# Elimination Communication Support Thread



## Sam Pearson

This is a thread where we can support each other with our ECing, share successes or misses, ask for ideas/tips/advice, share resources etc.

I'll start off by posting an article I wrote many years ago for my local food coop when I got so much interest it was taking time away from my work there to speak with customers about it.


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## Sam Pearson

RAISING BABY NAPPY-FREE by Sam Pearson

With the debate still current as to whether disposable, eco-disposable or cloth nappies are best there is another alternative that many people are unaware of. It&#8217;s the cleanest, greenest and probably the oldest way of dealing with babies&#8217; elimination. Elimination Communication. (EC), also referred to as Infant Potty Training or Natural Infant Hygiene, is rarely practiced in Western society but it is the most common way of managing infant hygiene in the world today. While ECing makes good sense where water is scarce or disposable nappies are unavailable there are many other advantages that babies and parents can also enjoy.

What is Elimination Communication?

Parents carry their babies before they can walk. Mothers help their baby to the breast before they can lift our shirts and self serve. We help babies get to sleep when they are tired until they are old enough to do this unassisted. With Elimination Communication we are simply helping the baby to eliminate, just as we do, in a receptacle and not into their clothing until such time as they are capable of using a toilet independently. When a baby is never trained to use a nappy or taught to ignore their body&#8217;s signals that tell them they need to eliminate, they never have to learn to use a potty or re-recognise their body&#8217;s urges at a later date. 

We are commonly told by doctors, child health experts and other parents that children develop bladder and bowel control between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. We also assume that babies are unaware of the sensation of having the need to eliminate before this age. Human knowledge of anatomy and physiology reveals both of these beliefs to be misconceptions. Not a new practice; the use of EC has been the norm in many non western cultures for centuries and is still widely practiced today. 

We know that babies have bladder and sphincter control from birth. All mammals, including the human newborn, instinctively avoid soiling their nest and will follow the lead of their parents as to what is expected of them to achieve this. All babies are born capable of feeling the need to eliminate and if consistently given the opportunity can easily learn to communicate to us when they need to eliminate as well as understand when and where we would like them to eliminate. 

In contrast to toilet training, Elimination Communication is primarily about parent training. A close bond between baby and primary carer is essential as the adult must learn to recognise when baby has to &#8220;go&#8221; through timing (regular elimination patterns), baby&#8217;s cues (body language) and intuition. For this reason it is consistent with Attachment Parenting when the parent and child are in-tune with each other which can be achieved by being rarely separated, bed sharing, baby wearing and parenting responsively. 

Different parents approach EC differently but a common factor is the adult teaching the child a cueing sound. When the baby is newborn, the parent makes appropriate sounds as baby eliminates and baby soon learns to associate this with elimination. Once this cueing sound has been learned by the child the parent can hold their baby over a suitable receptacle and ask the child to eliminate by making the sound. 

In time babies learn how to clearly communicate to their parent their need to eliminate by either their body language, baby talk or in some cases by using a hand signal that they have been taught or invented on their own. Most ECed babies clearly signal either a full bladder or bowel from around 3-4 months onwards and are able to wait long enough for their carer to get them to an appropriate spot to eliminate. 

Parents practicing Elimination Communication might occasionally use a nappy as back up e.g. for long car trips or when baby is ill with diarrhoea. Some parents choose to EC part-time, perhaps during the day using a nappy only at night or perhaps only when at home. The human body in any healthy person excretes an anti-diuretic hormone during sleep which lessens the need to eliminate during sleep. 

Contrary to popular belief, with the exception of people with medical conditions, humans don&#8217;t eliminate in their sleep but are at least semi conscious. The mother who co-sleeps with her child and who is in tune with her baby can awaken to their stirring as they come out of deeper sleep and can respond to their baby&#8217;s elimination signals.

What are the advantages of Elimination Communication? 

Avoiding nappy changes. 

The most obvious benefit is avoiding the time and effort of frequently changing wet nappies and the sometimes unpleasant task of dealing with soiled nappies. It is much easier and generally quicker to take a child of any age to the toilet than it is to change their nappy. Avoiding using nappies means no need to pack a nappy bag and lug it about whenever out of the home. 

Elimination Communication is the cleanest choice for the environment. 

Disposable nappies and the plastic bags they are often wrapped in once dirty are a major contributor to landfill. For those environmentally conscious parents who choose cloth over disposable nappies, ECing saves the environmental cost of nappy production plus the extra water and laundry detergent involved with 6-12 reusable nappies per child daily, nappy covers and soiled clothes from nappy &#8220;blowouts&#8221;.

It&#8217;s cheaper. 

With Elimination Communication we avoid the financial cost involved in both the initial purchase of the nappies plus all the other nappy changing essentials such as change mat, baby wipes, creams and nappy liners. For users of cloth nappies as well as the initial outlay there is the associated costs of water, laundry powder and running the washing machine which can add up over the years. Clothes fit for longer without the bulk of a nappy.

EC is the healthiest choice for babies.

There is no doubt that EC is kindest to babies&#8217; delicate skin. A baby in nappies will have them next to their skin almost continually for many years which can lead to irritations. With disposables there is the issue of chemicals used in the production and in the absorbent gel which can enter a baby&#8217;s bloodstream and in the case of girls get into their vagina. With cloth there is the constant issue of keeping baby dry so they are more comfortable and sleep better. With both cloth and disposable nappies there is the age old problem of nappy-rash which can be painful and difficult to clear up. An ECed baby will never have nappy rash and ECing parents will never have to purchase nappy rash salves or preventative barrier creams. Elimination Communication reduces the risk of UTIs and constipation plus enables parents to take closer note of baby&#8217;s elimination patterns to develop a better sense of a child&#8217;s digestive system and potentially react to allergens more quickly.

Elimination Communication supports positive child development. 

EC is considered to be the approach to toileting that optimizes healthy sexual development. A baby constantly wearing a nappy baby becomes to an extent desensitised to that area of the body and can&#8217;t get in touch with their bodies uninhibited by a nappy. Elimination Communication respects babies&#8217; abilities to communicate their needs from birth which builds baby&#8217;s self. Older siblings can be involved reducing rivalry and also helping them to develop healthy attitudes about bodily functions.

Elimination Communication leads to enhanced bonding.

Perhaps most importantly is the development of a trusting relationship between the parent and the child which is enhanced through communication about a basic human need. Baby feels more secure: &#8220;Mummy and Daddy listen to what I am saying and respond to my needs.&#8221; Parents learn to trust their instincts through accurately reading their baby&#8217;s body language building their confidence in their parenting abilities. They have an additional parenting tool under their belt because they understand that a baby may be crying due to the need to eliminate and can therefore respond in the appropriate way.

What happens when a nappy free baby is old enough to use the toilet?

Toilet independence for nappy free babies means a gradual transition from needing help to confidently using the toilet on their own. One big advantage for families is that many ECed children are dry at night at around 12 months and have achieved complete toilet independence at 14 months. However, while early independence is common with ECed babies due to their increased awareness of their bodily functions that is never the aim and indeed some ECed babies are independent at an age that might be considered late. 

Sources:
&#8220;Infant Potty Training&#8221; by Laurie Boucke
&#8220;Diaper Free!&#8221; The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene&#8221; by Ingrid Bauer
Diaper Free www.natural-wisdom.com/


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## Sam Pearson

Apologies for the Aussie links. I hope some UK and international websites will be added by other forum members.

*BOOKS*
&#8220;Infant Potty Training&#8221; by Laurie Boucke
&#8220;Diaper Free!&#8221; The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene&#8221; by Ingrid Bauer
Diaper Free www.natural-wisdom.com/

*
WEBSITES*

EC Simplified https://ecsimplified.com/
Tribal Baby Org www.tribalbaby.org/
Noonee Wilga Elimination Communication www.nooneewilga.com/EC/index.html

*SUPPORT*
OzNappyFree https://groups.yahoo.com/group/OzNappyfree/


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## RoxyRoo

Hi, I only heard about EC thanks to a thread on B&B and I was instantly interested. After doing alot of research (and convincing hubby!) we started EC a couple of weeks ago - our DD is 4 months old. We started holding DD over the toilet once or twice a day, and were shocked when she wee'd on more than one occasion :thumbup:

We found the time between her needing to go, and getting her to the toilet was too long so we bought a potty a few days ago. We now hold her over it after naps and at nappy changes and are amazed at the results already. She knows exactly what to do and 9 times out of 10 she wee's or poo's when being held on her potty, if she doesn't go she at least tries to. I am honestly shocked at how quickly she has picked it up, and how she is able to let go when she wants to. The three of us love EC already :)


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## grandbleu

Thanks *Sam* - I'm subscribing! :happydance:


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## lepaskilf

Hi, I never did EC with my LO but I am currently pooty training him ad wondered if you girl had some tips on how to cope with EC when you are out and about? Say you are in baby club with your newborn but the toilets are out of the room, down the stairs and along the corridor (Like mine lol) What do you do?? Do you have a potty with you at all times and whip it out when needed? Ignoring the "looks!" of people!


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## Macmad

Thanks Sam, subscribing too! X


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## jcg0506

Good article. It would be cool if we could get this as a sticky thread. We are ECing our son, and started at a couple weeks old. We're making great progress. By 2 months he could pee on cue. Let's get the word out!


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## MissFox

I'm very part time with my ECing but its been great since D H is all about it also!


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## serenas_song

Just wanted to say a quick thanks, especially to Sam for all the great info! I discovered EC just a couple weeks ago on BnB and started 8 days ago. In those 8 days, I've learned so much about my baby (almost 3 months old) and what she's capable of! In those 8 days we've caught 9-12 pees each day and up to 5 poops. :happydance: In fact, I've had so many in the potty that I feel bad throwing away barely-used disposable diapers so I just ordered my first cloth diapers! Never would have dreamed I'd be doing that. Its been a very interesting few days to say the least, but now I can't imagine doing it any other way. I look forward to reading more on the topic on this thread!


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## mumnbean

Hi girls! Just wanted to add my support! I ec'd my daughter, and started when we bought her home from the hospital. We would just put her over the potty at nappy changes, and let her do her thing. Got some very strange reactions and comments, but it just made sense to me so I kept with it. I was quite relaxed about getting her nappy free, as I wanted the freedom to go out without being chained to a potty, so have kept her in nappies. At 7 months I completely stopped having even the occasional dirty nappies, and shortly after started work so haven't been able to focus on getting her nappy free, but am planning to go cold turkey next month( she has just had a little brother so wanted to give her some time to adjust now).

This time have started doing the same for my son. The first time I put him on the potty he pooped and peeped! It's a lot easier to read the cues, and adjust the second time around! 

Although I don't consider myself a true ec'er as I didn't go nappy free the whole time, I think i made a good compromise between my lifestyle/work and ecing. I am so happy to have had the progress I did with my daughter, and absolutely no issues with toilet training, as she has always considered it a normal part of her day.


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## Sam Pearson

lepaskilf said:


> Say you are in baby club with your newborn but the toilets are out of the room, down the stairs and along the corridor (Like mine lol) What do you do?? Do you have a potty with you at all times and whip it out when needed? Ignoring the "looks!" of people!

Do you mean with an older child playing at the club, too? In that case, ideally I'd leave a trusted adult keeping an eye on my toddler and I'd take my newborn to the toilet but if that's not doable, yeah, just do it where you are or perhaps in the hall so you are very closeby to your child but not bothering people who don't understand EC...or do it deliberately in the main room and show folks how it's done. In that setting I'd most likely use a cloth nappy as back up. 

I found a sling really helpful for in public. I noticed after a while that my babies never weed or pooed in the sling and they rarely asked to get outof their sling for any other reason so if they were obviously unhappy in there that was my most consistent cue they had to go and it saved me having to look for the more subtle cues in situations where I was distracted like buying the dinner ingredients or chatting with friends.


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## Sam Pearson

mumnbean said:


> Although I don't consider myself a true ec'er as I didn't go nappy free the whole time, I think i made a good compromise between my lifestyle/work and ecing. .

I think you are 100% and ECer. It's certainly more about communicating than being nappy free and you sound like you're a natural.


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## cheese lover

Thanks Sam! Subscribing! 

We started EC'ing more as early potty training but we're working hard to use communication. I started when LO was around 6 months. I read the book "diaper-free by three" and was inspired. I really didn't want LO in diapers any longer than necessary even though we use cloth.

We had a few hiccups while on vacation. LO pretty much refused to use the potty. I don't think she liked the travel adapter that I bought. I'm not sure what to try next, like when we're out of the house. I'd rather not lug around her little pink potty but I guess if we have to we will. I'd rather she be ok with using the big potty. DH is VERY anti-human waste so if we have to bring her potty with us he would be very upset by it. I can push it though if we have to.


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## mumnbean

Hi Cheese lover... We bought our lo a pottete plus seat to leave in the car/pram, which can be used as a toilet seat on a normal toilet, or self standing potty using a plastic bag that has an absorptive pad in it and just fold the legs down. 

Sometimes though, she will just refuse to use a toilet outside of home/familiar place. I have been to restaurants a few times where she will ask to go 'toiley' and take her, but then she will just hold it until she gets home as she refuses to go... They can be funny creatures! Very handy to have the portable seat thingo, as it is "her" toilet that she is still familiar with, anywhere anytime :)


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## cheese lover

thanks mumnbean. I bought this:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BXHPEU/ref=oh_o05_s00_i00_details for travel but she won't use it. 
this is what we have at home: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UZVGAI/ref=oh_o02_s00_i01_details. She seems to like it but has only gone poo in it once since we got home. I hope as we get back into the routine she'll go more in it at home. I'll have to look at that potty you talked about since apparently I'm back in the market for a travel potty.


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## cheese lover

I'm liking this one: https://www.amazon.com/Kalencom-2-i...s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1328541856&sr=1-1 but I'm concerned about it using a disposable pad. Is this similar to what you have? I'm thinking I could use a cloth diaper insert instead.


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## bug in a rug

Hooray :) I'm glad to be getting back to it after a weekend away using disposables (couldn't take cloth to my I laws and not reliable enough to risk nappy free time on their cream carpets). 'Sposies are odd things!


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## mumnbean

cheese lover said:


> I'm liking this one: https://www.amazon.com/Kalencom-2-i...s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1328541856&sr=1-1 but I'm concerned about it using a disposable pad. Is this similar to what you have? I'm thinking I could use a cloth diaper insert instead.

That's exactly it! I've only needed to buy 1 extra set of bags, as I usually find a toilet... But for the park/ boot of the car those bags are very handy :thumbup:


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## cheese lover

cool, thanks! I'll buy it tonight. Hopefully she likes it. We frequently take road trips so this will be very handy! 

She's still not going in the potty but we'll keep trying. :thumbup:


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## bug in a rug

I mentioned this already in the thread over in baby club - but it's still cropping up and I'm baffled. Before I put a nappy back on baby after play time (which is when we go nappy free) I offer him a couple of different ways to pee - standing up using a bowl, sitting on the potty, lying down in a flannel - nothing (and they're all ways he has liked to wee). Then I put the nappy on and get an instant wee. What is it about the nappy that makes him feel comfortable weeing, and can I make him feel like that without a nappy?
TIA


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## grandbleu

*Bug* - Sorry no answers for you as I'm a newbie ECer but hope someone pipes in!

We are having trouble too - We started off really well the first couple days and now I've only been able to catch on pee in the last 4 days....pathetic :dohh: I'm a part-time ECer because we are out and about a lot so I'm not expecting to catch all his pees/poos but at home I offer him the toilet after naps, feeding, changing times and I'm getting nothing and if he's being held in the squat more than 2-5 minutes with no production he gets annoyed so I take him off...Feeling like a bit of a failure to be honest. Any suggestions about how I can catch more poops and pees :shrug:


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## Sam Pearson

bug in a rug said:


> I mentioned this already in the thread over in baby club - but it's still cropping up and I'm baffled. Before I put a nappy back on baby after play time (which is when we go nappy free) I offer him a couple of different ways to pee - standing up using a bowl, sitting on the potty, lying down in a flannel - nothing (and they're all ways he has liked to wee). Then I put the nappy on and get an instant wee. What is it about the nappy that makes him feel comfortable weeing, and can I make him feel like that without a nappy?
> TIA

I'm not sure you can or even should try to change what he is doing if he's comfortable. I'd keep the communication up i.e. when he does wee or poo, wherever that be, talk about it. Keep the communication up about your own elimination - patting over your bladder and saying the cue words when you have to use the loo and take him and let him see you use the toilet and talk about it. But ultimately, if he is preferring to use a nappy right now your choices are let him do that or remove the nappy out of the equation altogether. Perhaps choose a time when you have a day or two with nothing else on where you can leave him nappy free all day and see where that takes you. But never do anything that makes him feel distressed or uncomfortable or pressured to perform. And also don't put that pressure on yourself. It's not about the tally of catches but about the communication. When it's not a secret what the big people do eventually he will want to copy you and not use a nappy.


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## Sam Pearson

grandbleu said:


> *Bug*
> 
> We are having trouble too - We started off really well the first couple days and now I've only been able to catch on pee in the last 4 days....pathetic :dohh: I'm a part-time ECer because we are out and about a lot so I'm not expecting to catch all his pees/poos but at home I offer him the toilet after naps, feeding, changing times and I'm getting nothing and if he's being held in the squat more than 2-5 minutes with no production he gets annoyed so I take him off...Feeling like a bit of a failure to be honest. Any suggestions about how I can catch more poops and pees :shrug:

It's often the case that the first attempts are more successful then it tapers off. I'm really not sure why but it's common. Don't loose heart. You are doing well. What you are doing is called toilet timing. It's a huge tool that EC Mums use - you' have observed the times he usually goes and are offering him an option of the pot. Eventually he will go and he will know that you are happy and hopefully will be encouraged to do it again.

I think 5 minutes is a really long time in the world of a baby so I would probably not wait that long unless he is really happy to wait, too. I waited 30 seconds because when they did eliminate it usually happened that quic and if they didn't go and I still held them they got cranky so I felt it was best to avoid that frustration for us both. 

I'd keep up what you are doing (offering at those times) and I'd use clear cueing sounds when he does go (wherever that is) and I'd start looking for his cues. These can be sublte. Goosebumps on the thighs or shaking legs can mean a poo is coming. Going suddenly still or a faraway look on their face as if they are distracted by an internal feeling might be all you get. Try to pay attention to any sounds he might make before, during and after peeing - there may not be any.


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## cheese lover

So hopefully we're back on track. We got 2 pees in the potty today, first thing in the morning and before bath. Catching the pee this morning made me want to make myself a medal! Its really hard for me to catch her pee after she wakes up since she's usually so clingy after waking up. :thumbup:

I find that the more relaxed I am about it, the easier it is. If I don't catch it, no problem, we'll talk about what happened and try again next time. 

Keep up the great work everyone!


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## Macmad

Hi ladies thought I'd update on you all on how we are getting on with EC. Think we are on about week 4 now and doing really well. I am offering her the toilet a lot more than more and I think it is paying off. We seem to be going through less cloth nappies and she has longer drier spells then goes on the toilet. I started putting her on the toilet while daddy runs the bath before bed, hoping to involve him to :thumb up: Well last night was the first time she peed before her bath after a week of trying :happy dance: so i was so pleased with her. 
I keep doing the sign language for 'all done' but not sure if she understands me. My husband tells me I'm getting good at it though :dohh:

Hope everyone else doing ok. Oh and here's a picture of madam having fun on the loo!
 



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## cheese lover

That is such a cute picture! I do the sign for all done too and she just smiles at me. I'm having a hard time determining when she's done because she loves sitting on her potty so much. Before she would reach for me and want to be helped off. Now she just sits there and smiles. :wacko:


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## serenas_song

I am so hooked on EC! really can't imagine doing it any differently now. Quick question, my lo is 3 months now and I want to get her a potty for when she's starting to sit up a little better. Any recommendations? Baby Bjorn "Little Potty" or "Smart Potty"? thanks! :flower:


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## cheese lover

in hindsight I'd probably buy the smart potty. the little potty is what my LO has but its a pain to get the pee or poo out of because you have to dump the whole thing and then wash the whole thing. with the smart potty you just take out the little insert thing. She loves her little potty btw and will just sit there and talk with her mommy while going potty :haha:


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## bug in a rug

> It's often the case that the first attempts are more successful then it tapers off. I'm really not sure why but it's common.

This is certainly true for us at the moment - my husband thinks it's fluke when I catch one. To be fair, if I hadn't seen it working so well the week before I would too at the moment!
I'm home alone with mini-bug all weekend, so I'm getting all my terry squares and flannels clean and dry and planning two nappy free days. Gulp.

I'm also wishing he had some clothes that aren't romper/dungarees or otherwise all in ones to make potty offering less cumbersome (and misses less chaos causing!)


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## cheese lover

Hey even if it is a fluke, its still less waste that's being produced in a diaper. 
For example, the other night I was waiting for DH to put the final touches on dinner and LO started to grunt and passed a little gas so I took the opportunity to put her on the potty. Not only did she poo but she peed first! :thumbup: I couldn't believe it.

Funny story for you guys! Yesterday I went to nurse LO during lunch and the girls at her school told me a funny story. LO had her back to the mirror on the wall, was squating, grunting and watching herself poo in the mirror! :haha: :rofl: They thought it was the funniest thing ever. So I explained what we do with the potty (show her the poo or pee, talk about it, put it in the toilet and say goodbye as we flush it) and they said, oh so she's starting to understand what she's supposed to do! and I said yeah and she was probably confused why she couldn't see her poo coming out :haha:


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## bug in a rug

aw - how cute. My mum says I had a phase of insisting on waving goodbye to my poos as they went down the loo... I'll have to remember that when the little one gets a bit bigger!


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## RoxyRoo

Hi ladies, I haven't been on in a while, I hope you're all doing ok. 

It seems to be going well for us. DD is in a bit of a routine for using the potty now, we put her on it after naps, when changing her nappy and again before putting her new nappy on (after nappy off time) and also when it's been a while since she's been. She always at least tries to push a little wee out, even when she doesn't need one which is great :thumbup: 

She's full of a horrible cold and cough at the moment so we haven't been as successful over the last few days, but I don't blame her. She looks rough :(


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## cheese lover

Isis now knows the routine of potty use. I've noticed if I don't take her to the potty when she thinks she should go she goes in her diaper. 
I'm pretty proud of her, we used a pair of training pants yesterday and she was fine until we struggled with nap time and she peed in it while I was trying to get her down for a nap. It was great though, we only used 2 diapers all day Sunday and this morning she woke up dry even though I know she woke a couple times in the night. :happydance: She's definitely making progress! 

I worked on a prototype pull-up fleece diaper/training pant this weekend. I'm going to use snaps to add inserts so they can be pulled on and off easily. The patterns I found were too big. I really want it to be trim because LO is pretty thin. I'm also going to make some out of wool. I bought some old wool sweaters at Goodwill a while back and was going to make longies out of them but I also can make soakers with them and still make longies out of the sleeves.


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## LockandKey

hey ladies :hi: 

Stalking this thread as I would really love to start EC with DD now that we are moved into our new apartment. Hoping I can buy her a potty tomorrow or sometime this week. Any quick tips on where I should start? Or do I just have her sit on it?


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## cheese lover

I started by having her sit on the potty first thing in the morning and before bath. If there are other times when you know she goes potty you can try those too. If she cries or doesn't want to sit on the potty don't make her. I also started watching for her to grunt indicating she was going to poo. I would run her to the potty when she would do that. Now she actually gives me a warning grunt. We celebrate every time she's successful and say something like "oh well, try again next time" if she's not. I let her look in the potty to see what she did and then we dump it in the big toilet and say bye bye while its flushing. She's started to clap now whenever she's done because we would clap and celebrate when she was successful.

DH and I were talking about it last night and how many diapers we're saving by putting her on the potty and he was all about it. He wasn't too sure when I first started but now he's happy.


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## bug in a rug

Mwa ha ha our nappy free weekend has made a big difference! It's like its clicked for the boy. He sits on his potty quite happily and done quite a few wees and one poo on it - and if he doesn't want to go he stands up (he's not some standing up prodigy, I support him from behind when he's sitting on the potty and he uses his head pressed against me to stand!).
I'm mostly using timing rather than being able to spot signs in advance - so after naps, feeds and if he hasn't had one for a while. Interestingly, there's been several times that I've thought I'll take him when we've finished doing something - and he's peed before I can, so I wonder if I'm picking up a signal I'm not consciously aware of yet.
Learn from my fail ladies! Make sure the tail of the baby vest isn't in the potty before you cue - or the whole operation becomes a lot more complicated... :/


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## cheese lover

bug in a rug said:


> Learn from my fail ladies! Make sure the tail of the baby vest isn't in the potty before you cue - or the whole operation becomes a lot more complicated... :/

We came close one time and now I make sure everything is up! We throw the legs of her sleepers over her shoulders when she goes potty in the morning.


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## bug in a rug

> We throw the legs of her sleepers over her shoulders when she goes potty in the morning.

Cute and sensible too!

I am ridiculously excited having just taken off a dry nappy for the first time and cued for a successful potty pee :happydance:

...the husband's on board too now!


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## cheese lover

she loves to play with the feet too! :haha:

I love taking off a dry diaper! Makes me realize that this is totally the way to go. I just can't believe that we're already getting dry diapers in the morning! We didn't today but we did yesterday.


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## Macmad

Danielle
Did you buy your training pants or make them? I'm wondering about getting some but need them in smaller size. Thanks x


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## cheese lover

I bought 2 Blueberry brand training pants when they were on Babysteals at half off. I bought size small and they fit my 17lb 9 month old. I had been told that they run small. I really like them. They will leak if used as a diaper. They have PUL inside them but the PUL is hidden so it wicks. I put them on under fleece pants just in case. 
I'm working on making some trainers right now using a fleece cover. they'll probably turn out more like a pull up diaper with a snap in insert but I'm trying to make them as trim as the blueberry trainer. I'll post some pics when I'm done. I'm also going to use some old wool sweaters to make some wool covered ones.


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## LockandKey

I tried holding DD over the adult potty (still don't have a baby one yet) and she clung to me for dear life and cried :( I hope we can get a potty her size soon, I don't want her to think the potty is nothing but scary and bad experiences


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## jcg0506

bug in a rug said:


> Mwa ha ha our nappy free weekend has made a big difference! It's like its clicked for the boy. He sits on his potty quite happily and done quite a few wees and one poo on it - and if he doesn't want to go he stands up (he's not some standing up prodigy, I support him from behind when he's sitting on the potty and he uses his head pressed against me to stand!).
> I'm mostly using timing rather than being able to spot signs in advance - so after naps, feeds and if he hasn't had one for a while. Interestingly, there's been several times that I've thought I'll take him when we've finished doing something - and he's peed before I can, so I wonder if I'm picking up a signal I'm not consciously aware of yet.
> Learn from my fail ladies! Make sure the tail of the baby vest isn't in the potty before you cue - or the whole operation becomes a lot more complicated... :/

Definitely start listening to your intuition; it is real! But you do have to be quick about it, no second guessing yourself-- at least that is my experience. And the whole phantom pee thing works too. I was skeptical at first, but I've caught several pees that way. And yeah, I've let the back of the onesies fall in the potty on more than one occasion.


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## Sam Pearson

LockandKey said:


> I tried holding DD over the adult potty (still don't have a baby one yet) and she clung to me for dear life and cried :( I hope we can get a potty her size soon, I don't want her to think the potty is nothing but scary and bad experiences

You want to ensure she feels secure. Perhaps a classic EC squat will work best either over a bathroom/laundry/kitchen sink (great height for protecting Mum's back) or you can pee her in the garden with her in an EC squat and you squatting behind her with her back snuggled right in to your body. Alternatively you could put a potty (or other container) on your lap or between your legs. Another position that offers baby security is double up backwards or forwards on the big loo.

I can explain more about these positions and try to find pics if that would help you. 

I wish I was closer and we could have an EC info meet and I could demonstrate the various positions. I had a friend show me and it became instantly clear how it all came together although it took me some time before I was as practiced as she was.


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## Sam Pearson

I found there was also a telepathic element. Seriously. I would have the thought that I needed to pee then realise I didn't but that my baby probably did and sure enough they always did have to go when that happened. I also occassionally thought I was hungry then realised I wasn't but that my baby probably was.


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## LockandKey

Sam Pearson said:


> LockandKey said:
> 
> 
> I tried holding DD over the adult potty (still don't have a baby one yet) and she clung to me for dear life and cried :( I hope we can get a potty her size soon, I don't want her to think the potty is nothing but scary and bad experiences
> 
> You want to ensure she feels secure. Perhaps a classic EC squat will work best either over a bathroom/laundry/kitchen sink (great height for protecting Mum's back) or you can pee her in the garden with her in an EC squat and you squatting behind her with her back snuggled right in to your body. Alternatively you could put a potty (or other container) on your lap or between your legs. Another position that offers baby security is double up backwards or forwards on the big loo.
> 
> I can explain more about these positions and try to find pics if that would help you.
> 
> I wish I was closer and we could have an EC info meet and I could demonstrate the various positions. I had a friend show me and it became instantly clear how it all came together although it took me some time before I was as practiced as she was.Click to expand...

picture demonstrations would be wonderful :flower: I wish we were closer too, I've always wanted to go to Australia!


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## grandbleu

Me too - I would love face to face support - I am continuing to EC part-time but it's still not going great - but I keep offering opportunities. LO is teething now and is miserable so is not as patient when I put him in the EC squat.

I'll keep going though...


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## Macmad

Ooo feeling abit disheartened today, not really caught any pees the last 2 days. I'm still having trouble reading her cue signs. :-( hope it improves tomorrow


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## cheese lover

Don't get too disheartened. I still don't catch many signs. I just have her go whenever I have to go and since I drink a ton of water I'm constantly going. I'm hoping that eventually she'll tell me when she needs to go potty too. Its hard for her though when during the week she goes in her diaper and on the weekends and in the evenings she goes in a potty. Conflicting messages but its what we have to work with. I'm hoping the next room (1-2 year olds) will work on it with her.


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## Sam Pearson

Pics of ECing:

Some nice pics of ECing with secure holds for small babies:
https://codenamemama.com/2012/02/13/easy-positions-elimination-communication-newborn/

This first pic here is a classic EC hold for a young baby and one that I used the most when at home. The mirror means you can make eye contact with baby and also see when they are finished. Baby has their back close to Dad meaning the feel secure. This position is great for the parent's back because of the height of the sink.
https://thetsesfamily.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/elimination-communication-in-pictures.html

I'm including this one becaue it shows how with a young baby you can use leg warmers with a nappy to keep them warm but still have easy access to EC. There are some really funky custom made baby leg warmers but they are expensive. I found my own socks worked brilliantly and were much cheaper. I left the feet in until they were mobile then I cut the feet out so they had traction.
https://www.birthemissary.com/1/pos...g-is-easy-because-babies-are-intelligent.html
Here is an awesome site with this section depicting 10 different EC positions. 
https://www.diaperfreebaby.org/pottypositions.htm?&MMN_position=225:14:224

Here are a few nice videos of ECing in action:
https://ecsimplified.com/ec-videos/

And this one is just for fun:

Celebrity Alicia Silverstone Dabbles with Elimination Communication
https://celebritybabyscoop.com/2011/10/28/alicia-silverstone-dabbles-in-infant-potty-training


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## helloeveryone

New to this all .
Is 7 months to late to get started ,,and I'm a busy mum of 5 other children lots of school runs and things..will i find to to much work and how do i get started...Thanks,,


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## Sam Pearson

helloeveryone said:


> New to this all .
> Is 7 months to late to get started ,,and I'm a busy mum of 5 other children lots of school runs and things..will i find to to much work and how do i get started...Thanks,,

It's never too late to communicate. Oh, I just made a rhyme and amused myself. But it really is never too late. Have you had a look at the first few posts in this thread. There are some links to get you started and feel free to ask specific questions here or share your experiences. Also, since you have so many other children they should be able to help with it making life easier - my older children seemed to have a great instinct for when their baby siblings had to "go" especially handy when I was distrated by other things like dinner or shopping. Good luck.


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## cheese lover

Like Sam said, its never too late! We didn't start until 6 months and didn't get real serious about it until the last month or so. it really isn't that much work I actually have LO go potty when I do so its really not much more time than it takes for me to go. Occasionally she'll need to go poop at a different time than when I'm taking her so that's extra time but to not have to clean poop out of diaper, its worth the time!:thumbup:


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## bug in a rug

....right now I have two carpet fitters downstairs, fitting a new carpet... that'll go sooo well with EC! The old one was just dirty and so thin we were getting horrible drafts - so we couldn't put the baby bug down to play as happily as we'd like. We're going to need a big oilcloth type mat as he's going to be learning to eat solids over it too.

How could we go wrong with this plan?!?


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## Macmad

Hey ladies, thought I'd bump this up again. How's everyone getting on this week? We've not being doing it much as LO hasn't been well with cough & cold. Put her on the loo after her nap today and as I took her nappy off she coughed and peed all over me as I was putting her in the loo! It was a massive wee too!!! Lol bless her. Better luck for 2moro


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## Macmad

Meant on the loo, not in the loo! Stupid phone


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## serenas_song

we're doing ok...several days ago we caught 20 pees! I take LO to the toilet (in arms) as soon as she wakes up, before and after carseat/swing/carrier and then every 25-30 minutes or so. Yesterday was kind of rough though...missed lots of pees we usually get and she was crying a lot more when i took her. I'm wondering if I'm overdoing it, or if I'm just not making it fun enough. Really not sure. I want to give her lots of opportunities, but not make her sick of it. She also seems to be peeing more often than she was, which is making it harder to keep her dry. Still got 10 pees which is great but missed way more than usual.


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## cheese lover

Things have been hit or miss around our house. It seemed like for a while she was less interested in going in the potty so I stepped back. We're still sitting on the potty when she grunts, when we wake in the morning and before bath. She went poo in the potty this morning which was nice because she's been having loose stools lately.


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## BandK

New to this forum - only have been creeping around in Baby Club up untill now.

I have been doing EC with LO since she was 4-5 weeks, on average (she is 11 weeks now) we have 4 or 5 wet diapers a day. I only EC during the day and not at night as I am too lazy to get out of bed :) 

Its amazing what our babies can do!


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## SammieGrace

I just wanted to say hi and that I just started EC with my 6 month old about two weeks ago. At first I thought it was a totally crazy idea, but I came to it on my own when I realized it was silly that I knew my son was going to poop and I was just waiting for him to do it in his diaper so I could clean his bottom and spray off the diaper! So I started taking him to the potty. At first DH thought it was crazy but not after seeing our son pee on cue several times! 

I got a baby Bjorn potty chair for the bathroom, I thought that the back would be helpful since he doesn't sit up independently yet. However, his feet kind of dangle. Any ideas for something I could put around the base of it that he could rest his feet on? I thought about getting the little potty but it is discontinued now, so I am just kind of waiting for him to grow into this one. I also got a potette plus that he has used a couple of times. 

I found some bright bots trainers in his size for super cheap on diaperswappers that I am excited to start using. However, we have run into a snag! DS has some kind of tummy bug, and has gone from 1 semi solid poop around 11 am each day, to about 10 watery diahrrea poos a day! After three days of that in cloth, I got tired and switched him to disposables the las two days. I took him to the doctor today and they found blood in his stool :(. So now he has a sore, sposie covered bum and our EC has been seriously side tracked since he is pooing constantly with no warning! I am just hoping he gets better soon!


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## LockandKey

SammieGrace, we have the same potty chair :) I love my Baby Bjorn with the back on it, it's almost like a real potty. I bought DD a potty this past weekend. Well I had her on the couch with me, and she started grunting, so I took her to the potty hoping it wasn't too late, and to my surprise, she started going as soon as I sat her on her potty :happydance: this is the first time for us that she is doing that, and I am so proud. My goal right now is to not have to clean any pooey diapers for a long time


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## Macmad

SammieGrace said:


> I found some bright bots trainers in his size for super cheap on diaperswappers that I am excited to start using. However, we have run into a snag! DS has some kind of tummy bug, and has gone from 1 semi solid poop around 11 am each day, to about 10 watery diahrrea poos a day! After three days of that in cloth, I got tired and switched him to disposables the las two days. I took him to the doctor today and they found blood in his stool :(. So now he has a sore, sposie covered bum and our EC has been seriously side tracked since he is pooing constantly with no warning! I am just hoping he gets better soon!

I hope your LO gets better soon


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## bug in a rug

We're not managing to get anywhere like 20 pees a day caught - I'm so impressed! In fact I was really pleased yesterday that we caught three in the potty despite taking the baby bug for his injections (he was not impressed) and out for coffee and play with friends (fun but tiring). He seems to be getting used to the idea, so it's just a case of making sure I give him the opportunity to pee on the potty.
I'm a bit scared though - he hasn't pooed for a couple of days, so there's a mega one coming soon... can we catch it???


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## Sam Pearson

bug in a rug said:


> I'm a bit scared though - he hasn't pooed for a couple of days, so there's a mega one coming soon... can we catch it???

LOL. You can try massaging his tummy clockwise and masaging underneath his big toes where they meet the foot to ge t apoo moving. Also look out for gooseflesh on his thighs - this can indicate a poo about to exit.

Sam


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## Macmad

Proud moment today, my LO used a public toilet for first time! I noticed she was straining while we were out having coffee, so took her to the toilets and held her over the toilet in squat position and she went straight away. I was so pleased with her  xx


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## LockandKey

well EC WAS going great, but for the past few days DD has only being going poo in her sleep, so it's virtually impossible for me to catch it :dohh:


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## cheese lover

I'm excited, we're bringing our potette with us to visit my family! We're bringing cloth too. I'm interested to see if my cousin who is expecting likes the cloth diapers! I'm bringing a few different kinds.

EC has been hit or miss around here. We catch what we can. Yesterday she peed and pooed before we went to work. I've never had her do both in one sitting! She pooed in the middle of the night too last night :dohh: and I was hoping to not leave any poopy diapers at home while we're gone for the weekend so I threw it in the washing machine on a rinse cycle and pulled it out so it doesn't get musty


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## bug in a rug

I've been a bit derailed by the little one's degestion being off after a cold - no poos for four days but lots of painful wind. I found that sitting on the potty seemed to help him pass the wind, so I helped him to sit there longer than I normally would. He did cry a couple of times, but my feeling was he was crying because he had a sore tummy not because he was on the potty (new mum angst - am I pressurising my infant - I just wanted to help him have a good old fart!).
Anyway, after warm baths, tummy massages and time whatever was bothering him is over now and he's making up for lost time emptying himself. Hopefully back on track now...

Well done for travelling with potty and successfully using public loos. I've offered him them a couple of times, but no uptake yet.


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## Sam Pearson

Glad he's all on track.

My son once didn't poo for 13 days as a baby. His doctor and I both decided since he was in such good form on day 12 to give him one last day and it happened, big time, right when I was listening to a parenting talk in a room full of strangers. The whole room heard it. When I told them how long it had been everybody congratulated me. It was a funny moment.


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## bug in a rug

That's hilarious! 
I'm currently so relieved that I'm trying to remember not to blurt it out when people ask how he is - maternal TMI overshare!
I couldn't believe what a difference a bath made yesterday - we had a bright red screaming baby, but as soon as he got in the water he relaxed. It was lovely to see!


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## cheese lover

We were able to catch some in the potty at my relative's house this weekend. it was great to educate them about EC and how babies at LO's age could go on the potty just fine. They couldn't believe it!

When we got home, I knew she needed to go and I needed to go so I sat down and put her on her potty but she just wanted me to hold her. I picked her up and sat her on my lap where she proceeded to pee all over my legs :dohh: I tried to get her over the potty but I'm too big :blush: so it ended up all over the floor and my pants. :dohh:


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## BandK

cheese lover said:


> We were able to catch some in the potty at my relative's house this weekend. it was great to educate them about EC and how babies at LO's age could go on the potty just fine. They couldn't believe it!
> 
> When we got home, I knew she needed to go and I needed to go so I sat down and put her on her potty but she just wanted me to hold her. I picked her up and sat her on my lap where she proceeded to pee all over my legs :dohh: I tried to get her over the potty but I'm too big :blush: so it ended up all over the floor and my pants. :dohh:

My family is so judgemental about the EC and think I am 'pushing' my DD and forcing her to do something unnatural. No matter what I say or what articles I bring up I am still doing something 'abnormal'.

Very frustrating so I dont even try to EC outside of the house anymore. :nope:


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## cheese lover

I'm sorry they're so judgemental! My family has been pretty good about it. I don't think we've told my in-laws. They're the ones that I think wouldn't agree with it. This weekend one of the cousins talked about how if you start too soon then its the parent that's trained not the baby. I just quietly sighed and moved the conversation on. They loved our cloth diapers though! I may have also convinced my pregnant cousin to try cloth. :happydance: 

Anyway, we caught our first pee again this morning! :happydance: I couldn't tell if she was dry though because she sweats quite a bit and I didn't feel like smelling it to see if it was pee. :haha:

Questions for you guys: when should I expect my LO to have a proactive part in EC? and is she getting confused because she uses diapers during the day at school? I was planning on aksing them to help with her using the potty when she moves into the 1-2 yo room.


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## Sam Pearson

cheese lover said:


> Questions for you guys: when should I expect my LO to have a proactive part in EC? and is she getting confused because she uses diapers during the day at school? I was planning on aksing them to help with her using the potty when she moves into the 1-2 yo room.

I'm not sure. I've never known for carers in centers to agree to EC. It would be nice if they did but I suppose they have too many children to notice cues etc.


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## LockandKey

I've finally caught some in the potty today after 4 days of her pooing in her sleep, she finally decided to go while she was awake :) DH is supportive in everything I do for her, although most of my family and friends who have never heard of EC think I'm nuts, but what is really crazy here, sitting around and waiting for her to finish? Or just putting her on the potty, and then cleaning that up rather than a poopy diaper? My friend just finally potty trained her son, he's 3, there is no way I am going to change my daughter pooey bum for that long, that to me is crazy :wacko:


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## cheese lover

Thanks Sam. I would like her to show me signs that she needs to pee. I can tell when she needs to poo. her head teacher right now thinks what I'm doing is cool but they just don't have the people to help support it. They also can't use training potties because of sanitation. I think the first time they have a child size potty is in the 2-3 year old room too. I just don't want to wait until she's 2 to have her use the potty at school. :shrug: 

Does anyone on here have any experience with daycare centers and EC or potty training? I won't know until I ask I guess.


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## BandK

My DD is much younger than yours (3 months) but she wears disposable every day, all day and is has not made a difference to her ECing. She fusses before she has to pee/poo and will cry afterwards if I am not quick enough. By the time I remove her diaper she is completely dry anyways, but she still doesnt like the idea of peeing herself.


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## bug in a rug

well done to those catching pees outside the house! I've offered toilets out and about but he's not taken me up on it yet... which may be because he uses a potty at home not the toilet. I've not mentioned it to the in laws - they are very good about not passing comment on our parenting, but I'm sure they think we're mad as badgers! My parents are coming up to stay with us this week, and they're much more crunchily inclined :winkwink:
We're catching more and more pees in the potty when we're home, and I've just about realised that I basically can't offer it too often in the morning: he just goes and goes. Not caught any more poos though - I can see one when it's immediately imminent, but not with enough warning to get him undressed and un-nappied (and his schedule has varied recently between not going for five days, to going four times yesterday, so I can't just guess one's due!). Anyway, this morning I sat him on the potty mid-poo, fully dressed, nappy and all - hopefully it will start to build the association for him.
While cuddling him bare bottomed the other day I thought I was having my first phantom pee experience and felt proud of being in tune. Half a second later, I realised there was nothing phantom about that pee! So Cheese - you're not alone!


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## Macmad

I'm impressed with you ladies! I'm keen to get to grips with sensing a pee coming (as in you think you need the loo) but actually LO needs to go. Im sure she's catching on though, in the afternoon her nappies tend to be dry through a nap then she does a big wee when she wakes. Keep the good work up ladies  x


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## cheese lover

Things have been hit or miss here lately. The past few days she's realized that she can get up off the potty so I might bite it and buy another potette or something similar that goes on the big potty so she can't get up and crawl away :dohh: It wouldn't be a problem except for the mess! 

I was also thinking of buying a couple small toys or something that she plays with on the potty. Before she was so content just to talk with mommy that I hadn't brought in any toys. Any suggestions? Maybe a board book?


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## hot tea

I really want to start doing this. My son is nearly four months old, he is in cloth.

Where do I start?


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## Sam Pearson

hot tea said:


> I really want to start doing this. My son is nearly four months old, he is in cloth.
> 
> Where do I start?

Hi Hot Tea, I"ve read that there are windows of opportunity with ECing. It's best to start from birth but 4 months is usually another good time to start.

There are lots of links for recommended reading at the beginning of this thread.

Basically, you will choose a cueing sound, most people use "psssss" or "weeeeee" and you can if you like have separate cueing sounds for wees and poos - ours was invented by my daughter who one day grunted a few times then made a rasberry fart noise and it was very clear what she was on about. You will make this noise any time your baby does a wee or poo and any time they are with you when you eliminate yourself and in this way you teach your baby the cueing sound.

That's the communication part. 

Then you will also try to catch wees poos by "timing" put bub on the pot when you guess she will have to go and you will figure this out through observation e.g. after a nap, after a meal, after it's been a while since s/he's last weed. Or whenever you like.

You can use a potty or the sink or the grass, the gutter, behind a bush, in the shower, or use the big loo. Until bub eats solids all of these should be fine.

The other thing you can do is look for your baby's natural cues, body language. Squrming, grunting, fussying, stopping play, funny look on face, goose bumps on thighs etc. to indicate when they might be about to eliminate.

During the early phase you might want to have a cloth nappy on as back up or no nappy at all.

Good luck.


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## LockandKey

today DD both pooed and peed in her potty in one sitting. As of now I just sit her on the potty whenever I hear her grunting and pushing, it's a good start I suppoose


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## canadabear

Well.. we were doing really well.. for over a week LO only had a wet nappy, no poops in the nappy AT ALL :yipee:.. but for the past two weeks now, he has refused to go on the toilet. :shrug: He will do a wee, but then starts straining his back and will start screaming.
So I take him off straight away, and put a nappy on him. Within 10 minutes max. he will then go poop in the nappy. :cry:
If we are at the change table he will do a poop in the nappy when I put him in a squat and say 'poop'. 

There have been a lot of changes though, he is rolling, starting to BLW more, cut his first tooth, standing and has just started a proper bedtime/naptime routine.
All of these things are going really well.. but EC is the one thing that is causing a problem.

So far, I am NOT about to even attempt to force him to remain on the toilet until he poops. I want a positive experience with the toilet. He knows what poop means, holds his poops all night, but just refuses the toilet.

Any advise as to how to get him to poop back on the toilet? Will this sort it's self out eventually? Do I need to start bringing him into the bathroom when OH or I go?


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## BandK

I have completely fallen off the wagon this week and I cannot even place why.

She is still signaling and being very communicative about when she needs to go, I just havent been able to make myself get up and deal with it. OH was sick for several days and now I am sick - so that may be why.. but it's not like I cant just take her diaper off and go to the bathroom. 

I just feel guilty about making her wet/poop herself and then changing her diaper. Hoping to get back on track this week!


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## bug in a rug

I have an infant with suspected norovirus :( 
I thought the potty would be hassle for him while he's poorly, but he was fussing and I had a hunch he wanted it, so I put him on and hey presto, squitty baby. Poor little thing is finally asleep after an enormous feed. As he's in our bed, I'm a bit nervous about where it's going to exit him!
Now I'm just waiting for me, husband and my visiting parents to go down with it. :wacko:


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## jcg0506

Hi everyone! Things have been hit and miss here. We've been dealing with teething for over a month. DS used to use the little potty and pee on cue really well, but now he won't go in the potty but prefers to be held over the sink. On a good day, we only have a few misses, but some days he refuses everything. I've also recognized that my son's temperament is super laid back and he just doesn't complain about much, even a wet diaper or wet clothes. He doesn't signal much, so we rely mostly on timing, and sometimes that phantom pee. At least in the morning, he goes regularly every 25 minutes. I'm thinking about putting him in training pants to see if he signals better. Anyone had luck doing this? He's only 4 months.
Regarding an earlier question about daycare: my son isn't in one, but I've read that if they aren't willing to potty your baby, you should put him/her in cloth diapers (if allowed) and ask them to change the diaper every hour. You can say your lo is sensitive to diaper rash. And you should take them to the potty as soon as you get there in the morning and when you come to pick them up. Baby will still keep their awareness of elimination and will know that you will take them to the potty even if other childcare providers won't.


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## cheese lover

We're teething badly over here and that might have something to do with LO not wanting to go on the potty as much. She also doesn't mind being in a wet diaper. I need to be better next weekend about trying to catch more pees. Poops aren't much of a problem because its pretty obvious when she does those :haha: she doesn't do any indication that I can tell for pees though. 

jcg, I've put her in trainers before but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for her. Its just more mess for me since we use the blueberry trainers and they aren't waterproof. I'm working on making some fleece and wool ones so we can get her used to pull up pants but still have some waterproofing. What size is your LO? the blueberries fit my 18lb 10 month old pretty well.


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## jcg0506

cheese lover said:


> We're teething badly over here and that might have something to do with LO not wanting to go on the potty as much. She also doesn't mind being in a wet diaper. I need to be better next weekend about trying to catch more pees. Poops aren't much of a problem because its pretty obvious when she does those :haha: she doesn't do any indication that I can tell for pees though.
> 
> jcg, I've put her in trainers before but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for her. Its just more mess for me since we use the blueberry trainers and they aren't waterproof. I'm working on making some fleece and wool ones so we can get her used to pull up pants but still have some waterproofing. What size is your LO? the blueberries fit my 18lb 10 month old pretty well.

Lol-my 4 1/2 mo old is nearly 18 lbs! Do you have a pattern you're using? Can you share? I've been researching trainers but they're so expensive, especially since I'm not sure they'll work for us. I might go with the Gerbers since they're cheap. I could put a diaper cover over them if I need the waterproof layer. I'd love to try the Ecapants too.
I did catch a couple pees today with a signal, which was a big relief, esp. after he peed all over everywhere this morning and refused all pottytunities.


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## jcg0506

canadabear said:


> Well.. we were doing really well.. for over a week LO only had a wet nappy, no poops in the nappy AT ALL :yipee:.. but for the past two weeks now, he has refused to go on the toilet. :shrug: He will do a wee, but then starts straining his back and will start screaming.
> So I take him off straight away, and put a nappy on him. Within 10 minutes max. he will then go poop in the nappy. :cry:
> If we are at the change table he will do a poop in the nappy when I put him in a squat and say 'poop'.
> 
> There have been a lot of changes though, he is rolling, starting to BLW more, cut his first tooth, standing and has just started a proper bedtime/naptime routine.
> All of these things are going really well.. but EC is the one thing that is causing a problem.
> 
> So far, I am NOT about to even attempt to force him to remain on the toilet until he poops. I want a positive experience with the toilet. He knows what poop means, holds his poops all night, but just refuses the toilet.
> 
> Any advise as to how to get him to poop back on the toilet? Will this sort it's self out eventually? Do I need to start bringing him into the bathroom when OH or I go?

You might try giving him a toy or singing songs to try and keep his interest long enough to poop. Also, might try a different recepticle, like a little potty or in arms. They do change theirs minds from time to time about where they want to eliminate. Of course, with all the changes going on, it may just be too much for him to think about. An open door bathroom policy is always a good idea.


----------



## cheese lover

jcg0506 said:


> cheese lover said:
> 
> 
> We're teething badly over here and that might have something to do with LO not wanting to go on the potty as much. She also doesn't mind being in a wet diaper. I need to be better next weekend about trying to catch more pees. Poops aren't much of a problem because its pretty obvious when she does those :haha: she doesn't do any indication that I can tell for pees though.
> 
> jcg, I've put her in trainers before but it doesn't seem to make much of a difference for her. Its just more mess for me since we use the blueberry trainers and they aren't waterproof. I'm working on making some fleece and wool ones so we can get her used to pull up pants but still have some waterproofing. What size is your LO? the blueberries fit my 18lb 10 month old pretty well.
> 
> Lol-my 4 1/2 mo old is nearly 18 lbs! Do you have a pattern you're using? Can you share? I've been researching trainers but they're so expensive, especially since I'm not sure they'll work for us. I might go with the Gerbers since they're cheap. I could put a diaper cover over them if I need the waterproof layer. I'd love to try the Ecapants too.
> I did catch a couple pees today with a signal, which was a big relief, esp. after he peed all over everywhere this morning and refused all pottytunities.Click to expand...

LOL! yeah I have a little peanut! She got weighed yesterday and I was shocked because she gained nearly a pound in the last month! That's what happens when she nurses all night long! :dohh: So I'm still working on the pattern. I had an issue with my sewing machine and it needed to be serviced which takes a couple weeks around here. I have a serger I just bought so hopefully this weekend I can get some time to work on it. I made one but I think its too big. 
I just bought a fuzzibunz trickle-free trainer. I found a place that had them for like $12 or something so I bought one. I also found a Beetle something brand velour trainer on clearance that I'm mimicing in a crocheted wool "soaker". I'll post some pics when I get something done :haha: and I can send you a pattern or dimensions etc. when I get it settled.


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## BandK

For those of you who EC'd part time, how old was your LO when they were completely potty trained during the day? 

- Letting you know when they needed to go rather than you timing and having to watch for subtle signs?


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## cheese lover

I'm interested as well! 

jcg, I finished a wool soaker that I used the Little Beetle training pant as a pattern. I'll try it on LO tomorrow. I might use it to make a better pattern for the pull on fleece/felted wool cover. I'll post some pics hopefully tomorrow. LO's been teething so she hasn't been very cooperative lately!


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## Menelly

Have you guys considered using the Katrina's fleece soaker pattern and maybe putting in an extra soaker layer in the crotch? I can whip out one of her soakers in about 20 min. It's super easy. :)


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## SammieGrace

Do any of you have patterns you recommend? I just got a basic sewing machine and I want to try making some trainers for my boy.

I am bummed we have been in disposables for the past two weeks due to unexplained very watery diahrrea. I got so tired of cloth laundry after 10+ poos per day. And i was worried about nasty bacteria or something getting in my nice diapers that might be hard to get rid of. The doc is running some tests so hopefully we will have answers soon!


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## Menelly

The Katrina's patterns I was talking about are at: https://katrinassqs.blogspot.com/2007/10/free-soaker-pattern.html

They're free, and REALLY easy to make. They're like a total of 6 seams. :)


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## canadabear

SammieGrace said:


> Do any of you have patterns you recommend? I just got a basic sewing machine and I want to try making some trainers for my boy.
> 
> I am bummed we have been in disposables for the past two weeks due to unexplained very watery diahrrea. I got so tired of cloth laundry after 10+ poos per day. And i was worried about nasty bacteria or something getting in my nice diapers that might be hard to get rid of. The doc is running some tests so hopefully we will have answers soon!

These training patterns sounds great.. think I will look into them when he is older. :flower:

We have also been in disposables for about two weeks now.. and I HATE it, but he was refusing the toilet and then our washing machine broke.. :dohh:, so had to give in for a while.

But on the plus side.. we have had two poops in the toilet today :yipee: He is now starting to have solid poops, so maybe that was the problem too as the new sensation was strange for him. He was getting upset, I thought he had some constipation, but thankfully just regular solid poops.. not hard etc.

So funny how interested we are in our childrens bowl movemtents :haha: makes me laugh all the time when almost every conversation with other mothers ends up about poop/wee.. :wacko::haha:


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## cheese lover

I'm basically doing something similar to Katrina's pattern I just want something a little trimmer so I'm playing with sizing a little. Then I'm going to put in snaps so I can have a snap in liner. I found a tutorial online and thought I pinned it but I didn't so now I can't find it. I don't need it to be super absorbent as my LO is not a heavy wetter at all. 

We've been having some good successes with the potette. I've ordered another one for the basement bathroom because I don't want to have to run upstairs if she's trying to poop and our family room is in the basement so we spend a lot of time there.


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## VegtaBully

I decided to give this a VERY relaxed try this week since my husband went back to work and couldn't judge us lol.

Monday I just caught one pee, yesterday nothing, but today a pee AND a poop! It is pretty satisfying. :happydance:


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## BandK

VegtaBully said:


> I decided to give this a VERY relaxed try this week since my husband went back to work and couldn't judge us lol.
> 
> Monday I just caught one pee, yesterday nothing, but today a pee AND a poop! It is pretty satisfying. :happydance:

Congrats! :happydance:


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## Macmad

BandK said:


> For those of you who EC'd part time, how old was your LO when they were completely potty trained during the day?
> 
> - Letting you know when they needed to go rather than you timing and having to watch for subtle signs?

Ooo I'd be interested too :thumbup:


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## mumnbean

My lo is 2, and I did ecfrom birth
She stopped having dirty nappies at 6 months. I am now working on getting her dry, as with a combination of work, 2 other carers and a busy life I never seem able to stay home more than a day at a time! Now with A newborn I'm busy in other ways :s

I keep putting her in undies at home but nappies for out/about and sleeping. We tend to have 1/2 accidents in a day at home, closer to dinner time. I just leave her potty close to where she is playing but she always asks togo on toilet for her poops. Looking fed to the day she is just as definite about peeing too!


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## mumnbean

Macmad said:


> BandK said:
> 
> 
> For those of you who EC'd part time, how old was your LO when they were completely potty trained during the day?
> 
> - Letting you know when they needed to go rather than you timing and having to watch for subtle signs?
> 
> Ooo I'd be interested too :thumbup:Click to expand...

I can't really remember but it was around 12 monthsahe started asking for toilet to poop


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## SpringerS

Very interesting thread. It's something I'm giving a lot of thought to doing in some form as my mother did a form of it when my brothers and I were babies, although she didn't actually know anything about EC and was just playing things by ear with us.

I'm the oldest and when I was an infant disposable nappies were pretty rare here so was nappied in terry squares. When I was a few months old my mum used to put me on the potty a few times a day that she had recognised as times I generally wet or pooed. She just did it to save herself from having to wash a few dirty nappies and because I enjoyed the freedom of not having a nappy on. After a few weeks I crawled over to the potty-chair and calling to her. She says she was confused about what I wanted but my grandmother who was visiting suggested I wanted to use the toilet. My mum thought she was being silly but gave it a go and straight away I went to the toilet. After that she started training me and I stopped wear a nappy in the day from 11 and a half months and as I'd stopped wetting at night by my first birthday I never wore a nappy again within two weeks of it. (Except for one night I spent in hospital at 18 months but I didn't wet that either.)

When my brothers were babies she did the same with them and they were both completely nappy free from a year and two weeks too. The thing is nobody ever believes her and if she ever mentions it she's told that it's physically impossible. I remember my youngest brother being out of nappies as young as he was because I was 8 at the time and often 'helped' with his training.

The one thing that made things easier for my mum was because she had this _brilliant _potty chair. It was nearly as supportive as a car seat and could be used as a high chair, low chair and a swing. So we could sit in it comfortably from a young age and enjoyed sitting in it as we could be on it but still at the centre of things, no matter what everyone else was doing. I don't think they make anything even remotely like it any more, as I've been looking for something similar without luck.


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## canadabear

WOW.. a potty chair like that would be GREAT.. too bad they don't seem to be making them anymore... :cry:
Our problem at the moment is that our bathroom is REALLY small, so our changing table is in the other room. Usually I take LO to changing table, change/take off the nappy and then take him to the bathroom to use the toilet. Sometimes we don't make it and also, I think it sometimes makes him frusterated to be moved there.
So wish we could get a chair like that...


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## cheese lover

canadabear, you could try just laying him on the floor in the bathroom to take the diaper off and then put him on the changing table in the next room to put it back on. That's what I do. We don't use the changing table anymore for safety reasons but all her diaper stuff is in her room.

We're consistently catching poops in the morning but I'm not fast enough to catch the pees. She must do them as she's waking up.


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## bug in a rug

Cheese, we're the opposite - by the time I see the pooing face it's too late (really don't want to get caught with the nappy half off!), so at the moment I'm just talking about poos with the little bug. Pees we have up days and down days, but hanging in there. I find he will often do two about 10-20 mins apart, and the second one often takes me by surprise!
It was really useful while he had a bad tummy - I realised just how watery his poos had got when I saw it in the potty (I think the nappy had been absorbing it), and I could keep an eye on his hydration by looking at the colour of his pees. Unexpected bonus!


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## cheese lover

that's funny! Isis usually gives me plenty of warning. :haha: This morning she has several "warning shots" for me. She's very sneaky about her pee though.


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## bug in a rug

He's normally mid feed, so it's pause, frown, POO!

It's getting so much easier now the weather's warming up though - less layers to whip off!


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## cheese lover

Oh yeah, I forgot the mid-feed poo! Isis still does those at dinner and I just talk about it. I'm not even going to try to clean her up enough to get her to the potty in time. It would be a disaster :dohh:


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## xsadiex

Jaspers done his first wee and poo in the toilet today!! Just thought we'd give it a try. So happy he did it.

I might buy a potty though as I found it hard to hold him comfortably over the toilet, didn't want to hurt him.
Don't think we'll do it full time but we'll see, will save lots of washing :)


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## booda

Woohoo Danny done his first poo in his potty today!! No good at catching pee though, it just seems to have a mind of its own!


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## DMG83

subscribing to this thread :thumbup: new to EC and just wanting to have a read about it.. lo is 4 months old.. no idea how we'd even start!


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## bug in a rug

DMG83 said:


> no idea how we'd even start!

hi - the first post in this thread is a really useful account from Sam. I also read The Daiper Free Baby by Christine Gross-Loh :flower:


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## cheese lover

We've hit a roadblock between learning to walk and traveling. She just doesn't want to go on the potty. We'll keep trying from time to time.


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## mumnbean

cheese lover said:


> We've hit a roadblock between learning to walk and traveling. She just doesn't want to go on the potty. We'll keep trying from time to time.

Can you just leave it a few days, and then start making it part of the normal nappy changing process? I have done this so that at a nappy change, my los expect to sit on the potty for a short time and evacuate as they can. They all go through phases where they are more opinionated!


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## mumnbean

I'd like to post that we have had our first nappy free day today, and I'm sticking to it! 

I have had her in undies when we are home, on and off for about the last 8 months, but I have finally decided it is my fear of her having an accident that kept me putting her in nappies when we went out... I even let her nap in them, and she slept for 2.5 hrs and just went to the toilet when she woke up. We then went out in the car, and I was expecting her to need a pee, so I brought the potty with us. Hooray! It worked and as expected she peed on schedule :)

Sorry if I've posted in the wrong spot, but I have been trying to figure out how to get her dry for ages! She has hardly had a soiled nappy from about 7 months, but I just couldn't pick the peeing. Finally hope I can cut out the nappies, but will keep them at night for a while yet! 

... Now onto the young man...


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## bug in a rug

That's amazing - a whole day including out and about with no nappies!

I'm feeling super chuffed as I've just caught my first out of the house pee - in a toilet. I thought he'd need to practice on our toilet first :)


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## cheese lover

I'm going to try changing her diaper in the bathroom so she associates it. I'll probably still store her clean diapers in her room but the dirty ones will be in our bathroom. I spent nearly 10 minutes today trying to get 2 diapers on her (2 different changes). I can't believe how badly she did not want that diaper on. the only way I know to fix that is pull-on or going in the potty. 

Great job for those with successes!


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## mumnbean

cheese lover said:


> I'm going to try changing her diaper in the bathroom so she associates it. I'll probably still store her clean diapers in her room but the dirty ones will be in our bathroom. I spent nearly 10 minutes today trying to get 2 diapers on her (2 different changes). I can't believe how badly she did not want that diaper on. the only way I know to fix that is pull-on or going in the potty.
> 
> 
> I have used pull ups for ages... the only other way is asking my dd which colour cloth nappy she wanted to wear and then she was happy to lie still a few seconds for me to put it on!


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## mumnbean

Funny story today... I thought my dd had an accident in her car seat. I saw her wet bum and skirt and asked her about it and she said... no mummy, its my drink of water :) I had given her a bottle of water and instead of drinking it she decided pouring it out would be a good idea. Lucky I had only given her a nearly empty bottle!

I was so relieved that it wasn't pee, because I had no idea how to clean the seat! I was also so proud that she remembered and could explain what had happened... We are still having a few accidents but getting there. I feel like giving in but then remember I just have to be persistant to finish this!

My son is also having a dry potty patch. I keep missing everything with him at the moment... Feeling a bit useless, but love my kids to bits and am so proud of how they are going.


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## bug in a rug

Hmm, less toilet success today - he's realised if he presses the back of his head into my shoulder he can vault himself upwards, which entertains him but scares me! Fortunately it distracts him from peeing, or we'd have made a helluva mess of my inlaws bathroom!


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## canadabear

we haven't been having any success with the toilet either, for a while now. :cry:
LO really gets upset, for some reason :shrug: so we haven't made an issue out of it.
He doesn't like to go in his nappy either, but only wants to go when we take the nappy off and he is laying on the change table :dohh:
So, I am thinking that we will get a little potty and put it on the change table. Then hold him on the potty, on the change table until he gets used to that and then slowly move the potty off the table and then into the bathroom.
I think if we just take it one step at a time, it will be much better. And, keep up with the communication part of course.


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## mumnbean

So, I am thinking that we will get a little potty and put it on the change table. Then hold him on the potty, on the change table until he gets used to that and then slowly move the potty off the table and then into the bathroom.
I think if we just take it one step at a time, it will be much better. And, keep up with the communication part of course.[/QUOTE]

This is what we found was easiest too :) I now have 3 potty and 2 toilet seats... I almost feel like I've got a fetish!!! One for each change station and the bathroom, and one seat for each toilet we have. Means I'm ready anywhere, anytime!

My dd only had one accident today :happydance: ...Getting there slowly 

Also managed to catch one pee, and one poop on separate occasions with my son... dry spell over I think :)

Hows everyone else going?


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## cheese lover

We're not doing good here. She doesn't want to go on the potty. I need to bring her little potty back out and see if she'll use it but I'm pretty sure she'll just stand up and walk away. The seat on the big potty, she just cries until I take her off. I keep trying but its hard to think that there used to be days where I could catch many voids. Now she's full time in diapers. I'm still talking to her, bringing her in with me when I go. Maybe she'll decide to try again.


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## RoxyRoo

Hi ladies, it's been ages since I was in here, just thought I'd pop in to see how you're all going.

It's going really well for us. DD hates pooing in her nappy, and as a result we haven't had a dirty nappy for well over a month now :happydance: She starts to cry when she needs a poo (even if it's 5am!) and when I put her on her potty she poos straight away.

We bought a potty from ASDA and DD loves sitting on it, she sits chewing on a toy quite happily, I'm not sure how long that will last though!

The potty is part of our routine now, we've been doing it for a while now so DD doesn't seem know any different. When she wakes up I sit her on the potty on our bed and she'll do a wee or two, then she'll lie on her changing mat (or sit as of a few days ago :) )for a while, then she wees on the potty again before putting a nappy back on. We do the same routine for every nappy change throughout the day, and any other time we have during the day. We found that by sticking to the same routine she wees 99% of the time and holds it when she's nappy-less. 

The biggest step for us is when she's lying on her mat having some nappy off time, she will cry to let us know when she needs a wee. It's been so long since she's wee'd on her mat. 

Everyone is amazed by it but very supportive. We take her potty everywhere with us whether it's shopping or to someones house. DH's Nan was so pleased when she saw us ECing, she said DH's Dad was out of nappies by 12 months :)


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## Macmad

Not so good for us lately. Not reading the signs right, even missed a few poos :-( she wasn't happy about that at all!!! I have noticed though that she's 9/10 times dry after her nap and then pees on the loo. I'm still putting her on the loo regularly but don't feel like she's going as much as she was.


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## BandK

Ugh, OH has been off work this week so he has been spending alot of time with LO. Because he doesnt want to do EC we havent had 1 single pee on the potty this week. What a big step back, hopefully she wont fight it when we try to get back on track next week.


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## MightyMom

I posted this in the toddler forum but maybe it is more relevant here since we have been ECing:
We are working on potty training our LO, but we have run into a bit of a problem. Somehow she has got it in her head that going wee is bad. When she starts to do the potty dance or tells us so we will put her on the potty. But the actual act of going wee makes her cry and she often will run to another room to do it alone in a corner, then come show us and say "Uh oh!" We have NEVER yelled at her for going wee or poo, we have been ECing since she was 6 months on and off. We think that her daycare must have put this idea in her head, since she insists on saying "Uh oh!" no matter how we praise her for going. We have even praised her for going on the floor or in her knickers, because we are just happy that she is recognizing it.

Has anyone else had a LO who was upset when going wee and poo? How can we reassure her?

(She never shows discomfort when going wee in her nappies or in the other room, just on the potty!)


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## BandK

MightyMom said:


> I posted this in the toddler forum but maybe it is more relevant here since we have been ECing:
> We are working on potty training our LO, but we have run into a bit of a problem. Somehow she has got it in her head that going wee is bad. When she starts to do the potty dance or tells us so we will put her on the potty. But the actual act of going wee makes her cry and she often will run to another room to do it alone in a corner, then come show us and say "Uh oh!" We have NEVER yelled at her for going wee or poo, we have been ECing since she was 6 months on and off. We think that her daycare must have put this idea in her head, since she insists on saying "Uh oh!" no matter how we praise her for going. We have even praised her for going on the floor or in her knickers, because we are just happy that she is recognizing it.
> 
> Has anyone else had a LO who was upset when going wee and poo? How can we reassure her?
> 
> (She never shows discomfort when going wee in her nappies or in the other room, just on the potty!)

Unfortunately I have not experienced this myself, but just from reading your post - have you tried putting her on the potty then leaving the room? She may just have an issue with you watching her go pee/poo so she is hiding from you.


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## MightyMom

Oh thank you for the advice! I hadn't thought of that, so we can try that tomorrow and see if she feels better with some privacy.


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## jcg0506

Hi Cheeselover, how are your homemade trainers going? I checked out the link for Katrina's patterns (thanks to whoever that was, I forgot) and want to try it. I ordered one flip trainer, but it's still to big for my lo, and its more like a pull on diaper than a trainer. I think I'm going to get an Ecapant and see if I can copy the pattern. But all this means I actually have to find time to sit at my sewing machine!
We've had some really good EC days here. Last week, we had two days where we went like seven hours with no misses, from about noon until bedtime. Mornings are still really hard because there's just so much pee, but yesterday I caught all the pees before his morning nap. But today, all that success seems like mere luck as we're going through every diaper in the house. We took him on his first camping trip the weekend before last and he did really well, better than I thought since we hadn't done much peeing or pooping outside before, but we only used 24 diapers in four days! His pooping schedule seemed all out of whack, from being in a new place, I guess, and I missed his morning poop twice (which we haven't missed for months) because it was so early in th morning. Anyway, he's really learning and staying dry for longer and longer.
Onwards and upwards!


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## cheese lover

I'm still working on the pull on diaper. I had a little time to sew on Sunday but made a fitted out of a prefold that I'll be turning into a pull on but not waterproof. So far though I haven't stitched the sides up so it needs a snappi. I REALLY need to sew the pull ons next weekend because its just getting harder and harder to get a diaper on her. She frequently is running around the house nekkid! Not that I really mind. I've made one version of the fleece outer but its too big for her so I need to take a little off the waist. I have the new pattern cut and I added a pad of zorb and flannel. That's as far as I got before someone woke up from her nap...

I think we may be making a little progress on peeing. She's now using the potette before her bath. She had been crying any time I put her on the potty. If I put the potette on the floor next to the bathtub on its little feet with something absorbent under it while her bath is running she'll go pee on it. I'm going to try her little potty again this coming weekend.


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## mumnbean

Sounds like shes getting over it Cheeselover! Yay! Well done... love how the running bath water makes her pee.

We went out for lunch and walking to the restaurant there was a drain with running water gushing. My lo ran over to it and within seconds she had peed... Poor thing just couldn't help it! She showed signs of needing to go as she was standing there, but I had nothing available so she had an accident. Was planning to take her once we were settled in the restaurant, but just missed!


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## EarthMama

So far today I've caught 3 pees and 3 poo's...and it's before noon. This is our first effort at EC and I feel so proud!


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## Rmar

Hi everyone. I was on the thread in baby club but it has taken a while to get around to posting on this one.

I used to take DD every half an hour to pee because that's when she needed to go and I was so worried about not being able to do it when she went longer. Now she is going 45m-1h between pees and I am only missing a few a week which is fantastic. She understands when I sign 'toilet' and can sign 'no' or put her arms up for yes which is fantastic. So far no sign of 'toilet' herself.

I am having a lot of trouble switching her from peeing outside to on a potty/toilet. She will refuse to go no matter how much she needs to and as soon as I take her outside, she lets it all go as soon as I hold her in the position. I keep trying after her naps as that is when I can be sure she needs to go but so far, no luck. Has anyone else experienced that?


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## mumnbean

Rmar- I've not tried taking my lo outside, but maybe if you transition by taking a potty seat to sit on outside, and then slowly bring it closer to the house. Worth a shot?

Well done on catching so many! and to Earth Mama too! YAY!


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## canadabear

I have had a breakthrough :dohh: finally figured out that when LO has been crying out at night it's because he has to wee ..:yipee:

LO went on the toilet again today.. FINALLY :happydance: and he is now holding his wee for along time too.. not wanting to go in his nappy.
Just so proud of him and he seems a lot happier too :smile:

It really is such an amazing feeling when the communication starts to really work between LO and I :flower:.. but mainly it is down to me paying attention and responding quickly to his need


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## cheese lover

ARGH!! I need some help. I'm really trying to be patient but for the past, IDK, nearly a month LO will not go on the potty. She cries every time I try it. I put her on the potette on the big potty, potette on the floor with a cloth wipe, on her little potty. Nada! I'm not going to push her obviously but is there anything else I can do? We're still trying every day when she takes her bath. Diaper changes are a disaster. I have to close her bedroom door or chase her around the house. I really was hoping she'd be using the potty more by this time not less. 

Any advice?


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## mumnbean

Cheeselover- I think I'd try sitting her on the toilet with or without nappy on, just to read a favourite book or do some stickers. My lo loves stickers, not sure if your lo is still too young for that. Maybe just blow some bubbles or somthing similar that is just for when she sits on the toilet. Our toilet now has posters of the alphabet, numbers, and its very own library of 3/4 books that she can choose. Her favourites around age one were picture books with photos of real things in them. You'll get there! Focus on making it fun, not on the end result for now :)


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## cheese lover

Thanks for the perspective! I was getting a bit obsessed with the end result. I'll pull some toys together that she hasn't played with recently and we'll just play on the potty. :thumbup:


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## bug in a rug

We've been really thrown off by teething - he's gone from a poo a day, to masses of poos, and they seem far more violent and uncontrolled. So we're offering the potty after naps or feeds, and he has days where he'll pee and days where he won't. It has taken a while for me to be fully convinced that it's intentional as he seems so oblivious, but there have been some tiny pees, like he's just doing it to be obliging, and he's peed in toilets a few times, so I think it's for real :)


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## BandK

Feeling frustrated with EC right now, everytime I put her in the EC position she spits up all over me and herself... changing shirts/scrubbing chest off with a cloth is starting to get really old when I am trying to EC at least 8x a day...

Hoping the spit up thing will stop soon as she is getting older!


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## AndreaOlson

MightyMom said:


> I posted this in the toddler forum but maybe it is more relevant here since we have been ECing:
> We are working on potty training our LO, but we have run into a bit of a problem. Somehow she has got it in her head that going wee is bad. When she starts to do the potty dance or tells us so we will put her on the potty. But the actual act of going wee makes her cry and she often will run to another room to do it alone in a corner, then come show us and say "Uh oh!" We have NEVER yelled at her for going wee or poo, we have been ECing since she was 6 months on and off. We think that her daycare must have put this idea in her head, since she insists on saying "Uh oh!" no matter how we praise her for going. We have even praised her for going on the floor or in her knickers, because we are just happy that she is recognizing it.
> 
> Has anyone else had a LO who was upset when going wee and poo? How can we reassure her?
> 
> (She never shows discomfort when going wee in her nappies or in the other room, just on the potty!)

Hey there! I'm not sure exactly how old your LO one is but you mention toddler so I'll try my best to add a suggestion or two. First, as an EC Mentor I always suggest that parents drop the praise when dealing with EC (or PT for that matter)...it ends up inferring that there is a "bad" side of things. Like "good girl" or "good job" even does. I'd just make a calm, brief reflection. Your child definitely knows what's going on and that is GREAT!!! Seriously!

So, I'd also unfocus yourselves on EC for a little while, if possible. I like to say "When I'm on focused on EC, we become disconnected. When we're connected, EC flows smoothly." If that makes sense!

If your kiddo is still <18 months, I'd keep on communicating (briefly and peripherally to take the pressure off) and know that this will pass.

If your LO is 18 months+, it may be time to drop EC altogether and move to a non-coercive form of potty training that my Mama friend out here teaches. PM me and I'll share that resource.

Otherwise, know that we're supporting you over here! And, yes, crazy things happen with toddlers and EC sometimes...you are not the only one. We were there, too. :)

Andrea, EC Simplified


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## AndreaOlson

BandK said:


> Feeling frustrated with EC right now, everytime I put her in the EC position she spits up all over me and herself... changing shirts/scrubbing chest off with a cloth is starting to get really old when I am trying to EC at least 8x a day...
> 
> Hoping the spit up thing will stop soon as she is getting older!

I just wanna throw in there that this is common with a small handful of the folks I mentor (DiaperFreeBaby Mentor, that is)...and it DOES pass in time.

Just try to aim the stream of spit-up into the toilet along with the pee! :)


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## NewMummyx

So happy to have found this thread!

We have been ECing part time, LO poos once a day every morning so that's fine but i am struggling still to recognise pee cues :blush:
He is down for a nap atm so we will sit him on when he wakes up and see what happens :thumbup:


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## DCS

Hi ladies, I recently posted asking if it was too late to start ec with my 13 month old little boy. 

Just wondering if anyone had any tips for me. Like where do I start? And what are common signs they give when peeing? With poos he squats so I can usually guess.
So any tips at all would be fantastic. 
I don't want to start and do it all wrong.


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## mumnbean

NewMummyx said:


> So happy to have found this thread!
> 
> We have been ECing part time, LO poos once a day every morning so that's fine but i am struggling still to recognise pee cues :blush:
> He is down for a nap atm so we will sit him on when he wakes up and see what happens :thumbup:

I'm not really sure about pee cues as such, but my dd would stay still with a slightly glazed look as she was peeing. I am just putting my ds on the potty at nappy changes at this stage, and I can generally tell when he will produce something as his winky looks a bit swollen :blush: Not really a big difference, but might help? I can't give you any other definite signs, but its just a feeling I get really.


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## jcg0506

I missed two poops this morning--ughh! I can't remember the last time I missed a poop. One was totally out of nowhere and the other was a mid nursing poop that we just didn't make it to the potty in time. The normal poop schedule has been going haywire here; we used to have a regular morning poop as soon as he woke up and some days he doesn't poop until quite late in the day. Twice now when we've been out and about he didn't poop until as soon as I got home and gave him a pottytunity. I know he must have been holding it for some time. I think that's good but I know it can be bad to hold it for too long. On the other hand, he's been dry all afternoon, including a trip across town.
I just got two new Ecapants that I am excited to try out.


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## jcg0506

DCS said:


> Hi ladies, I recently posted asking if it was too late to start ec with my 13 month old little boy.
> 
> Just wondering if anyone had any tips for me. Like where do I start? And what are common signs they give when peeing? With poos he squats so I can usually guess.
> So any tips at all would be fantastic.
> I don't want to start and do it all wrong.

I think you need to do some dedicated observation time sans diaper to try and learn your kiddo's particular signals and timing. I know that's tough with a toddler, but maybe it will be warm enough to spend a couple days outside. You can start bringing him to the potty each time you see him begin to pee or poop. Good luck!


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## mumnbean

jcg0506 said:


> I missed two poops this morning--ughh! I can't remember the last time I missed a poop. One was totally out of nowhere and the other was a mid nursing poop that we just didn't make it to the potty in time. The normal poop schedule has been going haywire here; we used to have a regular morning poop as soon as he woke up and some days he doesn't poop until quite late in the day. Twice now when we've been out and about he didn't poop until as soon as I got home and gave him a pottytunity. I know he must have been holding it for some time. I think that's good but I know it can be bad to hold it for too long. On the other hand, he's been dry all afternoon, including a trip across town.
> I just got two new Ecapants that I am excited to try out.

Good work! Let us know how you go with the ecapants...My ds is good at holding his wees too. I hear constantly about mums getting sprayed, but I've only been caught once just after we brought him home, otherwise he waits until hes on the potty and pees in there once hes sitting. They are just so clever! :happydance: I still miss lots of poops, but can catch his 2 big ones of the day usually.


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## cheese lover

Does anyone have a recommendation for a seat for the big potty that's comfortable for babies with little bottoms? I really think LO is afraid to sit on the potette on the big potty because she doesn't really fit on it. She's inherited her daddy's little bottom :haha: I think she's afraid to fall through but when I put her on the little potty on the floor she walks away and goes pee standing up :dohh: last night she held it through her whole bath and peed on the carpet in her bedroom before I could get a diaper on her :dohh:


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## BandK

cheese lover said:


> Does anyone have a recommendation for a seat for the big potty that's comfortable for babies with little bottoms? I really think LO is afraid to sit on the potette on the big potty because she doesn't really fit on it. She's inherited her daddy's little bottom :haha: I think she's afraid to fall through but when I put her on the little potty on the floor she walks away and goes pee standing up :dohh: last night she held it through her whole bath and peed on the carpet in her bedroom before I could get a diaper on her :dohh:

Do you have one of those little potty toppers?

https://www.amazon.com/Xpress-Trainer-One-Real-Round-Standard/dp/B0012BWUDQ


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## canadabear

Thanks for the link for those potty toppers BandK. :flower:

LO has been back and forth with the toilet lately :dohh:.. for two days straight, he LOVED watching himself wee in the toilet.. and we only had some slightly damp nappies those days.. :happydance:, but now, he is back to NOT wanting to go wee on the toilet :shrug: and only wanting to do a poo at the change table, again. .. WHY?.. I try not to get frustrated, but it just doesn't make sence to me.
I don't want to make an issue out of the toilet/potty AT ALL, but I am finding that we are going through a really frustrating time right now.
LO doesn't like being changed, having a nappy on, weeing or pooping in the nappy/ toilet/ potty etc... what to do??????? :cry:

He only seems to like to poo laying on his back :dohh:, so I put some toilet paper under him for that... :haha: And for weeing.. it could be anything, sometimes laying on a towel naked, sometimes in the toilet/ potty, sometimes in the bathtub, sometimes in the nappy.. but it is SO hard guessing where it is going to be today..and I can't very well be lifting him naked, when he has to go, to all the different places, without there being a mess somewhere :haha:.. the whole thing is just so silly.. you just have to laugh. :dohh:

KIDS...


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## jcg0506

cheese lover said:


> Does anyone have a recommendation for a seat for the big potty that's comfortable for babies with little bottoms? I really think LO is afraid to sit on the potette on the big potty because she doesn't really fit on it. She's inherited her daddy's little bottom :haha: I think she's afraid to fall through but when I put her on the little potty on the floor she walks away and goes pee standing up :dohh: last night she held it through her whole bath and peed on the carpet in her bedroom before I could get a diaper on her :dohh:

I don't have one myself yet, but I've heard good things about the Baby Bjorn toilet seat reducer. all Baby Bjorn products seem to be made to fit smaller babies.


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## cheese lover

Thanks! I'll look into it. Not sure DH will let me buy more "potties" for LO :haha: I just bought one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SG7JRG/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details it comes with great review for comfort. I'm hoping she likes it. Otherwise I might have to buy that baby bjorn seat reducer


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## Rachiebaby24

i am soooo doing this when i have my third baby


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## Rachiebaby24

Not sure if im too late to be in here but anyway &#8211; we started potty training both my girls as soon as they could walk (about a year old) Maley is now 3 and has been dry since 2 years old and Remi turns two next week and goes to the big toilet all by herself all day and wears regular knickers. I definitely want to try earlier next time or do without nappies altogether!! Great to see this thread!


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## Jodie.82

so interested in this! I'm pretty in tune with LO, I know when she will poo as its the same time each day and the signals are clear! also she loves to wee as soon as her nappy comes off and already accompanies me to the bathroom as we are rarely seperated and he always has a look around whats going on! so I think she will love this! is it too late, she is almost 9 months?
and how do you hold them over the toilet, any tips?


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## mumnbean

Hi Jodie82. I think at 9 months she would be able to sit on the toilet herself with a kids seat and just hold your hands. Ask her after you go if she wants to have a turn, not expecting her to do anything. Then if she is comfortable enough, try and get her to the toilet when she is showing her poop signs. Another way is just to get her to sit there as part of your nappy change. Try and make it fun with special toilet time books, games, songs etc. Let us know how it goes :)


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## Jodie.82

thanks for the response :)
not sure I will find a baby toilet seat here anywhere though, I might just get her a potty for now. we spend part of every day out as well, what do you do then? I will have to use nappies then as we are out walking about for a few hours sometimes
will give it a go and let you know!


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## canadabear

Great to hear all the responses and interest this thread has. we are now back to LOVING EC.. and everything is going wonderfully. LO hasn't had a poopy nappy in a while and he is holding his wee longer and longer too. :yipee:

I have a question about training pants, washable ones... when do you recommend starting them? The reason I ask, LO is a BIG boy and we are almost at the limit for the size of cloth nappies we have. We recently bought some one-size nappys and wraps. I love using that combo. but LO has such chunky thighs. I don't know if we will be able to find any much bigger, unless we go special order. But that costs a lot. 
He is already stretching the limit of the size 4 disposables, which we use at night. And we have only been able to find up to size 5 here of those as well.
If LO continues to stay on the same percentile for weight and hight, we are going to have to find a solution nappy wise or go to training pants probably by end of summer at the latest. 
I don't want to push LO and am just so happy with the progress we have made with EC now. 
Any advice to my long-winded explination? :dohh: :flower:


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## cheese lover

I've already bought a few. I bought a fuzzibunz trickle-free and it didn't leak at all. I have some blueberry ones that I really like but they do wick if she pees in them. I'm working on buying a fleece one from a WAHM to test. I'll let you know what I think. I can't imagine that it would be a problem for your LO. Wouldn't be much different for him from the diaper I would think.


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## EarthMama

Serious question for EC'ers...I hold my son over a bowl for potty, with hands underneath his knees and back pressed/supported against my body...do you think this strains the joints in his knees? I worry bout this as sometimes he wiggles while I'm holding him like that and it SEEMS like it's straining them...I don't want to hurt a developing part of his body, is there a better way to hold? When can he use a baby potty?


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## mumnbean

canadabear- I think you'll find once your lo is on the move crawling etc he will slim down a bit and the nappies will fit better again. 

Jodie.82- if we were out in the car, I would bring a portable potty and use it for nappy changes. I still used nappies.

Earthmama- I have used a potty since birth. I hold DS under his armpits with my fingers stretched to give him head support and let his legs sit onto the seat. I didn't like the position facing away as I couldn't look at him and give encouragement. DS will blow raspberries at me while I make the "pssshh" sounds. Feels like hes telling me hes peeing :haha:

I've had a bit of a hopeless day with DS, but DD has been completely dry for 3 days now. I find it so much harder when others are watching the kids for a while, or we are out and about...


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## morri

Funnily It took me some German posts to get more interested in it and I think it is because of the 'clinical' name (like elimination, which makes it sound a bit commando and war like :haha:
I prefer the 'nappy free' as it is called in German as well.
I am not sure if I have the capacity with a first child but in combination with cloth diapering it surely sounds interesting.


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## jcg0506

canadabear said:


> Great to hear all the responses and interest this thread has. we are now back to LOVING EC.. and everything is going wonderfully. LO hasn't had a poopy nappy in a while and he is holding his wee longer and longer too. :yipee:
> 
> I have a question about training pants, washable ones... when do you recommend starting them? The reason I ask, LO is a BIG boy and we are almost at the limit for the size of cloth nappies we have. We recently bought some one-size nappys and wraps. I love using that combo. but LO has such chunky thighs. I don't know if we will be able to find any much bigger, unless we go special order. But that costs a lot.
> He is already stretching the limit of the size 4 disposables, which we use at night. And we have only been able to find up to size 5 here of those as well.
> If LO continues to stay on the same percentile for weight and hight, we are going to have to find a solution nappy wise or go to training pants probably by end of summer at the latest.
> I don't want to push LO and am just so happy with the progress we have made with EC now.
> Any advice to my long-winded explination? :dohh: :flower:

I've started my lo on waterproof trainers during the day when we're at home. I have the Flip trainer which is like a pull-on diaper; it's adjustable and quite absorbent. I haven't had any leaks even though it's still lose on my lo's thighs. I think it would work for you. It's really just a cover that comes with five inserts that Velcro in. I've also got a couple Ecapants and I love them but they're not cheap. I've got the stuff to try and copy the pattern. I'm hoping my lo will be ready for some non waterproof trainers this summer. It's so hot here and lo gets heat rash around his diaper area. I think if things are going well for you, then definitely try them. We do three strikes and your out, which means three misses and he's back in diapers.


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## jcg0506

EarthMama said:


> Serious question for EC'ers...I hold my son over a bowl for potty, with hands underneath his knees and back pressed/supported against my body...do you think this strains the joints in his knees? I worry bout this as sometimes he wiggles while I'm holding him like that and it SEEMS like it's straining them...I don't want to hurt a developing part of his body, is there a better way to hold? When can he use a baby potty?

As a newborn, my lo hated the in-arms (classic EC position) so we supported him over a potty. He had really good head control since birth. But at 3 months he decided he hated the potty and preferred the in arms. So I would do whatever your lo feels more comfortable with. But I haven't heard anything about the classic position not being good for them physically.


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## BandK

For those of you who use disposable diapers and EC... if LO tinkles while your running to the bathroom to get there in time, do you change the diaper... or do you put it back on?

I am so confused as to what to do because they are completely dry to the touch but technically shes peed in them, it seems like such a waste to throw them out but I also feel weird putting them back on.. just wondering what you do.


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## canadabear

BandK said:


> For those of you who use disposable diapers and EC... if LO tinkles while your running to the bathroom to get there in time, do you change the diaper... or do you put it back on?
> 
> I am so confused as to what to do because they are completely dry to the touch but technically shes peed in them, it seems like such a waste to throw them out but I also feel weird putting them back on.. just wondering what you do.

Hi. I don't use disposables all the time, usually LO is in cloth. 
TBH, I HAVE actually put a disposable back on LO even though I know he has had a small wee in it :blush: I feel bad when I have done so, but also I have to think of the cost. Plus, in my mind, if I wasn't doing EC, more than likely LO would wee a few times before changing nappies anyway. Obviously,t if it is a lot of wee, I just change it, but now that we have been doing EC since 4 months, LO does only a small wee, unless it's nighttime, in his nappy if I don't quite get him to the toilet on time. 
Use your best judgment...:thumbup::flower:


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## hapi2bhealthy

Great to find this thread. I'm still only in first tri with #1 but have been a nanny for years and interested in trying EC with my LO eventually. It really isn't a new idea at all, in fact my mum and her brothers and sisters were all out of nappies by 14 months because my grandma did exactly this- to save her washing more old nappies!

I'll keep up with this thread over the year.


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## Hanskiz

Hello all.

I just wanted to share my best EC moment to date. My LO is 4 months and we've been ECing (part-time) since birth. 

Yesterday, whilst out walking with her in the sling, she started to fidget and fuss - this usually means she needs a wee as she loves being in the sling - so I popped her out, whipped her nappy off and cued her by the side of the footpath. Sure enough, she did a massive wee! Then I just popped her back in and had a happy baby for the rest of the walk. :happydance:

It was so satisfying! Also, nappy was bone dry (we use cloth) so I put it back on for her nap a couple of hours later! 

I also wanted to ask some advice. We catch wees a lot and I'm getting pretty good at reading her cues for them, but she doesn't poo very often (maybe every couple of days) so I find it hard to predict and if I catch one it's usually more by luck (because I thought she needed a wee) than design. Do your LO's have different cues for wees and poos or are they just the same?


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## cheese lover

...and we're back to using the potty! I was able to catch 2 wees this weekend. I stopped putting her on the potty for a few weeks in hopes that she would forget that she was afraid of it. I also moved her completely out of our bathroom and into her own. Now I'm waiting on some fleece trainers and some pull up fitted that I'm having custom made and then I think we'll be all set. :happydance:
Next time I have a chance I'll talk with her teacher about how they can compliment what we're doing at home.


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## jcg0506

Hi everyone! We've started our LO on solids in the last few weeks; we're doing the baby-led wending approach and it's going great. He's eating really well, much more than I expected from reading the book. Consequently, his poop has started to change and is definitely getting thicker. He seems to be having a harder time getting it out since he strains a lot and turns red in the face. I don't know if it actually hurts him since he hadn't cried but it certainly seems uncomfortable. He has gone from having a couple of poops a day to now only pooping every few days. The last time he actually went five days between poops. I told him if he didn't poop the next morning, I was going to call the doctor. I guess he understood because he finally pooped. :) Whenever he starts straining and grunting I take him to the potty, but he only lets out a lot of smelly gas. I'm getting worried about him holding it. I know that he can because he always holds it when ee're out and about and has sometimes waited all day until we get home and I take him to the potty. But he's never held it for so long. I know it's not healthy and only makes it harder for him to poop the longer he waits. I try talking to him and telling him it's okay to poop, even if it feels different, but he's only six months so he can't really understand. I'm not sure what to do to help him poop more regularly again and not hold it. Should I give him prune juice? I've already cut back on the solids some. Has anyone had this problem when their baby started solids?


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## Rmar

Pears are good for helping poo along. I think it is pretty normal to have a change in poo when starting solids and they take a bit of time to get used to it. It still happens when we have a day of eating more solids than usual. DD has been constipated to tears once after a big day of mushrooms.


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## jcg0506

Just have to brag for a momomet-- we just had two miss- free days (except for naps). I'm over the moon! Happy dance :happydance:


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## cheese lover

Jcg, that's awesome!

We're getting there. Isis will sit on the potty but doesn't pee much. She's really good at pooping on the potty, which makes me happy! I talked with her teacher at school and they've started to put her on the potty ther too. Mostly after nap and meals. I think we're on a good track. :happydance:


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## canadabear

Wonderful to read how everyone is doing! And enjoying EC as well. :flower:

We are doing GREAT.. even to the point of not using a wrap with the nappy at home.. :yipee:, not all the time, but most days I just leave him either nappy free or just the nappy. Only had wee's at nap times and nights. No poops at all in the nappy..

though I have run into the problem of him not liking to poop in a strange toilet.. no problem with weeing, but he will wait until we get home and do a really massive poop right away.. he is SO uncomfortable up until then as well.. I guess I will just keep with it and eventually it will happen..


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## LockandKey

Hey ladies, I really need your help right now :(

I really want to EC, and around 8 months DD was always pooping in her potty, but now she is only pooping in her sleep, and if by chance she poops during the day, she doesn't act like she is pooping, like doesn't make noise or indicate that she is going, I just smell it and I can tell that she has went. And if by chance she does go, she grunts once or twice, and she is already done, I try and rush her to the potty but she is so quick to poop. What do I do? We haven't caught poop in the potty in almost 3 months now :nope: I feel like I am failing. Today I put her on the potty when I heard her grunting, but when I put her on the potty, she didn't go. I had her sitting there for 15 mins, but nothing. She's not unhappy on the potty, she likes it. Am I doing something wrong? What can I do to correct this? Please help


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## qpaulina42

Need some advice ladies - LO is still not asking for the potty in any way that I notice. She does look at me when she needs to poop or after/during she's done a pee but then again she looks at me other times too so I can't really use that as a cue. I was hoping she would make some of our cue noises or perhaps crawl over to the potty now that she is an avid crawler (she did once! but that was it). Perhaps it's my approach - We use potty after wakings and before going to bed/nap, also any time she seems to strain/be ready to poop and she is in diapers the rest of the time. Sometimes I've put on training underwear, the kind that gets wet but doesn't leave too huge a puddle and then I offer pee more often and miss more of them obviously. Perhaps I should switch to only training pants and see if I can notice her cues more? But honestly I thought she would vocalize or sign or just go over to the potty by now! sad face...


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## qpaulina42

LockandKey said:


> Hey ladies, I really need your help right now :(
> 
> I really want to EC, and around 8 months DD was always pooping in her potty, but now she is only pooping in her sleep, and if by chance she poops during the day, she doesn't act like she is pooping, like doesn't make noise or indicate that she is going, I just smell it and I can tell that she has went. And if by chance she does go, she grunts once or twice, and she is already done, I try and rush her to the potty but she is so quick to poop. What do I do? We haven't caught poop in the potty in almost 3 months now :nope: I feel like I am failing. Today I put her on the potty when I heard her grunting, but when I put her on the potty, she didn't go. I had her sitting there for 15 mins, but nothing. She's not unhappy on the potty, she likes it. Am I doing something wrong? What can I do to correct this? Please help

Does her poop correlated with food intake at all, for instance mine tends to poop maybe 15-30 min after eating. Also I notice sometimes she gets into a weird pose before pooping, almost cat like, or sits down and pulls her chin towards her belly button. Is her poop particularly runny? Sorry, not sure if I'm any help...


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## Hanskiz

qpaulina42 said:


> Need some advice ladies - LO is still not asking for the potty in any way that I notice. She does look at me when she needs to poop or after/during she's done a pee but then again she looks at me other times too so I can't really use that as a cue. I was hoping she would make some of our cue noises or perhaps crawl over to the potty now that she is an avid crawler (she did once! but that was it). Perhaps it's my approach - We use potty after wakings and before going to bed/nap, also any time she seems to strain/be ready to poop and she is in diapers the rest of the time. Sometimes I've put on training underwear, the kind that gets wet but doesn't leave too huge a puddle and then I offer pee more often and miss more of them obviously. Perhaps I should switch to only training pants and see if I can notice her cues more? But honestly I thought she would vocalize or sign or just go over to the potty by now! sad face...

I've found that my LO cues much more reliably when she is nappy free. For ages I had her in nappies and looked for cues but I hardly caught anything. Now I have her nappy free at home almost all the time and she cues really well and so I catch much more. I think sometimes they find having anything on a bit confusing. I certainly found that with my big girl when conventionally potty training her. She could only tell when she was going to go if she was bottomless. 

I'd try going totally nappy and pants free for a couple of days and see if she cues more...

Good luck!!


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## Mrs.Ping

Hi ladies! I have just heard about EC and have just started today with lo and we caught our first pee this morning! Hurray I am so proud of my big girl! Haven't caught any more pees yet today but I am still offering about every hr or so she usually has a wee in her diaper when I do offer shoal I offer evey 30 min or so so we can catch more?


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## Rmar

Perhaps offer more often. DD was going less than half an hour at 4 months old.


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## Mrs.Ping

Thanks I will do! We only caught that first morning pee yesterday and missed it this morning so were gonna try harder to get her to the toilet today. Although she did take a nap yesterday fir an hr and came out with a clean diaper but when I offered her the sunk she didn't go but waited about 10 mins before she peed. She dosent really give any signals ATM that I can see. I put her on her play mat for about 40 mins before bath time but she will not pee. If I have her on the changer table she will pee but I can't keep her there for 40 min with out her crying to get off. We are gonna use cloth diaper while at home today so she can feel what a wet diaper feels like and hopefully she will signal stronger so I can get her to the toilet. Gonna buy her one a toilet at walmart in a few days can't wait! If anyone has any tips that would be great. I offer her the toilet before nursing at nappy changes before bath time and when ever I feel she needs it but have yet to catch one.


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## qpaulina42

Hanskiz said:


> qpaulina42 said:
> 
> 
> Need some advice ladies - LO is still not asking for the potty in any way that I notice. She does look at me when she needs to poop or after/during she's done a pee but then again she looks at me other times too so I can't really use that as a cue. I was hoping she would make some of our cue noises or perhaps crawl over to the potty now that she is an avid crawler (she did once! but that was it). Perhaps it's my approach - We use potty after wakings and before going to bed/nap, also any time she seems to strain/be ready to poop and she is in diapers the rest of the time. Sometimes I've put on training underwear, the kind that gets wet but doesn't leave too huge a puddle and then I offer pee more often and miss more of them obviously. Perhaps I should switch to only training pants and see if I can notice her cues more? But honestly I thought she would vocalize or sign or just go over to the potty by now! sad face...
> 
> I've found that my LO cues much more reliably when she is nappy free. For ages I had her in nappies and looked for cues but I hardly caught anything. Now I have her nappy free at home almost all the time and she cues really well and so I catch much more. I think sometimes they find having anything on a bit confusing. I certainly found that with my big girl when conventionally potty training her. She could only tell when she was going to go if she was bottomless.
> 
> I'd try going totally nappy and pants free for a couple of days and see if she cues more...
> 
> Good luck!!Click to expand...

It seems unhygienic for her to sit on the floor without anything on though. I wouldn't sit naked on the floor.... Are you not concerned?


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## Hanskiz

qpaulina42 said:


> It seems unhygienic for her to sit on the floor without anything on though. I wouldn't sit naked on the floor.... Are you not concerned?

She can't sit yet so she lies on her playmat/blanket with a cloth nappy under her (sometimes), so not in the least bit unhygienic! When she can sit, it'll be the same. When she starts moving around I'll just wash the floors and hoover more often!


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## canadabear

Hi all..
We are doing great with EC.. but LO has resently 'found' his willy :haha: and now when I take him for a wee he tries to grab/play with himself at the same time.. :dohh:.. any advice? I am still doing the holding behind the knees over the toilet, we don't have an actual potty right now. But I find LO gets upset and won't finish on the toilet when I am trying to keep his hands away.. FRUSTRATING


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## jcg0506

canadabear said:


> Hi all..
> We are doing great with EC.. but LO has resently 'found' his willy :haha: and now when I take him for a wee he tries to grab/play with himself at the same time.. :dohh:.. any advice? I am still doing the holding behind the knees over the toilet, we don't have an actual potty right now. But I find LO gets upset and won't finish on the toilet when I am trying to keep his hands away.. FRUSTRATING

My LO plays with himself too, amd just today DH said he grabbed himself as he was peeing and got it all over himself. That doesn't usually happen though. I often give him a small toy he can hold in his hands and it keeps him occupied long enough to pee. We also do in arms over the sink.

On another note, i feel like we just took two steps backward. We just got back from an unexpected trip for my grandmother's funeral, only a week after we had got back from our vacation, and although we had two miss-free days just before we left on our vacation, I've only caught like one pee a day for the last few days. Its like he's not holding it at all. I know travel always sets us back, but it's so frustrating. He's also working on mobility more and I'm sure that's not helping. I think I'll try an observation day this week and see if his timing or signals have changed.
QPaulina42, how old is your LO? Mine is 7 1/2 months and he's never really signalled much at all. I think some babies are like that. Mine is really laid back and doesn't even protest a wet diaper. I'm trying to teach him the potty sign so eventually he might start telling me when he needs to pee. For now, I just rely primarily on timing. You might try wearing your baby more. Most (although not mine) will signal more when being worn.


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## Mrs.Ping

My lo is laid back also and does not seek to signal either although I did catch a pee signal yesterday but I only out lo on the potty because I thought she may Have to pee! So think that one was luck. Lo used to grunt and push before she pooped but now I see nothing before she poops! When you say wearing them makes them signal more do you mean fussy and squirmy? I am still waiting for the rings for my sling so can't wear her yet !


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## jcg0506

Mrs.Ping said:


> My lo is laid back also and does not seek to signal either although I did catch a pee signal yesterday but I only out lo on the potty because I thought she may Have to pee! So think that one was luck. Lo used to grunt and push before she pooped but now I see nothing before she poops! When you say wearing them makes them signal more do you mean fussy and squirmy? I am still waiting for the rings for my sling so can't wear her yet !

Yes, they usually put up a fuss before peeing in a carrier. Mine did this while a newborn, but no more. He's an exception, I think.

Other news, Rowan is making strides in learning to crawl, and consequently our success rate is plummeting. Anyone have advice on ECing mobile babies? It seems he's peeing all the time now and won't really hold it; I guess he's too distracted. I thought I'd do some diaper free observation time to see if I can discern new timing patterns, but when diaperless he started holding it again. I'm kind of befuddled. He is getting mobile and we have carpet so I don't really want to go completely naked. Maybe it's time for undies.

Also, I'm curious what recepticle you use at this age. We still do in-arms at the sink since he's not really interested in the little potty. I sit with him on the toilet for poops, but a few times he has surprised me with a poop while over the sink, which was not much fun to clean up:nope: has anyone has success with a toilet seat reducer at this age?


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## morri

I havent got my own experience yet, but from what I have read at other times is just to wait till things have normalised and the growth spurt has finished (or what else he is working on)


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## SpringerS

jcg0506 said:


> I sit with him on the toilet for poops, but a few times he has surprised me with a poop while over the sink, which was not much fun to clean up:nope: has anyone has success with a toilet seat reducer at this age?

Maybe something like the bumbo toilet seat would be useful? I've read of people using them with even younger babies.

https://www.bumbo.com/index.php?nav=products&view=3


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## Mrs.Ping

Oh we finally caught a poo the other day! So proud!! W have only caught 2 pees and 1 poo the whole time but that's better then none I guess. Nice we get the cloth diapers I think it will be much easier to get her to the potty in time. We took the diaper changing table off her pack and play because she is getting to heavy for it. She used to pee while on the changing table so this was the only place I could give her the signal association. We don't quite have it down yet or she just stuborn. So while we have nappy free time every night before bed she would just pee on her mat so I could see her signals but now she will fuss and I take her to the sink and signal her but she will not pee so I put her back down and she will fuss again after a few mins so I will take her again and still nothing. So I put her in her bouncy chair with a preefold under her and she will immediately pee ! She has done it twice so far. She didn't have any problem pooping in the sink but for some reason she will not pee.


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## cheese lover

We have the little potty but as soon as Isis was mobile it was out the window! We bought https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002SG7JRG/ref=wms_ohs_product prince lionheart weepod. It goes on the potty and it's so comfy that Isis doesn't want to get off the potty! Definitely worth the money!

We're doing good here. Catching the first morning pee and poop every day before work and on the weekends. We're not doing as well during the day but she'll get there. I'm happy with one less poopy diaper a day!


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## canadabear

Haven't been on for a while, but just wanted to let you all know that LO is doing GREAT with EC.
We hardly have wet nappies during the day anymore, and haven't had a poopie nappy in so long I can't remember the last time. :yipee:
LO has just started waking up in the night when he has to do a wee. The only problem with that is it is really hard to get him to go back to sleep. :dohh: But I would much rather do that than encourage him to just wee at night. Just so proud of my little monkey. :blush:


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## cheese lover

I need some advice. I really want to get back to EC much more than we have. I've been pretty lax lately and only offering theotty a couple times a day. I'm dealing with a toddler that wants to do everything for herself including getting on the potty so I've bought a new potty that's on the floor but is the same brand as the weepod that she loves. When that arrives I'm going full time and will be asking daycare to do similarly. I'm going to start putting Isis in cloth trainers as well so it's easier to pull on and off. My problem is that in a couple weeks we're flying to my parents house and they won't have a little potty for her. I could bring her travel potty but she really doesn't like it. I dont really want to wait until we get back. Life is never going to slow down, it'll never be the right time to be more committed. What would you do?


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## katrinalorien

Hi! I am hoping someone is still subscribed/reads this thread. DH and I have started this with DD, she is 3 weeks. The only issue is that she cries on the potty. She really just cries anytime her diaper is off, so I think she is just cold. Any suggestions? I don't want her to hate the potty!


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## Hanskiz

katrinalorien said:


> Hi! I am hoping someone is still subscribed/reads this thread. DH and I have started this with DD, she is 3 weeks. The only issue is that she cries on the potty. She really just cries anytime her diaper is off, so I think she is just cold. Any suggestions? I don't want her to hate the potty!

I used legwarmers with my LO so she didn't get so chilly as we started from birth in January. Worth a shot?

Some little babies just don't like being undressed, she'll probably grow out of it pretty quickly. Maybe try the in arms position over a sink or loo rather than the potty for a bit so she feels more secure.

Just experiment, you'll find a way that works for you soon enough...

Good luck!


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## Menelly

I've "caught" a few poos with Kesslie over the last few days, but she seems to STOP pooing when I put her over the potty (and I've tried a baby potty, the adult potty and the sink) until I put a diaper back on her. She's only 5 months old, so I'd *think* she wouldn't be that used to needing a diaper yet?

And I've only caught one pee so far, with plenty of no go opportunities. It's a tiny bit discouraging. I can't seem to see her pee queues...


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## Hanskiz

Menelly said:


> I've "caught" a few poos with Kesslie over the last few days, but she seems to STOP pooing when I put her over the potty (and I've tried a baby potty, the adult potty and the sink) until I put a diaper back on her. She's only 5 months old, so I'd *think* she wouldn't be that used to needing a diaper yet?
> 
> And I've only caught one pee so far, with plenty of no go opportunities. It's a tiny bit discouraging. I can't seem to see her pee queues...

Try not to be too discouraged. If you've just started out it can take a while for baby to get used to the idea. Do you have nappy free time ever? It could be worth having a couple of hours bare bottomed and just observing. You may find she cues more reliably when naked. My daughter used not to cue at all when in a nappy. Now she does but she is older and I still miss a lot of wees!

Just persevere, take it slowly and enjoy. It'll get easier. 

Good luck.


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## Sam Pearson

I think 5 months old is plenty old enough to be nappy trained. Perhaps she feels insecure over a potty? Could you try putting the potty on your lap and having her face out so that her back is close to your body and you can hug her as she eliminates?


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## dfavbaby

katrinalorien said:


> Hi! I am hoping someone is still subscribed/reads this thread. DH and I have started this with DD, she is 3 weeks. The only issue is that she cries on the potty. She really just cries anytime her diaper is off, so I think she is just cold. Any suggestions? I don't want her to hate the potty!

Y


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## dfavbaby

katrinalorien said:


> Hi! I am hoping someone is still subscribed/reads this thread. DH and I have started this with DD, she is 3 weeks. The only issue is that she cries on the potty. She really just cries anytime her diaper is off, so I think she is just cold. Any suggestions? I don't want her to hate the potty!

Y


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## katrinalorien

dfavbaby said:


> katrinalorien said:
> 
> 
> Hi! I am hoping someone is still subscribed/reads this thread. DH and I have started this with DD, she is 3 weeks. The only issue is that she cries on the potty. She really just cries anytime her diaper is off, so I think she is just cold. Any suggestions? I don't want her to hate the potty!
> 
> YClick to expand...

Because if she hates the potty then she won't think of it positively?


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## readyORnot

Hi all, hoping to revive this thread a bit!

My baby is 11½ weeks old, and I've been ECing since he was 3 weeks, when his signals started to get a bit clearer. Initially I was using the newborn hold over a bucket but he seemed really uncomfortable and he was so tiny (5lb 3½oz) it was hard to feel that I was holding him securely. So I bought a little wonders baby potty and I just sit him on it, positioning my hands so as to support his back and neck (although he's had excellent neck control since birth). I think bug in a rug or someone else does the same.

I initially had to use disposable nappies as he was too tiny to fit into my washables but now I've started to move to washables as often as possible. I'm hoping that by the time he's 4 months I'll try having him in (washable) training pants of some sort, at least during the day. That'll also make pottying him a whole lot easier as I currently have to whip off his clothes and nappy at lightening speed to get him to the potty!

We've been having a great time with it so far, although I don't think I even catch half of his pees since he pees so often at the moment. I'm just waiting until he starts to pee less frequently or learns to empty his bladder properly on each occasion. 
I catch almost 100% of his poos. He no longer poos at night, and his morning poo is very easy to catch as it's immediately he wakes up. His pee signal is the same as his poo signal, just less obvious.

The last two days have been a bit difficult though. He normally poos 4-5 times a day but yesterday there was no morning poo and I was too late noticing his signal when he finally managed to poo later on. Also his poo was very runny. Today he also had no morning poo and pooed in the middle of the day when we were out, also runny.

Also, normally when I go out I take the potty or a toilet seat adapter or just hold him over a big toilet.

I hope everyone else is enjoying their EC journey and getting lots of successes! I'm sure as my son gets older I'll face a lot of the challenges I've read about in here.:flower:


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## Hanskiz

ReadyORnot - babies elimination habits change constantly... It sounds like you're doing brilliantly on picking up on his cues so just go with the flow. There will be times when you miss a lot, and there will be days when you catch everything. Just keep offering the potty!!

BTW - that potty looks great, I'm tempted to buy one for my DD as the one we have is quite tall and she has short legs so is a bit unbalanced!


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## mumnbean

A bit of a side topic but.... has anyone noticed that their boys take longer to poop than the girls?

My DS takes a long time (like his dad) but DD would alway be quite quick about her business (like me). Just wondering if its a boy/girl thing or anyone else noticed similar? I can have DS sitting on the potty for 10minutes sometimes while he works on getting it all out... (sorry if tmi!)


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## greenpear

:wave: hi all! I'm jumping in on EC bandwagon - I've been trying it out for the past several weeks and it's been pretty good so far :)


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## Hanskiz

mumnbean said:


> A bit of a side topic but.... has anyone noticed that their boys take longer to poop than the girls?
> 
> My DS takes a long time (like his dad) but DD would alway be quite quick about her business (like me). Just wondering if its a boy/girl thing or anyone else noticed similar? I can have DS sitting on the potty for 10minutes sometimes while he works on getting it all out... (sorry if tmi!)

:rofl:


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## readyORnot

:hi:hi Hanskiz!

katrinalorien, I'm so sorry I've been meaning to post this to you for ages but with one thing and another... anyway, you know how it goes.

I hope you're still persevering with the EC and if you are, I wanted to say that I think a lot of women offer a breast to unhappy babies when they're pottying them, and the babies do grow out of it. It's just for reassurance and to help cancel out any negative association with the potty. I did it a few times with Angelo in the early days and he hasn't needed that for at least 6 weeks now.
Also, it's amazing the difference the expression on your face can make. I make a point of talking and smiling and laughing with Angelo when he's on the potty, but this morning I totally forgot to smile and as soon as I popped him on the potty he started to cry. I smiled at him and laughed a bit and hey presto, happy baby! :shrug:go figure...

mumnbean, I've never had a girl baby but occasionally my son does take a long time to get finished! Once or twice I've taken him off the potty too soon after a poo as I'm afraid of him getting fed up of it, only for him to immediately poo in his nappy!


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## katrinalorien

Good point ready! I will have to watch myself more closely... I think I mostly gimace because of the location of the potty and how I have to hold her... so maybe I should switch it up to make it more comfy.. and remember to smile!


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## annagrace

I'd love to try this. I'm all for intuitive parenting, and all the responses for this method seem amazing! 

Thing is - my little girl is almost 3 months now. How do i start from here?

Any help would be appreciated x


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## katrinalorien

not sure exactly, but from other posts I gather you can start by doing a "diaper free day". It helps you watch for their cues and helps them cue better. You may have to do a couple of these? Then its all about watching for cues from there!

Oh ready I have dedicated myself to smiling while Lily is on the potty - BIG difference already!


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## jcg0506

Hello ladies! I haven't been on here in a while, so I'll recap our EC story these last few months. At 8 months, my lo started peeing in his diaper ALL the time, not holding it at all like he used to, so I took off the diapers to do some observation and see if I could tell what was going on. Lo and behold he started holding it again, so I left the diapers off, ordered some training pants, and we went great from there. But a month later when he started really crawling and getting around, he started pooping in his pants and having many more pee misses. We had gone like four months without a single poopy diaper. I figured it was just the developmental milestone and I'd wait it out. Well the pee eventually got back on track, but the pooping has gotten worse. Sometimes, if he poops first thing in the morning, he'll let me hold him over the toilet and I catch it, but the rest of the day, it's almost always a miss, and he never does a full poop in his pants, it's always in several installments. So I've been working really hard lately to get back to catching the poops, and have had a little success with the little potty. Many times I only catch him in the act, and immediately transfer him to the potty, to try to get the association back. Occasionally if I know he needs to poop but refuses the potty I keep him naked (if he's peed recently) and watch really closely and when he gets in position to poop I slide the potty underneath him. Really hoping we can get him back on track soon. Any advice is appreciated.


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## cheese lover

I don't know if this is the right advice, but for us when there were times that Isis didn't want to be on the potty I didn't push, I would continue to ask if she needed to go potty and just let her lead the way. She has a very strong personality and is very much a toddler. I don't want to make this a power struggle. This started around 10-11 months. She would refuse to sit on the potty, then a week later would love it. Then a month later back to hating it. There have been times when I thought she would be close to using just training pants and underwear but she just went through two weeks of refusing the potty. Just today I smelled poop so I asked her if she had pooped (previously she would tell me no), she said yes and so I told her we needed to change her diaper (before she would have said no), and she ran to the bathroom, waited for me to take her diaper off and sat on the potty! She didn't do anything but I'm still happy. Then before bath (we had a routine before of her sitting on the potty before bath) she "told" me she wanted to sit on the potty! 
I thin if you're patient and understanding about changes in your child's life you will be ok. It might not go the way you want it to but as I'm learning I don't have as much control over my child as I used to. 
I hope your LO cooperates!:hugs:


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## youngwife20

I am so glad to find this thread i dont visit this section my daughter has been using a potty since 3 months old. i am not sure if its ec. but all i know is i put her on the poty when i feel she is showing me signs and she poos and pees almost every time. i would like her out of nappies by 1 years old. so any tips would help!! shes 7 months old on wednesday! i asked for tips and to hear storys of other mums who potty train early or ec and everyone just thought i was weird.


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## morri

If you need a bit helo or guidance there are good books by Laurie Bouke (shorter and longer versions :) )


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## Flake-y

Hey girls, just looking for some advice!

I initially thought there was no way I'd do ec but I'm getting kind of interested in it, is it too late to start with my LO? I like the idea of a more natural potty training method!

We don't baby wear, my LO hated being in the sling, and we don't co-sleep so I'd be happy to use nappies at night. 

Any advice or suggestions? Thanks!!!


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## katrinalorien

I'm fairly certain you can start all the way up to 18 months? I think there's a section on starting late in the book...

I started on week three so I don't know much about starting late, but I think you can find some information on this website

https://ecsimplified.com/

or at least in the book that the website promotes!


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## annagrace

Soo... i feel silly asking as it seems obvious, but to get an idea of my baby's cues through having a nappy free day, i just have to be prepared for a little mess? (or wear a rubber apron - haha!) And should i be introducing a 'cue sound' to her when she does pee/poop, right from the start?


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## katrinalorien

I would imagine so.. I didn't do one so I'm not completely sure. 

I introduced a cue sound straight away, again not sure about starting late but that's what we did with Lily. I don't know if the cue influences her or if just reminds her why she's there! haha...

Let me know how the nappy free day goes if you decide to do it.. if it helps then maybe I will try one as well.


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## xSin

I am so glad I found this thread! I'm going to have to try it out when I'm back in cloth. (Right now our dryer is broken so inviting potentially more laundry is not something I'm ready to leap into right away lol)

ETA: An hour later I caught her first pee!! YAY!!!!!


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## readyORnot

*annagrace *&* flake-y*, I second what Kat said!

*youngwife*, sounds exactly like EC to me!! Glad you've found this thread!

As for me, I did use cue sounds to begin with and I think it helped with the associations but now I just talk to him about what's happening and just the action of sitting him on the little potty or big toilet seems to be enough of a cue now.

My LO is already very strong-willed so I'm braced for a possible rebellion at some point. Today was a strange day - caught all his poo, which is normal for the moment - but not a single pee. Up until yesterday afternoon he would always wee the second I put him on the potty, even if he had just done a wee already. In fact, yesterday evening after _not_ weeing in the potty he proceeded to wee all over my lap, which has never happened before (and I frequently hold him without a nappy)...
He's also just started arching his back as if to lie down when he's on the potty. This is different to his "I want to get off the potty" signal, and is not a sign of distress. I did manage to distract him from doing that using a toy a couple of times but I'll see if that continues. 

All the best to everyone, especialy if you're currently in a rough patch!:flower::loo:


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## katrinalorien

How did you set up a done with the potty signal? I just keep saying all done and take her off when she gets frustrated...


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## xSin

I dunno, Aria starts arching her back as if she's trying to 'escape' the toilet when she's finished... although I've missed out a couple times today on poops because I took her off the toilet prematurely ...lol


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## angiepie

Can someone recommend good EC books that DF and I can read before having a LO? I'd like to find out as much info before being pregnant. Are there any EC DVDs or documentaries? TIA!


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## morri

I think all books by Laurie Bouke are a great read. There are longer versions, I have the shorter less dogmatic version "infant potty training"


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## xSin

I found the "diaperfreebaby.org" site particularly helpful, there's a LOT of information on there and while I am far from "knowledgeable" the information that I got from that site on the various cues to keep an eye for as well as positions for holding, allowed me to catch 3 pees and 2 poos today! I am STOKED! 

The best part is that my LO has seemed genuinely happier today, as a result of not having a poopy wet squidgy bum and because it is going "out" and not being squished all around in a diaper, the 'cleanup' is a breeze really lol


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## readyORnot

Angelo literally puts his feet down on the floor and tries to 'stand up' off the potty when he's done! If he's just sitting there doing nothing for a while without signalling to get off, I ask him if he's finished and oddly that seems to get him to do one more push and then ask to get off.
I initially mistook his back arching as another sign he wanted to come off but quickly learned from that mistake...

*angiepie*, I read 'the diaper-free baby' by Christine Gross-Loh. But there's also loads of stuff online, too.


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## greenpear

^^^ already sitting on the potty?? wow! I usually just take diaper off and let Emi do her stuff (I help her poo by holding her legs to her tummy and make noises at her, same with peeing) while lying in her rubber change table and she does it on her back...are there potties for babies that young? I wanted to get potty for her when she's able to sit on her own but if you can advise how you did it then I can start earlier :winkwink:


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## readyORnot

i bought this one designed for 4 months+

some use the baby bjorn potty chair


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## xSin

I just take Aria's diaper off and hold her in the positions recommended on diaperfreebaby.org above a sink or toilet. 

How do you ladies deal with it when you're out and about somewhere where there isn't a readily available toilet though? I went to my mom's group this morning and while there's a change table, there isn't a toilet "right there" and I felt like I betrayed Aria (she certainly looked at me like I was betraying her) because she was giving cues and because I was out I wasn't "ready" in that setting to get up and ask where the toilets were ....then the mom's would've offered to watch her, then I would've had to explain, then I would've had to deal with a gazillion questions (I'm not good with becoming the center of attention).... I did take her to the potty when OH and I went out for lunch though... in a restaurant, that was a setting it was simple enough to take her into the ladies room and into a stall and let her have a tinkle in the toilet there.


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## angiepie

xSin said:


> I just take Aria's diaper off and hold her in the positions recommended on diaperfreebaby.org above a sink or toilet.
> 
> How do you ladies deal with it when you're out and about somewhere where there isn't a readily available toilet though? I went to my mom's group this morning and while there's a change table, there isn't a toilet "right there" and I felt like I betrayed Aria (she certainly looked at me like I was betraying her) because she was giving cues and because I was out I wasn't "ready" in that setting to get up and ask where the toilets were ....then the mom's would've offered to watch her, then I would've had to explain, then I would've had to deal with a gazillion questions (I'm not good with becoming the center of attention).... I did take her to the potty when OH and I went out for lunch though... in a restaurant, that was a setting it was simple enough to take her into the ladies room and into a stall and let her have a tinkle in the toilet there.

Maybe next time you could check where to loo is as soon as you arrive, so you can just get up and go when you need to without having the awkwardness.


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## angiepie

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!


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## katrinalorien

Hmm... some bring the potty with them, some try to offer the big potty, some EC outside... those are the things I have found online. I just don't EC as much out and about.


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## greenpear

That's a great looking potty :)

I actually bought a kiddie toilet seat today that goes over adult seat. She tinkled for me twice before boycotting it :dohh: :rofl:

Oh well, will try again tomorrow in the morning when she does her poop. Hopefully she'll be more rested and in better spirits to do it, otherwise we'll have to go back to pooping in the boat on her back :(


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## xSin

Aria's aim is nowhere near good enough for me to try to bring a potty with us... aiming her out into "nature" would be an option I suppose... depending on location LOL


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## katrinalorien

heehee I am mostly home anyway, but my plan is to offer a big toilet when she's a little bigger. Still not 100% sure how to do this though!! I think Ready's done it...


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## greenpear

Out into nature - I like that concept. Next time I'm in the mall I'll give it a go....Hahaha just kidding :rofl:

Oooh! Emi pooped into the toilet like a big girl this morning :happydance:


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## katrinalorien

woot!!! Way to go emi!


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## xSin

Aria only pood once in the toilet this morning and then her next one was a "miss" -- It came later than usual and she seemed constipated. Its neat how EC'ing shows me things I never knew about my baby before lol


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## jcg0506

For those of you just starting out, I would definitely recommend reading at least one book. Trust me, you will need the information dealing with all the how-to's, different stages, trouble shooting, etc. My two favorites were ECSimplified (Andrea Olsen) and The Diaper Free Baby (Christine Le-Gross) for just good practical information for just starting out. ECSimplified is more expensive but comes with access to a private forum where the author answers your questions directly. Laurie Bouke's Infant Potty Training is good, though much longer, but has fascinating information about EC around the world in different cultures. I don't recommend much Diaper-Free! (Ingrid Bauer) for just starting out; it's what I read first and it seemed totally impractical and gave me false expectations about what I could really accomplish but without much detail on how to get there. The author tells her own story of never using diapers and almost never getting peed on! She seemed psychic to me. Anyway, info gained from forums, blogs, etc., though helpful, just won't be enough!

Also, diaper-free time when you're starting out is absolutely essential for establishing babies natural timing and signals. With non-mobile babies, you just lay them on some old towels or other waterproof or absorbent material. Of course, it's much more difficult with a mobile baby, but you can try to block off non-carpeted areas of the house or try outside. You watch closely, it helps to keep a log of when by our baby pees/poops with respect to eating/nursing and sleeping. And try to observe what they do just before eliminating. This tells you how often to offer the potty and what signals to look for when baby needs to pee or poop. Cueing sounds helps them establish the association between the sound and eliminating, then they will know to eliminate when they hear the sound and eventually they recognize the position. It's just behavioral conditioning (aka Pavlov's dog). You'd be surprised how fast a tiny baby will pick up on the cue. With older babies, you can just use words.
Good luck!


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## xSin

That's good to know thanks for the tips! :)


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## angiepie

jcg0506 said:


> For those of you just starting out, I would definitely recommend reading at least one book. Trust me, you will need the information dealing with all the how-to's, different stages, trouble shooting, etc. My two favorites were ECSimplified (Andrea Olsen) and The Diaper Free Baby (Christine Le-Gross) for just good practical information for just starting out. ECSimplified is more expensive but comes with access to a private forum where the author answers your questions directly. Laurie Bouke's Infant Potty Training is good, though much longer, but has fascinating information about EC around the world in different cultures. I don't recommend much Diaper-Free! (Ingrid Bauer) for just starting out; it's what I read first and it seemed totally impractical and gave me false expectations about what I could really accomplish but without much detail on how to get there. The author tells her own story of never using diapers and almost never getting peed on! She seemed psychic to me. Anyway, info gained from forums, blogs, etc., though helpful, just won't be enough!
> 
> Also, diaper-free time when you're starting out is absolutely essential for establishing babies natural timing and signals. With non-mobile babies, you just lay them on some old towels or other waterproof or absorbent material. Of course, it's much more difficult with a mobile baby, but you can try to block off non-carpeted areas of the house or try outside. You watch closely, it helps to keep a log of when by our baby pees/poops with respect to eating/nursing and sleeping. And try to observe what they do just before eliminating. This tells you how often to offer the potty and what signals to look for when baby needs to pee or poop. Cueing sounds helps them establish the association between the sound and eliminating, then they will know to eliminate when they hear the sound and eventually they recognize the position. It's just behavioral conditioning (aka Pavlov's dog). You'd be surprised how fast a tiny baby will pick up on the cue. With older babies, you can just use words.
> Good luck!

Thanks a lot, this was a really helpful post. :thumbup:


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## readyORnot

I was planning to do an observation day on Thursday but baby wasn't well so I decided to leave it for a few days.

It's still going reasonably well though, still far more successes than misses (poop) and he's back to peeing in the potty after a two-day boycott.

As for the big toilet, I just hold him in position over the bowl, but at home I did invest in one of these, which makes my life easier as I can rest him on it and will be useful when he gets bigger and can take himself to the potty.


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## morri

There is also a short version of Laurie Bouke's book (I have got it) which sums the bogger book up quite nicely :)


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## xSin

So yesterday was "not such a great" day for EC'ing, not sure why but it seemed like a lot of misses. Today has been much better, she peed in her diaper while we were out but seemed to really hold in her poop because she pood twice in a row as soon as we got home and got her in the bathroom going in the big girl toilet :D 

I love how she coo's and smiles when she goes too


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## readyORnot

we've had a strange few days, hoping someone has some advice.

Basically, every morning he normally has his morning poo as soon as he gets up. After that we have about 30-45 minutes of playtime & tummy time together and then he watches a 15 minute 'educational' dvd (please don't judge me!) while I get washed & dressed and so on.

On Friday there was no first morning poo and instead he did it in his nappy during the dvd.
On Saturday, the same. So on Sunday I extended playtime to 90 minutes and still no poo - and again he did it afterwards during the dvd!
On Monday I skipped the dvd in the morning - no poo. I let him watch the dvd in the late afternoon and hey presto, pooey nappy.
Yesterday we did the dvd at night and still he pooped at that time, and this morning we're 6 for 6 even though I did a 3 hour nappy-free observation (during which he managed to pee 4 times, always when my back was briefly turned grabbing a toy or a muslin or something).

I'm worried that he's starting to associate pooing with the dvd or could it be pure coincidence 6 days in a row? I'm going to skip the dvd altogether for a couple of days and do more observation time but wondering if anyone elses little one ever started associating a random daily event with elimination.


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## readyORnot

on the plus side I did manage to catch a poo in the big toilet whilst out for the day at a family reunion on Sunday!


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## katrinalorien

No advice about the poo but what a strange association


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## xSin

I had a great morning this morning (sarcastic) 

After a fantastic weekend and start of the week, this morning I took Aria in for her morning poo and it seemed like she didn't have to go... my back and arms were getting sore plus I had to pee really badly so I turned to put her diaper over her again before heading out of the bathroom and RIGHT as I started turning, she started projectile pooing ...it went -everywhere- ...an pee too LOL what a start to the day :\ 

I told her good girl anyways... bad mummy but good girl LOL


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## katrinalorien

xSin said:


> I had a great morning this morning (sarcastic)
> 
> After a fantastic weekend and start of the week, this morning I took Aria in for her morning poo and it seemed like she didn't have to go... my back and arms were getting sore plus I had to pee really badly so I turned to put her diaper over her again before heading out of the bathroom and RIGHT as I started turning, she started projectile pooing ...it went -everywhere- ...an pee too LOL what a start to the day :\
> 
> I told her good girl anyways... bad mummy but good girl LOL

sometimes you just have to laugh :haha:


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## modo

My DD is 4.5 months old can I still start?


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## readyORnot

modo said:


> My DD is 4.5 months old can I still start?

it's never too late to start! At that age my book recommends starting with a couple of hours of nappy-free observation time to look for any signals. If you do see her pee you can make a cueing noise ("pssss" or whatever works for you) to start developing an association.


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## xSin

We're going through ups and downs so I'm going to spread out the towels and have some nappy free time when Daddy's gone back to work this week. :)


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## katrinalorien

I'm thinking I might do an observation day as well - I haven't caught a single pee in 5 or 6 days (except by accident)


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## readyORnot

I have a question for people with boys.

My LO can very very occasionally go over two hours without peeing (as he did just now when I was pleasantly surprised to find his nappy bone dry:happydance:), but can also pee 9 times in 75 minutes (as he did earlier this morning during nappy free time:shock:).

Does anyone else find their son pees or peed this often, and if he's a bit older now, when did he stop peeing so frequently? Anyone know any tips to encourage boys to fully empty their bladder in one go? Funnily enough I had a similar problem with a child I used to foster, but he was almost 3.

I've also discovered purely by accident that he prefers the big toilet to the little one!


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## xSin

I think I'm going to hold off on the observation time until its spring... the climate I live in and more importantly the house I live in is NOT ideal for having a naked baby rolling around when its chilly out... and we're definitely into the chilly side of things. Unfortunately our single pane windows mean all the heat leeches out and we end up with ridiculously high heating bills every winter just trying to make the place bearable. 

(And my OH thinks he's moving LO to a seperate room in December... HAH!!!!! Yeah right.)


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## morri

wow you have single paned windows in vancouver?. I think over here (ok were a tad further north but similar climate) only real old buildings tend to have single pane windows.


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## xSin

Its an older house that we're in... rent is dirt cheap for where I live ($750/mo for the house) but the heating bill makes up for the difference in the wintertime LOL 

Reason our rent is so cheap is because the landlord owns several properties in the area and this one is slated to eventually be demolished, and a new house built on the property. There's nothing "wrong" per se with this house, but its no longer "in fashion" so I gather our landlord buys properties, redevelops them and then resells them.

ETA: I rethought about the diaper free time thing again and if I wait until spring I'm going to have to wait until she is mobile... and that presents a whole new set of challenges. :\ 

I'll wait until the house is "cold" enough to warrant turning on the heat I guess... right now we're in that weird 'inbetween' phase lol


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## katrinalorien

Do you guys EC at night? Say you've woken up for a feed then the kid looks like they're going to poop - do you take them to the potty and add the extra stimulation - that will supposedly keep them awake?

I used to not, but then the past few nights she had been waking up with gas about an hour later. She just would not sleep at all. Then last night I took her to the potty right after the feed and she pooped and let her gas out then slept for 5 hours straight. 

Of course, I also dressed her a little warmer last night (added a tucked in blanket for warmth) so that could have been the cause as well.. thoughts?


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## readyORnot

Katrinalorien, I initially said I would not potty him at night because I didn't want to overstimulate him but I just couldn't help myself because:
1. he always wakes up to poop anyway, even if he's doing it in his nappy
2. in all conscience I couldn't lie there watching him poop in his nappy, wide awake anyway, then change his nappy knowing I could have just put him on the potty.

As it happened he stopped pooping at night very early on anyway and he's only pooped at night once in the last 2 months.

Also, I discovered that pottying him at night has no negative impact at all on his being able to fall right back to sleep and sleep well. In fact the nights he is most restless turn out to be the ones where he had a soaking wet nappy.


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## xSin

Omg tonight Aria is a total nightmare...shes fussy, cranky, farting up a storm, doesnt want to poo or pee though, doesnt want to feed properly (she instead wants to see if she can convince my nipples they're detachable)...finally I gave up because I am tired and cranky, put a diaper on her and told her to shit her pants if that's what she wants, im going to bed. Turns out that's what she wanted, shes quite happy alone in her bassinet right now go figure.


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## readyORnot

:hugs:


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## xSin

No idea what was up but for a few days there she refused to EC, including her morning pees and poos. Mind you right now I am laying on towels in my bed because she peed while we were side laying feeding, but I am not all that surprised since her last time going was before she went to bed at around 8pm last night....so over 9hrs. At least she pood in the toilet not the bed lol


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## readyORnot

xSin, I hope Aria's back in the swing of things!

As for Angelo and I, Sunday afternoon he had just finished doing a poo in the big toilet. He gave me his signal for getting off, I double checked by asking if he was finished, he seemed satisfied so off we went to the other room and I put him down on his tummy, nappy free, on my waterproof exercise mat.
I turned around to check something on my laptop and when I turned back a few seconds later he was laughing aloud to himself having done another poo all over himself and the mat.
So an impromptu bath was in order, replacing his scheduled bedtime bath.


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## Longing2bAMum

Hello EC ladies :hi: I've been silently stalking for a little while now, it's been good to hear all of your success stories, it has been encouraging :thumbup:

we are due our little baby in May and have decided to do full time EC with him right from the beginning, i'm so excited about this and decided that on the 1st January I would start my baby shopping, however, I have some questions for you all, how many cloth nappies would you suggest to buy? we'll be using a mixture of flats and prefolds, we've decided to go for muslins and use boosters to increase the absorbancy as and when we need it. This decision is based on how thin muslins are and that if we are successful then we should have mostly dry nappies at some point, and also because of the cost. I have read that 20-25 is a good amount to have, and that that would mean washing every 3rd day.

Do any of you have any experience with muslins, and if so do you think we are making the right decision, and how many would you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help :D


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## xSin

I don't use flats or muslins although I don't imagine the "type" makes as much of a difference to the number? I've got a stash of 28 pocket diapers and I find it a good number (a bit of an odd number but a good one) I do laundry every 3-4 days now? 

In other EXCITING Elimination Communication news here on this front however, Aria is finally old enough to sit up by herself and we got her a potty seat that has a back and handles & clips onto the "big toilet" and she LOVES it because she's seen me sit on the toilet before and so she knows that's "where to go" and its such great timing too because we were starting to slip with the EC'ing as she was just getting too heavy!!! 

I haven't had poo in a diaper since..... Boxing Day! So, coming up on a week now! :) 

Most nights as well, I don't know whether its because I've been weaning her off a night feed or whether its the amped up EC'ing, but most mornings we wake up & her diaper is still dry whereas I used to have to change her at least once in the night to avoid having an 'oopsie' in the bed.

Only thing we've really got to work on is her "position" on the toilet, as it is she likes to hold onto her handles, lean back against the back and let fly which usually means she pees a lovely stream out & over the toilet seat and it lands on the mat beneath the toilet. (Never appreciated that mat more!) 

Definitely loving the helpfulness of the seat too because now that we're starting her on solids, her consistency of her poos has changed so it takes her longer... and I'm happy to sit there with her & read a book to her or something while she goes.


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## readyORnot

what a lovely update xsin! 

We're really enjoying EC now, although Angelo has fallen out of love with the big toilet other than if he's doing a poo. We haven't had any poo misses for ages now, and we seem to be catching more and more of his wees although there's usually still a pretty wet nappy in the mornings. But then again he still feeds 4-5 times a night, so not surprising.
During the day, if we're at home he goes nappy-free all day now. I usually don't even bother laying him on a towel or anything during naps and feeds because he never pees in his sleep or during a feed. Have to be alert when he wakes up though, as he often wees within 2 or 3 minutes of waking.

A smiley potty pic from a couple of weeks ago.


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## Longing2bAMum

Thanks xSin, i've gone ahead and ordered 30 in hopes that it will be too many and I won't have to wash so often, we shall see :D


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## serenas_song

Hi everyone!

My 14mo DD has been EC'd since 2.5 months (daytime only), and we're at the point now where all the poops go in the potty (since 8 months), but we still miss up to half the pees every day. She just pees so often still! In the mornings I take her every 25 minutes or we have a wet diaper. I can get away with taking her a little less often in the evening (every 30-40 minute). I just really thought by now I wouldn't have to take her so often. is this normal? is there anything I can do to get her to go a little longer between pees? thanks!


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## readyORnot

hi Serenas_song!

I probably can't help as I have a son and he's only 6½months old but just wanted to say hey!:hi: But do you ever have diaper-free days? I do with my son, and I've noticed that when he's diaper-free we have fewer peepee misses than when he's wearing one. He definitely goes more often in the mornings though, so maybe that's normal.

It's been a bit quiet in here lately but I hope you get an answer!

On another note:
ladies, I am doing a little research and hope you won't mind helping me out:


 What products have you found really useful for your EC journey?
Is there any item you feel you would have found useful had you known about it earlier or had it been more affordable or readily available?
Is there any product you wanted for EC but were unable to find?
Thanks, very grateful if anyone has any answers for me.


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## MommyJogger

Bumping this and a couple q's:
For boys, how do you position them over the toilet to catch poos? Is it okay for his feet to sit on the front rim of the toilet seat so that he's in a squat position? Or do I need a child's seat cover to sit him down onto? He keeps bracing his feet on the front of the toilet and trying to leap, even when I KNOW he's about to take a poo. Then he does, but when he tries to leap, sometimes he'll pee and... well, then I'm covered in pee, which doesn't really cut down on the laundry. We just started this, will he catch on or is there something I should do to encourage proper "on the toilet" behavior? Does it actually help to sit on it with them and have them in front of you? Or is that just something crazy I read on the interwebs? Thanks for any advice! I haven't had to clean a poopy diaper in days, but I feel like I'm doing it wrong, lol! I'd love to be able to avoid as many "solid food poops" as I can without getting pee on my clothes and various surfaces since he pees at least three times every time he tries to poop.


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## SerenityNow

I have my lo squatting on the toilet facing away from me and my hands are holding him under his legs-- just like when he was a newborn but with his feet on the toilet seat to give him some extra leverage for bearing down.


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## readyORnot

I have a couple of different techniques based on the circumstances.

If I don't have a potty or childrens training toilet seat available, then I tend to sit him on the toilet with his feet on the front of the seat for support and for a nice squatting position (leaning forward onto me - tends to avoid splashy pees).

At home we have a 'family toilet seat', which has a child-size seat and an adult one built into the same seat. If we go away for a few days, I take our tippitoes trainer seat with us, which is really fantastic. It makes the whole toileting process so much easier, I swear.

Good luck, I hope you find something that works for you!


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## xSin

serenas_song said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> My 14mo DD has been EC'd since 2.5 months (daytime only), and we're at the point now where all the poops go in the potty (since 8 months), but we still miss up to half the pees every day. She just pees so often still! In the mornings I take her every 25 minutes or we have a wet diaper. I can get away with taking her a little less often in the evening (every 30-40 minute). I just really thought by now I wouldn't have to take her so often. is this normal? is there anything I can do to get her to go a little longer between pees? thanks!

This gives me hope that getting all poops in the toilet isn't far off around the corner for me if I keep at it! Thanks!!! :) 

I'm not sure about the peeing thing....


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## xSin

readyORnot said:


> ladies, I am doing a little research and hope you won't mind helping me out:
> [/COLOR]
> 
> What products have you found really useful for your EC journey?
> Is there any item you feel you would have found useful had you known about it earlier or had it been more affordable or readily available?
> Is there any product you wanted for EC but were unable to find?
> Thanks, very grateful if anyone has any answers for me.


1) I found that my LO got "heavy" really quickly for the under thigh hold whether over the toilet or sink (I usually used sink, because squatting with her by the toilet KILLED my knees) 

2) Potty training seats once her bum got big enough, they're the bomb. 

3) Potty training seats that are for the "big girl/big boy" toilet, but that are designed for EC'ing bums rather than the typical "2-3 yr old" bums. I have yet to find a satisfactory ECing toilet seat. The criteria I would like for one is as follows 
-- Clips onto the big person toilet seat
-- Has "soft" seat for soft baby bottoms
-- Has a smaller hole, for smaller bottoms, but one that still goes through to the big toilet rather than into a bowl that has to be rinsed out
-- Has "handles" and a back so that as baby can sit on his/her own, they are still somewhat more secure 

So I can find soft ones that clip on, but they don't have the back to them so if Aria were to lean back, she'd topple over backwards. OR they have a softer "insert" but then its a bowl I have to rinse out. OR they have the softer seat, but they don't clip onto the toilet. Its frustrating.


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## readyORnot

thanks Xsin, much appreciated!

PS - we've been 100% toilet poo for 2 months now! Zero pooey nappies!


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## Sam Pearson

serenas_song said:


> Hi everyone!
> 
> My 14mo DD has been EC'd since 2.5 months (daytime only), and we're at the point now where all the poops go in the potty (since 8 months), but we still miss up to half the pees every day. She just pees so often still! In the mornings I take her every 25 minutes or we have a wet diaper. I can get away with taking her a little less often in the evening (every 30-40 minute). I just really thought by now I wouldn't have to take her so often. is this normal? is there anything I can do to get her to go a little longer between pees? thanks!

Hi Serenas_song, I think it's completely normal for her age. I've ECed 3 of mine and EC two friends babies who I look after sometimes. Of course, there is variation between babies and also variation day to day depending on if bub is drinking more but it takes roughly 4 months from beginning ECing until a baby is beginning to have good bladder control. Add to that the fact that different babies will have different size bladders due to genetics. Also, at times an ECed baby or her age, since they are developing bladder control, might simply choose to wee more frequently. By around 1yo mine were going every 3-4 hours unless of course they were playing with water in which case all bets were off. Try to focus on the communication part rather than counting the time between wees or counting the hits and misses. You can't force things but that communication encourages awareness and understanding and is just one more way you are bonding with your baby.


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## readyORnot

Also, you've reminded me about something I posted in my journal 2 weeks ago but never brought it in here (sorry, it's a bit long): 


Spoiler
Just felt like writing about my EC experience so far in case anyone might be interested in hearing it. I think we had a breakthrough the other day, but the timing couldn't have been worse.
Just to summarise where we are with it, we've been going nappy free during the day (at home only), and sometimes he was wearing nothing at all from the waist down, and sometimes we had him in some 0-3 month shorts or tiny trousers. They fit him perfectly without a nappy! 
It's been weeks now since we had any pooey nappies. Literally all his poos are now in the toilet or potty. And even before that we had no more than one or two misses a week.
The main issue was wees. Ever since he was born, he's been able to do 5 or 6 tiny wees in the space of 45 minutes (especially in the morning), and short of offering him the potty every 5 minutes, there was no way of catching them all. So on a typical nappy-free day it meant that we would have him playing on a towel sometimes, which would catch a couple of wees a day, and we would have at least one or two wees to clean up off the tile floor, he would probably end up with at least one pair of wet shorts, and either my husband or myself would get peed on at least once.
My strategy was to offer him the potty every half an hour in the mornings, and then every hour in the afternoons regardless of how many misses we got. Also after every nap or feed. About half the time I offered him the potty he would pee, and the other times if he didn't pee I would just offer him again after 5 minutes, and then 5 minutes after that and usually by the 3rd offering he would go ahead and pee.
Anyway, I tried to be really consistent about it and suddenly one day (last Monday or Tuesday) we suddenly had a day with only one wee-wee miss! And the next day and the next day! I couldn't believe it! It may not sound like anything special but it was literally as if something had suddenly clicked into place!

Unfortunately though, since Friday we've been travelling and staying in other people's houses, so it hasn't been possible for me to go nappy-free or to be as consistent with offering the potty. so I hope we won't have a little regression. But the good news is that consistency really pays off and I'm so pleased about that! And we're still catching all his poos in the toilet despite the fact he's back in nappies full-time! And every time I've offered him the toilet (for a wee), he's done a wee!:happydance:


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## vaniilla

I just found this thread! we started EC with lo today - much older than the standard age but we just kept putting it off and here we are now :haha:


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## jcg0506

Hello gals! I haven't been on in quite a while. Hope everyone is doing well. Things have been pretty good here, esp. with pees; we've had a quite a few dry days. Poops are another story. I wish we were like the pp that has gotten to the point where all poops go in the potty. We had several months like this but ever since he started crawling we've had problems with poops. He's just so quick, we don't get much of a warning signal. We have another one on the way, due in about two and a half months, so I'd really like to get no.1 finished up soon. He'll be 18 months when the new baby arrives, and I don't really fancy ECing two at one time. We certainly don't want to have to buy more cloth diapers so were working to get him into trainers full time during the day. I've made a bunch from a pattern someone posted a while back. Our main setback is that he still doesn't signal (never has really). He's been acquiring more signs lately but not talking much so were trying to reinforce the potty sign, hoping he'll use it to tell us when he needs to pee. Has anyone out there who has had a child successfully graduate have any suggestions for helping us through the last few months, or especially in how to encourage more signaling?


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## mumnbean

Hi jcg. We went through something similar, but I wasn't able to get my dd into undies regularly until she turned 2... so not a success story here sorry!

BUT- I have my FIL and mum watch my dd regularly through the week and I would get back from work and they would have put her in cloth nappies or disposable pull ups by the time I got back :-( Not happy Jan! I think it was giving very mixed messages about when it was ok/expected to wet herself and when she had to go to the toilet.

I think the best idea might be to try and get him "scheduled" into his toilet visits. e.g. before each meal or event during the day or at certain o'clock times. That way it becomes predictable for your son to expect to evacuate himself. Also regulate fluid intake so it works for him.

It can get a bit tricky with 2, but at worst case I have put one on the potty and one on the toilet at the same time and entertaining them both with songs and/or stories... the things we do!


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## MommyJogger

When did those who use signs start teaching signing? DS doesn't really have what I would call dexterity yet... more wild flailing. Should I choose a sign and make it to him before desperately whisking him to the toilet? What are the signs you use? Do you have different ones for poop and pee or just one sign for potty?


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## readyORnot

I started signing with Angelo when he was a couple of months old. So far he only does the sign for milk, but I use one sign for potty, I didn't bother with a different one for pee or poop. I probably will though at some point. If I don't have time to sign "potty" before I take him I just use the sign while he's in situ whilst I'm talking to him about it.


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## SerenityNow

I think we started using the sign for potty around 8 or 10 mo. He was already making the cueing sound on his own to tell us he needed to go before be learned the sign and now he does both.


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## MommyJogger

What cueing sound/sign do you guys use?


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## SerenityNow

The cueing sound we use is hissing like a snake and the sign holding the hand up to about eye level forming the the ASL letter 't' and shaking back and forth. 

It is helpful for him to know the sign for potty because he can tell me that he needs to go while he is nursing. That is he only time I can think of that he signs it without "saying" it.


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## xSin

Been a rough past week... Not sure why but Aria seems to have stopped cuing altogether that she needs to go "before" she goes... just flips out once she's wet! >.<

She unfortunately did the same thing with a massive poop last night. :( She's only pooing once every 4-5 days which from what I've read is okay as long as the poo itself is of a good texture (apparently constipated has to do with hard stools according to Dr. Google) ...the downside of this means that her poos are MASSIVE!

Any ideas to encourage her to poo more often? I mean she farts like a beast... seems to have mastered getting it right in my face when I'm putting her into a fresh diaper. :( I'm going to keep my fingers crossed its just a phase. I have still been putting her on the toilet when changing her in the hopes that she makes the association but I'm not sure if I should keep doing this when she's "already gone" -- I don't want her to associate the toilet with "not going" either you know?


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## Sam Pearson

You could try massaging underneath her big toes - there is a reflex point there that can help get things moving.


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## xSin

Ahh perfect!!! I wonder if that's what caused the "surprise" second poo because I was playing with her feet, totally didnt even think of reflexology, will try this out and hopefully things get better. 

Thank you!!!


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## SerenityNow

I found that skin to skin contact was really helpful for getting back in synch with each other. It gets the oxytocin flowing. Try having a bath and a nap together or something.


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## xSin

I really think the toe trick worked!!! Yesterday I decided to give it a try and a few hours after a small "foot massage" she pooed again! Yay!!! :) 

We do have lots of skin to skin through the day & night while feeding.


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## Sam Pearson

Also a warm bath can get things going.


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## cat_reversing

Hi all, have been interested in this from before i got pregnant with lo but haven't made time for it although i'd like to do an observation soon. 
One thing i wanted to ask about is if anyone developed intuitive feelings about when lo needed to go or whether it's just by watcching for cues or likely times. I was ready up on diaper free baby website and it says about having sudden thoughts that baby needs to go or having a warm wet feeling over your lap even though baby is dry. I swear this morning i had a warm feeling over my chest and just felt that lo had done a poo, i wan't in the same room as her at the time and when i asked oh if she did a poo around a certain time she had.


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## readyORnot

hi cat_reversing! I usually know when my LO is about to go, and when my husband asks how I knew I can't explain it. Probably subconsciously picking up subtle cues from baby.


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## xSin

Hi everyone!!! 

Just wanted to share a VERY important (to me at least) story that I HOPE will help you all hold onto hope during the "down" times of EC'ing!!! 

This past week my LO went off her food around Wednesday when I went to visit my mum... we haven't been doing a "ton" of EC'ing since her cues have totally changed it seems since she got mobile and she's learned how to make a whole variety of new sounds. I figured new scenery however on Friday morning she vomited a LOT and when we took her in to the clinic she was running a fever of 102.5 

They needed a urine sample, and being stressed out I didn't even think about it and they used a device called a U-bag which is basically a bag taped over her lady bits. I used EC'ing cues from our earlier days ("sssss" noises and holding her in the position over the sink even though its been a LONG time since she's been held or near a sink for doing her business) -- She did do a little piddle and then the results came back and basically there were trace amounts of blood in her urine and her ketones were high. With the fever and vomiting the doctor at the clinic wanted to consult with a pediatrician and told us he'd be in touch, in the meantime we were to go get infant gravol suppositories (she'd already been given half of one) and Tylenol for her fever.

The phone call came in and after consulting with the Ped at Children's Hospital we were being sent to the local Hospital to get a catheter done since the U-bag apparently has a tendency to "sometimes give false positives" and the only way to get a clear sample with a baby of only 11mo, was with a catheter. I BAWLED because I knew she hadn't liked the U-bag, and I knew the catheter was probably going to be worse.

During our very long wait at the hospital I saw an older kid get a bowl of sorts and his parents were told to get him to pee in that etc etc. After some time to consider things it clicked, I knew they were going to want their own urine sample before even considering a catheter, (they'd already tried to U-bag my LO again which I'd refused because she had NOT been pleased when they yanked the tape off her lady bits the first time) I went up to the nurses station and asked for one of those bowls.

I DID IT! 

We managed to avoid a VERY stressful (both for her and for me) scenario, simply by knowing HOW to EC. I sat her on my lap with her diaper off and the bowl basin between my legs and after a while she did a rather large pee. :happydance:

I just wanted to share my happy news, the benefits of EC'ing extend beyond the every day and into the realm of the scary stressful situations and they work to ease stress and increase safety for LO's. 

Just kicking myself for not having thought of it the first time around.


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## readyORnot

glad to hear that you managed to use EC to ease a stressful situation xSin, apart from that I hope everything's okay with LO


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## oedipamass

Anyone still around this thread? I am a FTM very interested in EC. I have started trying to learn cues, but not sure what to do next... 

I am reading "diaper free baby"


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## readyORnot

:hi:

I'm still here! I have that book, and found it quite helpful. My son is almost 17 months now and I'm pretty sure he'll be out of nappies completely within the next few weeks. 90% of the time he tells us when he needs the toilet and if he's nappy free, sometimes he'll go sit on the potty by himself without even telling us.

Are you giving your little one regular nappy-free time? Also, cueing the baby and holding him over a potty or toilet or other receptacle whenever you think he needs to go.

Good luck, I'm happy to share our experience with you if it helps in any way or if you have any questions!


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## Longing2bAMum

:hi: i'm here too :D wiggly baby on my lap so can't say much right now!


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## oedipamass

So glad to see some EC moms! I have actually only been thinking about EC for the last 2 days. My son has a very bad diaper rash and it's just been killing me to see him in pain. I started giving him diaper free time because of that and that lead me to research EC. I started taking him to the bathroom, holding him in position, etc today just to try it out. To my amazement, he peed or pooed within a minute every time! We went 4-5x today! I don't want to rush him, but I'm really excited. I love the idea that I am not contributing the irritation on his diaper area situation, etc. I am finding the most difficult thing to be taking the diaper off him while I'm holding him and then wiping him, cleaning the sink, etc. all while holding him. He is only 8 weeks so he's very squigley. He did cry a few times but I don't know if he was just straining or if he was uncomfortable the way I was holding him. 

In any case, I'm eager to get better at this!


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## Longing2bAMum

Sounds like you are already off to a great start :thumbup: Because you know that he can hold it, this is what I do, I take his nappy off where I would usually change him and then carry him to the sink naked, he's never wee'd on the way to the sink, then he can do his business and then carry him back and wipe and put a fresh nappy on or keep nappy free, I usually keep nappy free for a while after a wee because you know he's just done his wee so he's not likely to do another :winkwink: We used the sink for maybe a week or two before starting to use the potty, but that was mostly because he was only 6 weeks when we started and I didn't feel too confident using it, but advice readyORnot gave me was to not make it about going for a wee, but to make it a bit more playful using toys, that helped us, so we would just sit on the potty a few times just to get him used to sitting on it, then he loved it really quickly and it's much easier than going all the way to the sink :thumbup:

Oh I also have that book, I loved it, very helpful, that reminds me, I only read the first bit as decided i'd take one step at a time, but I guess I should delve further now that we're army crawling :dohh:

I just want to share a good day we had yesterday, we went to do the food shopping, we went for a wee on the toilet before we left the house, then after we finished the shopping, I loaded it into the car and decided I needed the toilet so we went in and first I tried Loki, he did a big wee (although he had a wet nappy, not sure when he did that wee!), then we went to pick DH up from work and took him to the chiropractor so waited in the car for 15 mins playing and then having a feed, then half way home he needed another wee, so I pulled over got out our portable potty (which is just a small dogs water bowl :rofl: ) cued him and he did a lovely wee in the car, nappy back on, back into his seat and we were on our way and he fell asleep once he got that out :thumbup: Such a proud mummy moment :cloud9:


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## oedipamass

Longing2bAMum said:


> Sounds like you are already off to a great start :thumbup: Because you know that he can hold it, this is what I do, I take his nappy off where I would usually change him and then carry him to the sink naked, he's never wee'd on the way to the sink, then he can do his business and then carry him back and wipe and put a fresh nappy on or keep nappy free, I usually keep nappy free for a while after a wee because you know he's just done his wee so he's not likely to do another :winkwink: We used the sink for maybe a week or two before starting to use the potty, but that was mostly because he was only 6 weeks when we started and I didn't feel too confident using it, but advice readyORnot gave me was to not make it about going for a wee, but to make it a bit more playful using toys, that helped us, so we would just sit on the potty a few times just to get him used to sitting on it, then he loved it really quickly and it's much easier than going all the way to the sink :thumbup:
> 
> Oh I also have that book, I loved it, very helpful, that reminds me, I only read the first bit as decided i'd take one step at a time, but I guess I should delve further now that we're army crawling :dohh:
> 
> I just want to share a good day we had yesterday, we went to do the food shopping, we went for a wee on the toilet before we left the house, then after we finished the shopping, I loaded it into the car and decided I needed the toilet so we went in and first I tried Loki, he did a big wee (although he had a wet nappy, not sure when he did that wee!), then we went to pick DH up from work and took him to the chiropractor so waited in the car for 15 mins playing and then having a feed, then half way home he needed another wee, so I pulled over got out our portable potty (which is just a small dogs water bowl :rofl: ) cued him and he did a lovely wee in the car, nappy back on, back into his seat and we were on our way and he fell asleep once he got that out :thumbup: Such a proud mummy moment :cloud9:

What a lovely day! Good job for him! 

Great advice. I am a little concerned about the waiting to wipe him part. Isn't his butt dirty when you carry him back to the changing table? I ordered a Bjorn potty which should be here by the end of the week. Hopefully he can use that next. I find sitting him on the regular toilet awkward so far. 

Just curious... how many diapers do you go through a day with EC?


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## readyORnot

I've always just rinsed Angelo off in the tub or under the shower or in the sink - I only ever use water on him anyway, no wipes other than washable cloth ones - although I do give the childminder naty wipes or water wipes to use.

When he was tiny I also used to keep a small bowl of fresh water (which I would refresh a few times a day) near the potty and changing mat, so that I could easily wipe him if we hadn't gotten all the way to the bathroom.


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## Longing2bAMum

Mine hasn't mastered pooing on the potty, only on a few occasions has he done it, we don't have a changing table, we're more change wherever you are type of people, I have a mat that I get out to put him on and I grab the potty so that it's right next to us and our nappy supplies so no issues with dirtiness, although once in the beginning when he did a poo on the potty I lifted him up and accidentally got it on myself and I had to change :haha: comes with the territory i'm afraid, and not the end of the world, I think I change more than he does anyway, he's always sick on me rather than himself :haha: Also I use re-usable wipes with water, so if I think he's doing a poo I have a cloth ready to wipe straight away, or once when he did a poo in the sink, I just filled up the sink with some water and gave him a mini bath to wash it off, he quite liked that :thumbup:

We sometimes go through more nappies than if we didn't EC because if I think he needs a wee I check, and even if it's a little damp, I won't put it back on, he may have only had it on 5 minutes, but it's a wasted nappy, although we use cloth so not a "wasted" nappy :D I've got 30 nappies and I wash every other day, some days he can be in the same nappy for almost the whole day though :thumbup:


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## MelliPaige

Very interested in EC! Buying a book on payday :) any suggestions?
Any tips?


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## oedipamass

Longing2bAMum said:


> We sometimes go through more nappies than if we didn't EC because if I think he needs a wee I check, and even if it's a little damp, I won't put it back on, he may have only had it on 5 minutes, but it's a wasted nappy, although we use cloth so not a "wasted" nappy :D I've got 30 nappies and I wash every other day, some days he can be in the same nappy for almost the whole day though :thumbup:

Same here! Unfortunately we're in disposables right now because of the rash so I've had to hold off on the EC so we don't break the bank. Good news is the potty came in the mail today!


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## readyORnot

Melli, I think a few of us have used 'diaper free baby' and have been fairly happy with it?

I have an update, which I hope will help keep other EC mummies motivated, especially on bad days (and there will be bad days)!

Angelo is now just under 17 months, and the last few days he's been so amazing at letting me know when he needs the toilet, both at home and away from home (including on the coach, in the supermarket, and elsewhere) that I've decided that this weekend we're going to trial going totally nappy free.

We're already nappy free at home most of the time, but I generally have him running around bottomless. What's different about this upcoming weekend is that I'm going to put regular clothes on him, and not put him in a nappy when we go out. We will carry his portable potty with us just in case we're not near a toilet at the right time. When we're out I might use training pants, and I'll definitely have a few changes of clothes with us, but I'm really excited about this!

If it's a success, I'm going to try and get the child minder on board too, so that she takes him to the toilet when he asks instead of just letting him wee in his nappy. I've already given her some pull-ups to make it easier and so she doesn't have to have him nappy-free.


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## Longing2bAMum

yep, definitely get that book :D

That's really good Ready, I hope it's a success :thumbup:

Inspired by your pattern for the pants, I have my own slightly altered design to try when the time is right, maybe i'll make some for this next baby you're baking :winkwink:


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## readyORnot

Update:
yesterday the child minder caught 100% of his wees, plus a poo! Didn't need to change his pull-up all day! 17 months old tomorrow and I think we're less than a month away from the end of our journey with nappies!


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## Longing2bAMum

:wohoo:


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## SpringerS

I've been doing EC very successfully for a little over 6 months but lately I am missing many of my son's cues. He's started grunting and straining when he bends as he's practising moving from sitting to squatting to standing without pulling himself up on anything and it's very similar to when he wants to poo. Initially I'd rush him to the potty but he didn't have to go and was getting frustrated with me as I was ruining his practise so now I am missing some cues as I'm not always able to tell which he is doing. (Also my MIL is dying and he is a bit unsettled by some of the changes that's necessitating in our daily life and his eating/pooing pattern has changed.)


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## xSin

EC has been very hit or miss for us lately even with extensive diaper free time. If anything the diaper free time seems to reduce the cues for us. (No notice given, just puddles on the floor) 

In a more positive note, she's pointed at the bathroom once when she wanted to go, which was fabulous. :)


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## SarahBear

Hello! I just noticed this thread. I should look through. I wanted to share this though: https://ecsimplified.com/when-ec-st...ess-an-elimination-communication-potty-pause/


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## SarahBear

I see the above post says that diaper free time want helpful. I'm wondering if others with young toddlers (about 12 months) found it useful? I've started giving Violet diaper free time. I figure that even if we end up with pee on the floor, it at least helps her awareness.


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## readyORnot

Initially with my son nappy-free time was extremely useful, both for me, and, I think, for him. Now that he is regularly using the toilet including at the child minder, I've found that having him nappy-free and bottomless at home leads to many misses.
However, having him nappy-free and in shorts or trousers does encourage him to let me know when he needs the toilet.

So now we're no longer using nappies at all during the day and he's no longer having bottomless nappy-free time. At the child minder he still wears a pull-up but last week they never had to change him once because he did all his toileting in the toilet.

This weekend's going really well, we've been out in the car and to the shops with no nappy, and we were absolutely fine. He used his portable potty in the car once.


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## Longing2bAMum

Yay way to go Angelo, that's great to hear :wohoo:

I'd say (we're only 6 months) that nappy free time works best for us when we have had a break from EC like this week for example, we've been ill so he hasn't even wanted to think about weeing on the potty, so once we're better we'll have loads of nappy off time to get us back into the swing of things :thumbup: I think it just reminds him that i'm trying to help him as I can acknowledge every single wee, even ones on the floor, rather than only noticing the ones we catch on the potty :D


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## diggory77

Hi,
My daughter has just turned 1. Could anyone give me any starting points for EC? It will be part time, mainly letting her be nappy free around the house in the daytime. If I start making a shhhhhh sound when I use the toilet and she's with me or if she sits on the potty will that help? I've just ordered her a potty and I'm really keen to start this x


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## OurLilFlu

Hey there, hoping to bump this again! Anyone still here? Diggory I'm trying this out with my newborn and today she went over 12 hrs with a dry diaper, caught every pee and poop in the toilet just offering it at changes and waking up from naps!!


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## SarahBear

OurLilFlu said:


> Hey there, hoping to bump this again! Anyone still here? Diggory I'm trying this out with my newborn and today she went over 12 hrs with a dry diaper, caught every pee and poop in the toilet just offering it at changes and waking up from naps!!

12 hours? How did that happen? Anyway, I have a toddler and we're still ECing. At this stage the line between EC and potty training is a bit blurry though!


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## SarahBear

Speaking of which, we just has a successful potty pee with a clear and intentional communication, woohoo!


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## Longing2bAMum

I'm still around :hi: we started at 6 weeks and are still going strong, he's 9 months now, we do all poo's on the potty, but since becoming extremely mobile now, he doesn't stop to think about doing a wee and just does them wherever he is, thank god for wood floors :haha:

I know there are a few others that are still active here, so talk away :D


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## OurLilFlu

SarahBear said:


> OurLilFlu said:
> 
> 
> Hey there, hoping to bump this again! Anyone still here? Diggory I'm trying this out with my newborn and today she went over 12 hrs with a dry diaper, caught every pee and poop in the toilet just offering it at changes and waking up from naps!!
> 
> 12 hours? How did that happen? Anyway, I have a toddler and we're still ECing. At this stage the line between EC and potty training is a bit blurry though!Click to expand...

I was surprised too every time I opened the diaper! From 230 am til about 3 on when she let out a poop with no warning lol the evening was hit and miss though but you can tell she tries to pee at every offering!


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## counting

We do EC extremely light. He does his morning pee on the potty, and I offer during diaper free time but he usually doesn't go, just plays and reads while sitting there. His morning pee is pretty predictable though. Cute EC pictures:
https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/breakthenight/IMG_2880_zps2c9f01c4.jpg

https://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y226/breakthenight/IMG_2885_zps6496ae2f.jpg


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## counting

Offered potty this morning and Joey pooped and then crawled off into my lap when he was done. So proud!


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## OurLilFlu

That's awesome! And super cute pics too!


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## SarahBear

Our pottying over the last couple days:
Saturday: 3 pees in the potty, one of which was accompanied by a poop. One pee in the diaper at nap time, and one accident in the evening (We are going diaper-free except for naps and public, this weekend).
At night: two or 3 pees in the potty and 2 or 3 diaper changes. (didn't count as well)

So far today: 2 or 3 pees in the potty (didn't keep track as well as the previous day), one of which was accompanied by a poop. No diaper changes. Nap has yet to happen for the day.


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## SarahBear

Anyone know of any signs that we're headed toward full-time potty use instead of her just being in a potty-use phase?


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## SpringerS

I've been doing EC since ds was 6mo and it was going great. After 2 weeks he would only poop in the potty and a lot of his pees were done there too. We really only used nappies for nights and going out and we almost never had accidents. However, sadly my MIL died over Xmas after a short illness and ever since all of ds's potty ability seems to have vanished. We still catch lots of pees and poos but it's more luck than anything else.

I'm feeling very disheartened by it. I had honestly thought we'd be taking the next step around now and stopping with any nappies in the day time. But the last few months have been absolutely full of disruption with lots of travel, new people, new houses, sad-stressed parents and even a night apart from me, so it's obviously taken it's toll on the little guy in this way.


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## counting

So proud and amazed by my boy. Consistently getting 1-2 poops and 1-3 pees on the potty every day. Which is amazing because I am extremely casual about offering, only offer between one time and a few times a day and work outside the home. Seems to be trying to hold his poos until he gets potty opportunities. 8 months old and 2 weeks(maybe, just?) into pottying and already has better body awareness and potty skills than more than half of the 3 year olds I work with.


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## OurLilFlu

Sorry to hear you had a setback springer, I'm sure he'll get back on it. 

I love hearing about everyone's successes. I'm also quite casual about it, but so far so good. She started out really strong but this week it seems like she doesn't 'try' as much each offering. Last week I'd get a little dribble of pee each time even if she didn't have to go lol oh well!


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## Longing2bAMum

It's nice this thread is active again, I love EC and all the stories that go with it :D

Sorry to hear of your loss springer :hugs:

We were going great but Loki has started to get so mobile every time I put him on the potty he's like a jack in the box up down, up down, just to show me that he can stand without holding on it feels like sometimes :haha: I started taking him to the big toilet and hey presto it's worked, he's back to letting me know when he wants to go and get excited when we go into the bathroom, so catching poo's on the toilet and lots of wee's too, it's nice to be back on track :thumbup:


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## counting

longing2bamum, my son is extremely mobile and active. What works for us is having a special book we read when he sits on the potty. Just a simple book, real pictures of babies which he loves, short and lots of cadence and rhyming to the words. He sits while we read through it 1-3 times depending on how big a job he is doing or how excited for the book he is. It keeps him sitting down and engaged while pottying. If your LO starts getting active and not wanting to stay put again, you could try a special book or toy he only uses on the potty :).

Also, 2 poos in the potty today so far- only been up for 1.5-2 hours! Yesterday we had a real good day 4 pees, 2 poops.


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## SarahBear

Things have gone down hill over the course of this week. I don't know if there is stuff going on for Violet or if it has to do with being in diapers during the week.


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## MelliPaige

I'd love to do this but no clue how to start with my almost 1 month old. He always wakes up extremely wet and he's poopy at every change (he's breastfed, but I don't know if he's always poopy because of that or if its just him.) Should I wait until he's a little older to start?


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## OurLilFlu

I know it's beneficial to start early so I wouldn't wait! I also have a near one month old... How do you folks recommend starting? Diaper-free observation or just offering at known times... For us she would pee a river as you were putting a fresh diaper on so we started offering at diaper changes and then upon waking up from naps etc now I'm trying to figure out how to catch the 'during feeding' poops... I've been apprehensive about doing diaper free since i feel like she'll get cold, it's still winter here in Canada lol


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## Longing2bAMum

I have a very hot baby, it's still winter here in the north of sweden, but he's nappy off at home a lot, although we have underfloor heating, I put nappy and trousers on if his legs are chilly. Also we started out with baby legwarmers, they were great, but mine is a chunky one so we quickly outgrew most of them, they were especially great for sitting on the cold potty though :thumbup:

We started at around 6 weeks, the sooner the better I think, i'd start from day one with the next one now that I have more experience with it all. We started just offering at nappy changes and at certain times like if we just got in, or when we got to the shops etc, he quickly learnt when he would get offered so would hold in his wee, he isn't a very poopy baby so no help with excessive poo's sorry, but everyone sounds like they are doing a great job with it :thumbup:

We just bought a new seat for our toilet today as the otherone seemed a bit flimsy, this one has handles, it's really good, and he seems to like it, no more potty for now, just wants the big boy toilet, so i'm going with it, see what happens :D


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## SarahBear

I wouldn't wait! Apparently a lot of people who wait, later regret it.


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## readyORnot

It is nice to finally see some action in here again. I hope everyone is enjoying their EC journey, even when there are setbacks. I started around 2 weeks. With the next i'll start immediately.

I think it does delay progress if they have to wear nappies during the week at childcare, but as a working mother I have no choice so I just do as much as I can the rest of the time. For me he never, ever poos in nappies but apparently he does with the childminders. In the last 20 months I've probably changed about 6 poo nappies (nothing recently). Everything else is in the toilet. I suspect they just aren't paying attention to his cues or toilet requests.


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## counting

Any advice for catching pees? Poop he is actually verbally requesting potty(By growling and saying"poop") and holding until he has access to a potty- but no cues for pee that I can pick up, and he doesn't say "pee pee" yet. So it's hit or miss when I'm at home. I can tell when he is peeing(pauses what he is doing) but by that point it`s already done. I`m just trying to tell him he is pee peeing when I see him peeing and hopefully he will make the association and start to ask for peeing.


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## SarahBear

counting said:


> Any advice for catching pees? Poop he is actually verbally requesting potty(By growling and saying"poop") and holding until he has access to a potty- but no cues for pee that I can pick up, and he doesn't say "pee pee" yet. So it's hit or miss when I'm at home. I can tell when he is peeing(pauses what he is doing) but by that point it`s already done. I`m just trying to tell him he is pee peeing when I see him peeing and hopefully he will make the association and start to ask for peeing.

Do you also put him on the potty as soon as you notice he's starting to pee? How about putting him on the potty before you change his diaper?


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## SpringerS

Feeling cautiously optimistic at the minute. I've stopped putting him in nappies at home but am putting pants on him and it's making a huge difference. He has now started going over to the potty and pushing his pants down when he wants to sit on it. Then standing up and pulling his pants up when he's done. It's not 100% and he has peed in his pants a couple of times and sat on the potty without doing anything. But so far we've caught all poos this weekend and his nappies have barely been wet when we come back in after being out and he does a huge pee on the potty when we get home. His night nappy wasn't even too wet this morning despite several night feeds and he had a great big potty pee after he woke. I think if I make a really big effort to tune back into him for the next few weeks we could get back on track.


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## Longing2bAMum

I tend to find it's all about how consistent I am with offerings, if i get off track then he stops being bothered to try, if I offer more frequently it makes him want to go on the toilet/potty rather than in his nappy. We have a lot of nappy off time at home!


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## counting

SarahBear said:


> counting said:
> 
> 
> Any advice for catching pees? Poop he is actually verbally requesting potty(By growling and saying"poop") and holding until he has access to a potty- but no cues for pee that I can pick up, and he doesn't say "pee pee" yet. So it's hit or miss when I'm at home. I can tell when he is peeing(pauses what he is doing) but by that point it`s already done. I`m just trying to tell him he is pee peeing when I see him peeing and hopefully he will make the association and start to ask for peeing.
> 
> Do you also put him on the potty as soon as you notice he's starting to pee? How about putting him on the potty before you change his diaper?Click to expand...

Usually can not get him to the potty in time when he starts to pee. I was putting him on the potty directly afterwards but he wasn't seeming to understand and would just crawl off as he was done. Now if we are diaper free, etc, I tell him he is pee peeing when I see him pee on the floor, so he will know what it is called and what he is doing in case he wants to ask. We are also very part time about our pottying. So I offer as frequently as I realistically can, but I also work. I try to offer after he wakes up, and I usually get that pee. 

Question about poopingwhen we are out/normal baby reaction to a miss. Joey has been only pooping in his potty. He verbally asks to use the potty. (By saying poop and growling). Last night we were stuck in a car, at night, in a rainstorm driving in an area it is dangerous to pull over(Think a road, in the dark, wedged between a plunge into the ocean and a cliff). He asked to go poop, obviously there was no way we could do that or even pull over. He asked a bunch more times, and then eventually had to poop in his diaper. He cried A LOT. I felt terrible. Is that a normal reaction? Nobody has ever scolded or said anything negative to him for using a diaper or anything like that. He has only been being pottied for 2ish weeks, and has only been verbally asking to poop for a week or so. Is this a typical reaction for a baby to have to a miss?(Well, he must have been frustrated trying to tell us he wanted poop and not being taken, and I suppose he didn't want to poop in his diaper as it doesn't feel nice, but I didn't expect tears. After all, up until 2 weeks ago, every poop was in his diaper!)

Today I've been trying to build him back up about pooping, he has asked to poop twice and I've responded quickly and he has used potty both times. He doesn't seem bothered now about yesterday, but at the time he was extremely (Think the silent, red faced cry and tears) upset.


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## SarahBear

SpringerS said:


> Feeling cautiously optimistic at the minute. I've stopped putting him in nappies at home but am putting pants on him and it's making a huge difference. He has now started going over to the potty and pushing his pants down when he wants to sit on it. Then standing up and pulling his pants up when he's done. It's not 100% and he has peed in his pants a couple of times and sat on the potty without doing anything. But so far we've caught all poos this weekend and his nappies have barely been wet when we come back in after being out and he does a huge pee on the potty when we get home. His night nappy wasn't even too wet this morning despite several night feeds and he had a great big potty pee after he woke. I think if I make a really big effort to tune back into him for the next few weeks we could get back on track.

This is about where Violet is. My husband doesn't want to do diaper free when he's alone with her (he's a stay at home dad), but last weekend was diaper free while at home. This weekend, we were out a bunch on Saturday so didn't do lots of diaper free time. Today (It's Sunday morning where we are), I decided to do lots of diaper free time at home. So far within the space of half an hour, she has peed on the floor once and pooped in the potty twice. Her morning pee was in the potty though. We continue trying EC at night and had no success until morning (due to the "wonder weeks" I believe). I wonder if her accident was due to the fact that she was naked at the time, although she did (nearly) independently sit on the potty to poop while naked. As for during the week, she's doing pretty well most days, even with the diapers on.


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## SarahBear

counting said:


> SarahBear said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> counting said:
> 
> 
> Any advice for catching pees? Poop he is actually verbally requesting potty(By growling and saying"poop") and holding until he has access to a potty- but no cues for pee that I can pick up, and he doesn't say "pee pee" yet. So it's hit or miss when I'm at home. I can tell when he is peeing(pauses what he is doing) but by that point it`s already done. I`m just trying to tell him he is pee peeing when I see him peeing and hopefully he will make the association and start to ask for peeing.
> 
> Do you also put him on the potty as soon as you notice he's starting to pee? How about putting him on the potty before you change his diaper?Click to expand...
> 
> Usually can not get him to the potty in time when he starts to pee. I was putting him on the potty directly afterwards but he wasn't seeming to understand and would just crawl off as he was done. Now if we are diaper free, etc, I tell him he is pee peeing when I see him pee on the floor, so he will know what it is called and what he is doing in case he wants to ask. We are also very part time about our pottying. So I offer as frequently as I realistically can, but I also work. I try to offer after he wakes up, and I usually get that pee.
> 
> Question about poopingwhen we are out/normal baby reaction to a miss. Joey has been only pooping in his potty. He verbally asks to use the potty. (By saying poop and growling). Last night we were stuck in a car, at night, in a rainstorm driving in an area it is dangerous to pull over(Think a road, in the dark, wedged between a plunge into the ocean and a cliff). He asked to go poop, obviously there was no way we could do that or even pull over. He asked a bunch more times, and then eventually had to poop in his diaper. He cried A LOT. I felt terrible. Is that a normal reaction? Nobody has ever scolded or said anything negative to him for using a diaper or anything like that. He has only been being pottied for 2ish weeks, and has only been verbally asking to poop for a week or so. Is this a typical reaction for a baby to have to a miss?(Well, he must have been frustrated trying to tell us he wanted poop and not being taken, and I suppose he didn't want to poop in his diaper as it doesn't feel nice, but I didn't expect tears. After all, up until 2 weeks ago, every poop was in his diaper!)
> 
> Today I've been trying to build him back up about pooping, he has asked to poop twice and I've responded quickly and he has used potty both times. He doesn't seem bothered now about yesterday, but at the time he was extremely (Think the silent, red faced cry and tears) upset.Click to expand...

The idea isn't so much that he cooperates or pees in the potty. The idea is more that you're working to communicate where he should be doing it. It also provides him with another opportunity if he didn't finish in the diaper.

As far as the pooping reaction, I'd say it's normal. Did you verbally recognize what he was asking for? That may help, even if it doesn't fix things.


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## counting

Glad the pooping reaction is normal. When he asked to go but couldn't get to a potty, I told him that I knew he needed a poop, then I comforted him after he went in his diaper and told him it was okay. He eventually calmed down and fell asleep with his face pressed up against mine(I was in the back seat with him).

My idea isn't at all that he cooperates or goes on the potty. At this point it isn't really even for us about me showing him where he should go. My aim at this point is mostly for him to get an awareness of his bodily functions, and give him a safe place to eliminate if he wants to. After that, I'm sure he will eventually prefer to go outside his diaper on his potty because he will not want to be wet. Not sure how in line that is with the EC philosophy. I think if I could catch more pee, I'd be able to indicate to him when he was peeing and he would be able to see it. Right now in the diaper I can't tell him when he has gone, and he can't see what his body is doing. I started with a potty because he was recognizing when he pooped, saying poop to indicate and had went once on the adult toilet when offered. I'm not concerned if it doesn't really happen with pee for a while. He's 8 months old. And he asks to go to the potty to poop. I feel as though that is a win.


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## Longing2bAMum

Counting, that sounds normal to me, we've struggled with this as Loki very early on became very upset if he had to go in his nappy if we were driving and couldn't pull over, it's a horrible situation as you kind of feel like you've let them believe they can go outside of their nappies only to take that luxury away from them, Loki still now cries in the car if he has to wee in his nappy, weird because he doesn't cry if he wee's in his nappy any other time :shrug:

I think the idea of EC is just to communicate with your baby about them eliminating, we use different places for him to eliminate into, there isn't a set place that he has to go, for instance in a public toilet I wouldn't sit him on the seat, we either open his nappy and cue him to wee or I hold him over a sink, in the car we might go in our "travel potty" or if it's good weather we'll go outside, at home, he goes on the toilet or the potty, or anywhere else he feels like :haha:, just as long as we acknowledge when we see he is weeing so that he can be aware of what he is doing :D

That's great that Joey says poop, it's always more fun when said with a growl, Loki only says mamma with a growl and that only when he wants feeding :rofl:


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## counting

We need to get a travel potty still for when we are about. I felt so awful because Joey was very clearly communicating he needed to poop(He says poop for goodness sake, how much more clear could he have been) and I couldn't help him. Of course he is 8 months, he doesn't realize why he can't go on the potty It's all new for us. Me and LO are both learning as we go.


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## readyORnot

must admit I'm really excited to see so much activity in here, it's been mostly very quiet since I first joined this thread.

Just wanted to ask if there is anyone still following this thread who has been through the EC journey and emerged the other side, as I have a couple of questions but I am aware that most of the current active members appear to be younger babies and toddlers and my Angelo is now one of the older little ones in here! I feel we are reaching the end of our journey but there's probably still 3 or 4 months to go and with the additional challenges of him being at a childminder 5 days a week, plus the impending birth of my next child, I just wondered if there was anyone around who might be able to give me some advice on a couple of things or share their experience.


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## Longing2bAMum

I find it exciting too, Angelo has been my only role model up to this point, he's who I always talk about when i'm telling people how great EC can be :thumbup: I hope there is someone here to help you!


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## Annie77

I have stumbled across this thread & aside from a TV programme featuring a mum who practised EC I didn't realise many people practised it - especially in UK.

I haven't really read much about it but what strikes a chord with me is that when my eldest was only about 4 months and starting to sit up my aunt gave me a potty. The idea was to it her on it after meals and before the bath so she would get used to it for when she was older. I should add that, at four months, she weighed only 11lbs and wore newborn clothing so it was bizarre to see her sitting on a huge potty.

Anyway - she wore nappies most of the day as I was always out and about shopping, doing lunch etc but at home she would go without a nappy and I would sit her on potty after meals, bottles and before a bath. Sometimes she peed, occasionally pooed & other times she just sat!

At 18 months she was giving me big clues she needed to get rid of nappies but as a working mum and at the mercy of two childcare providers I thought it would be best to take time off work which made me put it off until she was 20mths.
She was completely 'potty trained' in 2 days and by 2 weeks later she only wore a nappy at night, not needing them for her 2.5 hr afternoon naps.
I went abroad without her and returned three weeks later to find she had been dry overnight EVERY night and she was only 22mths.

My 2nd baby was a bit later but only because every time she went to use potty, her big sister would steal her toy etc so preferred to go in nappy and keep her possessions!

Last week my 9mth old started using the potty and signs are good. Luckily my mum is of the opinion Erin should be nappy less as much as possible so it is only 1 day (when she is with a friend) that she will be wearing a nappy.

Good luck to everyone trying this. I can't believe there are still parents out there with 3 year olds who haven't even tried sitting them on potties!


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## SpringerS

Annie77 said:


> I can't believe there are still parents out there with 3 year olds who haven't even tried sitting them on potties!

What I find strangest is how critical other people are of what we are doing. There was a thread about EC in the natural parenting forum last year and it very quickly drew comments about letting our babies be babies. I co-sleep with my son and he's still breastfed whenever he wants, which is throughout the day so it's not like I'm pushing him toward an independent adulthood at all. I just don't see what's so lovely and babyish about him wearing a bag of pee around his crotch most of the day.

The nappy free experiment is still going strong. I got him a pair of crocs that he can wear on his feet so we can play outside but are easy to clean if he wets himself. Yesterday I was hanging out washing and he was playing about when he suddenly started to give out. When I asked him what was wrong he started sweeping his hand at his pants, which is a sign of displeasure. I saw that he'd wet a little and took him inside to sit on his potty and let him finish his pee and he did it happily. It may be just a little thing but he knew he didn't want to wet himself, he stopped the flow once it started and was able to indicate to me that he didn't want to wear wet pants. When we're out and he is in a nappy, sometimes he doesn't wet them at all. Two days ago were out for hours and his nappy was completely dry when we got home. It's a massive change from last week when I was feeling disheartened that we'd gone backwards.

I only wish I'd trusted him to go nappy free more often sooner. I was worried about having more washing to do during a horrible winter but tbh, washing out a few extra pairs of pants is less work and easier to dry than washing and drying nappies.


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## counting

The past few days was really disheartening. DH was home with Joey and is not as good at picking up his cues, and certainly not as patient or on board with pottying. Combine that with a baby cutting 2 teeth at once. He had a few poop accidents, cried his eyes out every time. Pee in the potty was sporadic at best. Yesterday everything finally turned around! Daddy caught his first pee on the potty with Joey ever- which really made him motivated! The tooth finally cut, which was a huge relief as well. Now today it is almost 1pm and Joey has asked to poop 4 times, and did so on the potty, no poop diapers! We have also caught 5 pees! We have used 3 diapers today, including the one he is wearing. I call this a huge success!


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## SarahBear

Violet went to bed a very short time ago and she is wearing the same diaper I put her in when she woke up for the day.


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## readyORnot

well done violet!


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## SarahBear

Today, Violet said "potty" while we were at the library. I took her and she went in the toilet. I think this is the first time she has used the word "potty" to actually ask to go while in public.


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## Longing2bAMum

I like that most of you are further along in age than we are, gives me a little glimpse of what to expect, I can't wait till Loki says potty when needing to go :thumbup:


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## BigLegEmma

Subbed! Should I leave newborn in nappies for a week to gage toilet times or start this as soon as she's born? I know most likely times for eliminating are post-nap, during/after feeds and first thing in the morning.


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## OurLilFlu

That's pretty much when we've been offering and those times when she's making a ' about to poop face'. We've been doing this also at every diaper change since a week old since she'd hold it until she had a fresh diaper or until the old one was off, got sick of changing the change table cover and getting peed on. 


AFM, my question is, we bought a potty about a week ago and I didn't really realize how watery her poops are, is that normal? Sometimes there are a few 'seedy' bits but its basically just liquid...


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## counting

Liquid and yellow with seedy bits? Is she breastfed? If breastfed and only just over 1 month that is perfect.


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## OurLilFlu

Yea I should of mentionned, EBF and yes yellow liquid. Does it change to thicker? And when?


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## SarahBear

I don't remember when it changes, but yeah, liquid diet = liquid poop. It can also be quite explosive! It does thicken before solids are introduced, but I don't remember how much. It really is a liquid until solids are more regular.


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## anchor08

Hi everyone, I just finished reading this entire thread from the beginning! (Not in one sitting, don't worry.) Time to introduce myself and join the conversation.

My daughter (first-born) is 5 months old and we have been very part-time EC for about 6 weeks now. We use cloth diapers part-time also. When I first read about EC, I think it must have been a poorly-written article because I got the impression that it was just letting your baby make a mess in bowls all over the house or wherever you happened to be outside (street/sidewalk/etc.) and I thought that was weird and maybe less hygienic than diapers. I slowly started finding out more about the "communication" and cueing aspect and was interested but knew I couldn't do it full-time or go diaper-free from an early age so wasn't sure it was worth bothering.

Then when I was pregnant I went to a baby expo and saw a product designed for infant potty training (supportive seat that can go on the toilet and a bowl for underneath if you want it to be a potty), recommended for 4+ months. The instructions suggested using it three times a day for 10 minutes to get the baby used to it, and likely you would start catching poops consistently from there. I thought I could manage that, so we got it. E loves sitting in it, and she has often pooped in the toilet (I decided to skip the potty stage since it's the same seat). I'm up and down with noticing signals, usually just going with schedule (after naps and feedings, before bed). Occasionally I get a pee, but not as often. She seems to know what to do when she's on it, so she'll go if she has to go, but I'm often too late.

I haven't yet done diaper-free observation (chicken, I know!) but it's time -- the weather is getting cooler, and she'll be mobile soon. We're about to visit family overseas for six weeks, so who knows what will happen in that time, but I don't want to delay -- I think I'm ready for a little more commitment and hopefully even better results than we already have!

Looking forward to chatting with you all.


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## SarahBear

Welcome! I can't believe you read the WHOLE thread, wow! I haven't read nearly that much... anyway, congratulations on joining the EC journey and good luck!


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## xSin

Welcome!!! Sounds like you're on the right track! I've used cloth diapers and I also had a seat similar to that one for a while except it was second hand and as Aria got older, she would "shuffle" on it in just the perfect way to fling the seat right off the toilet seat. (Just a crappy design, and weak clips) 

When she was about 8 months I went and bought a "family toilet seat" which has two seat options underneath the lid, it's fully attached it just has one "smaller seat" option which Aria uses. :) It's been great. 

Our approach was "laid back" which is probably why she isn't fully potty trained yet even though the average age is 18months for I suppose people who are more serious about it maybe? I don't want to put pressure on her, we have a few potty songs... but we have had our ups and downs for sure! 

We went through a phase where she was regressing a lot, so it got easier to use disposable diapers because it was just a lot less hassle. Unfortunately that did nothing to help the regression and we went easily over a month, before we saw a poop in the toilet. It wasn't until actually putting in some solid effort (no pun intended) and going back to using cloth that I saw a difference. Now it's been over a month since I had a poo in a diaper that wasn't directly a result of one of two things (Daddy not listening when I tell him to put her on the toilet) or us being out & about. The out & about thing, I figure I can probably solve this by getting a toilet seat that I can take with me; one that I can carry in the diaper bag and hopefully one that won't flip up off the toilet. :\ 

Best of luck! :)


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## OurLilFlu

Hey ladies! And welcome anchor. We've been doing really well over here! I don't think we've had a poopy diaper in 4 or 5 days. For Easter we've spent the weekend at the inlaws and for the first time brought her potty... Caught all poops of course and a pee nearly every offering! And just now she had a dry nighttime diaper from 930-5! And she did her business as soon as she hit her potty! Man I love that thing. This weekend I did try holding her over the real potty when I was at my aunts and a few other times, but nothing.. I think she prefers her potty. If she really had to go though would she? What are your experiences switching up what you use to EC?


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## SarahBear

OurLilFlu said:


> Hey ladies! And welcome anchor. We've been doing really well over here! I don't think we've had a poopy diaper in 4 or 5 days. For Easter we've spent the weekend at the inlaws and for the first time brought her potty... Caught all poops of course and a pee nearly every offering! And just now she had a dry nighttime diaper from 930-5! And she did her business as soon as she hit her potty! Man I love that thing. This weekend I did try holding her over the real potty when I was at my aunts and a few other times, but nothing.. I think she prefers her potty. If she really had to go though would she? What are your experiences switching up what you use to EC?

Were you holding her in a different position? In my experience, this is a bigger factor at that age than container. If she needed to go, it is possible she would hold it if she was in a position she was uncomfortable in. Did she pee right after the diaper went on? At that age they don't have the capacity to hold it for too long. 

The other thing about switching things up is that it really did have to happen at Violet's pace. As a newborn, I really couldn't hold her in a pottying position. I had to just lay her on the counter with her bum over the sink. I kept trying to potty her in a better position, but she just wouldn't let me! Eventually she did, though.


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## anchor08

Well, I'm not sure what to make of our experiment! I lay E on some towels with the potty next to her and sat on the floor with her. I ran a timer so I could see how long the intervals were, and I put her on the potty every so often to see if I could catch the pee before she went on the towels. I also made the "psss" noise every time she went, and put her on the potty even if she had already gone on the towels.

Apparently at some point she went in the potty, but I missed it! I don't know how I didn't notice. Other than that she went on the towels, but without any real consistency in timing, and fairly frequently. No signaling that I could pick up on.

Then the next day I put her on the potty in the morning and she pooped, and then my husband lay her on the changing mat on the floor for a few minutes before bathing her and she peed on the mat...no more than ten minutes after she had been on the potty. It seems like she is not aware of it. I think it's been at least 2 weeks since she peed on the toilet, and now I'm wondering if she was responding to the cueing or if it was just a coincidence. I know I'm not going to be able to give her an opportunity to potty every 20 minutes on most days (and her intervals in between seem to range from 15-60 minutes), so I would love to keep her aware and teach her to pee on cue for when I am able to potty her. Any suggestions? Just more bottomless time so we get more repetitions of her peeing and me making the sound? Or should I be more relaxed about it and hope to catch a few by guessing her schedule and help her learn that way?


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## OurLilFlu

I have no advice since I haven't been brave enough to do diaper free time. We catch 90% of poops just by offering first thing at wake ups ( morning is a guarantee usually) and at diaper changes. Pees are way harder to catch during the day, we've had the occasional completely dry night


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## SarahBear

Something to remember is that not all babies are consistent with their timing and not all babies signal clearly. In addition, developmental leaps can cause what is known by ECers as "potty pauses." Just keep at it and eventually she'll come back around. One thing to remember as you "keep at it" is that if you're getting frustrated, you're probably trying too hard.


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## SarahBear

For the last several days we've had no more than one daytime accident. Today so far we have had none (it' 5:24) and her accidents were primarily in the middle of the day, not the end. She has even demonstrated the ability to ask for the potty in distracting environments such as gyms, grocery stores, and libraries. In the store, she even went running to where the bathroom is. I think we're just about done with daytime diapers! How long before I can expect that there won't be a significant regression?


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## readyORnot

I hope I don't come across as a bit negative, so I'll just start by saying how impressed I am that so many little ones are doing so well! 

But I think a regression can happen at any time and can last for a long or short time. 

I thought we were almost done with nappies at around 17 months, and up until Christmas Angelo was doing brilliantly. But I think the holidays, plus inconsistency from the child minder just left him totally confused and we've had a few really difficult months. I think we're reaching another breakthrough now but we seem to have good days and bad days, very little consistency. And we also had several dry nappies at night for a long time but we've now had not a single dry night for two months. 

Some days I feel frustrated and just as I'm about to take a step back from it all, we have a perfect day. I really wish I were a stay at home mother, I think it would make all the difference in our case.


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## SarahBear

No, not negative. I'm a bit hesitant to think we really could be done since this process does involve so many regressions. It's also helpful to hear others experiences so I can piece together a sense of "normal." There's so little information out there about where we're at with this. I am not a stay at home mom, but my husband is a stay at home dad. We do plan to travel in July, so I'm not sure how that will go. She does, however, have a lot of travel practice. I travel for work a fair amount and my husband and daughter come along with me when I do travel. Although it may affect her pottying, it doesn't have an inherently negative effect. I think her practice with travel may help minimize the impact of travel this summer. We'll see though!


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## BigLegEmma

Okay, I'm all for ECing - we have our little potties at the ready and I'm due tomorrow - though unlikely to go into labour on time ha. What I'm finding hard to find out is when I start - after a week? All the newborn articles just say 'from newborn', but I imagine I need to try to monitor some kind of toileting pattern before beginning? :)


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## SarahBear

My husband said she had a couple accidents today. I guess she'll have her up days and her down days.


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## SarahBear

BigLegEmma said:


> Okay, I'm all for ECing - we have our little potties at the ready and I'm due tomorrow - though unlikely to go into labour on time ha. What I'm finding hard to find out is when I start - after a week? All the newborn articles just say 'from newborn', but I imagine I need to try to monitor some kind of toileting pattern before beginning? :)

There's no need to delay. Some people even manage to catch the meconium! We started after the meconium - about day 4. There are some newborn signs such as popping on and off the breast that you can respond to right away. Another thing I did when Violet was a newborn was to nurse over the sink or another container. Newborns shoot poop while they nurse and I know Violet nursed much better when nursing bare bummed over a container. Then as she got a bit older I was able to nurse her clothed and then potty her when she was done.


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## BigLegEmma

SarahBear said:


> Newborns shoot poop while they nurse

Oh my days :lol: Yes, we bought the potties to hold under her while feeding or to hold her over if we don't make it to a basin in time hehe. Thanks, we're going to try to start asap :)


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## SarahBear

Anyone have a potty-pause at 19 months? I feel like this is "wonder week" related but since we're past 18 months, I have no idea when this "wonder week" is expected to be over. Anyone else experience a cognitive leap and a potty pause at this age? She had a month of regular potty use and now it's pretty hit or miss lately.


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## readyORnot

We definitely had a setback around 18-19 months but every child is different. 

Currently we're having a really rough time and I'm looking forward to spending a couple of weeks at home alone with my son to try and give him some consistency and see if we can crack this once and for all. 

I'll never regret doing EC and fully intend to do it with my next baby. But it's been a rough ride since my son turned one and started going to a childminder 5 days a week. He has gradually grown more and more used to going in his pull-ups at the minder, and this eventually started to impact on the success we were having at home. 

The last three weeks are the worst we've had and I'm hoping to reverse some of the damage next week. Today he happily weed in his underpants and then removed them and put them in the laundry bag as he doesn't like being in wet clothes. Later on he had no pants on at all and weed on the floor. 6 inches away from the potty.
And with a few random exceptions he no longer goes to the potty of his own accord, instead going only when I ask him to (and even then he often refuses).


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## SarahBear

Violet actually seems to be getting back on track. She did all her elimination in the potty today, after getting up for the morning. She even held it in the car while we were on our way to a restaurant. She then held it long enough for me to wait for the person at the register to finish with a customer so that I could ask where the bathroom was. There was one point where she started walking funny. It's this kind of walk she only does when she has to pee. So, I snatched her up and put her on the potty where she went right away. Most of the others pees were initiated by her. We'll see if she keeps up with it.


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## OurLilFlu

Hey ladies. I can't remember which ones have EC'd since early on. I'm just wondering what tips you can offer, I'm worried all our work will change once we start solids. What changed for you, what cues became the 'for sure' ones. Also anyone use baby sign language? Honestly, I feel like she doesn't cue me but its mostly just timing, and offering often... Any pointers for around 4 months?


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## SarahBear

OurLilFlu said:


> Hey ladies. I can't remember which ones have EC'd since early on. I'm just wondering what tips you can offer, I'm worried all our work will change once we start solids. What changed for you, what cues became the 'for sure' ones. Also anyone use baby sign language? Honestly, I feel like she doesn't cue me but its mostly just timing, and offering often... Any pointers for around 4 months?

We didn't start solids until the recommended age of 6 months (actually she was just short of it), but 4 months is hard in general. There's a major "wonder week" at that point which can really throw things. It's ok for it to be mostly timing and offering because you're still helping your child learn where the expected place of elimination is. One thing about EC is that you just have to be persistent and trust your child. As for baby sign language, I finally gave up with it and then after a while, she started using the sign for "more" and "milk." She never picked up "potty," but she can say it pretty well now. As for "for sure" signs, she didn't necessarily have them. There were phases with good signaling and a lot of other times where it wasn't so clear.


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## OurLilFlu

Yes, we haven't started solids yet! Just to be clear! Sounds like its just gonna be continues persistence and hoping for some good signalling periods. Hopefully it continues like it has been... We catch about 90% of poops, and a fair bit of pees...

Another question I thought of is how long can they hold pees, I was offering every half hour at home and she seems dryer for longer...


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## SarahBear

I think you really have to go by your kid.


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## SarahBear

So, Violet was out of diapers at 18 months, had a bit of accidents around 19 months, but getting better again toward the end of the month. Then we went on a month long vacation and things got pretty bad (except for poop). I figured things would get better again after a couple weeks, but we've had a bit of mixed results, but have ultimately had diaper dependence. Even poop has started to become less reliable. She's 22 months old. I was hoping to be pretty much done with daytime diapers at this point. Not sure if there's anything I need to do other than wait for her to start pottying consistently again?


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## counting

Update, LO has been out of diapers except at night(And he does NOT have night accidents, but we cosleep and I have a new mattress so scared to take the leap) since just before 13 months. He is almost 14 months now. We have the occasional accident but I'd basically say, at not yet 14 months, my child is done with diapers forever. We only did EC very part time, followed his queues for readiness and it WORKED!! SO proud of my little man. I'm cautiously expecting #2, and despite the fact I'm having 2 under 2, I'll definitely only have 1 kid in diapers. Amazing!


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## Feronia

counting said:


> Update, LO has been out of diapers except at night(And he does NOT have night accidents, but we cosleep and I have a new mattress so scared to take the leap) since just before 13 months. He is almost 14 months now. We have the occasional accident but I'd basically say, at not yet 14 months, my child is done with diapers forever. We only did EC very part time, followed his queues for readiness and it WORKED!! SO proud of my little man. I'm cautiously expecting #2, and despite the fact I'm having 2 under 2, I'll definitely only have 1 kid in diapers. Amazing!

Nice! My daughter was out of diapers by 15-16 months (though I don't risk night yet even though she's dry as well), and everyone told me it's because she's a girl and "girls are way faster" and not to expect that for a boy. We did part-time EC, watched her for cues, and put out a little potty for her as well. I'm glad to hear that boys can potty train early because I was starting to worry about my second possibly being a boy and being in diapers for much longer... :haha:


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## counting

Yup, it's an individual child thing I think. Last night he DID have 2 accidents, but to be fair we were in hospital emergency for HOURS, poor kid. Today no accidents, always telling me if I ask if he needs to go- He is just amazing. People underestimate what young children are capable of. (PS. I was actually wondering about the difference if this baby is a girl!)


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## Feronia

Lol people were telling me horror stories about their girl learning early but their boy learning at 5! Seriously! I'll just have to find out the personality of this little one to see whether the same gentle techniques will work, regardless of the baby's sex. Sometimes I've heard older kids can help teach! Yeah, my daughter definitely still had accidents at 14 and 15 months, but her potty usage rate gradually improved.


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## readyORnot

sarahbear, my son was pretty much toilet trained at about 18 months but after Christmas, where we had a change in routine for two weeks, things basically went downhill. 

I believe I made some mistakes by not trying harder to get the child minders to support what I was doing with him. It's been a long hard road but starting around his 2 nd birthday I decided to just take a leap and his new child minder is completely on board. He is now approaching 27 months old and is 100% nappy free, including at night. We do have the odd incident now and then, but we never use nappies any more at all. I'm even brave enough to have him nappy free at night in my bed occasionally.


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## SarahBear

Good news! Violet seems to be over her potty hiatus. We're still a long ways from where she was at at 18 months, but we're no longer diaper dependent. At 18 months, she was telling us when she needed to go, just about every time. Lately, however, it's more about reading her cues with her sometimes asking for the potty. So not quite where we were, but I'm happy with where we are. Hopefully it won't be too long before she's more verbally communicative.


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## readyORnot

sarahbear, glad things are looking up! 

I'm sorry you had a similar experience to mine. But it does make me feel better to know that my situation was not unique. 

The thing that I found a bit frustrating was naysayers like my mum saying it was a total waste of time just because he wasn't fully toilet trained any earlier than usual. I've tried to explain that early potty training is often a benefit of EC but is not the primary objective, but it falls on deaf ears.


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## SarahBear

Yeah, certainly are not alone! I do wonder when we will be officially done with diapers, but we have no big trips planned in our near future, so hopefully we can stay on track. I am due with my second child March 22nd, so I'm hoping we can stick with the potty and phase out of diapers and be out of diapers long enough to not go back to them when the baby comes. She has been out of diapers while at home and awake and been doing well with it. When we went out yesterday, she used the public rest room once while out and had one "accident" in the car on the way home. If I remember correctly, she also used the potty in the car once? Can't remember if she did or if she just said she needed the potty, but then didn't go. That's not bad for a kid under 2 being away from home for several hours.


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## readyORnot

hopefully by March things will have settled down for you. 
If you feel brave enough, I would try having a couple of days out without nappies. Angelo tends to actually be better when we're out! He loves using different toilets even though I personally hate public restrooms and can't wait to get out of there asap!

Also, when I put my baby girl on the potty it makes Angelo want to use the potty too,which is pretty useful! So even if you're not quite there by March, pottying the baby might provide additional incentive for Violet.

I think doing ec adds a level of added pressure to try and have the little one potty trained sooner than average but this doesn't always happen and I think it's important not to lose sight of the other benefits! 

:flower:


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## SarahBear

readyORnot said:


> hopefully by March things will have settled down for you.
> If you feel brave enough, I would try having a couple of days out without nappies. Angelo tends to actually be better when we're out! He loves using different toilets even though I personally hate public restrooms and can't wait to get out of there asap!
> 
> Also, when I put my baby girl on the potty it makes Angelo want to use the potty too,which is pretty useful! So even if you're not quite there by March, pottying the baby might provide additional incentive for Violet.
> 
> I think doing ec adds a level of added pressure to try and have the little one potty trained sooner than average but this doesn't always happen and I think it's important not to lose sight of the other benefits!
> 
> :flower:

Well, she's been out of diapers during times that she's home and awake (so not naptime or bedtime). She also is out of diapers when playing outside. I think if she keeps up how she's been, we'll venture into diaper-free outings soon as well. Well stick with diapers during sleep time for a while though.

I could see the baby using the potty as being a incentive to use the potty... good point!

As for pressure to train sooner, I've always seen that as a big plus for EC! Being about a month short of 2 and being on her way out of diapers isn't so bad though.


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