Who here is ECing? How's that going?

[kismetbaby]

I have meet two moms recently with Sept babes who are ECing with good success. So I have decided to start trying after the holidays. I wanted to start sooner, but had so many BFing issues early on that I couldn't think about anything else and now we just moved and are going to travel for xmas. But it will be my New Year's resolution to start ECing!

Any tips for getting started?

Along with ECing, I am thinking of switching over to CDing (at least during the day). My LO is 15 lbs already and quite round, especially around the middle. . .any suggestions for CD types, brands, sizes etc for a chubby 3 month old? What set-up of CD, clothing (baby legs work best for all the undressing?), and ECing works for you?

[MichelleAnnette]

http://gabethebabe-stille.blogspot.c...11/output.html
i now also have a gro baby cover and some gro baby disposables for traveling. the gro baby disposable inserts fit in any diaper cover. susanna is not yet 3 mos and 17 lb.

[kismetbaby]

Originally Posted by MichelleAnnette

http://gabethebabe-stille.blogspot.c...11/output.html
i now also have a gro baby cover and some gro baby disposables for traveling. the gro baby disposable inserts fit in any diaper cover. susanna is not yet 3 mos and 17 lb.

Thanks Michelle. . .really helpful. I thought my 10 weeker was big! Go mama.
BTW your two LOs are adorable! Love all the hair on Susanna.

[octobermoon]

HA! i was going to try it, got the book and all....not happening, i feel overwhelmed at times as it is. hopefully this gets better and i can atleast do the poops.

[MichelleAnnette]

octobermoon, it shouldn't be overwhelming. Potty training is overwhelming from what I hear - but I don't really know because we did EC with my first and never had to potty train him. Just put your baby on a potty when he wakes up from naps and say "psss" or whatever. It really is super easy as soon as the baby is old enough to sit supported on a potty. Another easy time is after nursing if baby is not sleeping or fussy.

[onelittleone]

I did this with dd intuitively. I had no idea there was such a thing as EC. With her I started around 5 months I guess. She had such a hard time going to the bathroom that she would only poop while sitting in her bouncy seat. So I would sit on the actual toilet and read and she would sit in her bouncy seat and poop - maybe she put the 2 together - I don't know. Eventually I would sit on the toilet holding her in front of me and she would go to the bathroom. I also had a mirror in front of the toilet leaning against the wall (we just never got around to hanging it So I could see her facial expressions ... it was actually quite helpful. She was totally trained by 10 months ... it was time consuming though. Now I have a boy and thought I would start asap ... tried to sit him in front of the toilet ... but he's got different parts - so that's not going to work! I am definitley waiting until he can at least sit up.

Good luck mama!

[Julia24]

I'm not as hardcore as Michelle - but that's okay, there's no real RULES with ECing, that's the beauty. Just do what works for you!

For example - with my babies I started by worrying about the poops. Would just tell them when they're going (in diapers) "Oh, are you pooping? Charlotte poops? Charlotte poops! Poop goes in the potty." That the extent of it for the tiny baby months. As soon as they can sit, they come with me when I go to the bathroom (you know how they hate to be left alone at that age!), when they can walk, I bring out the baby potty and put it right across from the regular potty.....and they'll usually start sitting on it whenever I go. Sometime around 15 months they usually start asking to have their diaper off and sometime around 18 months they produce. Then, I take the reigns and ramp it up. Start using the key words whenever they 'make', then lose the diapers all together and just use the key words to get them to make frequently. Both my kids and all my daycare kids have been in undies by the time they turn two. Which is still a pretty young age comparatively speaking. And there's really no 'training' involved. It's never been painful for me, just part of 'parenting', yk?

[Lula's Mom]

I have a boy. It works really well to sit backwards on the toilet with his back against my stomach. I just hold him under the knees, and that way his butt and entire, uh, package drops down and is the lowest point on his body. It's actually below toilet seat level. So when he pees, the stream goes inside and not everywhere else. Does that make sense the way I am describing it?

[bright_eyes]

I started trying to EC but have not been doing it lately. I found that I had a lot of successes when ds woke up dry from a nap because he would pee while he nursed, so I just had to hold him over a bowl while I nurse. I've read that babies can't pee and nurse at the same time but mine most definitely can! But I got tired of always holding him over a bowl while he nursed- it was very awkward to do so and only got harder as he got bigger. I tried leaving him in prefolds without the cover but unless I had my hand right on the diaper, I still couldn't tell when he peed, I would just notice that the prefold was wet after the fact. Leaving him naked is challenging because the pee just ends up all over the place and whenever I have left him naked, I still can't notice any signs before he pees. I also have been less enthusiastic about ECing because so many times I would take off the diaper, hold him over the bowl/sink and wait and wait and nothing would happen, then 5 minutes after the diaper is back on, he pees! I wanted so badly to do EC and was so excited about it but the reality of trying to do has made me not so eager about it. I feel bad every time I read about it because I feel like I should start doing it again but I have just found it so much easier to just change him after he pees. I did EC starting with ds1 when he was 12 months and had a great experience doing it and he was out of diapers shortly after his 2nd birthday so I know that I can always do the same thing with ds2.

[onelittleone]

Lula'sMom ... it never even crossed my mind to sit backward ... thanks!!!! Off to potty land to try this.

Julia24 ... I totally do this too ... saying good pooping etc WHEN they are pooping. We even have a little poopasaurus song to go along with it!

[tzs]

wow...thanks julia24!
for some reason after working preschool and seeing 3 year olds still in diapers, potty training earlier is going to be a priority. but then again, i get lazy. i was thinking about doing EC, but nope. and i was for sure going to do cloth (mainly to make training more desirable) but after being in disposibles for this long there's no way i'm even going there anymore.

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Paranoia/overprotectiveness about kids and babies

oops... I meant to post a new topic. Sorry!

[Auroara Bobcat]

I had read up on EC before Geena was born and I had planned on doing this to some extent. However, yesterday was the FIRST time I tried it at all. I noticed her sounds and knew that she was trying to poop, so I thought okay I am just sitting here with her and I have plenty of time to give EC a shot. So I took her to the toilet and BAM she pooped in the toilet!!! I can not even explain how exciting this was. I am for sure going to be doing this from now on, at least with the poops.

[Lula's Mom]

That's how I started doing EC last time with my son! Since I could tell he was going to poop, it made no sense to sit there and watch him do it in a diaper, and then have to do extensive cleanup on both him and the diaper. Using the potty is sooo much better!

And the bigger-picture benefit was that, for as long as he could remember, he'd been using the potty. So his transition out of diapers was not this big difficult thing that I experienced with my daughter; he had never been trained to poop in a diaper, so he never had to unlearn that. He was never afraid of the toilet, either.

Really, EC does not have to be hard on you. In fact, I found it to be easier than not doing it, but I am really relaxed about misses. Any catch I make, I consider it a bonus and less diaper laundry for me! I just put him on the potty for poops and after he wakes up (including at night- we have a tiny potty that I put in my lap, and he pees sometime during our nursing session.) Other than that, it's just like regular cloth diapering. If we're out somewhere, I might offer him the toilet in the restroom when I go, but if he doesn't pee within a few seconds, I know he's not going to, so we move along. It's really just super easy.

[sugarpop]

You guys inspired me. I thought it was a neat idea already, but sounded messy and like toooooo much work. After reading the posts here I relized it only has to be as complicated as I make it and as messy as I allow it to be! So today when she woke up from her first nap, I took her diaper off in the bathroom, filled the sink, played with the toes in the water and thought ok here goes nothing. Let the water out and held her in a squat position over the sink. She pooped! It was a bit of a mess so maybe the toilet...or tub next time. It kind of shoots out with a bit of force and spray so I am not sure if I could aim in the toilet. Then she just woke up from her second nap and I fed her first b/c she was grumpy then thought ah well I am going to change her anyhow lets give it a try. She peed and I cheered for her and she smiled! Now her bottom is airing out...maybe we can get the rash under control this way. Way easier than expected and not to involved!

[RavenStar]

I EC'd DD1 as an infant. Then life got hectic and we stopped. Potty-learning was much harder and there was a lot of resistance.
This time with DD2 I decided to start right away and try to keep it up. So far so good!
I put her on the potty when she wakes up in the morning or from naps. I also put her on at diaper changes.
I hold her under her thighs in a seated position and she usually poops on the potty. Sometimes she pees. Sometimes I cue her with potty noises (psss or grunting noises), but usually she just goes.
Lately she has been pooping like clockwork, first thing in the morning. When I hear her rolling around and grunting, I put her on the potty. This way she doesn't have to sit in her poop and I also don't have to wipe it all up or risk a major blow-out.

[tzs]

i think i am getting inspired!!!

i know how her poops work but what about the pees? it seems like people are saying after they wake up....so they don't pee while sleeping????

[tzs]

it worked!!!!
i have a new hobby!

[sugarpop]

Originally Posted by tzs

i think i am getting inspired!!!

i know how her poops work but what about the pees? it seems like people are saying after they wake up....so they don't pee while sleeping????

My daughter pees when she is sleeping too. I figure anything that we catch is a little less that is on her skin. As far as knowing when she is going to pee, I take her after her nap and after play time, the inbetween time she is without a diaper, then I put on the diaper feed her and put her down.

I have noticed sometimes when she is fussy that if I take off her diaper, which is still dry, take her to the bathroom she goes. Everytime we go in the bathroom she goes so I think she gets it. For now I am using the sink, I think it is kind of gross but I don't know what else to do. THis way she is looking in the mirror at me, smiling and talking.

It is the cutest, and I can't believe I am sharing this, but when she goes, pee or poop, she smiles and laugh right after, like she is so proud of herself! I wish I knew what was going through her mind!

Day 3 of EC, doing it when it is convenient and when we are home, the no stress method! And DH is on board!

[MichelleAnnette]

Originally Posted by tzs

so they don't pee while sleeping????

my babies don't often pee while sleeping. the 2.5 year old does at night (he has otherwise been potty trained for over a year), probably b/c i have never EC'd him at night unless he had to poop. i guess i trained him to pee in the bed, but i don't like to get up at night.