please share your experiences with ECing a winter baby?

[heatherr30]

Hello everyone I am expecting my 2nd child any day now and planning to try a bit of EC with him.  Just wondering how it works with all those winter clothes.  I was thinking of just pottying him once an hour or whenever I check his diaper--even if he is pant-less with leg warmers or something there are still all those blankets, swaddlecloths, etc that newborns usually have on so I can't imagine trying to catch every pee and poo.  Not to mention his older sis will want attention too.  I would love to hear about your experiences with winter babies and how it went for you.  Thanks!

[ELMmomma]

HI,

 I am currently ECing a 9wk old in chilly Denver. So far we have done a combination of things. I mainly bundle up her upper body with a kimono (crotchless) undershirt, a top, and then a sweater. We also always have a hat on her. Her bum is covered by a simple birdseye fabric cloth diaper and then most days we just have socks on her. The ECing has been going really well and we catch almost all (maybe one miss a week) her poos and most pees.

 For outings I use a knit wool diaper cover and just put her in pants that are easy to take off and on. We have gotten to a point with the EC where she does not like being in wet diapers and she will wait to poo for me to take her diaper off. In fact it seems that the chances of her wetting in the diaper are less when she has the diaper cover on for some reason. 

 When we are out in the cold (especially due to the bulk of snowsuits) I just rely on the diapers then change her as quickly as possible. Though I am often finding now that she has stayed dry while we are out and I potty her as soon as we get home. Good luck, I hope it is as wonderful an experience for you with EC as it has been for us.

[ELMmomma]

I forgot to mention that I also have two older ones that are totally cool with me stopping to pee the baby. They really get a kick out of seeing her on her potty. You can also have various potties around the house so you can  be with your other children and not have to run to the bathroom.

One really important thing to consider with the winter baby is that they are really sensitive to cold. Often the plastic of most of the potties gets really cold and can startle or almost hurt the baby if touching their skin while peeing. I only say this after ECing at night (in a cool room) and watching my DD's little face startle after coming from a warm bed and having her bum touch the chilly potty!  That was all I needed to see to always remember to warm the potty up a bit before I put her little bum near it!

[DawnStarling]

I like the little pants with the feet in them, they are easy to take off and keep their feet warm without socks - which get wet when peeing (it's hard to know where boys' pee is going to go.)

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

On days when I'm on the ball with EC, we use legwarmers (which reach from ankle to bum) and a warm sweater on top, and then some kind of diaper. I never used blankets or swaddle-y things - he was typically in a carrier if he was awake.

I'll admit though it's a lot more difficult in winter. I've backed off quite a bit since it's been cold here this winter and am using fitteds and fleece pants, and just taking him to the toilet if he has a dry diaper. Roll on Spring!

[clovergirl]

I've EC'd two young infants through the winter and found that the less you have to take off the better.  So at home, it was usually a fitted diaper or trainers, baby legwarmers/socks/booties, and then a long sleeved shirt and sometimes a sweater on top.  When we went out we usually kept the fitted diaper and used wool pants on top, since they double as a waterproof layer in case of a miss (fleece pants would work well too, but I prefer wool since it doesn't need to be washed as often).  We also usually kept the legwarmers on underneath the wool pants, so that if we took the pants off to potty their legs wouldn't be bare (this worked especially well for quick pees in the car potty or out the car door!).  They are also nice because they cover the bottoms of their legs when the pants ride up in the carseat or being worn in a carrier.

[riboflavin]

We used split crotch pants with a trainer *on top*. That way baby stays warm even when the trainer or diaper is disengaged or off. We loved fleece and wool split crotch pants, because even if a drip or two would get on them, they would magically stay dry! This was the warmest method for those really cold days or out and about.

Around the house we used babyleg warmers with a trainer. He often wore a pajama gown over these for quick, easy access.

Potty warmers are great for the cold days too.