Trainer questions

[zoebird]

i would like suggestions about what to buy from the EC Store.

hawk is a great potty communicator and we typically only use one diaper per day. on occasion, we'll use as many as 3 (one with poop, because we won't catch the first, but we'll catch the rest).

we're moving to NZ soon (i hope, waiting on the visa!), and i would like to graduate hawk into trainers. i'm also entertaining the idea of underwear, but i don't think we (that is, my husband and i) are ready for that. hawk could probably manage no problems. LOL

my question is about what kind and how many trainers we should purchase.

i'm thinking one per day (7) plus an extra 3-5 for those days when we would use more than one. i figure that if he has a whole bunch of one-diaper days (we change the diaper every 24 hrs like underwear, even if it's unsoiled, just because of sweat, etc).

another consideration to add to this is that we do not know if we will have laundry facilities where we live. we plan on housesitting to start out, and then eventually get our own place. so, we may or may not have facilities.

i have no problem washing by hand, but the question that i have is about drying--what is the air-drying time in a place like seattle where it rains frequently (where we are living has weather similar to seattle--lots of rain)?

this of course also impacts the number because if we have three consecutive days of three, or four, will the other trainers be dry enough in a couple of days if we have a fifth or sixth day of three or more 'soiled' trainers?

any suggestions would be great. i'm making all of our "gear" lists for clothing, shoes, and whatever we need for our trip. this, of course, is hawk's gear.

[pixiepunk]

hmmmm....
well here's what i think (for whatever it's worth... probably not much). if you're going to potentially need to air dry a lot, it would really be better to be washing multiple pairs of undies and, say, sweatpants (nice and absorbent so the floor doesn't get hit), then to air dry trainers. i live in great line-drying weather, mildly humid all the time but usually quite windy and our line gets full sun almost all day. but i've tried to dry trainers in our humid basement when it was raining and i couldn't use the line outside, and gave up after a couple of days because they were still soggy and just threw them in the dryer.

so what i'd probably do is buy maybe a dozen trainers (i love the sewn sides EC Store 'favorite' trainers the best, but if poo misses ever occur, or if you ever find it convenient to change like a diaper where you don't take pants/shoes off, get the snap sides), and then get a couple dozen undies (or maybe gerber undies if you want a bit of additional absorbency that will sill dry fast) and at least a dozen pairs of sweats or similar pants, and use those most of the time at home, saving the trainers for times when you can't be super attentive or when you're out of the house or he's in someone else's care.

and CONGRATS on the move! so exciting! would love to hear more of what you'll be doing if you want to PM or email me

[zoebird]

there are so many parts to this equation--so many unknowns! LOL

there is one known: EC is "heard of" in NZ. a lot of folks do it, actually, compaatively. so, i may have luck in regards to other's care of him.

we're moving to NZ by way of having purchased a holistic health center. so, i'm managing the facility and my husband will be doing marketing and such.

we will be a part of a play group, which is more formalized in NZ. they are child care coops. so, one day a week i would work there (and take hawk), and then the other day of the week he would go on his own and we would pay a reduced fee. it's typically half-days, though you can go as often as you like assuming the play group is "open" on those days.

so, on the day i'm there, i'd be able to potty him no problem; on the day that i'm not it might be hit or miss.

now, there are other things. there's going to be a whole family component to the business. Mons and Thurs will be family yoga--all kids welcome. tuesday is hootenany day, and friday will be storytelling day. wed will be post natal, but just babies allowed and so he'll be in playgroup that morning.

my husband and i will be alternating in-office duties. he'll work some days and i'll work others. or rather, we'll both work half days, alternating mornings and afternoons, except for wed when he'll do desk duty am, while i teach, and i'll be with hawk in the afternoon, and he'll finish out the desk duty that day.

so, hawk will be with us most of the time, and we'll be able to potty him like normal (assuming my dh remembers!), but every morning during the week, it may be harder to potty him. on tues and fri, someone else will be leading teaching (and hopefully on mon and thurs as well), and so i will be able to take him to the potty if he needs to go.

i'm kind of thinking about a combination of the favorites and the bright bots. i know that the bright bots would be fine for anytime he is with me and i am not working (eg, not mon/thurs am if i am leading family yoga). but the favorites would probably be a better idea for when he is not with me (such as wed mornings at play group).

so, i think i have my answer. now it's just a matter of the number. how many of these vs those.

[sapphire_chan]

Bright Bots, which are made in AU, line dry very quickly. They aren't waterproof at all, but do prevent spraying and if you realize fast enough that your LO is peeing in them they will give you a few seconds to pull pants off before the pants get wet.

As with all pull-on pants, poop misses suck. So far the poop has stayed in the trainer until we pull it down even though the legs fit somewhat loosely.

[zoebird]

i think poop misses always suck. i always feel so bad, like "poor baby."

[theboysmama]

ecapants dry pretty quickly as well so that could be an option.
I think going w/ underwear and sweats or fleece pants is a great idea.

[zoebird]

save that i don't like the "look" of that. lol. seriously, i'm more intense about what hawk wears than i am about what i wear. is that wrong?

when we're out of the house, he's wearing denim overalls. or khaki overalls. or cordoroy overalls. i'm very particular that he looks "nice" when going out. and for me, that's defined as overall.s i know, it's weird.

tell you what, he is a GOOD signaller. he signals, and ihave enough time to get him to the toilet, undo his overalls, get his diaper off, and then hold him over and give him the signal. and then he goes.

at home, we typically have him bare bottomed with baby legs. my husband prefers to keep him in a diaper because then he (DH) can be more lax about pottying.

right now, we're thinking about getting the favorites only and then graduating ourselves to the bright bots a bit later.

[marija_jane]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Bright Bots, which are made in AU,

Just FYI, Bright Bots are made in China.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by marija_jane

Just FYI, Bright Bots are made in China.

Well, bother.

[NZmumof2]

Well we're expatriate NZers currently in Australia. Couple of thoughts. It would be extremely rare for a house not to have laundry facilities in NZ, so if you're house sitting you could assume there would be a washer.

We lived in a cool, wetter part of the country and had no problems air-drying trainers like Bright Bots. Never found fitted nappies very good as they took 3 days to dry, we always used old fashioned nappies - cut into smaller squares since we never needed more than a wee miss type absorbancy.

EC is not exactly common in NZ in my experience. Several of our playgroup mothers tried it after I did and I know Wellington and possibly Auckland have EC playgroups.

Sounds like you have an exciting adventure ahead of you! Hope the move goes wel.

Anna, mum to three, partner to Leah, in outback Australia

[pixiepunk]

zoebird - amazing opportunity!! sounds fantastic!
about wanting baby to look nice, i'm weirdly the same way with my kids, and i am soooo not that way about myself! i don't think the undies/sweats would be great for out and about anyway if you expect there might be a miss (especially poo!) or if your attention won't be 100% with little one (as it sounds like it will not be when you are at work). so in those situations i think trainers are definitely a good idea so everyone can relax. i think if you're not into the undies/sweats at home though that the bright bots (when you need backup at home) are a great idea. they are very trim and dry very quickly compared to other trainers, and IME are more absorbent than the Gerber ones (and those are also made in China *and* Gerber's owned by Nestle). when we were doing backup at home we used those and they were perfect for the job.

as for how many to buy... since you aren't going to want to buy and pay overseas shipping once you're there, and you're unsure of how long things will take to dry, if the budget allows for it i'd buy for the worst case scenario. though it would also depend on if you'll be motivated enough to wash them each day if you have a 'big' miss day. i would think 3 or 4 days would probably be the longest it would take to air dry an EC store waterproof trainer. i mean it doesn't take more than that to dry wool pants or sweaters inside laying on a towel, kwim? but if you did laundry that evening when you had a day of more frequent misses, which would mean doing laundry potentially every day for a couple of days, then you'd still only need enough trainers to get through the 'worst case scenario' 4 day stretch, since day 1 trainers would certainly be dry by day 5.

so using that 'math' i would say you'd need roughly between 15-20 trainers and you'd be covered. if you wanted to use something like bright bots when at home, maybe get like a dozen waterproof ones and 6-8 bright bots. the EC store trainers have great resale value so if you use them super lightly because he's hardly having any misses, you can get almost all your money back out of them when he's done. or if you plan to have any more kids you could always save them for future use, of course

and this might sound odd... i don't know what kinds of services your center offers. but if they offer massage and such, might there be a washer/dryer on site for the linens that require washing after each session? at the wellness center where i work they are doing laundry constantly - sweaty towels, large towels from pool and showers, and all the massage table linens (and occasionally yoga blankets) maybe you could bring your clean, wet trainers to work and run them through the dryer on occasion if you needed to?

[zoebird]

there are no cleaning facilities at the center. it's in an office building, and each practitioner takes home their own linens and brings their own linens. so, that's out.

while i know that washer/dryers are common in NZ, like here, i didn't want to assume that i would have access to them. of course, if i do, then that's even more fabulous.

right now, we're thinking about 15 waterproof trainers and 5 or 6 bright bots.

we decided that a waterproof trainer at night will be good. he's dry *most* nights, but some nights, we have a small miss (we aren't certain if it happens right before waking or right before goingg to sleep, or if/when he cries in the night and nurses). and we figure one for the day, and one for the miss--and at least for 5 days. so that's 15. and i would wash them (by hand or washer) each day. i do that anyway.