Elimination Communication Support Thread

[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.

 

[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

 

[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?

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[readyORnot]

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[Longing2bAMum]

Hello EC ladies 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

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

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[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!

 

[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! 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:

1. What products have you found really useful for your EC journey?
2. 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?
3. Is there any product you wanted for EC but were unable to find?

Thanks, very grateful if anyone has any answers for me.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[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!

 

[xSin]

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....

 

[xSin]

ladies, I am doing a little research and hope you won't mind helping me out:
[/COLOR]

1. What products have you found really useful for your EC journey?
2. 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?
3. 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.

 

[readyORnot]

thanks Xsin, much appreciated!

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