Held & Heard: Infant potty training, elimination communication & postpartum motherhood

Heather Medlin, Ready From Birth
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Held and Heard is a podcast for mothers who believe their babies are communicating from the very beginning—and that motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Hosted by Heather Medlin, mother of three and founder of Ready From Birth, this show explores elimination communication (EC), infant potty training, and the deeper postpartum journey of learning to listen—to your baby, your body, and your intuition. You’ll hear conversations about: - Baby-led toilet learning from birth - Understanding your baby’s signals - Practicing EC in real life (while working, using diapers, and staying sane) - Navigating doubt, resistance, and confidence as a new mother This is not about perfection or pressure. It’s about communication, connection, and remembering what you already know. If you’re pregnant, postpartum, EC-curious, or already practicing—this is a place to land, exhale, and feel less alone.

  1. 6d ago

    033 / Why Does Matrescence Change Us? The Deeply Spiritual Transformation of Early Motherhood

    Why does early motherhood change you so deeply? You’ve probably heard the word matrescence—the profound physical, emotional, neurological, and identity transformation that happens when a woman becomes a mother. But what if there’s more to this transformation than biology? In this episode of Held and Heard, Heather explores a question she’s been asking about her own journey through motherhood: What if God is using early motherhood to shape us for His purpose? From pregnancy and birth to breastfeeding, sleepless nights, toddlerhood, and all the ordinary, exhausting work of caring for a child, motherhood has a way of confronting our need for control and teaching us things we might never have chosen to learn on our own. Heather explores the connection between matrescence, Christian motherhood, sanctification, and spiritual growth, looking at how early motherhood can cultivate the six central traits that our children - and God - require of us.  Discover your most peaceful postpartum possible: join Heather's upcoming free workshop Fix the Fuss: Uncover Your Baby's Forgotten Fifth Need on November 5th.  Learn how to recognize what your baby has been trying to tell you, discover a more peaceful postpartum, and learn how to naturally support your baby's potty learning without giving up diapers or daycare. Sign up here Topics covered: matrescence, early motherhood, postpartum motherhood, Christian motherhood, motherhood and faith, sanctification, becoming more like Jesus, spiritual growth, motherhood transformation, pregnancy and motherhood, postpartum identity, conscious parenting, infant potty learning, elimination communication.

  2. Sep 28

    032 / Pregnancy Isn't a Project: How High-Achieving Moms Can Prepare for Birth & Motherhood

    If you're the kind of woman who researches everything, makes the list, gets organized, and likes to feel prepared before a big life change… pregnancy can turn into one very big project. And motherhood doesn't exactly cooperate with project management. In this episode, I'm joined by Nina Spears, founder of Baby Chick and author of The Baby Chick Guide to Positive Pregnancy, to talk about what high-achieving women actually need to prepare for as they enter motherhood. Nina has spent more than 15 years supporting women through pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and early parenthood—as a baby planner, birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, and perinatal educator. She has attended more than 350 births and works with the exact kind of woman who is used to being capable, prepared, and in control. We talk about why preparing for birth is only part of the preparation you need, why postpartum deserves far more attention during pregnancy, how the invisible mental load begins long before your baby arrives, and why so many capable women find themselves completely overwhelmed once they're suddenly responsible for another human being. We also get into the uncomfortable reality of what happens when birth doesn't go according to plan—and what it can look like to prepare deeply while still leaving room for the things you simply cannot control. If you're pregnant and already making lists, reading the books, researching your options, and trying to make sure you do everything "right," I think you'll especially want to hear this conversation. Because preparing for motherhood isn't just about knowing more. It's about becoming the mother who can meet what actually comes. ............. Connect with Nina Spears on Instagram @thebabychick Prepare for pregnancy and postpartum at baby-chick.com and grab your copy of The Baby Chick Guide to Positive Pregnancy today!

  3. Sep 21

    031 / The Secret To Potty Training Before One? You Already Have It.

    Can you really potty train a baby before one? If you're practicing elimination communication (EC), you may already know that babies can communicate their need to eliminate long before conventional potty training says they're “ready.” But what happens when your baby is using the potty successfully at home and suddenly refuses when someone else is caring for them? In this episode of Held & Heard, Heather shares a recent experience with her 17-month-old while visiting family—and what the experience revealed about elimination communication, potty training before one, baby potty signals, and the difference between following your baby's communication and simply putting them on the potty according to a schedule. If you've been doing EC and wondering whether you're relying too much on timing, struggling to recognize your baby's signals, or wondering whether it's still worth continuing when your baby spends much of the day in diapers or daycare, this conversation is for you. Heather Medlin is a mother of three, infant potty learning educator, and founder of Ready From Birth. She teaches elimination communication and early potty learning from birth through toilet independence, with an emphasis on listening to your baby's communication rather than waiting for conventional “potty training readiness.” Get started the right way with the Born Ready course, and put your baby in control of potty time with Ditch the Diapers.  Learn more about infant potty learning, elimination communication, and potty training before one at readyfrombirth.com.

  4. Sep 14

    030 / Your Baby Is Ready to Potty Train—Even If They Can’t Walk or Talk Yet

    When should you start potty training your baby? Most parents are told to wait for “potty training readiness”—usually somewhere in the toddler years, when their child can walk to the bathroom, communicate that they need to go, handle clothing independently, and physically use the toilet. But what if we’ve confused being ready to START potty training with being able to do the entire process independently? Potty training isn't actually just one skill, it's a collection of over 40 different skills that must be independently mastered - and are best learned over time.  What if everything you thought you knew about when to potty train your child - is actually making it HARDER to potty train instead of easier? In this episode, I’m breaking down the foundational skills behind potty training mastery and explaining why toilet learning can begin long before your baby can walk or talk. We’ll talk about: When you can actually start potty training The difference between potty training readiness and toilet independence Why walking and talking aren’t prerequisites for beginning How babies communicate the need to pee or poop before they can speak The role of interoception and the brain-body connection in potty learning How elimination communication (EC) allows babies to build these skills gradually Why my experience potty training my first child at 26 months was completely different from starting EC with my younger two at birth If you’re been feeling like your baby might be ready long before "they say" she is, this episode is for you. Pregnant or starting with a newborn? Born Ready walks you through exactly how to begin elimination communication and build these skills from the start. Already practicing EC, but your baby is still wearing diapers? Ditch the Diapers shows you how to make the shift from you being responsible for pottying your baby to helping your baby take over the process themselves. Because the goal isn’t for you to get better and better at pottying your baby. The goal is toilet independence.

  5. Sep 7

    029 / Every Baby is Signaling: 6 Elimination Communication Questions Answered

    Every baby is signaling. But what if you can't figure out what your baby's signal actually is? What if you offer the potty and nothing happens…only for them to pee five minutes later? What if they used to poop in the potty consistently—and suddenly they're refusing altogether? In this week's episode of Held and Heard, I'm answering real elimination communication questions submitted by listeners, from the newborn days all the way through the transition toward toilet independence. We're talking about: • Whether EC is still worth doing if you can't identify your baby's pee signals • How long a newborn or older baby should actually sit on the potty • The surprisingly simple way babies tell you they're finished • What to say when your baby needs to potty in public—and you need to make a quick exit • Why some babies seem easier to “read” than others • Why potty signals can actually get stronger when you respond to them • What may be happening when EC suddenly starts falling apart around 10–12 months Because successful EC isn't about watching your baby every second of the day or getting every catch right. It's about building communication. And when you understand how that communication develops as your baby grows, pottying can become something your baby actively participates in—not something you have to manage entirely on your own. If you have a newborn or young baby and want the complete roadmap for building that communication from the beginning, Born Ready walks you through the process from first signals to increasing independence. And if your older baby was doing beautifully with EC but you're suddenly dealing with refusal, regression, missed poops, or pee right after offering, Ditch the Diapers will help you understand what's changing and gently guide your baby through this next developmental stage toward toilet independence.

  6. Aug 31

    028 / She Tried Pottying Her Baby at 5 Days Old. Here's What Happened.

    Five days after giving birth to her first baby, Kate Vazquez decided to try something she'd learned about while she was pregnant. She fed her newborn. Noticed her getting a little squirmy and fidgety. Remembered that this could be a potty cue. So she offered her the potty. And her baby peed. "Oh my gosh. I caught her first pee!" But what surprised Kate most wasn't that it worked. It was how EASY it was. In today's episode, I'm sharing a conversation I originally recorded with Kate during her first 12 weeks postpartum. Kate was a first-time mom who had never heard of elimination communication before we met while she was pregnant. Through our conversations, she became curious about what babies might actually be capable of from birth—and when her daughter arrived, she decided to try it for herself. We talk about: • What made EC make sense to her before her baby was even born • The newborn cue that led to her very first catch • How she began recognizing the difference between hunger, sleep and potty cues • Why her initially skeptical husband eventually started taking their daughter to the potty too • The connection between meeting a baby's needs, fussiness and feeling more confident as a new mom • How to start when you're exhausted, learning to breastfeed and already feel like you can't possibly add ONE MORE THING • Why starting can be as simple as choosing one predictable moment in your baby's day If you're pregnant and thinking, This sounds amazing, but will I actually be able to do this with a newborn?—I especially want you to hear Kate's story. Because you don't need to wait until you're in the fog of postpartum to figure this out. You can learn what to look for, understand what to do when you see it, and feel prepared to simply try when your baby arrives. That's exactly why I created Born Ready. Born Ready takes everything I've learned from practicing elimination communication with my own babies and teaching other families and turns it into a simple, step-by-step method you can learn before birth or begin with your newborn. Kate had something most pregnant moms don't: close proximity to someone who was already doing this and could show her what was possible. Born Ready gives you that education before you're trying to figure it out on your own. So if you're pregnant or holding a brand-new baby and Kate's story has you thinking, Okay...but how do I actually do this?—Born Ready is your next step. Learn more at readyfrombirth.com. And if you know a pregnant or brand-new mama who needs to know this is possible, send her this episode. 🤍 ------ Connect with Kate Vazquez:  https://www.instagram.com/thekatevazquez https://radiantbydesign.com/  The Radiant & Resilient Podcast   Start and save on your sustainable diaper subscription with Hiro Diapers

  7. Aug 24

    027 / Before You Change Your Newborn's Diaper, Do This First

    One of the most important things to learn before your baby arrives is how to change a diaper. But has anyone ever taught you what to do before you change it? In this episode of Held and Heard, I’m breaking down one of the most overlooked parts of newborn care: your baby’s natural potty cues. Just like newborn babies communicate when they’re hungry or tired, they can also communicate when they need to pee or poop—often before it happens. Inside this episode, you’ll learn: What a newborn may do right before they pee or poop How responding before your baby goes is different from simply changing a dirty diaper afterward Why newborns may actually wait for you to respond The brain-body connection that develops in a newborn when you do this How I used this with my own babies from their first weeks of life Because what if diaper changes were never supposed to be your first response? Learning your baby’s potty cues is part of elimination communication (EC), sometimes called infant potty learning—and it can be much simpler than it sounds. You don’t have to throw away your diapers, watch the clock all day, or wait until your baby is a toddler to begin. You can simply start learning another way your newborn communicates. Want to know exactly how to do this from birth? Inside Born Ready, I teach you my complete step-by-step process for recognizing your baby’s signals, offering the potty, responding confidently, and building this communication from the newborn days toward toilet independence. Whether you’re pregnant and preparing now or already holding your newborn, you can start from the beginning with a simple plan instead of trying to figure it out as you go. Join Born Ready here. Your baby is already communicating. Join the conversation. ---- Learn more at Readyfrombirth.com 🐣Preparing for birth? Know what to do from Day One, start the Born Ready course today! 🐥Ready to get on with toilet independence? Help your 10+ month old baby graduate from EC with Ditch the Diapers 📱Follow along on Instagram @readyfrombirth.ec

  8. Aug 10

    026 / The 5 Things Every Newborn Needs (The Secret to a Calm, Peaceful Baby)

    Have you ever watched another mom with a peaceful, content newborn and wondered... "What is she doing differently?" Maybe you've convinced yourself she just got lucky. Maybe her baby is naturally easy. But what if the difference isn't the baby at all? In this episode, I'm sharing the five basic needs every newborn has—and the one that almost every parent is taught to ignore. We'll talk about why babies cry, why "colic" often leaves parents feeling helpless, and how learning to recognize your baby's communication can completely change your postpartum experience. Inside this episode you'll learn: The five basic needs every newborn is trying to communicate Why a crying baby isn't a "bad" baby The surprising biological need almost every newborn care class leaves out Why some babies seem calmer—not because they're easier, but because they're better understood How learning to recognize your baby's cues builds confidence for both of you Whether you're still pregnant or holding your newborn in your arms right now, this episode will help you stop guessing and start understanding. If you're ready to learn exactly how to recognize your own baby's communication—including the elimination cues almost nobody talks about—the Born Ready course is the complete guide from birth through walking. Learn more about Born Ready. ---- Learn more at Readyfrombirth.com 🐣Preparing for birth? Know what to do from Day One, start the Born Ready course today! 🐥Ready to get on with toilet independence? Help your baby graduate from EC with Ditch the Diapers 📱Follow along on Instagram @readyfrombirth.ec

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About

Held and Heard is a podcast for mothers who believe their babies are communicating from the very beginning—and that motherhood was never meant to be done alone. Hosted by Heather Medlin, mother of three and founder of Ready From Birth, this show explores elimination communication (EC), infant potty training, and the deeper postpartum journey of learning to listen—to your baby, your body, and your intuition. You’ll hear conversations about: - Baby-led toilet learning from birth - Understanding your baby’s signals - Practicing EC in real life (while working, using diapers, and staying sane) - Navigating doubt, resistance, and confidence as a new mother This is not about perfection or pressure. It’s about communication, connection, and remembering what you already know. If you’re pregnant, postpartum, EC-curious, or already practicing—this is a place to land, exhale, and feel less alone.

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