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Anyone ECing?

post #1 of 34
2/4/09 at 10:41pm
Thread Starter 
I had no intention whatsoever of practicing EC - seemed like waaay too much work for me. Hazel, however, had other plans. The poor kid makes such a fuss before and right after she pees and will not pee in a wet diaper so I end up changing 2 to 3 right in a row... seriously, right in a row!!

I had mentioned in the LWAB forum that she seemed to pee a lot and during her fussy periods and another mother suggested that perhaps she didn't like going in her diaper. She also mentioned that I might be misreading her elimination cue as a feeding cue further contributing to the problem. She suggested I try EC but I still was unconvinced until one day early last week I changed FIVE diapers in a 40 minute period. What could be more work than that??

I did some reading on the EC board and found the excellent advice to just offer her a chance to eliminate when she first gets up from a nap, 5 to 10 minutes after a feeding, and during a diaper change. The results have been nothing short of AMAZING. From the first day we have had at least one catch every day, and only about a week in, I am now catching numerous pees AND poops everyday. And the difference in my child is amazing, soooo much less fussing. I'm really starting to learn her cues now, but more amazing is that she really seems to know what she is supposed to do when I offer the potty. She does a little squirm and grunt and lets loose!! We are still wearing diapers (I have no intentions otherwise) but we are going through them a lot slower.

Anyway just wanted to share and see who else is ECing and how its going.
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post #2 of 34
2/4/09 at 11:52pm
How interesting! Glad to hear that's working well for you. I don't think I'd want to EC without diapers -- I have a low tolerance for being peed/pooped on -- but if it was easy, as you describe, I might not mind, provided I had diapers for backup.
post #3 of 34
2/5/09 at 1:26am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, I'm not at all into having pee on me or our stuff. For us, it really has been super easy... though that may have to do with DD having a very strong desire not to go in the dipe. Also, we're being flexible about it.. if she goes in dipe... so be it! I would encourage anyone to give it a try... it is incredibly satisfying.
post #4 of 34
2/5/09 at 11:29am
Wow. This is amazing that you have had such success with ECing. I really understand, more than ever, that you have to do what is right for YOUR child.
post #5 of 34
2/5/09 at 12:15pm
We are ecing also. Caught the first pee at 8 days old.
I have NEVER been peed or pood on (except through a leaky diaper)
We use cloth diapers. I keep a bblp (baby bjorn little potty) on the diaper changing table and I sit her on it every time I change her. She goes in it most of the time even if her diaper is wet. I have caught several poos as well.
My baby doesn't have cues that I can p-up on so the timing thing works for us. If she is unhappy I always try to potty her and it is amazing how she relaxes. She is almost 7 wks old and I have noticed that there is more pee in the potty at one time and less wet diapers. Also more poo catches. I think she is figuring I will take her and starting to hold it.
I find it very rewarding and wish that i had tried it more w/ my other kiddos. It has saved me quite a bit of diapers. We only went through 4 yesterday and that was checking about every hour.
post #6 of 34
2/5/09 at 2:29pm
I am a relaxed ECer, I also ECed with my 2 sons. I always use diapers or trainers. I mostly pee my baby over the bathroom sink (only at home though, I wouldn't ever do that in a public sink) and have also held her over the toilet. I have a baby bjorn splashproof potty (I don't think they're easy to find now but got it when my oldest was a baby, he's almost 9) and she has gone in it a couple times but her feet don't reach the floor yet while she sits on it, and she hates being put on it when it is cold.

I really wish that more people knew that they could part time EC, and keep their baby in diapers, and it will still be good for their baby and most likely lead to easy(ish) and early(ish) potty training. Even pottying your baby once or twice a day will help keep the baby's awareness of their elimination functions and that can't be anything but a good thing.
post #7 of 34
2/5/09 at 8:49pm
Hmmm.... I think maybe I'll try it when I change O in a little while -- he'll probably wake up soon. I have a full-size Baby Bjorn potty chair, not the one-piece little potty. Do y'all suppose that will work for him at all? And what do you do? Just hold them over it and hope they'll pee/poop?
post #8 of 34
2/5/09 at 10:06pm
Thread Starter 
Ooooh, I'm so excited for you to try!!

I'm no expert... but what I did (after reading a lot on the EC forum) was hold my daughter over the sink in a squat and make a pee noise (ssssssss) at times when she is likely to have to go. I also make the pee noise if I catch her going when her diaper is off so she starts to associate the noise with eliminating. A common way to hold the baby is to rest their back and head against your chest/tummy and hold their thighs in either hand. I get kind of tired in this position so I have been holding her with one arm wrapped around her chest under her arms and the other hand holding both her feet together in front of her in a kind of squat. I also tilt her forward a bit so the pee doesn't run down her crack and get me!! The most successful time to go for us has been 5 minutes after nursing. I have even noticed that she will fuss mildly around that time. I can also sometimes catch one after a nap (if I am quick enough) and a few minutes after a diaper change (I take my time changing the diaper and then hold her for a good long time over the sink). I also try if she is fussing for no apparent reason. As I said, after only a week or so, I really think she is catching on and she goes almost every time I offer... I don't have to wait as long now either.

Let us know how it goes!!
post #9 of 34
2/5/09 at 10:54pm
I'm a part-time when it works kind a ECer. I plan on addressing it a little more seriously when it gets a little warmer and she's a little older like around 4 months. I really like the idea of using less everything!
post #10 of 34
2/6/09 at 2:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by arizonawillow View Post
she hates being put on it when it is cold.
I purchased a potty cozy for my bblp and it has made ecing a breeze. Katara doesn't like to be dangled I think she feels out of control and she won't go on the potty if it is cold so the cozy works wonders. I got it at the ec store. http://www.theecstore.com/
Quote:
Originally Posted by terrainthailand View Post
A common way to hold the baby is to rest their back and head against your chest/tummy and hold their thighs in either hand. I get kind of tired in this position so I have been holding her with one arm wrapped around her chest under her arms and the other hand holding both her feet together in front of her in a kind of squat. I also tilt her forward a bit so the pee doesn't run down her crack and get me!!
I find that if I use the position where I hold her back against mine and hold her legs up I can sit on the toilet w/ us both facing the back of the toilet and kind of rest her legs on the seat, that way she isn't dangling and my arms don't get tired)

My 6 yr old ds took her to the potty this afternoon and she went pee in it. He was so proud that he caught a pee.
post #11 of 34
2/6/09 at 5:01am
I've thought of it...some nights when he's fussy he refuses to wear a diaper, so in order to get sleep we both sleep on a pile of towels and I get peed on a few times in the night.
But I haven't read up on it at all...maybe I should.
post #12 of 34
2/6/09 at 8:18pm
When I first heard about EC-ing it was here on MDC - so just before DS was born. I thought, NO WAY, lol. But now, I've noticed DS HATES being in a diaper, too. One pee and he freaks. So now I'm thinking...hmmm

It's free to try and I can do it part time like I've read here, so maybe this weekend we'll give it a try. Can't hurt to try anyway. My DH thinks I'm nuts, lol.
post #13 of 34
2/6/09 at 9:35pm
Yep I'm doing it part time just offering opportunities when he is fussy or wakes up and I have a minute. It's really easy and he never pees on me (which is more than I could say for kids I didn't EC. Counterintuitive at first glance: ec and get peed on *less*. Tried to convince a mainstream birth board of this, got brushed off as a weirdo w/ too much time on my hands(i only wish.)) He's in prefolds all the time, too cold for naked even if I wanted to.
post #14 of 34
2/7/09 at 11:31pm
Another relaxed ec'er here. We started at around 2 weeks, and have been pretty steady about it. I find ds usually wakes me up around 6 am by getting all wiggly (we cosleep), and I take him to go potty in the toilet (his back to my tummy) and usually he has a nice poop, and often a pee. Then I get him rediapered and dressed and we go back to sleep until the older do's get up. It's a great way to start the day, actually! His elimination seems to be getting less frequent right now, but I actually haven't had to change a poopy diaper in over 2 weeks. How cool is that? The rest of the day, I try to take him whenever I'm changing him, with various degrees of "success". I ec'd starting at 6 months with my older ds, and despite thinking it would be way too hard (and messy), he and I caught onto it pretty much right away and he was totally out of diapers by the time he turned 1. Starting with a younger babe is exciting, but I have no desire to give up diapers at this point. Probably when it gets warmer out we'll start doing more time w/o a diaper. One warning, though - I think because he spent so much time w/o a diaper on, my older ds really preferred going "pants-free" till he was 4 or so (at home, at least)! http://www.mothering.com/discussions...orngtongue.gif
My favourite ec book is by a wonderful woman named Ingrid Bauer, called "Diaper Free, the wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene". There;s lots of great photos and tips, and she does a great job of explaining how ec is really about deepening the level of communication between you and your lo's.
post #15 of 34
2/8/09 at 2:11am
Thanks for the inspiration Terra! I bought this little potty at Ikea a while back ($4!). I think we'll give it a try tomorrow. I'm all for less diapers and earlier potty training!
post #16 of 34
2/9/09 at 3:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by theboysmama View Post
I find that if I use the position where I hold her back against mine and hold her legs up I can sit on the toilet w/ us both facing the back of the toilet and kind of rest her legs on the seat, that way she isn't dangling and my arms don't get tired)
<giggle>
Terra is in thailand, and she probably has a traditional in-floor toilet ... you don't sit on those.

I could be wrong ... it was 15 years ago, when I was there.
post #17 of 34
2/9/09 at 6:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrabbit View Post
<giggle>
Terra is in thailand, and she probably has a traditional in-floor toilet ... you don't sit on those.

I could be wrong ... it was 15 years ago, when I was there.
Well maybe someone else can take my advice
I would only use the bblp then bcs dd won't let me dangle her at all.
post #18 of 34
2/9/09 at 7:10pm
I'm thinking about buying one of these - http://www.theecstore.com/index.php?...roducts_id=547

partly because i'm a little squeamish about the idea of pooping in the sink (dumb, i know, since i wash poopy diaper covers in the sink). i prefer overall, the idea of going directly in the toilet - DD2 was ready for the potty at 15 months, and we didn't do EC, but I'd like to this time. I don't like cleaning free-standing potties, so we just used a seat-ring that she carried around for over a year.

--janis
post #19 of 34
2/9/09 at 10:52pm
Thread Starter 
You are soooo right about the toilet situation... I don't mind the squatters too much, but late in pregnancy every trip to the toilet was an adventure!

Fortunately we do have a Western-style toilet in our home and I am loving this new position - thanks theboysmama, much more comfortable for us both I think. Here's a photo DH snapped (forgive my attire, it was first thing in the morning!).
post #20 of 34
2/25/09 at 2:33pm
My EC update-- I'm not holding her over the sink anymore. She'll sit on the bjorn potty or let me hold her facing backwards over the toilet. She's had some really messy poopy diapers and I'm trying to pay more attention and catch those in the potty. For a really long time she would do a little tiny poo in almost every diaper, but now she is saving it up for messier diapers, less often.