few months would have been really helpful - and we relished it from 3 months onwards to about 12 months!
If you aren’t sure you could use a DIY version to try EC, like an ice cream container to trying holds over the sink or toilet, first.
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The Top Hat Potty is easily emptied when your baby has finished. It’s just a matter of lifting the cover and then emptying the waste into the toilet. Rinse or clean with warm water and soap if required.
You will find that it’s a lot less cleaning than changing a soiled nappy. Please see the detailed cleaning instructions above.
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The booklet gives an all-round view of EC as a technique and is perfect for beginners. It is also useful if you are practising EC but still are confused about some of the processes, want more insight, or are troubleshooting. Please remember that there is also online support in our FB Group ‘Sustainable Babies In NZ’ for any specific issues that you are coming across that aren’t covered in the booklet.
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EC is an option for families to potty babies by responding to their signals, natural rhythms, and parent/caregiver intuition. Their pees and poops are 'captured' in a potty, toilet, or out in nature, as opposed to relying solely on nappies. Nappies are used as a backup as there will be 'misses'.
To learn more about this have a read of the blogs HERE or join our Sustainable Babies in NZ support group HERE.
New to EC?
Read our Intro To Elimination Communication blog HERE
Or our EC FAQs - The Basics blog HERE
Our Story, Our Promise
We are an NZ-owned, woman-led social enterprise. This means that we are for-profit, but the main thing we wake up for in the morning is our purpose; to reduce waste and stand up for Mama Earth. We are a certified bCorp.