Tell me I can do this (EC)

[mamacanuck]

then tell me how... :-/

I never thought I'd be asking this question, way too crunchy for me, but oh how times change. :giggle

Ds is 2 months old and hates a wet or dirty diaper. We use cloth most of the time (prefolds and Bummis covers) and disposables at night (unless I get in a rut and start using them in the day too :bag ). We have some FB (which I don't really like) that he will fit into soon and I'm hoping to get a sewing machine for Christmas so I can try making some fitteds and maybe some fleece/wool covers.

I think I'd like to try EC'ing but I don't know if I can do it and don't really get how to start. I don't want to be cleaning up messes all the time and I don't really want to at night but I've heard you can do this part-time so I think that's what I want to do.

So far, in my floundering attempts to start, I still feel like I have no clue how to tell when ds is going to go, I can tell when he's pooping but that's about it. I've tried holding him over the toilet and actually caught 2 pees that way but more by accident rather than I actually knew he needed to go. Most of the time he gets really fussy and cries when I bring him there which I feel kind of defeats the purpose a little.

So my questions are:
How do I start making this work?
How can I start figuring out his cues?
What should I put him in during the day?
How should I hold him over the toilet?
What should I do if he gets fussy while I'm waiting (hoping) for him to go?
Any other tips for a newbie? :)

Oh yeah, we also have a high back Baby Bjorn potty that dd uses, don't know if that would be useful for ds or not.

[prov31craftymom]

I'll be starting at Christmas, and would like some tips too. I have a girl though. :)

[LadyofReason]

I part-time ECd DD2 and I'm doing part-time with DS2 also. I start by giving them a chance to pee (in the sink, potty seat or just over the diaper) every time I change them. Then I move on to trying to potty them if they are over fussy and nothing seems to work.
Sometimes I do the timing thing where you give them a change after eating and after waking up from a nap.
It's a good place to start anyway. :)

[Katigre]

I'm an accidental EC'er :giggle. I started just a few weeks ago and it's been a huge success here, DD loves it. I like the part-time eC article here: http://www.parttimeec.com/7-How-to-Start-EC-Tips.pdf

[TenderLovingWillow]

DS doesnt seem to have signal.. Or else I just have not figured it out yet.. :blush

But I do a LOT of timing with him.. Right after he wakes up, about 7 min after he nurses, about 15 min after that, and then about every half hour till he nurses again, and repeat.

I LOVE it.. becuase I HATE hate HATE washing diapers.. Its like the one chore I always try to pawn off..

[prov31craftymom]

DS doesnt seem to have signal.. Or else I just have not figured it out yet.. :blush

But I do a LOT of timing with him.. Right after he wakes up, about 7 min after he nurses, about 15 min after that, and then about every half hour till he nurses again, and repeat.

I LOVE it.. becuase I HATE hate HATE washing diapers.. Its like the one chore I always try to pawn off..

Wow. That is really time consuming. I don't think I can put that much effort into it. I feel that, that would be ALL I was doing. Do you do it during the night too, or just let him wet his diaper and then change him the morning?

[TenderLovingWillow]

I dont do nights.. I am to tired.. For me, I am willing to do almost anything to avoid washing diapers.. Sounds kinda bad I know.. But I really do hate it..

[Katigre]

I think the older a baby gets, the less frequently they go.

Here is DD's (9 months old) schedule:
1st thing in the morning (this is a LOT of pee - over 1 cup b/c she dones't pee much at night anymore)
1/2 hour after the first pee she goes again - this time her normal amount (~1/3 cup)

After that she goes every 45-60 minutes (1/3 cup each time) that she's awake. She does not pee when napping but will go immediately upon waking up.

She has sort of night-trained herself in that she no longer has a sopping wet night diaper - she pees once or maybe twice at night (even though she is nursing and cosleeping) and saves it up till the morning (or else wakes up in the middleo f the night fussy and wanting to pee so I take her and then she goes back into a deep sleep).

It IS more time consuming than doing diapers :yes, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

[prov31craftymom]

I dont do nights.. I am to tired.. For me, I am willing to do almost anything to avoid washing diapers.. Sounds kinda bad I know.. But I really do hate it..

Is he at the point now, that he knows what he is doing? Or does it still just happen when it happens?

---------- Post added at 01:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:38 PM ----------

I think the older a baby gets, the less frequently they go.

Here is DD's (9 months old) schedule:
1st thing in the morning (this is a LOT of pee - over 1 cup b/c she dones't pee much at night anymore)
1/2 hour after the first pee she goes again - this time her normal amount (~1/3 cup)

After that she goes every 45-60 minutes (1/3 cup each time) that she's awake. She does not pee when napping but will go immediately upon waking up.

She has sort of night-trained herself in that she no longer has a sopping wet night diaper - she pees once or maybe twice at night (even though she is nursing and cosleeping) and saves it up till the morning (or else wakes up in the middleo f the night fussy and wanting to pee so I take her and then she goes back into a deep sleep).

It IS more time consuming than doing diapers :yes, but I think it's worth it in the long run.

That's really good. At what age did you start? DD is 3 1/2 mo and I'm just starting. (I was waiting for good head control, and good support I guess)

[TenderLovingWillow]

I think he knows what he is doing.. I think I may have *scheduled* him to a certain extent.. Sometimes I think he just waits for me to take him.. Because when I miss it he will fuss for a minute or so, then pee.. Like he is giving me one last chance to take him.. :)

[Katigre]

I started three weeks ago - I never intended to EC, but I did do prefolds from the start so she's always 'felt' when she went potty.

But three weeks ago I had the little potty out and put her on it, and she went! And went almost every time I tried it after that, so I got some advice from a few friends who EC'd and ran with it and now she's mostly day trained (80% for pee, more like 50% trained for poo), 100% nap trained (she never pees when napping and I catch it each time when she wakes up) and seems to be night training herself - if she wasn't night nursing I think she'd be dry all night, as it is she nurses every few hours at night and only pees once or twice in that 10-12 hour period which is crazy compared to how much she was peeing a few weeks ago (and I am consistently shocked at how much pee her bladder is holding until morning!).

[prov31craftymom]

I started three weeks ago - I never intended to EC, but I did do prefolds from the start so she's always 'felt' when she went potty.

But three weeks ago I had the little potty out and put her on it, and she went! And went almost every time I tried it after that, so I got some advice from a few friends who EC'd and ran with it and now she's mostly day trained (80% for pee, more like 50% trained for poo), 100% nap trained (she never pees when napping and I catch it each time when she wakes up) and seems to be night training herself - if she wasn't night nursing I think she'd be dry all night, as it is she nurses every few hours at night and only pees once or twice in that 10-12 hour period which is crazy compared to how much she was peeing a few weeks ago (and I am consistently shocked at how much pee her bladder is holding until morning!).

Wow! That was really fast. It sounded like you had been doing it for a long time. So, there is hope! :)

[marigold]

I have done part time EC with my daughter who at 23 months is now potty trained except nights and nap time' and am now doing it with my son. I love it:D My son was wetting about 20 diapers a day before I started him at 2mo. Now at 4mo we have about 10/day. That's a lot less laundry. I have to say that I don't think it is any more time consuming than changing the diaper every time it's wet (I refuse to leave my kids sitting around in a wet diaper). Check out the part time ec link that Katigre posted.:thumbsup Charndra the part time ec lady has some great info to get you started. She has a 7 Secrets Course that is free and has a lot of good tips to make the timing, signaling stuff easier. Have fun and happy pottying.:jump2

[mamacanuck]

Wow, thanks for all the good advice. We've actually had a couple of pretty successful days. I caught 5 pees and 1/2 a poop :giggle yesterday and 3 pees this morning.

I just decided to start taking him first thing in the morning and diaper changes. If the diaper was wet I let him play w/o it until he started fussing and he went then every time.

I think I just needed to clarify in my head that I don't have to do it perfect and any time I do get it right is just great. Ds is catching on quicker than me I think, he's a smart cookie. :) I'll probably need to be on here lots to stick with it though.

Oh, and keep the advice coming, I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing. :giggle

[WeeMonsters]

I think I just needed to clarify in my head that I don't have to do it perfect and any time I do get it right is just great.

That right there is an excellent start! The biggest thing about EC for me was learning to get my head around the communication over potty aspect of it. As long as we were still communicating about the potty and elimination needs, then we were being successful, even if there were still potty misses on the floor.

When written down (how many times one is taking the baby potty) it really does look like a lot of work... as though you are hopping up & down to go to the toilet/potty every time the baby fusses. But it's not really that much work. And it always seemed like way less work then conventional potty-learning. And less work than fighting my way through a diaper change with a less-than content or very wiggly baby.

For more specific details on how to hold the baby and different techniques, etc, check out diaperfreebaby.org (there are actually pictures of different holds somewhere on there), especially the newsletters. You could also check out the book of the same title. However, at 2 months old, the newborn hold is porbably most comfortable (with baby's back against your stomach and you holding baby under his knees, with his knees pulled slightly so he's sorta in a squat position). And sometimes a newborn will kinda fuss a bit when they're put into position. Usually this is cause they're uncomfortable with the need to go and if cued to go will stop fussing as soon as they do go. At 2 months old, your ds may be past that (can't remember when that stopped for us).

But mostly, the breakthrough for me was when I could recognize this as a journey and a process where the end goal was excellent communication and potty-training was a happy side-effect of that!

[Katigre]

I think I just needed to clarify in my head that I don't have to do it perfect and any time I do get it right is just great.
:yes. I had to learn this too. EC isn't about getting it 100% of the time, it's about building communication and body awareness between you and your baby. I've found that our 'good' and 'bad' EC days alternate - and sometimes DD surprises me.

Today we were out at a friends' house and I didn't catch any pees. We got home and I caught all of them and she cued clearly each time :rockon. It varies depending on what she's doing and I am learning to relax and roll with it.

I found the Part-time EC article to be really helpful in my mindset: http://www.parttimeec.com/7-How-to-Start-EC-Tips.pdf

[passthemanna]

I think the older a baby gets, the less frequently they go.

Here is DD's (9 months old) schedule:
1st thing in the morning (this is a LOT of pee - over 1 cup b/c she dones't pee much at night anymore)
1/2 hour after the first pee she goes again - this time her normal amount (~1/3 cup)

After that she goes every 45-60 minutes (1/3 cup each time) that she's awake. She does not pee when napping but will go immediately upon waking up.

She has sort of night-trained herself in that she no longer has a sopping wet night diaper - she pees once or maybe twice at night (even though she is nursing and cosleeping) and saves it up till the morning (or else wakes up in the middleo f the night fussy and wanting to pee so I take her and then she goes back into a deep sleep).

It IS more time consuming than doing diapers :yes, but I think it's worth it in the long run.
:yes This sounds a lot like our experience. DS is 15 months now & can usually go 2-3 hours w/out peeing, especially while we're out & about & also stays dry overnight most nights (he's done this for several months now).

I also agree w/what was said about keeping a relaxed mindset. I really enjoyed Ingrid Bauer's "Diaper Free Baby" she covers that issue as well as plenty of other helpful points.

---------- Post added at 06:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:01 PM ----------

then tell me how... :-/

So my questions are:
How do I start making this work?
How can I start figuring out his cues?
What should I put him in during the day?
How should I hold him over the toilet?
What should I do if he gets fussy while I'm waiting (hoping) for him to go?
Any other tips for a newbie? :)

Oh yeah, we also have a high back Baby Bjorn potty that dd uses, don't know if that would be useful for ds or not.
1. we started while nursing and every time he peed I'd say "sss" then after a couple weeks of that I started holding ds over a bowl and saying "sss" when I thought he had to go.
2. I didn't really pick up on any cues until I started letting him have more nakey time. He mostly has certain facial signals and body postures or he'll get very still
3. You should put him in whatever you're comfortable with. Nakey time is great, but not if it's going to make you stress out. prefolds w/out a cover are great because you know when they've peed right away, but it usually isn't terribly messy.
4. I hold DS by his thighs & let him lean against me. You can also try the sink, a bowl, the back yard, little potty.
5. always relax
6. relax & have fun

[zak]

I haven't read the other replies... sorry!

I've part-time EC'd both boys. :)

How do I start making this work?

-Decide what your "goal" is. Do you want to just catch poo? Try to get some pees? ALL pees? Day time and night time? Just day time? Limit # of diapers? Go from there, adjust your goal as needed. For us, I cared about catching poos and whatever accidental pees I could.

How can I start figuring out his cues?

-Timing and intuition are two great ways to start. :) I started being able to tell that F needed to poo every morning (EARLY) when he'd kick his feet in bed. They all have their own unique cues. Or some have none at all. :shifty R would poo every morning on the toilet (BBLP), out of routine, I never saw a "cue" for that. Intuition is really a biggie that is not often mentioned. I can just think "I think it's time for a pee" and take F to the toilet and 90% of the time, I'm right. :tu

What should I put him in during the day?

-I liked a shirt/top, BabyLegs and socks and then whatever diaper system you're using. We use prefolds/covers here.

How should I hold him over the toilet?

-I found holding each of my boys over the toilet was a real pain. They were not comfy that way and neither was I. R went straight to the BBLP (5 months old) and I would hold F over the bathtub while I sat with my feet on the outside of the tub. I LOVED using the tub. It caught ALL the mess, rinsed out easily (breastfed poo) and I could quickly spray it to clean all at once. :tu Once he was about 6 months old, we started using the BBLP tho.

What should I do if he gets fussy while I'm waiting (hoping) for him to go?

-I'd just stop. Try again in 15 minutes. :)


Any other tips for a newbie?

-Relax!!! Start with small goals. Don't fret over a miss, you'll have an opportunity just around the corner!! :hug

Good luck in your EC journey!!