Is it worth it?

[HappyFox05]

We're expecting our second girl in December. I read a lot about EC before our first was born but didn't do much with it cause I figured I'd be overwhelmed (new baby, moving, changing jobs, all within 6 months). But I like the idea of teaching a child to use a toilet/potty from the start, rather than teaching her to use a diaper for 18-24 months & then turning around & saying, "No more diapers, try to use the potty now". It seems like teaching a kid one thing then changing a couple of years later is counterintuitive. Does that make sense & is it a good reason to try EC?

Also, I'm having a hard enough time transitioning into SAHMing - I WOH for 21 years before our first LO was born, so it was a pretty big shift for me. Will trying to EC a newborn with a two-year old in the house be the thing that drives me insane?

[clovergirl]

i think so. i did not use EC with my first, but she potty learned very easily right after turning 2. my 2nd and 3rd were EC'd and both were in trainers at 1yr and pretty much in underwear at 18mo. they were both diaper free at night around 1yr too.
anyway, i found EC to be more of an organic transition from diapers to independent potty use. with both my DD2 and DS, i saw most of their peers struggle to potty learn; currently at just shy of 3yrs most of the kids DS's age are still in diapers or at least trainers. this isn't the case for everyone, but when i hear about parents pulling their hair out over accidents, trying to figure out what type of reward or chart system to use to get their kids to use the potty, i can't help but think that EC is easier. less power struggles, more autonomy for toddlers, etc.

i don't think EC is right for everyone, but if it makes sense to you, it's worth a try. remember to take it easy on yourself, you are not going to catch everything, and that's OK! just take it day by day and keep the communication rolling.

[pixiepunk]

check out this story i wrote for Infant Pottying Today: http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/index....=15&page_num=2

i think it is absolutely worth doing. it's been an amazing and integral part of the way i parent. and really no big deal, i honestly haven't found it to be any more work than full-time diapering was (i diapered by oldest till 9 months, when i first learned of EC).

[BirthKathy]

Great article, pixiepunk!

HappyFox05,

I have been doing EC since the baby was 7 weeks, and I love it. It is a time commitment, but the bond we have is great.

I feel like he appreciates our efforts to understand and communicate with him. It took away a lot of mystery fussiness, and we get tons of face time during our potty sessions, too.

It doesn't take much to try it. Just buy a little potty and hold the baby over it once in a while!

[kcparker]

Okay, so I just wrote a post saying how frustrated I am with EC, but I still would not do it any other way. We had a golden period from about 14 weeks 'til DS started walking where we had no poop accidents, zero, not a single one - just having over six months of not having to clean up a poopy butt or poopy diapers would make it worth it, but I think it has made me very in tune with DS and his pottying rhythms, and the benefits definitely outweigh the frustrations. He's never been afraid of the potty, he doesn't ask for a diaper to poop into like a lot of other conventionally trained kids.

And he was totally dry and told us when he needed to poop and pee yesterday, so maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel for us.

I say try it out, see if it's working for you. Maybe you do it part-time, maybe you don't start it right away, maybe you combine it with diapering depending on the situation. It's very flexible and really is more about the communication than the elimination (I have to remind myself of that sometimes!).

[lisavark]

First of all, yes, EC is SO worth it, and once you get the hang of it you'll wonder how you could ever do it any other way. It makes so much more sense and is so much more fun than diapering. It's a big time commitment at first, especially with a newborn, but like someone else said, don't feel like you need to catch everything. Although I think it's really fun to do diaper-free time with a newborn during times when it's convenient for you. It's an excuse to sit down and really tune in.

Secondly, recruit your two year old to help potty your newborn! I've heard awesome stories of older siblings being the people who are best at catching baby's signals and knowing when they need to go. Maybe your older daughter will enjoy slowing down long enough to sit and stare at the baby for a while too.

[hrsmom]

Totally worth it! And you can do it as full time or as part time as you want and are able.

I loved your article, pixiepunk!

[riboflavin]

Wow Pixiepunk, your article almost made me cry! You hit the nail on the head. Those are the main reasons to EC a young child. After starting EC at 5 weeks with DS2, I noticed a huge change in personality. My 'fussy' baby became my super content and happy baby; so much so that people commented on this all the time. What a great tool EC is; and how sad that this isn't something passed down from generation to generation in this country.

Though some EC’d babies may not become a graduate as early as you think and may still have resistance like traditional potty learned toddlers, the benefit of EC comes in many forms besides that. So to answer your question HappyFox05, I think it is totally worth it. EC'ing while having a toddler in the house may help with your sanity, rather than drive you over the edge. Any extra tool to help when your baby becomes fussy will help keep the household happy and content. And your 2 year old may love to help with the process, and may potty learn early herself because she will be seeing her baby sibling go on the potty.

And don’t stress about catching everything. Even part time EC seems to work great for so many people. Charndra has a great website, Tribal Baby, that has a ton of helpful info in case you haven't stumbled across it yet. Let us know how it goes!

[JessieBird]

Totally worth it!!! Just a month ago I had never heard of EC and I never would have believed you if you'd told me my son would be having most of his pees & poops on a potty at 9 1/2 months. We are part time (when I go, when he wakes up, intuition, and just when it seems like a nice thing to do) and we don't stress at all about graduating. For us, it is simply another wonderfully close part of our day, kinda fun, and nice to know that I'm setting my son up for a gentle transition to full potty use rather than a shock and struggle a few years down the road. Another bonus is the much less diaper laundry. Oh and how impressed the in-laws are. They thought I was completely nusto at first but now they think I walk on water!

[Moonchild77]

My 'fussy' baby became my super content and happy baby; so much so that people commented on this all the time.

yes!!! My first son was sooo fussy, he cried and cried in his carrier, I thought he was just too tired and sang him to sleep, I always was and am AP , so I know I did my best, but when I learned about EC when ds2 was 3/4 mo old, I noticed the fussiness LEFT when I offered the potty, or even saw his diaper was wet!!!! I now think like 80% of ALL the fussiness of a baby is pee or poo related!! reallly!
just like you said, Pixiepunk:

At first, I thought it must be a fluke. I thought with astonishment, all those times that my other babies had fussed for what seemed like no reason – it was just because they had had to pee? When they had been completely content in a sling, only to suddenly start squirming and fussing – it was because they had had to pee? All those times they had woken up “to nurse” in the night, only to pass out seconds after they had latched on – they had only been waking up to pee? It was as though someone had turned on the lights and I found that missing piece to the parenting puzzle that I’d been trying to solve for 5 years! It seemed as though virtually every previously unexplained behavior was related to elimination.

[tifpaul]

"At first, I thought it must be a fluke. I thought with astonishment, all those times that my other babies had fussed for what seemed like no reason – it was just because they had had to pee? When they had been completely content in a sling, only to suddenly start squirming and fussing – it was because they had had to pee? All those times they had woken up “to nurse” in the night, only to pass out seconds after they had latched on – they had only been waking up to pee? It was as though someone had turned on the lights and I found that missing piece to the parenting puzzle that I’d been trying to solve for 5 years! It seemed as though virtually every previously unexplained behavior was related to elimination." (by PixiePunk

I completely agree with this. My husband and I have had this same conversation. And another friend who conventionally potty-trained hers made the same observation when I was describing how my newborn was behaving.

I was initially motivated to even try EC (with my 3rd baby) by a sentence in the Diaper-Free book that said something to the effect: Even if you were to catch just once a day, that would be one diaper saved from washing or the dump, and one step closer to eventual potty-training. That seemed reasonable to me, and I think if you are wary of the effort, that might be a way to start - try the potty every time your baby wakes up dry from a nap.

When I did this very thing at 3 weeks, and she relieved herself, I was totally overwhelmed, and committed on the spot to EC - I mean, if she could do it, I had to help her do it.

I mean, there is really no investment of money involved. And if the time and effort involved seem excessive, then you can just stop.

We have loved EC. And we have a miss almost every day (with our now 4 month old). But we also have successes every day, and go through diapers very slowly.

Good Luck! I believe that it's not for everyone, but that anyone could do it. If you are interested, you should give it a try. And I recommend starting from birth . . . but that's a whole different thread!