Bachelor alum Bekah Martinez shared an update on her third child, claiming the nine-week-old can use the potty.
The 28-year-old – who revealed she gave birth to her third child, Ernest Allison Leonard, in October – recently uploaded some news to her Instagram Stories.
On Wednesday, the former reality TV star posted about getting stains from her baby's bedding and clothes, and discussed her efforts to use the elimination communication method (EC) with her youngest child.
“Elimination communication is wild,” the mother of three wrote on her Instagram Stories.
Bachelor alum Bekah Martinez shared an update on her third child, claiming the nine-week-old can use the potty
Bekah Martinez discussed her attempts to use the elimination communication method with her youngest child
“I've never really tried it with the other two kids, but I put Ernest on a potty about a dozen times after he woke up and stuff. single. the time he has peed immediately and usually poops too.'
The Bachelor alum went on to say that she always thought it was “just a coincidence” when she heard people talk about using a potty for their child, but claims he actually uses it.
“I don't know (I don't know) how to explain it, but it's like he knows – as soon as I undress him and put the potty underneath, he starts going,” Bekah reported.
“We've been potty training the other kids around 22 months because our personal goal is to have them out of diapers by 2 p.m., but we're super curious to see if Ernest will be out of diapers sooner if we keep this up,” she wrote .
Skeptics responded to her story after it was shared by various social media outlets.
'I don't think the baby was trained at nine weeks. They can't sit up at nine weeks, maybe a typo,” said one dubious person.
“I bet he would 'use' whatever you slid under him when he was about to pee, it's not him who recognizes the potty, sorry,” wrote another.
Meanwhile, another accused Bekah of “child abuse” for encouraging her baby to use a potty so early in life, writing: “That's just not normal and it's child abuse.” It's a baby, for God's sake. Never mind!!'
Bekah later responded to naysayers in an Instagram comment under a People post, which shared her story.
“There are so many people who are willing to immediately say something they don't understand without taking the time to try to understand it. honestly embarrassing,” the irate mother wrote.
Bekah started dating her now fiancé, Grayston Leonard (pictured) in 2018, the couple share daughter Ruth born in February 2019, Franklin born in June 2020 and Ernest born in October
Bekah said she potty trained her children around 22 months because her personal goal was to have them out of diapers by two o'clock.
Bekah added that the method was common in places around the world where they did not have easy access to water to wash diapers or buy disposable diapers.
Skeptics responded to her story after it was shared by various social media outlets
'There is a lot we can learn from cultures around the world and elimination communication is one of them. Only good things can come from learning your baby's patterns and cues and creating less diaper waste.”
In another comment, Bekah added that the method was common in places around the world where they did not have easy access to water to wash diapers or buy disposable diapers.
“It was also quite common in US pre-disposables,” she said.
'If you ask the older generation, they will have stories about babies going out of diapers before the age of 12 months. The idea is that you teach their non-verbal cues the same way you would when they are hungry or tired.”
According to HealthlineElimination communication is choosing not to use diapers in favor of a potty.
The name comes from elimination, as in the baby's excretion, and communication, which refers to listening to the baby's signals to figure out when to go.
Parents are told to observe the cues that they need to go, and to act immediately when they recognize these cues and take their child to the potty.
While babies using this method can still wear diapers, it instead relies on diapers acting as a backup rather than the first line of defense.
“Proponents say this method is less wasteful and more affordable than using diapers for two or three years,” the website says.
They also pointed out that there is an “important difference” between EC and actual toilet training.
“With EC, the baby simply communicates its need to urinate or defecate, and does so immediately with the support of a parent,” according to Healthline.
“There's no way to contain their waste like with conventional toilet training.”
Bekah most notably appeared on the 22nd season of The Bachelor and began dating her now fiancé, Grayston Leonard, in 2018.
The couple welcomed daughter Ruth in February 2019 and the following year their son Franklin was born in June 2020.