Is this where this goes? Potty training question

[htovjm]

We don't EC; I just couldn't tackle it during the early months. Let me know if this thread should go someplace else.

My DS is about 6 months old and I plan on introducing potty training to him soon. I was thinking of purchasing a potty chair and just plopping him on it throughout the day (trying to do it when I think he will use it.) I don't want to make a big deal out of it. I just want him to start realizing this is a routine thing to do and if he goes, great. 

I have a few questions.

1) Is a BabyBjorn potty chair a good option? If not, what did you use?

2) How do you clean your potty chair? I was thinking the obvious, to dump it in the toilet. Maybe use a diaper sprayer to clean it out. What kind of solution do you use to disinfect? We only use natural cleaners, which pretty much means vinegar, water, and baking soda and maybe an essential oil. I'm not fancy, but I was wondering what other people use.

3) Do you think this strategy is a good idea? I'm just using common sense here, but this is my first baby so I don't really know what to expect. Is it a waste of time to start this early?

Thanks for any comments or advice you have!

[skycheattraffic]

At 6 months you are definitely in EC territory. I started at 11 months and wish I'd done it earlier so you're definitely not too late or too early :-)

Plunking him on the potty is a great way to start! I started by doing just that when I had to use the toilet and gradually increased to each diaper change plus morning and before/after naptime. Using a diaper backup or doing EC part time are good ways to keep things manageable while being out. DD is 15 months old now and will have misses every day but she definitely knows what a potty is for and prefers using it to having a wet diaper.

Now to your questions:
1) we use a baby bjorn potty chair and love it. The high sides let DD lean back when she's tired and it's really easy to clean. Downstairs we have a baby bjorn smart potty. It's the same bowl in a smaller base without the high sides and we love that one too.

2) I dump the potty bowl, rinse it with water and if there was poop, I wipe it out with a little toilet paper. When I clean the toilets I also wipe down the potty bowls with bathroom cleaner (we use green works)

3) your approach is very intuitive and actually it's exactly the way my mom raised us :-). Relatively speaking I'm a late starter (although almost everyone I meet is amazed that DD will use the potty). You are gradually introducing it into the routine, just like solid food for example. I would give it a go, take it easy and enjoy fewer dirty/wet diapers. If you're looking for a good book, "the diaper free baby" gives great ideas for how to start at different ages and walks you through full time, part time and occasional EC. I found it immensely helpful!

Good luck!

[seraf]

Sounds like a plan. I think that is still ECish if you talk about it.

I've never met a Baby Bjorn potty I didn't like.

We dump, rinse and use soap and water as needed. Vinegar works pretty well.

I think if the misses don't upset you, it's all good. Keep it light and see how it goes.

[Dove84]

I wanted, and tried, to EC from day one, but it just didn't seem to work with us.  I had trouble getting a floppy newborn into position, she didn't seem to 'get' it etc.  When DD was about 6 months we bought the Baby Bjorn and started sitting her on it and she just loved it!  She started peeing right away and it's going great (she is now 9 1/2 months).  We have misses every day of course but that doesn't bother us, for us the point is to have her accustomed to sitting on the potty.  If we see she is going to poop we'll tell her we are taking her to the potty and rush her off and she'll wait until she is sitting on it to finish.

We usually take her before and after naps, after meals, any other time we think she might have to go.

We use the same cleaners and that is what I use on the potty too. 

[htovjm]

Thanks for the replies! These are helpful! It sounds like the Bjorn is the way to go and cleaning is pretty basic :) I appreciate the book rec, skycheattraffic. I'll take a look! I'm glad to hear that my plan isn't that unusual and has seen success!

A few other questions:

Is there a point when your LOs begins to tell you they need to go? And how do they tell you (pre-verbal)?

Dove84: How do you "see" if your LO is going to poop? I can tell when my DS is peeing and pooping, but how do you know beforehand? Thanks for letting me know your routine. How long do you wait after a meal to take her to the potty?

[LessTraveledBy]

Our dd is 7 so I don't remember the answers to most of your questions. However, I started to put her on the potty right after her waking up when she was 7 months old. By 8 months she was pooping in the potty, only, and not at all at night. This was partly luck, though, due to her rhythm.