I've been doing EC with my daughter part-time since birth, and we've always used diapers as a back-up. Now she's 16 months old and I think we're ready to be out of diapers during the day (she sleeps independently and we've never done EC at night), but I'm not sure how to proceed.
DD is EXTRAORDINARILY verbal, and has no problem understanding and communicating about elimination. She does almost all her poops in the potty, with the exception of an occasional waking-up-in-her-crib poop. (I've tried to tell her to call me when she wakes up, but sometimes she'll still quietly go in her diaper before I realize she's awake.) If I'm vigilant, we can get all her pee-pees, too, especially at home. She's sometimes reluctant to go in strange bathrooms, mostly because she's too little to sit on the toilet by herself and she HATES being held--I just ordered a portable potty for use on the go.
The thing is, though she can sign and say "potty," "pee-pee" and "poo-poo," she generally doesn't tell me before she goes. We get poop using timing--she's like clockwork--and she will usually (but not always) tell me if she has to do an unscheduled poop. She'll happily pee in her diapers (we use pre-folds) and usually not tell me at all, though sometimes she will say "potty" right after she's gone. If I ask, she will almost always say "Yes" if she has to go and "No" if she doesn't. But I have to ask a lot!
Anyone have any "tricks" to encourage her to tell mommy when she has to go? I'd love to do some kind of "naked boot camp," where we spend a day or a weekend working on recognizing when she has to go, telling me, and getting to the potty--just not sure how to go about it, especially since I'd like to avoid bribes. I believe, but am not sure, that she'll get a kick out of learning to get ALL her daytime pees and poops in the potty. If not, I'm perfectly willing to wait a while longer. (Though I admit I'd love to be done with diapers for my own reasons!)
I think what's really confusing me is that I know she's NOT ready to be 100% independent--for example, she's not capable of taking off her own pants or of climbing up onto the big potty (which is her preferred location) by herself. Conventional potty training books say this means she's not ready, period. But I know she "gets" it perfectly well. Is it possible to do this halfway--i.e., "nudge" her in the direction of feeling motivated to stay dry, without needing her to be 100% independent?
And on a practical note, where can I get some "little girl" training pants/undies for practice? My daughter weighs about 25 pounds.
Thanks!
DD is EXTRAORDINARILY verbal, and has no problem understanding and communicating about elimination. She does almost all her poops in the potty, with the exception of an occasional waking-up-in-her-crib poop. (I've tried to tell her to call me when she wakes up, but sometimes she'll still quietly go in her diaper before I realize she's awake.) If I'm vigilant, we can get all her pee-pees, too, especially at home. She's sometimes reluctant to go in strange bathrooms, mostly because she's too little to sit on the toilet by herself and she HATES being held--I just ordered a portable potty for use on the go.
The thing is, though she can sign and say "potty," "pee-pee" and "poo-poo," she generally doesn't tell me before she goes. We get poop using timing--she's like clockwork--and she will usually (but not always) tell me if she has to do an unscheduled poop. She'll happily pee in her diapers (we use pre-folds) and usually not tell me at all, though sometimes she will say "potty" right after she's gone. If I ask, she will almost always say "Yes" if she has to go and "No" if she doesn't. But I have to ask a lot!
Anyone have any "tricks" to encourage her to tell mommy when she has to go? I'd love to do some kind of "naked boot camp," where we spend a day or a weekend working on recognizing when she has to go, telling me, and getting to the potty--just not sure how to go about it, especially since I'd like to avoid bribes. I believe, but am not sure, that she'll get a kick out of learning to get ALL her daytime pees and poops in the potty. If not, I'm perfectly willing to wait a while longer. (Though I admit I'd love to be done with diapers for my own reasons!)
I think what's really confusing me is that I know she's NOT ready to be 100% independent--for example, she's not capable of taking off her own pants or of climbing up onto the big potty (which is her preferred location) by herself. Conventional potty training books say this means she's not ready, period. But I know she "gets" it perfectly well. Is it possible to do this halfway--i.e., "nudge" her in the direction of feeling motivated to stay dry, without needing her to be 100% independent?
And on a practical note, where can I get some "little girl" training pants/undies for practice? My daughter weighs about 25 pounds.
Thanks!
For us, there has definitely been a stage of graduation where she would use the potty consistently, but only with my help. My dd is gradually moving to the stage of telling me ahead of time.
)
) so that if they got the urge they wouldn't have to walk more than a few steps to sit down - and if they started peeing, i didn't have more than a few steps to get them to the potty (which meant less clean up, which was nice). with part-time EC'd kids, IME, because they're more used to peeing in a diaper, any cloth that was against their skin reduced their awareness and was more likely to encourage a miss - even undies. nakey was definitely best for increasing their awareness. it also makes clean-up and laundry a lot easier (or, i should say, it did for me). it was totally the opposite for my FT EC'd baby DD2. she hated peeing in a diaper/trainer/panties and it actually encouraged her to signal better when she had them on. So to some extent it could be trial and error, take some time and see if she's more aware when nakey or with something on.
