yes I'm actually asking EC at 11 months?

[milkmommy]

Is it too late to start? and how? Margaret is already going quite a while between diapers and has a pretty predictable BM cycle. I think I might be intrested in at least some ECing with her but have no idea how. We cloth diaper and she goes with jsut a prefold a lot so shes tends to get changed right away. I'm not intrested in going diaperless though..

Deanna

[MudPies]

i did that with dink around that age. he was regular too. i would sit him on the potty when i knew he had to poo, and in the mornings, and before his bath, i caught a lot. the book diaper free before age three had some good late ec tips!:heart

[LadyofReason]

I tried to EC with William from birth, but he wasn't really interested so we stopped about 3-4 months in. He got it at about 17 months. :)
I started by having him use the potty first thing in the morning. He was waking up dry, so I took advantage of it. He also started being dry at naps, so I was guaranteed a pee after nap. Poos have been surprises his whole life, so I wasn't able to time them. I'd for sure take advantage of that if I were you. :) It's so nice to not have poopy diapers anymore. :yes
Just setting them on the potty first thing in the morning, after naps, before and after baths, etc is a great way to start. Maybe give them a chance before you head out the door. It might get you one less wet diaper while out. :)

[milkmommy]

Just setting them on the potty first thing in the morning, after naps, before and after baths, etc is a great way to start. Maybe give them a chance before you head out the door. It might get you one less wet diaper while out. :)

Tell me more on how this works. Like how long do you try to sit them is there anything I do to kinda encourage her or is it just luck of timing (at least at first) Margaret ussally wakes up dry after naps she also typically waskes around midnight to feed and will be dry them too.. She does tend to have a big poo diaper early morning (like when still asleep) so it will be a bit before we deal with that one but she can easily go 3 or more hours between most diaper changes jsut cause she holding that much...

Deanna

[Aerynne]

I only have experience with early start ec, but there is a yahoo group for late start.

I think at first a lot of it is luck on the timing but once they go on the potty once or a few times, they get it and then will go more.

Is she in cloth or sposies? Cloth isn't mandatory, but it would help.

[milkmommy]

she is in cloth and pretty much coverless since I like to change as soon as she wets..

I figured they might get it after a few successful tries but wondered if there was any wayt to help that first success.. Like physically how do you put them on a potty.. Can I use jsut the adult or do I need something "special" how long do I have her "sit"???

Deanna

[Aerynne]

I like the Baby Bjorn Little Potty (got mine at BRU for $10. Actually, I have two :shifty), or you can hold her in a squat over the sink, toilet, or bathtub (or patch of grass if it's warm outside). You do that by holding her back against your chest and gripping one thigh in each hand with legs spread slightly. If I'm putting her on the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. . . let me think. . . how do I do it.. . Sometimes I hold her in that squat position and then put her on it. Or if she's standing in front of it I'll use one arm to hold her up and the other arm to go behind her legs and bend them at the knee (with my arm, not my hand) so she'll sit. That doesn't sound very gentle, but it actually is- if she doesn't want to potty she lets me know with no uncertainty and I will either put her diaper back on or just try another potty location or position.

As for how long, at first you might need her to sit for a long time to get her to go. It's always nice to have some books or something to do- our favorite potty activities are the ring stacker, books, or a drum, but whatever she likes will work. Then I just play with her while she sits there until she either 1. goes or 2. crawls off. I would also take her off if she complained but on the actual potty she doesn't complain if she doesn't like it- she just gets off. If I'm pottying her in the sink (which I do quite frequently) I will make faces at her in the mirror and stick my tongue out at her (it's a game we have- she sticks her tongue out at me if she wants me to stick my tongue out, then I do it for awhile and then stick it back in again, then she shows me her tongue to ask me to show her mine- all very fun, just to keep her entertained) I only hold her over the sink for a minute or so, though, if she's not going. If she's actually peeing or pooping we don't do much playing, just down to business.

Some stuff about pooping in the sinkI just get a piece of toilet paper, pick up the poop (so I'm not touching it- I will get a long piece and fold it a bunch of times) and drop the poop in the toilet, then wipe out the sink. When she was only bf and had those runny poops I would just wash them down the sink but I can't anymore. My sink is kind-of flat at the bottom so the poop doesn't go down the drain. It just sits there in the sink until I pick it up.

[GlobalMama]

We started with DS at 11 months and it's been great!

He's really obvious when he needs to poo :giggle He stops what he's doing and grunts. So, off to the pot he goes.

It was easy for us I think because DS really hates being wet and he was that kid that would always wait for the diaper to come off to pee. Once I realized that he was basically only peeing as I changed his diaper I was all "Hmmmm. . . I might as well give it a go."

We have a nice little set up in the bathroom just for him. All his flats, covers, doublers and wipes are in a nice little decorative box. Next to it we have lots of books and a few choice toys and then the potty.

So, when he wakes up, I take him to the potty, take of the diaper and immediately sit him down. I make the "psssss" sound while he's peeing. Nowadays, he goes immediately but in the beginning, I would read him a few stories and then go "psss" in between stories. Now we read stories when he's going poop so he doesn't get bored and stick his hand between his legs to explore his creations :O

Sometimes even now when he doesn't pee immediately, I just lift him off and then pop him back on and usually he's like oh ya, pee time. The cue for him to pee now is popping his booty on the seat. Sometimes he misses the cue if he's still groggy when I put him on the first time, so the repeat usually does the trick.

After the wake up, we go after every meal, every nursing, or every 1 and a half to 2 hours if it's just a play time. We also go immediately before and after being a carrier or being out.

If he is really wiggly in the carrier, I take him out and find a quiet place for him to pop a squat and 99% of the time, he goes.

Now we're moving towards more nakey booty time and leaving the potty in plain view to see if he's grasping the concept on his own. I'll let you know how that goes.

Good luck! On days when I'm hyper vigilant, I've gotten it down to 1-2 diapers that day!

Cheers!

Whoops, missed a couple of your questions:
We use the Tommy Tippy potty. It's basically the same design as the baby bjorn little potty. It's one single piece, so easy to clean. We tried to pop him on the adult potty but he was scared and it was too much stress on my arms and shoulders because he weighs 23 pounds and is a wiggly worm. He was much happier on his potty with me sitting comfortably at eye level reading books to him.

When we started, we had a 4 story limit for potty time. If he had woken up wet, I'd still put him on and give him a 3 story limit because I figured he probably didn't have anything left to do. If he woke up dry, we'd do 4 stories and if he hadn't gone, I'd give him a sippy with some water, or run the tap for a few to make trickling sounds, and if it didn't work, I'd give it a rest for the time being.

[milkmommy]

our bathrooms are tiny and if we EVER get the other home we will have the same issue so if I can just use the "adult" potty it will be much better. DH will totally not allow pure naked time so I will still keep her with a diaper but I think trying to allow her some potty time through out the day will be good.
I'm stil a bit lost on how long you'd hold them especailly say first morning or after nap when they are hungry... or should I try nursing first? The morning might be a bit easier since she ussally joins me and cosleeps 1/2 way through the night... :think
DO you try in the middle of the night? Margaret typically wakes around midnight (usssally with a messy diaper) and again around 3am...
She starts out in her crib I've always checked and changed her diaper then nursed her and put her back to sleep in her crib at her midnight waking and then just brought her into bed with me and nursed/coslept till morning at her 3am waking... Should I try doing the potty sometimes in there?
She also typically has a messy diaper a bit after she first wakes up.. I'll admit I tend to leave her "overnight" diaper on her for about 30 mintues
in the morning to allow for that first poo... but again I was thinking that might be a good one to try to catch..

Deanna

[Aerynne]

First morning poops are great to catch!

I hold my baby on there unitil 1 she makes it obvious she doesn't want to 2 she goes or 3 she doesn't look like she's going to go. You just have to get a feel for it. And you can try before nursing- she'll let you know if she's not liking it.

My babies have never liked nighttime ec, and I like my sleep, so I just diaper her up really good. I do nighttime ec w/ newborns who are pooping, but my bigger babes just pee at night.

I hear you having a lot of specific questions, but your baby is the ones with the answers- let her show you.

[Mommainrwanda]

We just started EC-ing first thing in the morning. I decided to try it at the beginning of the week and every single morning she's gone within a minute of holding her on the toilet. I know that she pees/poops first thing anyway so as soon as she wakes up I take off her diaper and hold her on the toilet (I sit on the floor in the front of her and she sits on the edge of the toilet). I usually blow between her legs a little bit because I know cold air is definitely stimulating!

If she only pees and doesn't poop within a minute or two then I get tired of holding her and put her diaper back on. I'm trying to be pretty relaxed with this :shrug3

[milkmommy]

well no success yet but thats to be expected as I'm JUST starting.. Margaret slept past her normal midnight feeding and woke sometime latter in the night she wasn't messy so I jsut took her into bed with me after all we were both tired. ;)
Sometime in the AM Cecilia came in and said Margaret wanted to play :shifty So I gave her away :giggle and slept some more....
I finially got up arpund 9am and figured Margaret would have eaither already have gone or need to..
I held her overe the bathroom sink as another reccomended and let her giggle and play with her reflection in the mirror.. I think we were there about 5-10 mintues nothing happened.. I checked her pocket diaper she had on (the same one she had on ALL night) it was barely wet this isn't unussual, while she tends to have messy diapers in the AM she rarely wets over night...
put her in a prefold and went on with the morning..
about 45 mintues latter she fussed to nurse so I did I thought she was going to fall asleep and I went to go put her in her crib for her nap but then Cecilia yelled woke her up and she was wide awake :doh
Used the oppurnuity to try getting her to potty again.. repeated what we did this morning nothing :shrug3
sometime in the next 30 mintues she wet I changed
So that were we are right now. I think I'll skip trying to potty her over night..
Other than that I'll jut keep trying its not upsetting her any as of now..

Deanna

[mom2afew]

This gives me so much hope! My DD is 10 months, and i really really wanted to EC her and i never could get into the swing of things. I find it so hard with 2 other small kids. but i'm going to give it another shot with mornings and naps and baths :)

[milkmommy]

Well for now weve kinda backed off.. I was trying the sink and at first shes liked that but then she wanted nothing do do with it she jsut cried.. and of course that not the idea. I thnki she might do better with an actual potty of her own but with our inticipated move I dont have the time money or space for one.. So for now I'm backing off hopefully well be moved in March and mayne we can try again.

Deanna

[Aerynne]

My little dd likes the potty but she cries and stiffens her legs if I try to take her in the sink. So we do the little potty. Every once in awhile I still try the sink.

[milkmommy]

My little dd likes the potty but she cries and stiffens her legs if I try to take her in the sink. So we do the little potty. Every once in awhile I still try the sink.

I think she will like a potty. I'm not giving up jsut taking a break things are a bit crazy with the hosue right now..

Deanna

[mom2afew]

you can get baby bjorn potty seats that fit on the toliet if you wanted to try that, but i compleely understand with moving giving up for a bit.