Newbie with a couple questions on ec'ing

[BRmama]

I have a barely two year old and a four month old ds. My question is if you were in my position who would you ec first or would you do both? The reason I'm asking is because my two year old is still somewhat jealous of my four month old and whatever I do for my four month old my two year old wants it done to him also. So I was hoping that if I ec'ed my four month old my two year old would learn somewhat from example. Is this unrealistic? Had I known about ec earlier I would have done it with my first. We're very gentle and very AP and we cosleep. My kids are both in cloth diapers The problem is every day when we wake up my two year old pee's in his pants through his diapers and it goes all over the bed. I'm tired of washing the bed sheets everyday lol. More than that though I think it's interrupting his sleep because he wakes up from being wet, versus him using the potty and then going back  to sleep. 

My next question is this. For night time ec do you set your alarm up to remind you your lo needs to go or do you just know from their movements while they sleep? I guess those are my two questions for now, My dh and I just saw the potty whisperer and researched some sites about it so we're ready to start and we're both excited about ec'ing our kids. Thanks for any input 

[BRmama]

Anyone?? 

[stelly]

I'd do both, but I never did night time EC, and I still used diapers during the day.  My daughter used a potty from about 2 months old, a toilet from about 1 year onwards and was dry/in panties in the daytime from 22 months.  She only just stopped using diapers/pullups at night when she was 32 months maybe though...?  We tried a couple of times but she just didn't wake to pee so it didn't seem worth pushing it if her natural instinct wasn't there.

In your position I'd consider using a disposable diaper or pullup on your eldest, but I don't know if that is too far off your beliefs/philosophy.  It would drive me crazy having a wet bed each morning!

[BRmama]

Thanks Stelly, I don't have anything against pull ups. In fact I may have to resort to them because I think I'll be wasting a lot of energy on one wet diaper here or there at nighttime.Do they take a lot of moisture out of the skin when they go though? I found out that both my kids don't like being wet anymore (they both woke up from their nap cause one had to pee and the other one woke up wet), and I would like to work on that for nighttime.Or does it depend on the brand? I just barely started ecing both of my kids yesterday and I was ready to quit lol. I have to say it's been easier ecing my four month old than my two year old. I'm discovering a pattern with my four month old even though we're working on the communication part of it as well. My two year old squats every time whether it be for peeing or pooping but I don't know when he does it on the carpet for fun or not. I mean for instance today I was sitting on the floor playing with his brother and he sat on me and peed on me then got up and started playing. I know it's my second day so I still have some hope. Thanks again

[riboflavin]

Maybe you could casually EC both at the same time. Try not to feel too much pressure. When the older one sees the younger one it may very well inspire him to do it too. I also had the experience where EC'ing younger kids is much easier than defiant 2 year olds!

In regards to nights, there are cloth diapers that can hold well and not mess the bed. You'll probably have some good luck asking on the diaper forums what people have used and works well for nights. I used to be able to get away with a cloth training pant for nights, then cloth training pant with stuffing, and now I have to use a regular cloth diaper since my son is 4 and he releases much larger amounts! He has been a day grad since 2.5 yo, but not nights yet. Anyway, a couple of the popular brands work well for us and keep the bed dry. You could also use a waterproof pad under him if he doesn't move around a ton. 

There are more natural disposable pull ups if you are concerned about that and decide against cloth. Seventh generation has pull ups, but I never tried them. Looks like they have good reviews on Amazon. I did use their diapers sometimes for my first son though, and they held well. 

In regards to nighttime EC, we used to just go by his movements. I could tell when he fidgeted a lot that he had to go. But I personally would not set an alarm. I loved that my son night time EC'd for a while. It was really neat and let him fall back asleep quickly. Eventually it wore on me because he needed to pee every 1.5 to 2 hours or more. I was happy when he finally stopped liking night time EC and could sleep through it all. Good luck with everything!

Edited by riboflavin - 3/22/11 at 7:20pm

[BRmama]

Thanks Riboflavin, we have the pocket diapers and we started doubling up on inserts and it's helped some. Yeah I think I'm going to start to casually EC them. Right now we're working more on the communication aspect of it and trying to know each other's patterns and so forth. I think I'll start nighttime ecing them when we're more in tune with each other during the day. Thanks again

[milly5]

I'm only a relative newby at EC myself, so I don't have too much to add, only that I went back to using disposables at night time, as my DD also flooded the bed, even with 2 inserts in, and I also didn't want to get her used to the sensation of being in a wet nappy (unlike during the day, when she is alert to know the difference).  

[heatherr30]

I got wool shorts for my DS (2 months old) cause he could wet any diaper through, cloth or disposable, in 4 hours... (I think it might have also been a fit problem because we nurse at night time in side lying position, but I'm very, very happy with the wool shorts. They hold any leaks because wool is absorbant and waterproof.)

I PT DD when she was 2 using advice from www.thepottytrainer.com.  It was very similar in many ways to what I know about EC and worked great.  She was out of diapers at home within a week, out and about I finally got brave enough after 1 month.  Go for it, there is supposed to be a very good window of opportunity before 27 months or so.

[heatherr30]

oh yeah also wanted to add that from day one of PT daytime, my DD slept dry at night too.  If your 2 yr old is waiting till he wakes up in the morning to wet the bed, daytime training (or EC whichever term you prefer) would hopefully solve this!

[BRmama]

Milly5 we just barely started EC'ing our two year old at night time. It's been a little bit easier than daytime but still difficult though we just started. However reading Heather's post I am definitely going to try the wool shorts since I'm desperate lol. Thanks for posting

Heather thanks for the link and for the wool shorts idea. So far I am catching my son's pees from when he first wakes up after his nap and first thing in the morning. The rest a lot of it is miss but we're still so new at it that it really can't get any worse but hopefully it'll start to get better. Thanks again

[McMandy]

I'm a newbie as well, but I have found my 3 yo is much more interested in using the potty since we started ECing his 7 month old sister. (Even having two older siblings didn't seem to help!)  He sees his sister being praised, and he wants that praise as well.  He also encourages her to go, and finds it exciting. We've made up songs to sing on the potty, and have special toys/books to play with while on the potty. He is more gung-ho about using the potty now than he was before we began ECing our wee one.

[BRmama]

Yeah same here. I started casually EC'ing my five month old and suddenly the two year old wants the attention too lol. We've been EC'ing both of them but

paying more attention to our two year old. He is now peeing in his potty by himself. I'm going to continue ecing him because poops are a different story and I need to somehow teach him not to be scared to poop in the potty. Anyway thanks for the reply, I'm glad to know I'm not alone in this situation. Maybe when my five month old who is ebf starts solids my two year old will want to eat too...(picky eater :))