Is anybody doung elimination communication?

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

I sort of do with DD - well she leads it. She's seven weeks and she will generally let me know if she needs to wee - if I'm paying attention and I'm fast I'll get the nappy off and then she'll wee in it when I cue her.

She's just weeing in nappies at the moment, and she, quite rightly, won't wear a wet one. We're going through 15/16 every 24hrs which is a PITA with all the washing.

I've tried cueing over a bowl, once, and she didn't seem keen, and didn't wee - it also seemed really awkward to hold her and we both got stressed. What's the best way to do this - seems daft to get her to pee into a clean nappy every time Is she too wee for a potty if I held her?

Also, any advice on what she should wear? She's in babygrows at the moment, and they take ages to get through the poppers. I have tried her in a t-shirt and baby legs, but she's not keen because the tshirt rides up all of the time - maybe a vest and babylegs?. I want to keep her in nappies - I'm not a serious ECer and can't be doing with cleaning up misses. Plus if she's asleep she just goes whenever.

Any advice welcome?

All of it you rudey you.

I think Hullygully may have been implying that I was accusing Harimo of being rude. For the sake of clarity, I wasn't -- I was assuming Harimo hadn't heard of EC and was providing some basic background on it.

And I should have typed "it sounds odd in a UK context" in my original post

Oops, no, Hullygully wasn't referring to me, she was referring to Queenofflamingeverything...

I am not sure about the EC stuff, however I too had a little one who needed changing that frequently because he hated being wet.. I nearly gave up using reusable nappies because of the pile of washing.. then I discovered fleece liners! Get yourself some fleece and cut it into strips to go between babies legs. It acts as a dry weave top sheet making everything more comfotable and the washing pile much smaller!

HTH

IMO it is rude to play the PFB card when someone posts about something they do with their child that you may not have heard of or have any understanding of, thats all.

Its not rude to have no knowledge though, agreed.

But its politer to acknowledge your ignorance than it is to dismiss the experience of others and shout PFB at them, surely?

I have never ever encountered such blatant rudeness in all my days.

cmt1375: thanks for the tip, but I am using BumGenius and they have a fleecy lining to wick moisture away - do you think using a liner too would help?

I would hold the nappy for her to pee on and then hang it up to dry somewhere for the next time - no need to wash them after every single wee, after all if she was in nappies full time most people don't change them after every wee.

I think EC is great It's not that PFB - I know people who have done it with their second and/or third children successfully, having more success with each subsequent child as they get the hang of it.

This blog is interesting (That page should just be all the entries tagged with "EC")

Have you seen the ECUK yahoo group?

Hully

this thread is HILARIOUS on all levels.

I effectively EC'd DC2, but only for poos... they wee far too often tbh.
He was just always good at intimating when he wanted to evacuate, and still does now at 17mo (and he never suffered from constipation unlike DC1, so not a problem with miscommunication). I never intentionally set out to EC though, so haven't read anything about it really- it's just something he and I did.

Is it possible to go with poos only... I think 7 weeks os too little to sit on a potty really.

So now people find it funny as well.

I wonder how hard they laugh in the sub Sahara?

BertieBotts I never even thought of that

I'm waiting to be approved for the ECUK forum, and thanks for the blog link.

redrobin I aim to entertain

ChateauRouge I think poos only is the way most people start because they are less frequent. But I have the problem that as they are less frequent I've not figured out her signals yet

BertieBotts That blog certainly reinforces the stereotypes doesn't it

Trying a liner cant't hurt it costs a few pence for some fleece to try..

We do it.

DD2 has been out of nappies since she was 5mths old in the daytime. Dry at night since she was 11mths.

We began catching poos and the wee she does on waking at 10 weeks. Gradually I got better at understanding her cues (she squirms in a very specific way) and we had fewer and fewer wet nappies until it wasn't worth putting them on her any more.

At the moment, she's 15mths and we probably have one accident a week. She is starting to use the potty on her own now too.

EC is wonderful

We've always dressed her in elasticy waist trousers and tops, seems to be the easiest way for us.

I actually didn't accuse the OP of PFB... she accused herself and I merely agreed!!!

I don't think I was rude or ignorant at all.

I think it's madness to hold a 7 week old over a pot for 23.5 hours a day in case it pees itself.

I am home alone with a 2 yr old (now TT), 11MO and a home to run.

And, it would seem my children and I don't have a sufficient bond for them to tell me when they are about it, or have just, peed.

I have to say, I seem to be adept at annoying people on MN these days!!

IAGTBF, I've used BumGenius with both of mine and have always used fleece liners. They prevent the nappy becoming stained and if the baby poos in a dry nappy, you can just flush and replace the liner.

I'm not sure about the hanging up wet nappies to dry before putting them back on, tbh. Urine starts smelling pretty quickly and this idea generally scores quite high on the ming-ometer for me.

Right, I'm going to step away from this thread now as I've work to do, though hope that you have great fun on the EC forum.

Call it what you will, it's nothing new, as is suggested by the methods used round the world. They do not have the money for expensive/offensive disposable nappies and certainly not the water/time to wash them. Do we want to encourage the 3rd world to adopt our habbits? It got a really bad press, but in the 20/30's mothers were used to this method of saving on washing, holding a 6 week infant over a cold potty held on their lap. I know, I know, it sounds like luxury now, it called time... My husbands china potty is now a plant pot, and it didn't do him any harm!

BabiesEverywhere is full of advice about EC
she has a nice blog on the subject too

we started late, about 8 mo, when ds2 developed eczema under his nappy, but it certainly was amazing to see how he responded immediately to cueing and would wee on cue - completely contrary to everything we are usually taught about bladder control

i have loved doing it with him, i would do it again in a flash
really surprising and funny and worthwhile

good luck OP (but yeah, everyone will think you are mad, and deluded, and laugh at you behind your back )

there are 2 yahoo EC groups - a UK one and a US one - both worth a look IMO

ps. i don't think anyone intended to be rude but it is a bit rude to make fun of something just because you don't know what it is, and don't understand it

I'll admit I don't understand it. But - I'm not surprised that a baby wees 30 secs after you've taken its nappy off to check - my DD weed every time her nappy was taken off, more to do with the cold air hitting her bum methinks than any cues I was picking up on! O e maybe I was doing EC by stealth?

But you don't hold the baby over the pot for 23 hours a day, don't exaggerate If you are interested to find out more there are lots of websites about it.

Lal123 there is a theory by some proponents of EC that babies have a natural instinct to avoid "soiling the nest" (ie like other mammals - hence the word nest) and that's why they always wee when you take their nappy off. Then as they get older they get used to weeing in a nappy (because they can't hold it for long when tiny) and stop weeing when you take their nappy off. I have no idea whether it is this, or the cold air, but it's an interesting idea.

We do ec with ds, 20 weeks. It's great!

We started at 13 weeks, with am open mind, as an experiment. I couldn't believe it the first time i held him over a bowl and cue-ed 'pss' and he wee'd! We still have misses, but i just stick him in a nappy if i can't keep offering the potty.

Ds only signals if i'm holding him, but if i offer the potty every half hour he's pretty much dry. Some days the only wet nappy is the one he sleeps in. The weird thing is that since starting this he has almost exclusivly pooed in the potty. I don't normally know when he's about to poo, i just offer routinely for a wee and he does a poo too! This is a washing dream! It also adds creedence to the they that babies are born with an instinct to keep their carers clean, imo.

While the weather is hot i just keep ds in a nappy at home which makes it easier. If he needs a baby grow on i might leave the legs un poppered for ease. I started off holding ds over a wide plastic bowl while i got my aim in, and perfected the hold.

When i first began i posted on the potty training forum on here, and loads of people were really generous with their experiences. Lots, like you, came to ec because their dc seemed to dislike going in the nappy. I think the (now pretty dead) thread has moved off the first page, but i'd say it's well worth a look, very encouraging, bar the odd sceptic or person who hadn't heard of it and thought it was mad! Sorry i can't link to it, i'm on my phone while feeding!

Do you have any flat terry nappies you could use for wee's? I just chuck them in any old wash that's going on and they dry in no time.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!