infant potty training/EC

[♥ms.pacman♥]

anyone doing this (or has done it)? DS is almost 3 mo and i'd like to start trying this out. i have the book, read some of it and got a Baby Bjorn infant potty, but haven't actually tried anything yet. I've been paying attention though to look for signs and i can usually tell when DS is about to poo (pee though is another story, i've been sprayed too many times to count! ).

anyway, just wondering if anyone has tips/advice out there? if you used an infant potty, did u keep it in the bathroom or somewhere more accessible? and although i can usually anticipate when he wants to go, the one issue i worry about is the time needed to take his diaper off (we use cloth, so there's several pieces..prefold, snappi & diaper cover)..so it would take several seconds to take that all off and by then might be too late. right now i'm not comfortable with going diaperless all the time...though we may try it just for an hour or so a day (we have bought a pack of Chux pads for this use).

[AnnieW625]

I would never think to do it, just too much hassle IMHO. There was a detailed post about going diaperless here about 6 to 8 mos. ago about the same topic. Early PTing was big in the early 50s as my grandma said there was a huge push to have kids PT'd before they were 2 yrs. old. My grandma said my dad (who will be 60 this year) said that he was trained at 18 mos. old. She said it was a royal PITB! When she had her second son in 1955 she waited until he was ready to be trained and he easily trained at 3 yrs. old.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

hmm, i did try to search for other threads on this topic and the latest one was from 2007 so i guess i missed that other thread (although i think i had just searched the "Butts" section, not the whole forum)...

and i guess i've heard different stories..my MIL had my DH potty trained by 12 mos w/o probs, and she used her own sort of version of EC (when baby looks like he has to go, take diaper off and hold him over toilet, so he associates pooing w/ potty). when she first told me this i thought she was exaggerating but then other family members corroborated it, and later i saw pics of DH @ 13, 14 mo and in those pics he is clearly wearing underwear, not diapers, so i figured it must be true. DH also told me that when he was a toddler and they went on 3hr road trips to visit family his mom would just take along one of those portable urinals and they would pee in that. so, i guess i figured IPT was worth a shot..esp since i plan to be a SAHM for the first year or two..i figured this can be my "project" for the time being

anyway, this afternoon after changing DS's diaper i tried putting him on the baby potty for the first time...at first he hated it (he always cries when being put in/on something new) but after that he settled down, and then actually peed in the potty!! it was the coolest thing. i know it may be just a coincidence, but nonetheless, still pretty cool.

[american_mama]

I had a hard time finding these through the search function as well, but I did find some. Try searching "diaperless" or "diaper-less", neither of which I tried.

Anyway, here are some threads from people who have done elimination communication. It's usually a response post that has the info, so read the whole thread.

A very straight-forward post, lots of firsthand experience, one of the first things I ever read about ECing
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...d.php?t=256385

Very short and easy read
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...ighlight=ecing

Interesting, some firsthand and some secondhand experiences
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...ht=elimination

A bit of a debate, but many different sides shown
http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin...ht=elimination

[maestramommy]

Laurel is a little over 9 months. Is it too late to even attempt?
ms pacman, my mom insists she potty trained us the same way as your Dh. About 20 minutes or so after every meal she'd put us on the potty. Those were the days where most people CD'd, and she said you just got a feel for when a baby typically poops and pees. Then at some point we too a road trip and every so often they'd stop and put me on the potty. They said I pt'd on that trip (2-3), just because I got used to the dry feeling. My dad wrote it down in my baby book, 23 months.

Maybe it works if you start in infancy. I had a friend who EC'd her dd and at 2 she was mostly trained, but still had accidents if you waited too long to take her to go. Still, I guess I'd take that over what I have now: And almost 3 yo that goes at most once a day and absolutely refuses to poop on the potty!

[KrisM]

I'd skip the cover and then you'll get a "feel" (ha ha) of when he pees.

I didn't do this with DS1, but I did put him on the LP as soon as he could sit on it on his own. I just did it when I was in the bathroom. By just over a year, he could pee in it every time.

He didn't potty train until 2.5 years, but we rarely had a pee accident because by 21 months, he could pee on demand. So bribes never worked well because he could make himself pee a bit if he wanted to.

[wellyes]

MDC has a good sticky on the topic and an active community: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...play.php?f=227

[♥ms.pacman♥]

wow, thanks for the links everyone, will definitely check into those!

and going without covers sounds good..though i guess that translates into a lot more laundry for me, at least at first!

i read some other sites and they say to put baby on potty first thing in the morning, since that is also a common time they need to pee. will try that too

[SnuggleBuggles]

My prenatal/ postpartum yoga teacher was telling us about one time when the one mom kept going to the bathroom during the pp class and the teacher was so worried that she had a UTI but instead the mom was taking the baby and doing EC. The mom was very positive about the experience. There were several moms in that group who were doing it. I wonder if you have a resource like that around? A place where other "crunchy" moms might hang out.

Beth

[lkarp]

I EC'd both DD1 and DD2. I'm very relaxed in doing it though. I don't have high expectations that my kids will be fully potty trained early, but I find it convenient for avoiding multiple dipe changes especially in early infancy (DD2 would always pee during dipe changes, so I just started putting her over the potty) and keeping them aware of how to release the pee. I started with DD1 at about 2-3 months and she did well, but started refusing to go potty around 6 months. I was not sure how to continue ECing, so stopped putting her on the potty. She fully potty trained at 3 years and 2 months.

With DD2 we started at about 2 weeks old -- I held her over the potty during diaper changes with my arms supporting her back and neck. She has pottied regularly on the potty ever since, but does not tell us when she needs to go, so she still is in diapers at 2 yrs old. Last summer I let her run around 90% of the time with a naked bottom and she would sit on the BBLP on her own when she needed to go. I know She is ready to be fully potty trained if I work with her a little bit, but with a brand new baby in the house, I'm not quite ready.

I have not yet started with DD3, but hope to soon. I'm still adjusting to having 3 little ones in the house.