EC/PT with one year old

[skycheattraffic]

Good morning everyone.
I'm here for tips and support on working with my 12.5 month old DD to ditch those awful diaper changes. With the exception of my mom (who had us sitting on a potty once we were able around six months), everyone i know thinks I'm nuts. I read about EC while pregnant but was on the fence about it and decided to diaper. Fast forward to ten months pp and my squirmy, crawling, won't-stand-still for a quick diaper (I have long abandoned trying to get her to lay down lol) daughter had me stumped. I started taking her in the bathroom when I had to go since she was getting clingy and after a couple of weeks I got a potty under her. These days she will happily sit on the potty and usually go or at least try. There are better days and ones that aren't so good but overall it's easier than not using the potty. Most poop is on the potty (yay), and here and there I believe she's signaled to go. I switched to cloth diapers when out, cloth diapers/training pants/naked at home and disposables at night and nap time. I have a smaller potty that comes out with us and I do my best to take her every 45 mins (or 30 if she didn't go or used her diaper last time).

That's the gist of where we are at. I'd appreciate any tips from BTDT parents and it's so good to see I'm not alone in trying to retire diapers by birthday no two :-)

[Ma Cactus]

Congrats for going for it!  Really, the hardest parts are the having everyone think you're nuts (my DH changed his tune when DS pottied for him), and not losing your patience when you've been at it for months and the sight of pee on the floor AGAIN begins to be a drag.  I was lucky to have a twin sister starting 6 mos after me so at least we had a united front and were able to support each other.  This forum is great for that also. 

My advice is to make sure you stay relaxed about it, and to always honor your child's autonomy - if she says no, let it go that time.  It sounds like you're doing that anyway, but it can't be said often enough, especially as they get older and independence becomes more and more important for them.  

I read recently on another forum that having the child go with you is a great idea - especially if they are having a hard time relaxing.  If you don't have to go, it is supposed to also help just to relax those muscles sort of as an example to your LO.  My DS is grad now but I wish I heard that when we were still working on it!

Oh, and the enzyme sprays they sell at pet stores for animal pee work just as good for baby pee on the carpet, or the mattress, or the car, or the couch, etc etc.

The last thing that worked great for us was a couple of wool blankets bought at the salvation army for a couple of bucks.  They make a great moisture barrier for the mattress without causing the sweatiness that plastic sheets do.  They don't need to be washed until they start smelling, which can be months depending on how often there are misses.  Since they are SA blankets, you can just throw them in the washing machine when the time comes and not worry about a bit of shrinkage. 

Best of luck!

[nstewart]

Sounds like you are both doing really well. 

I would maybe suggest that you start trying to teach her the sign for "potty" so that she can learn to tell you when she has to go instead of you just taking her.  When you take her to the potty and she does go, do the sign for "potty" and say "DD is going pee/poop" or whatever and start letting her know that she can tell YOU when she needs to go and you'll take her.  "DD, let mommy know when you need to go potty and I will take you."  Be consistent in taking her immedietly if she does start signing or otherwise communicating her need to go, even if she doesn't always actually go.  Also, remember that EC isn't really about being "diaper free" by a particular age, it's about the fact that you are helping your DD meet her needs.  Fewer dirty dipaers to change is the bonus!

Those are just my few thoughts on it.  "Diaper Free Baby" by Christine Gross-Loh is also a really good book if you're looking for resources.  I found a copy at my local library.

Good luck!

[skycheattraffic]

Thank you both for responding. I try to sign for her but usually my hands are busy (holding toys, playing, etc) so it's not as consistent as it should be. I'll make it a higher priority. I do always narrate the potty/diaper experience and I'll keep that up. I have her in cloth dipes in the morning then after her nap it's panty/training pant time. Once she has peed through all the clean ones, it's back in cloth dipes for the rest of the day. She sleeps in disposables and manages to soak through size 4 overnights ( even though they are a size larger than needed) so I won't try to change to cloth overnight. She had a couple of days of resisting the potty so I stopped the 45 minute schedule. I'm reading diaper free before three and started offering every 2 to 3 hours instead plus after accidents when our of diapers. She is much more willing now. I think it was too much before. Today she peed twice on the potty (dry undies!) and pooped after her nap. I think I'm starting to figure out a system that works for us

[Ma Cactus]

Sounds great!  I think that is the way it always works - you try different things till something works.  We had a time when all our cloth diapers failed us at night (around 10 mos I think).  I found two things that worked: wool covers with fitted bamboo inners and 'lollidoo' dipes with double inserts.  Since they lasted all night long we only needed a few (they were fairly bulky so we never used them during the day).  I think I had two wool covers (since they only need to dry, not be washed every time), 1 lollidooo, and 3 or 4 bamboo fiitteds.  We did that till around 14 mos at which point he got a diaper rash and we had to figure out nightime pottying in a hurry at that point.  But it was good enough while it lasted!