Anyone else do EC??

[sun]

My LO has been in cloth nappies since birth, then at 9 months he started eating larger amounts (we are BLW) and his poos went from bf poo to log poo. (lol - sorry tmi!) The frequency also dropped to 3-4/day from 6-8. Anyway, non-bf poo is wayyyy stinky and gross to deal with so one day around 9 months I bought a mini potty and put him on it after breakfast. Poo! Now 3 weeks later he poos in the potty all the time!! I have been reading up on what I am doing and it is EC (Elimination Communication) - is anyone else doing this?? Usually people start from birth, but we were a little late at 9 months.

I am loving it! When we're at home, LO goes nappyless - with just a tshirt and little bare bum! So cute! xx

 

[Stiina]

We do it too - since 3 weeks. It's awesome I agree! Haven't had a poopy diaper for months We don't do it at night (he sleeps through ) or in the carseat, but I only wash about 20 diapers a week so I figure it's a big plus!!!

I just came on to snoop in NP to see if anyone had advice to stop my 7mo from grabbing at himself all the time. I didn't care, until today I noticed a red scab on his testicles right where he always grabs! Poor gaffer! He doesn't know not to pinch himself!! I'll have to see if there's any EC forums on DS or somewhere else...looks like there's not many people here that do it. Everyone should!!

 

[Eala]

I've heard of this, but never really tried it. I'm wondering if it'd work for us though... My LO always poos after her morning bottle, and sometimes after her lunch as well. I recognise her cues (you really can't miss it ), I wonder if I should try it. I was going to try and skip the potty and go straight for a baby seat on the toilet - would the same thing work? Or does it need to be a potty for the portableness? (I like making up words today )

That said, I don't really mind changing BLW poo nappies, probably because of what I've had to do as part of my nursing course

 

[Mary Jo]

how do you manage with the wees? I have considered this because Adam ALWAYS wees within a minute of his nappy coming off, and so we got a potty and popped him on it and he's weed in it a few times (saves my floor). but if he was to go nappyless I think he'd wee everywhere, and I'd have to have eyes in the back of my head! poo I reckon I could manage as I think he is fairly predictable, but wee, nope.

 

[sun]

We do it too - since 3 weeks. It's awesome I agree! Haven't had a poopy diaper for months We don't do it at night (he sleeps through ) or in the carseat, but I only wash about 20 diapers a week so I figure it's a big plus!!!

I just came on to snoop in NP to see if anyone had advice to stop my 7mo from grabbing at himself all the time. I didn't care, until today I noticed a red scab on his testicles right where he always grabs! Poor gaffer! He doesn't know not to pinch himself!! I'll have to see if there's any EC forums on DS or somewhere else...looks like there's not many people here that do it. Everyone should!!

Hi Stina - I actually posted in Baby Club a few months back about Bun grabbing at himself frantically whenever his nappy came off. Lots of people responded about their babies doing the same - and it was around the same age as your LO. Bun doesn't do it much anymore - even though he has access to it all day at home lol - and when he does it is with much less force! OH's eyes used to water when he saw LO pinching and twisting at himself! ouch

 

[sun]

I've heard of this, but never really tried it. I'm wondering if it'd work for us though... My LO always poos after her morning bottle, and sometimes after her lunch as well. I recognise her cues (you really can't miss it ), I wonder if I should try it. I was going to try and skip the potty and go straight for a baby seat on the toilet - would the same thing work? Or does it need to be a potty for the portableness? (I like making up words today )

That said, I don't really mind changing BLW poo nappies, probably because of what I've had to do as part of my nursing course

I have caught poos in the toilet too, but for me the potty is very easy to just bring with me around the house and it is very small so LO can sit on it. Also it is right there for wees, which are harder for me to figure out. Either way it would work though! There isn't really a set way to do it - you just see what works for you and LO! I love not having to scrub poo off his bum and I have to wash so many fewer nappies!! xx

 

[lynnikins]

i read about this but with a toddler i didnt think i could manage it it would be nice to avoid the nappys but we are about to start potty training anyway with #1 and i love #2's fluffy cloth bum

 

[sun]

how do you manage with the wees? I have considered this because Adam ALWAYS wees within a minute of his nappy coming off, and so we got a potty and popped him on it and he's weed in it a few times (saves my floor). but if he was to go nappyless I think he'd wee everywhere, and I'd have to have eyes in the back of my head! poo I reckon I could manage as I think he is fairly predictable, but wee, nope.

We are working on wees - they are much harder for me to anticipate! Right now I just offer the potty every 1/2 hour or 45min when we are playing - or when I sense he has to go. Usually he will pause what he is doing for a second and look deep in thought lol - but it is quick and I could easily miss it! So there have been some floor wees. But the difference is Bun isn't really crawling yet - he does little bum scoots or rolls around but stays pretty much in one place so I can lay a few prefolds under him to catch any wee. But after doing it for even a week, I find that if I catch him weeing a bit I can put him on the potty and he will go there. It is harder to catch when he is standing up, but since I am right there in case he falls I am paying attention the whole time and am more likely to see the cues. I did have to deal with wee on the floor more until I figured out a kind of wee pattern/cues though. Who knows when he gets very mobile though!!!

My plan has always been to go with what works for us. If it gets very difficult, I might just use the potty for main time (like when waking, after naps, after eating) when he always has to go (these are prime poo times) and keep a nappy on for play time. Oh - and we didn't start with no nappy right away - I used a cloth diaper with no cover so I could see when he was wet without wee everywhere! Then I would change the cloth diaper right away so he is less used to being in a wet diaper! I have lots of prefolds and didn't really like them before but I use them all the time now! xx

 

[sun]

i read about this but with a toddler i didnt think i could manage it it would be nice to avoid the nappys but we are about to start potty training anyway with #1 and i love #2's fluffy cloth bum

Yes I can see it would be harder with already potty training #1!! I don't have another LO to distract me!! My LO still has a cute fluffy bum when we go out, naps and at night (or when he is in his jumperoo) though! But the little naked bum is pretty cute too - hee hee - how can I resist posting a pic?? xx

 

[lynnikins]

lol ds1 is fascinated by wee'ing he wont normally do it when his nappy is off though lol but we occasionally get one pre-bath if hes left out of the tub to long lol ds2 just waits till you get the nappy off then goes lol

 

[Stiina]

When we started I just laid DS on a towel on the bed and watched him to learn his cues. Usually quiet playing becomes loud babbling, and he starts wiggling a lot. Or when we're feeding, he'll pop on and off and squirm.

We usually have 2-3 accidents in a day but I figure, who cares? It's just baby pee! We have a hard floor, so he's always laying/sitting on a bunch of blankets, so if he pees I can just let the blanket dry and after a couple days I wash it.

Same as Sun - when he was less mobile I laid prefolds under him. Right now he's napping with a few folded up recieving blankets under him.

You just have to try it! It's lots of fun, and just try to be relaxed about the pee. Remember, baby pee is sterile!!

 

[sahara]

this is all very interesting - i would love to learn more - perhaps when school has started again i might have a proper think

 

[Kaites]

We tried it briefly for a while too when Emma was going through a phase where she had an aversion to pooping in her diaper when she went from BF to BLW poop. She's back to being semi-stealthy with the poops and saves them for after dinner playtime with daddy so the part-time ECing hasn't been happening lately there is an EC forum on DS (I noticed someone mentioned that at the start of the thread). Cute piccie of buff-bummed Bun! I got some cute ones of Emma on her potty that she will hate when she's older too

 

[henny]

I have thought about it but as i have to go back to work in oct, I cant expect nursery and both MIL's to do it.

 

[sun]

I have thought about it but as i have to go back to work in oct, I cant expect nursery and both MIL's to do it.

I don't do EC full time all day. Some people do, but I just do it when I am at home and we are playing. I consider myself a part time EC-er, and some days if we have lots to do LO is in nappies for most of the day. I just do it when I can. I would recommend trying it out if anyone is at all interested. It is amazing - much more intuitive than I expected. xx

 

[sun]

We tried it briefly for a while too when Emma was going through a phase where she had an aversion to pooping in her diaper when she went from BF to BLW poop. She's back to being semi-stealthy with the poops and saves them for after dinner playtime with daddy so the part-time ECing hasn't been happening lately there is an EC forum on DS (I noticed someone mentioned that at the start of the thread). Cute piccie of buff-bummed Bun! I got some cute ones of Emma on her potty that she will hate when she's older too

What is DS? (sorry if it is obvious - oops!!) xx

 

[Stiina]

DS = Diaper Swappers: it's another forum to buy/sell diapers and there are other threads too.

I agree with you Sun - I encourage everyone to try it. The beauty of EC is that there's no pressure, no rules, no nothing. If you save ONE diaper, or you keep baby dry for five more minutes than usual, that's more than most people do, right?

 

[henny]

Thank you for the advice i might just have to give it a go

 

[Stiina]

!!!!!

 

[DueMarch2nd]

i truly tried this when nothing was sorting LOs rash. I had read about it ages before so i gave it a proper go by having LO nappy free (since i was doing nappy free ANYWAY because the rash) on a towel. This was before he could crawl or sit. But he has NO cues AT ALL! Hinestly, not even subtle ones. He continues what he is doing, no pauses, no schedule, nothing. A few times it has been like an hour of nappy off time before he woulr wee once and others he wees straight away. He even did a squirty BF poo on the floor once (towel on hard wood) and he didnt show any signs. Sometimes he wees when feeding, others he didnt, but when he did, there was no change in the suckle or anything. So I couldnt do it! I figure that once he is walking (which will probably be early because he has done all other things early so the natural progression should be walking early) I will ask if he has to go and we can form our own thing. No doubt he will walk before he talks so it wont be true EC but a form of it, i reckon. His skin is so sensitive that even though i love my cute nappies, i have to be realistic, the sooner he can be free of nappies the better for him