Boy vs. Girl and other observations to share from ECing and having an EC graduate sibling

[mum2sarah]

Just a little note to share some interesting things I've noted while embarking on EC with my DS, and having my 7 year old EC graduate around the house:

1. Boy vs. Girl: yes it is usually messier to EC a boy; however, on the flip side, I discovered an advantage to ECing a boy:  on the bblp, you can almost always see the stream of pee, even if you can't hear it hit the inside of the bowl.  Thus you know your LO has gone, instead of, with a girl, having to lift her up to see if she's peed or not.

2. It's interesting to see the interaction of the EC graduate and the ECing baby.  DD loves to help DS potty and takes a renewed pride in how she had been ECed as a babe.

3. It's funny what things from EC stick long-term and what things don't.  For example, many times when I've been peeing DS on the bblp and DD is in the room when I make the "psss" sound, DD will say, "stop, you're going to make me have to pee, too" LOL!  I usually remind her that that means she probably does have to pee and should go upstairs and use the bathroom ;).  Similarly, I can still tell DD is pooping instead of just peeing by the face she makes on the toilet (she often leaves the door open when she goes to the bathroom), which is the same face she always made as a baby... On the other hand, when DD was a babe, she could pee in the bushes, the toilet, the bblp, the parking lot, the shower, etc... basically wherever... But now, she will only go on the regular toilet.  I've learned this by virtue of the fact that we only have one bathroom in our house, and it's happened several times that I'll be sitting on the toilet backwards holding DS to go poop and DD comes bursting in needing to pee.  I hate to ask a 7 year old to hold it (especially one that has been ECed and is in touch with her need to go), so I've attempted to have her squat in the shower and pee, but she refuses. Thus I usually pause with DS and take him to the shower (which is right next to the toilet), and then DD goes on the toilet just fine (so I know it's not an issue of modesty and wanting me out of the room).  Serendipitously this situation has taught me the advantages of shower ECing a boy--the messiness factor decreases because there's such a large target to hit (ie. the whole tub is fair game and will end up in the drain), and conveniently our diaper sprayer easily reaches to spray messes down the drain.

Anyway, just thought some of you might be interested or amused by these observations. Cheers!

[flyrabbitfly]

Lol- I second the tub for a boy! Esp. at night- nice to have a big target in the dark!

[Daffodil]

Another advantage I discovered with boys is that it actually works to use a coverless diaper on them.  When DD was a baby, I would read about people having their babies go coverless and I could never figure out how they made that work.  When DD peed, if her diaper didn't have a cover everything got just about as wet as if she had no diaper at all.  But a boy just ends up with a wet spot in front where the diaper probably isn't touching anything.  DS used to spend a lot of time in a coverless fitted.

[riboflavin]

Thanks! That was really interesting. I always wondered what it was like to EC a girl, since I have only EC'd boys. My 5 year old still says if I make the "ssssss" sound it makes him feel like he has to pee! His older brother used to do that to him in the stores or other inconvenient times to be a jokester!

[seraf]

Thanks for posting this, I love seeing other people's experiences of boys vs girls.  I'm on my second boy and I'm seeing how different babies of the same sex can be.  

My girl was messier than my first boy because if I was holding her over the sink the pee would roll back and get me.  And my baby aims higher than his brother did so it took me a while to learn to lift the seat.

Neither of my big kids have to pee when I cue the baby, but I used to sit her on the pot when he went and they always have to poop at the same time still.   

Very fun to read about your experiences!

[eirual]

Originally Posted by mum2sarah 

... when I make the "psss" sound, DD will say, "stop, you're going to make me have to pee, too" LOL! ...

LOL, that's hilarious. DS doesn't seem to remember the cuing.

Originally Posted by Daffodil 

Another advantage I discovered with boys is that it actually works to use a coverless diaper on them.  When DD was a baby, I would read about people having their babies go coverless and I could never figure out how they made that work.  When DD peed, if her diaper didn't have a cover everything got just about as wet as if she had no diaper at all.  But a boy just ends up with a wet spot in front where the diaper probably isn't touching anything.  DS used to spend a lot of time in a coverless fitted.

I'm due in June and thinking it will be a girl, so this is interesting since I was banking on going coverless with a Snappi. I may have to rethink the logistics of that one....so what DOES one do with an EC'ing girl?...aside from banking on having no misses .

I'm a little nervous about EC'ing a girl....I guess it depends on how consistant her stream is, but it's the whole "aiming" thing I'm nervous about....with DS it was super easy.
 

[mum2sarah]

not to be contradictory but we did coverless just fine with DD2.  now we never used a prefold belt (had never heard of such things back then) so we never had a real loose fit.  I mainly used growing greens one size diapers and prefolds with snappis but I did use the former more than the latter, but I only used a cover when there were guests that might want to hold her and would be grossed out if she missed and had a damp diaper.  Then by 4 mo I was using shrunken gerber training pants and by 7 mo she was wearing 2T undies (thankfully she was a plump baby so we could get away with toddler apparel).

[seraf]

Prefold belts must have hit the scene in '04 or '05. I used them with my DD in August of '05. I love them for her and I love them for my new guy. I wish I had made him some sooner. 

DD was often laid on a fleece blanket but I really had far fewer misses with her. I think because she was my second. The third is easier still. He will be diaper free as soon as he quits leaking poo and straightens his legs. For now tucking stuff into a belt is easier than pulling up and down. 

Aiming a girl, I found a potty or toilet easier than the sink so I could stay dry. The little hat shaped potty bowl is awesome with a girl, too. It might b easy with a boy, I don't know, I only had one with my girl. 

[mum2sarah]

Aiming a girl, I found a potty or toilet easier than the sink so I could stay dry. The little hat shaped potty bowl is awesome with a girl, too. It might b easy with a boy, I don't know, I only had one with my girl. 

I must admit, the little hat potty is not so easy with a boy after they are a newborn.  I have one in my car, but I have to tilt it a lot to get it so that I can aim his pee into it, and even then, it doesn't always work.  Plus it's really hard to catch pee and poo at the same time due to having to angle it.  I actually never had a top hat potty with DD, but it would seem like it would be much easier...

[Daffodil]

I never had any problem at all aiming my girl when we used the sink.  In general, I think aiming was more of a problem with my boy, though it wasn't usually a big problem.  I found that the choice of a potty made more difference with a boy.  The BBLP that worked fine for DD didn't work too well for DS - not enough room up front.  I eventually found a potty that worked better for him, but I don't know if they make that kind anymore.

[mum2sarah]

hmm discovering another con to ECing a boy compared to a girl.  When "aiming" DS I usually try to aim his whole body; that way I can keep both hands on his thighs and I don't have to worry if he's in a "happy" state that I might be pushing him too hard in aiming him down ;)  However this strategy is  not so great with training pants and a regular toilet.  With DD I could pull the training pants down but leave them around her ankles, hold her by the thighs so her buttocks dropped down a bit and her pee stream would predictable go into the toilet and not hit anything else, but when attempting this with DS I am finding the pee stream often arches up before heading into the toilet and the top of this arch often hits the training pants.  On BEco or BBLP this is not a problem because I just put the splashguard between his crotch and the training pants.  But it's way less convenient when we're out and about to have to take the training pants completely off to pee him in a regular toilet, especially because this time of year in Pennsylvania, that means also taking off pants and often shoes too.  Anyone encountered this and have any tips?

[seraf]

DS2 just started doing this this week!  I heard he hit the wall, toilet seat, his own face and leg all in one whiz the other day.  DS1 never did it.  No real tips yet.  DS is wearing split pants, a diaper belt and a small flat right now because I don't even want to have to touch his skin with my cold, cold hands.

[mum2sarah]

Maybe it's just the pair of split crotch pants we got but I'm not thrilled with them (never used split crotch pants with DD but thought I'd experiment with a pair for DS). They are made of thick wool and it sort of squeezes his bum cheeks together and he doesn't feel like he can poop or something.  Plus the split part ends too soon in the back such that the top of his butt crack is covered by the material so every little poo streak ends up on the back of the pants and it's impossible to wipe him with them on...  And so if I'm going to have to take them off for poos anyway, then, for the price I figured it was better to stick with what I know worked for me in the past--training pants and normal pants over top when it's cold out...

[seraf]

Hahaha, I'm sorry you had that experience.  I made most of ours, but my favorites aren't actually pants, they're outfits, hence the need for a belt under them.

This is a very old picture of my DD in a pair.  The purple is the cut edge (they were sleeves from a fleece jacket, I think), the blue dotted line is the edge of the inner sleeve and the green is sewn. In this particular pair the shoulders are too wide and I cut the arm holes more like a shirt now.  I made this first pair for a camping trip where I didn't want to undress her at night for pees.  It's also sewn like this so I didn't need any fasteners, I could just unsplit the top and drop her in.  I now make another seam on each leg so there is more overlap to cover the diaper and I sew down the edges in the front so a kicking baby is less likely to show off bits if I don't bother to put a diaper under.