Elimination communication/early potty training...?

[MoonFaceMama]

A thread on here reminded me about a documentary i'd seen about potty training tiny babies.

So i found this website... www.diaperfreebaby.org

Has any one tried this? Apparently it's common practice across most of the world. Esp where there's no/expensive disposables.

My ds1 is 13 wks so apparently a great time to start. So i guess i might as well give it a shot. He's in terrys anyway, when he's not kicking around naked. As i'm bfing i'm with him all the time. Plus it would be good to get some use out of the shower curtains i'm lumbered with after my home birth turned in to a hospital birth!

So the plan is this... When at home he can kick around on a shower curtain and old sheets/towels etc. Or he can wear a terry with no plastic pant. When i notice him wee i make the cue noise (i'm using a psh-psh-psh sort of thing). Also i note the circumstances of the wee and any signals he gives...I think this may be my failing!

Eventually i can anticipate his need to go and hold him over a potty (or something), make cue sound and by the magic power of association, he wees.

Or at least that's the theory...

Apparently he can wear a nappy rest of time as usuall...part time is fine.

So i'm not saying it will work. I'm by no means an expert... I haven't even read all of the one website i've bothered to find. But it just looks so easy (too easy perhaps)! I figure it's worth a go.

So if anyone is already doing this please tell me about it! Has it worked? Is it nonsense? I'm happy to share my experiences if anyone i interested...

Here goes...

[jessiealbright]

Oh, and there's one new site I've come across about EC (I do hate that name, too).

www.oxfordnappyfreebaby

[jessiealbright]

www.oxfordnappyfreebaby.com

Sorry, faffed up the link there.

[jessiealbright]

Ooops, I did it again.

www.oxfordnappyfreebaby.co.uk/

[MoonFaceMama]

Thank you for that jessie! Followed that link, haven't heard of any other groups like that which is a pity. Had to giggle when saw that they meet in a yurt...middle class cliche alert!

[frekkles]

I decided to make a corner of the bathroom a potty area, and put some toys and books there too. For the last week ds (12 months) has been crawling there for his wees and poos! Wow!

[MoonFaceMama]

Wow that's fantastic frekkles!

It's going really well for us. When at home we mostly have ds nappy free and have mostly catches. Also have virtually guaranteed catches after naps.

Poo wise he's very unpredictable and doesn't give much away prior to the event. However he's only had one pooey nappy since we started. The rest go in the potty when we offer him a wee.

We honestly can't believe how well this is going so far, and how natural it seems.

I'm excited to see how it develops, and to hear others experiences!

[amberkhatch]

Hey all,

Great to hear about all this EC success. I did EC with my daughter (now 2), and I'm responsible for the Oxford nappy free baby group www.oxfordnappyfreebaby.co.uk and also the UK info website www.nappyfreebaby.co.uk already mentioned.

All right I admit it - the yurt meetings are pretty middle class cliche - but it's really nice in there!

In fact we had a meeting today, with about 7 families coming. It's really great to get EC support from a group of parents also doing it, either online groups.yahoo.com/group/ecuk/ or even better in real life.

Actually quite a few groups are springing up across the UK - I've got a list of them on look at this page. If you can't see one near you - why don't you start one up? (Though first you need to find a suitable yurt )

Good luck Amber x

[MoonFaceMama]

Hi amber, sorry about the yurt comment. Probably more a reflection of my self conciesness!

Thank you for the links, i have joined the yahoo group and so far am enjoying lurking and absorbing! None of those groups are near me maybe i should think about seeing if there are any other ecers anywhere near me...

[amberkhatch]

Yes, start a group!
I've got so much out of it. Practically all my friends are ECers now... which is a bit weird if you come to think of it.
Amber x

[cleanandclothed]

It worked really well for us with ds 5 months - 18 months. Now for 2 months he has completely stopped using the potty - has good control and if doesn't have a nappy on will get v agitated when he wants to go, but does not want to use the potty. No idea what the change is, but trying to be v laid back about it!

[MoonFaceMama]

Good work on converting your mates Amber! cleanandclothed i'm prob telling you what you already know, but i've read this is really common, especially around developmental stages... I have no doubt that your laid backness will be rewarded!

[maygirl]

Hi again moonfacemama! We've been doing nappy free too, once home for the day until bedtime. We had a trip to london yesterday and DD did huge poo on an adult toilet at the restaurant we were at, I was v grateful not to have to carry a poopy nappy around for the rest of the day !! Couldn't take potty so wasn't sure how things would go. She's just started to roll over though so expecting a few misses perhaps!

[MoonFaceMama]

Hello maygirl! So glad to hear it's still going so well. Well done your dd! Can imagine your relief there!

Our nappy free times are going really well, we very rarely have a miss during them and ds seems to choose to do his poos when i offer the potty rather than when in a nappy. Or maybe coincidence? Certainly not me reading him as have been suprised to find a poo in the potty most of the time! He has no pattern or signals re poo. Though the other day, after weeing, he squirmed till i put him back over the potty and then he did a huge poo!

Are you on the ecuk yahoo group?

[maygirl]

No not on any group!

[MoonFaceMama]

well i'm in yorkshire so if any fellow ecers in this neck of the woods fancy meeting up let me know!

[hugglebuggle]

For us, we stumbled on EC by accident, it made sense to try and put her on the potty at a young age as we could tell when she needed to go, rather than let it all be contained in a nappy. I would say we did gradual potty training than strictly EC, I don't think with her she really associated the sound with going. However from 7 months I also incorporated signing with every nappy change or putting her on the potty. She signed nappy and potty at 13 months.

We started her at 5.5 months, by 17 months she was out of nappies, she had gone through the night without being wet from 11 months, and then bowel movements etc have always been something she is 100% reliable. Wees during the day are the temperamental aspect, from 15months - 26 months usually perfect, however any accidents would be linked with teething, learning development, illness would affect it, but only her acknowledging wees during the day. At a very young age she would either sign potty or bring the potty to us when she needed to go.

I had a baby 8 weeks ago and this definitely affected her, she regressed, she is only 2.5 years old (only the wee's) during the day (night always been fine), I didn't put her in nappies (though the extra washing was annoying) though she wanted nappies as she wanted to be like the baby, obviously we needed to deter this as much as possible, and had to go back to taking her to the toilet regularly, and this has worked, she is doing very well and taking herself to the toilet (not always) so hopefully she'll be back on track soon.

Regarding the time element on this, yes obviously you are investing time on doing this, but then you are making sure that your baby is clean, and is communicating their needs to you. The main thing with this is being patient with the accidents, and when they happen start at the beginning with the reliable catches (first wee in the morning, immediately when they wake up), and take the pressure off yourself. We never went diaper free, I didn't see that as necessary, however did get cloth nappies at 6 months, and that alters the mindset as soon as you do. You have far more of an incentive to be aware of your childs signs if you have to deal with a pooey nappy, we were always lucky with her, we always had a noisy cue, so pooey nappies were rare. When we went out, we might use disposables for convenience.

Sounds like it is going well, good luck.

[Reallytired]

I found that EC worked well until my daughter until 13 months. She now will not use the potty at all. She is far too interested in being mobile. I also think tht being at nursery 3 days a week has confused her.

There is very little on the web about the negatives of ec, ie. regressions.

[MoonFaceMama]

Hi hugglebuggle thank you for sharing your experience. Sounds like your dd will be back where she was soon! Congratulations on your new baby too. are you ecing your dc2?

I know what you mean reallytired there's not much said regarding regression (bit on the yahoo group), though i have seen some stuff about potty pauses,though these are shorter term so don't reflect your experience. For me, i'm just glad to be saving washing (which i am at the mo) especially of pooey nappies, poo now goes in the potty (nearly always). Not really sure why this is as i still don't get why ec works really. Anyone that knows of any research around this i'd love to know about it. I haven't found any...but haven't looked too hard!

reallytired do you think ec was worthwhile for you? Or is it now having a negative effect on your daughters conventional potty training? Would /have you done it again?

[Reallytired]

"reallytired do you think ec was worthwhile for you? Or is it now having a negative effect on your daughters conventional potty training? Would /have you done it again? "

It was an experiment and I don't regret doing it. My daughter is only 13 and half months so it is too soon to say whether it will affect conventional potty training. My daugher has only refused to use the potty for the last four days.

I think she is soo keen on learning to walk, that she doesn't want to spend any time sitting down.

[MoonFaceMama]

Thankyou, i see! Hope once your dd is more used to the novelty of walking she'll be more willing to use the potty again.

[hugglebuggle]

For us the potty pauses always came when either she was ill, teething, or learning a new skill ie walking/talking, could last for a week or two and then it would be back to normal, she would be oblivious to that she wasn't signing or letting us know and then we'd have to go back to remembering to take her to the potty regularly until she got it back again. Definitely after walking that is when it came more together for her, ie that is when she signed potty (13 months) and the bowel movements all perfected.

Regarding my second, I have started signing poo and wee, when he does it, and occasionally make the sss sound but won't really start to put him on the potty until he is able to sit up, by himself, and we'll take it from there.

[MoonFaceMama]

Ah so maybe reallytireds lo will be back on track soon. I can undertand you waiting a wee while with your dc2, newborns seem to be a nearly constant stream of wee and poo! We've started ds before he can sit tough, just holding him over a bowl to start. Now my aim is better we've graduated to a potty! Now i really must use a sign too as it sounds like that is usefull!

[Reallytired]

Even if my daughter never uses the potty until conventional potty training, I have reduced my washing and saved hundreds of nappies going to landfill already.

I don't think that early potty training is harmful provided that the parents are calm when there are regressions. To me EC is a way of keeping a baby clean and dry rather than getting the baby out of nappies at the earliest possible date.

I can't be bothered to battle with my one year old daughter, but hopefully she knows what the potty is for. I have shown her that there is another way.

I also think that true EC is impossible if you work. Nurseries and childminders are just not set up for it.

[hugglebuggle]

As someone who did go to work, after my first I was fortunate to have family members able to look after my dd but had to explain what I wanted them to do (again real shock, that is very young isn't it), ie offer the potty immediately after sleeps, food, or if baby is grizzly and not sure why. Definitely it waters down the process, whereas as a Mum you are far more likely to respond immediately and have an awareness of your child. However after they've had a few catches it surprises them how easy it is.

Reallytired you are able to do part-time EC, you can just do this with her at home, and other care givers do their norm, apparently the baby understands different scenarios I read the book "The Diaper Free Baby, by Christine Gross Loh" and she gave various real life examples, however the main thing is that you are communicating with your baby.

Whatever you do I understand how grinding the process can be at times.

Hope it works out.

[MoonFaceMama]

Thank you for sharing your experiences reallytired and hugglebuggle...and everyone else! I'd love to hear how you continue to get on if you have the time and inclination!