I Want To EC..

[chely7425]

But have no idea how! I don't think full time EC is in the cards for us... in a few months we will have a 2.5 year old, a 16 month old and a newborn and a deployed DH, but I would love to cut down on the laundry somewhat! I don't think there is much to be done with my oldest (26 months) he staunchly refuses the potty but IS starting to tell me when he is wet so yay! What about my 13 month old? Anything to do there? What about the new baby? Any books or websites?

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

I just finished Ingrid Bauer's book: Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene. I found it pretty interesting to read and gave me the confidence to try it out. I can't help with specifics - I haven't done it with any of the ages you're going to try with - I just plopped DS on the potty a few times when he woke up and took it from there. You may be able to do that with your toddler?

I also want to read Christine Gross-Loh's book.

The links in the stickies in this forum were helpful to me for figuring out how to start.

[lisavark]

I LOVE Gross-Loh's book, The Diaper-Free Baby. She has tips on part-time EC and on starting at any age.

If it were me, I would go ahead and start introducing the 13 month old to the idea before the baby comes. It'll probably be easier now when it's not connected with the upheaval of a new arrival. Get a small enough potty if you don't have one and encourage him to sit on it first thing after waking. Bring both kids with you when YOU go potty and let them help flush, etc. One year olds love imitation, and two year olds love routine, so maybe the little one can "help" you potty (mine loved to cue me at that age), and the two year old can be in charge of flushing your pee.

Then when the baby comes, ask both big brothers to help you watch the baby and tell you when the baby needs to pee. (Yes, they'll probably be telling you the baby needs to pee all the time, but at least they'll be entertained. And a lot of the time they'll be right. Newborns do pee all the time. ) Get everyone their own potty and have potty parties! Let the older ones help with changing diapers and with cueing the baby to pee, and when you feel like it give the baby a little diaper-free time (on top of a prefold or a towel) and have the older ones watch the baby and cue when she pees.

Haha, I've never done it myself, but there are a few ideas! Good luck! I am really looking forward to putting my DD in charge of EC'ing our next baby...someday...

And check out www.diaperfreebaby.org! You might have a local group of EC'ers in your area...

[chely7425]

Thanks guys! We do have a little potty and a Cars potty seat (the one that goes on the big potty?) so I will start trying to stick my 13 month old on the little one... my 2 year old is funny about it all. He will sit on the potty but not do anything and he always go in the bathroom with DH and will tell you Daddy go potty!! But he has no desire to do it himself apparently...