should 4 month old's poo & pee habits be encouraged

[geekette]

We got a potty for our lo because we noticed she does a poo first thing every morning and I didn't see the point of letting her do it in her nappy... it is much easier to clean if she does it in the potty.

Today though, I gave her nappy free time. To avoid accidents, I would hold her over the toilet at every grunt every half hour or so. And nothing. On the other hand if I hold her standing up right, she will pee instantly wherever she is i.e. on the floor. we have placed a changemat on the floor to catch the pee...

Is this something to continue or will she end up thinking it is ok to pee anywhere in the house?

[cheddarcheeselover]

are you ECing?
If not I'd just put the nappy back on and wait a couple of years!

[BertieBotts]

Lots of people do this all over the world, it's unusual in our culture and so people who practice it usually use the term "EC" or "elimination communication". If you google using this term you'll find loads of helpful info about it :)

I would have loved to have done it with DS but he didn't want to play ball

[geekette]

ah! I see!
thanks!

[brettgirl2]

I think 4 months is too young for a potty as the cant really sit up. However, when babies are first born they always wee when the nappy is taken off, bizarrely we train them to go with it on. So I reckon anything that keeps that going is prob good.

I dont really know what EC is but my 11 month old poos and wees on the potty if you put her on and she needs one.

I have no intention of taking her out of nappies right now as it would be a serious ball ache. However, it saves on nappies and she is already used to using the potty. There are always lots of posts on here with people having issues with 2/3 year olds refusing to go near potty because they are used to nappies and scared. My older daughter didnt want to use one at 2.

The response is often 'whats the point' bit equally whats the point in having a bin full of shit for the next couple of years?

[geekette]

brettgirl2 Yes, you are right. She is too young to sit up so we hold her over the potty for her morning poos. She seems to like this...

I use cloth nappies so I am saving on a wash rather than a nappy. But it also seems to help her poor bum when she doesn't get the poo everywhere.

Nappy-free time is only an hour or so between feeds if we are home, which isn't very often. It is mostly an hour a day. This is when i let her pee on the change mat. The aim here isn't to take her out of nappies but to giver her bum a breather and avoid nappy rash. is that too much nappy-free time?

I am having trouble understanding what EC is... I think I'll just continue as I am in the hope I do not teach her to poo/pee all over the place.

Are there any threads on here discussing EC?

[Fairylea]

I think they change so much at this age you could be wasting a lot of time!

My ds poops randomly throughout the day, sometimes grunting just because he is bopping off! If I held him over a potty I'd never get anything done!