12 month old major EC regression- seeking advice

[Snapdragon]

I am wondering how you other EC'ers think I should proceed with my 12 month old son regarding potty learning.  He was WAY better at it from 6-9 months or so than he is now at 12 months. The current situation:

poop- he usually refuses to poop in the toilet.  I very often know when he has to go, and will bring him to the toilet and hold him over it.  Sometimes I can distract him with toys long enough for him to be held over it for a while, and occasionally, maybe 2 times a week or so, he will poop in the toilet.  We also have a little baby wooden potty but he will never sit on it. His favorite current preferred method of pooping is standing up! Ideally with no diaper on but that only happened once. Sometimes when he has to poop he will try to take his diaper off, so I take it off and hold him over the potty but he wont go. Then I put his diaper back on and he will go- usually standing up holding onto something. So I want to try to figure out how to allow him to poop when he needs to while standing up, I guess! But I don't know about standing below him with a bowl under him, both for me and also because he tends to poop when he is relaxed and given some space.  We use cloth fitted diapers, btw.

pee- he also generally refuses to pee in the toilet! He used to most of the time from about 5 months until 9 or 1o months. Now he doesn't. He pees in his diaper, or when I take off his diaper I put him n a folded towel and he usually pees- which is adding to my already high laundry load!

I thought when I was starting EC that we would be diaper free by now, but we are so far from it. I don't know why he hates the toilet. We have a clean toilet in a nice bathroom, and the water level is low and doesn't touch his skin. IT is not cold, I make sure to hold him comofortably.

Also, he is starting to pull at his diapers and try to take them off a lot. I guess they are uncomfortable. I never leave a wet diaper on as soon as I know it is wet. HE also hates diaper changes and rolls over onto his belly and tries to crawl away! I tell him- and I know he is too young to get this concept but I am introducing it anyway because he is really smart and does understand a lot- that when he learns to pee and poop in the toilet we can stop using diapers! But anyway, I know that particualr concept is more advanced than he needs to know at 12 months.

But he did have it down when he was younger that I hold him over the toilet and cue and he goes. he was so good at it for a while! And now he mostly doesn't do it.

So how do I proceed? is this a common thing to encounter with EC?  I never expected it!

[cc_mama]

It's somewhat normal about 12 months to have a potty pause.  Just take some deep breathes and keep the offering of the potty a positive experience.  It's getting warmer can you have nakey time either outdoors or in?  Getting outside always helps us get over a pause - love offering a potty next to a tree or a flower for them to explore.  As for the diaper changes - we use diapers/trainers that we can pull up and down so I don't have wrestle him down except at night.

I too thought when I started with DD we'd be diaper free by 12 months - it was 15 months but boy there was a time it didn't seem like it would happen.  DS is now 13 months and he is signally as he goes - sometimes we get to the potty sometimes not.

HTH

[Snapdragon]

thanks! We still try to hold him over the big toilet. We have a little wooden potty but he doesn't even get that it is a toilet- he will not sit on it. We have a baby bjorn tiny one but it is at another house- not where we are now. I used to not like it which is why we got the wooden one but I wonder if we should get that one as maybe it will offer a better squat like position?I don't let him diaper free as much as I could because we have a nice rug in our main living area and I am reluctant to have him pee on it. I give him diaper free time usually daily but I try to keep a towel under him until I actually see him pee, and then I let him go free. so I don't know- I guess when it is warm out- yeah- he cna go naked in the yard- so I guess that will be good! at this point he is back to never going on the toilet- he just freaks out when I try to offer it to him- every time now! So I am mostly stepping back from it, I offer once in a while. he is very far from toilet trained at this point!  but at least he is aware of when he pees and poops. when he poops I say poop, and change him, so he knows the concept.

[sugahbee]

Oh boy, I hear you, Mama!  We're encountering the same thing, he's almost a year old.  We've been doing part-time EC since about 4 months.  And up until around 10 months, I could probably count on one hand how many poopy diapers I changed.  The downside of that is that I'm really bad at them...poop EVERYWHERE!  But lately he won't do anything on his potty. Once he became super mobile, he just won't sit still on his baby bjorn potty, he wants to stand up or get off it and pull the bowl out and play with it.  So I have been letting him, trying not to force him to sit on the potty, I'll do some diaper-free time instead, and he'll pee or poo within minutes of it!  What gives??  My dh says he just keeps sitting him down when he stands up, over and over, and eventually he pees.  I'm wondering if I should get him a toilet-top potty seat, to kind of keep him from being able to get up and off the potty himself?  I have really only ever used the "timing" method with him, though, after naps, meals, etc, so I feel like I'm kind of guessing when he needs to go and don't want to force him to sit on the potty if he really doesn't need to go.  Sorry I don't have anything helpful to offer you, just commiseration.  I like the idea of diaper free outside time!  We may try that soon.  Keep me posted on any changes!

[Snapdragon]

sugahbee- knowing that someone else is going through the same thing is very helpful! Let's keep eachother updated on how it goes. I totally hear you on the he poops and pees when I let him go naked thing. so clearly he wants his diaper off and to poop and pee- he just doesn't get that it is gross if poop and pee go all over the floor and rug! I heard once something vaguely about ECing in china in which they are more lax about the babies doing it on the floor- but I do not want my home covered in baby pee and poop! I guess it is hard for a 12 month old to understand why he should pee and poop in a receptacle.