ECing Story---for those who might want to try it

[mommyj_2]

I thought I'd post my ECing story, in case there are other moms who want to give it a try. We started when my DS was 6 or 7 months (which is later than a lot of the sites say to start). I wish I had started earlier, but I was originally thinking it would be harder than it is. At first, I held my DS over the sink and had him pee in there. Later, I held him over the toilet. In retrospect, I wish I had bought the Bjorn little potty right away and used that. It was definitely the easiest way to EC a baby. I made the whistling sound for him to go to the bathroom. I know a lot of sites say to use different sounds for pee and poo, but we never did. We just did the whistle-type sound, and then if he was pooping, I would say, "poo poo," so he would know the word for it.
By 1, he would say "poo poo" if he had to go to the bathroom. We only had a few poopy diapers once we switched to ECing. Even before my DS could tell me he had to go to the bathroom, I had gotten to know the cues he gave before going to the bathroom. We had a few months around the time he was one where he wouldn't have any wet or poopy dipes.
Then, he went through a phase where he wanted to pee on the floor, so he would run away from the potty and try to wet in different rooms of the house. He also decided it was a pain to go to the bathroom and would wet his dipes on purpose. I think part of it was my ILs were living with us, and they didn't understand when he told them he had to go to the bathroom. I just went with the flow--not making a big deal, but still encouraging him to use the potty. After a few months, he was back to at the most one or two wet diapers/day. When he started preschool, he had more wet dipes, since his teachers didn't believe me that he would use the potty, and he wouldn't tell them if he needed to go. So...he always wet at school, but then used the potty at home.
Around 2, he went through another phase (for about a month) where he would go in his diapers on purpose. Again, I didn't force him to use the potty, but kept encouraging him when he did tell me. During this phase, he went on the potty 3/4 of the time, but had wet dipes every day.
Now he's in underwear (at just over 2), and rarely has any accidents (usually only when we're in a new environment and he's busy playing with friends).
I'm really glad we ECed, mostly because I didn't have to deal with poopy diapers after we started. He had some poopy diapers every once in a while, which only made me all the more glad I didn't have to deal with them on a daily basis. We CDed from the time he was a newborn, and kept CDing while we were ECing. He went diaperless a lot at home, but we always CDed out of the house. I used Gerber training pants with hemp doublers under Bummis whisper pants for a while. But, I actually think it might have been easier to keep using prefolds until I felt brave enough to put him in underwear with no cover.
So, that's it. I just thought I'd post this and encourage those of you who are thinking of ECing to give it a try.

[lkarp]

Thanks for posting your experience. We are wanting to try EC when baby is born and it is good to hear from mommas who have actually done it!

Leah

[ktshea]

"At first, I held my DS over the sink and had him pee in there. Later, I held him over the toilet."

OK, I have to know: how can you tell when he's going to pee? My daughter is 10 months old and I have NO idea when she's doing her business. She's pretty obvious about her #2's, but the pee would have me stumped.

Congrats on no more diaper laundry and thanks for sharing your story!

[ask_dec2005]

Hi,
We are also thinking baout ECing. What good resources are out there that helped you the most?
Thanks!
Arati

[mommyj_2]

I was actually lucky, because my ILs from China spent 8 months with us (which was good initially, but became tricky later because they went home for a while, and my DS started saying "poo poo" in English, so they didn't understand him when they came back). ECing is pretty much the norm in China, as well several other countries outside the US. There's an ECing forum at mothering.com, but I don't know how good it is. I think many of the moms there go diaperless (or at least they did the few times I visited a year or two ago). If they do, I think it's important to point out there are lots of ways to EC (using cloth dipes, going diaperless, etc), and it's really a matter of finding a system that works for you and your family.
I just kind of started by doing what my ILs did, and then adapting in whatever way I felt fit my DS' needs at a given time.
I think even if your DC isn't totally out of dipes by 1, it's still worth it since it gives her/him an awareness of their bodies early on, and it also means you use way less dipes.
You can PM me if you have any questions. The MDC mamas are also always a great resource.

[mommyj_2]

When he was a baby, he would start fussing. Before we ECed, I just thought he was fussing/crying for no reason. Later, he would pause from playing for a second. Now he grabs his pants. It pretty much changes with each stage, but by ECing, it really helps you tune in and figure out their bodies.
I forgot to mention that when we started, I took him to the bathroom every hour for about two weeks so I could figure out roughly what his schedule was. Once we figured it out, I didn't have to take him as often. There were certain times of the day when he went every two or three hours, and then others when he went every hour. He actually stuck pretty closely to the same schedule every day. It was just a matter of figuring it out.
HTH

[mommyj_2]

That's great. If we have another baby, I am definitely going to start much earlier instead of waiting.

[kozachka]

There is also a very active EC yahoo group. Here's the link for it:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eliminationcommunication/ HTH!

[kozachka]

Thanks for sharing your story, MommyJ. Glad to hear I am not the only one ECing on this board. We had a very similar experience. My mom started holding DS above a pad/sink at 10 weeks, got Baby Bjorn potty a month late. As you I stuck with it because of the much fewer diapers and almost no poopy ones. Plus I wanted DS to be aware of his body functions. Similarly DS started to ask to poop just before he turned one, than started hiding in the pantry to pee etc. DS has been in underwear for over half a year and now I am wondering if he is due for another peeing-in-the-pants stage we are approaching his second birthday.

[KrisM]

Now,Thanks for the story. We tried it at about 7 months and we were getting about 70% of pees on the Baby Bjorn potty. Then, he learned to stand up and get off it at 10 months. We've tried on and off since then, but he hasn't had any interest until recently. I did the "shh"ing noise for pee and now if I ask him to pee, he makes the noise :). He does tell us when he needs a new diaper. I am trying to figure out how to do naked time without a big mess and want to try that in the next few weeks.

[Marcy_O]

This is so interesting. Thank you all for sharing your experience. Do you feel this really has benefit for DC? It has obvious benefit to Mom and Dad (well, except maybe peeing in the pantry :) ) DH used to joke that Brighton would be potty trained at 2 months, I'm excited to show him the story!

I'm not sure we'll try this, because I don't always know when Bright has to pee. Poops are obvious. And I would rather he learned to poop in the potty right away. We have a nephew who is 5 and still poops in his pants. YUCK!

There was a website on GMA this morning, www.diaperfreebaby.org. The creator of the site was on the Today show.

[kozachka]

EC is getting a ton of publicity all of a sudden. All PR has started with a little article in the Boston Parents' Paper. There was an article in People magazine (October 7, 2005 issue I believe) and NYT yesterday http://tinyurl.com/94kja . LA DiaperfreeBaby chapter's meeting will be on FOX 11 soon.

[calebsmama03]

Thanks for sharing! I'm intrigued by the idea of fewer messy dipes but am worried I"ll be trading the work of laundry for the work of running to the potty constantly (that doesn't sound good, but hopefully you understand what I mean by it?) I'm worried about being stuck at home and not being able to get anything done because I need to be so much more aware of DD's little signals. I wish I'd tried it with #1 but I was working PT and thought it wouldn't work if only done 3-4 days/week. Now with 2 I'm rather intimidated by trying it (but would LOVE the idea of fewer dipes, especially since at 2 1/2 DS is fully capable of telling me when he has to go but refuses to use the potty :( )
Lynne
Mommy to C 3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple, 5/05

[kozachka]

A lot of people EC part-time, we certainly did at the beginning and during the four months that we rented between houses. You still get a lot of the EC benifits not the least one of the kids not being afraid of the potty. The two times that we always put DS on a potty were right after he woke up in the morning and right after his nap and he always peed a LOT than. Sometimes DS insisted on nursing first and I just followed his lead. You could start with just these two time slots and see how it goes. That way you won't be stuck at home all the time. We had quite a bit of luck with putting DS on his potty 10-15 minutes after a meal as well, that's when the number 2s took place, probably because of the extra pressure from new food. We also offer DS to go just before we get into the car and right after we get to our destination. And a lot of people have Little Potty in their car in case DC needs to go and you are not home.

[kozachka]

>This is so interesting. Thank you all for sharing your
>experience. Do you feel this really has benefit for DC?

There are both health and emotional benefits to DC. Too many to list here. Check out this list http://www.findothermoms.com/DFBweb/101reasons.htm

[mommyj_2]

I second the potty in the car suggestion. It makes things much easier.

[calebsmama03]

Good to know! I'm still looking into it more and am thinking about trying it with DD. WHo knows, maybe seeing his litle sister using the potty will motivate DS???
Lynne
Mommy to C 3/03
http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif[/img][/url]
And Miss Purple, 5/05

[TahliasMom]

part time ec's here. we started at 7 months and kind of hit a brick wall around 10 months when dd went to homecare. we still ec's her on the weekends and in the evening. it's a challenge for us becaue we're using disposables because we just only got our own washing machine few months ago. diaper service was in our budget. at that point we just didn't have time to switch since is mostly naked anyway and her homecare said no to cloth, another story.

anyway, at 14 months i started working only 3 days a week so we ec the other 4. at times dd is great about communicating but at times she doesn't tell us until after the fact. i think she's getting frustrated because at homecare her signals are ignored. but we keep pursuing it at home and not forcing the issue or getting upset if she messes in her diaper. also when she goes #2 in the diaper, we change her and then walk her to the bathroom and throw #2 in and have her flush it. it reinforces the message that it belongs there. the diaper free website that was recommended is great. i found a local chapter through there and they been a huge support for us!

good luck and it's so so worth it!!!

ETA: we have the little BB potty in the living room and it goes in the car with us too. we have the bigger BB potty in the bathroom. I think seeing it also reminds dd which is great especially when she gets really engrossed in an activity and forgets.

[blastomom]

Huge benefit--No diaper rash! I think way too many babies sit around in wet dipes (especially sposies) because their parents think the dipes aren't "full" yet. Yuck!

EC has also helped our son be more active in his own care. Now that he's older (15 months) he can communicate his needs to us without frustration--it makes life easier all the way around.

[kozachka]

I second the 'no diaper rash' benefit. We've only used half a tube of Balmex plus couple tester pouches of Desitin in the 15.5 months that DS had been in diapers. The one or two times that he did have rash since we started ECing was due to antibiotics and even than it was minor.