*Update* 11 month old won't pee in toilet anymore!!

[eknuckles]

So i practice EC w/DD only part time. Tbh probably not even part time, just like twice a week to catch poops.
I have decided to go full time diaperless, especially due to diaper rashes.
Anyway, the first day she peed without misses. Then the next three days she WILL NOT PEE in the toilet (or sink or bath tub) except for earrrrly in the morning. She only pees on the floor now (about once an hour).
I feel like I am starting brand new since i didnt't really ec with her before.

How do I get her to pee again?? Do you think she will eventually if I keep trying??

Thank you in advance I am at a loss!!

[petitpois]

We do EC part-time with our 10.5 month old too (well, whenever we're home, but she's usually in diapers, and she often holds it), so while you're waiting for more experienced responses, I can share some experience and techniques. 

First, your experience doesn't sound strange, but maybe it was too much to suddenly go diaper-free and expect her to hold it? Have you considered using a simple natural-fiber cloth diaper w/o cover at home? That would let her air out and avoid rashes, and feel when she goes, but still catch the pee...

About the actual potty, she may have a preference for one form or another. We just introduced a potty a few weeks ago and now our LO only wants to go there, although we used the sink until 6-7m, then the regular toilet (either sitting behind her so she could sit on the seat, or holding her over it), and she'll still go in either one if we're away from home, which is convenient, but she clearly prefers her potty.

Our baby also "resists" or seems indifferent to it sometimes. Often her diaper is dry when we go to change her, so we try to take her to the potty when we think of it. However, whenever we go diaper-free, she pees on the floor (she even pooped once). She sometimes gets really mad when I take her to her potty (probably because she had something else in mind), but then she'll pee after she calms down and sits a little while (or we just try later, I don't mind changing wet diapers). This is recent and I think what's happening is that other things are simply more interesting than taking a break to go pee, and she's able to assert herself in this small way (understandable, normal, and apparently very common - seems to start around 10m for many LOs). So the key has been to keep her entertained and happily/patiently sitting when we think she needs to go (e.g. when her diaper is dry after a nap or a couple hours).

The things that help us most:

- Talking and signing - we use the "potty" sign and talk about going then let her walk there holding our hands, so she participates. The worst is just picking her up and taking her there (or anywhere!) without talking about it.

- Always going after waking up after naps as well as first thing in the morning, whether the diaper is wet or dry, and before leaving the house. maybe other regular times work for different people.

- Having something interesting for her near the potty, like bath toys or water-proof or cloth books (stuff that can be washed), and then she doesn't mind sitting. This has been really important for us lately, and we'd have a lot of mini-tantrums if we didn't. We definitely don't want her to feel forced and need to fight back!

- Not worrying about it. The awareness she has from even going sometimes is such an advantage already, we can just let her do the rest at her own pace. 

ok, this turned out long! I hope it helps ;) 

[eknuckles]

Thank you for your reply i actually cloth diaper but she still gets rashes (from sleeping in the diaper at night... Idk how someone children sleep in one diaper all night she has to be changed a couple of times and she still had a horrible rash). I am going diaperless because of the rash and also I am personally lazier with ecing if its on her.

Anyway my issue wasn't so much with her holding her pee but as to her refusing to pee when asked. After i wrote this she peed outside in the courtyard when offered and inside. So there is some success!

I think what you said about your dd wanting to do her own thing is in my case too. My LO fights me holding her. She has a little toilet but its more like a regular seat than one where you squat and I can tell its uncomfortable. What is the toilet that you own??

Again thanks so much!!

[seraf]

Is she learning to walk?

My 10 month old started refusing a while ago. I let him stand in the tub while I used the toilet and he would go. Then he started climbing out of the tub so I hand him a bottle of bubbles and seat him on the toilet insert. We blow bubbles and he goes potty. It's lovely after the pause we've been on. Your DD might like something similar or she might be happy to sit on the potty with a basin of water (pouring is great for encouraging pee) or a squirt bottle?

Naked time doesn't work well for us. He seems to think that my removing his diaper is an invitation to water the floorboards. He has to wear a diaper at night, too, or he pees willy nilly. He does fine with undies during the day. So maybe the fresh air has a similar effect on her.

[petitpois]

For diapers, we started out all cloth with a mixed selection (prefolds, synthetic pockets, fitted bamboo & cotton) so we could try different things, and whatever we used we always had to change her at night at least once with night wakings and feedings (she used to wake us up to poop, too, and I sometimes wondered if EC was such a great idea, but that didn't last long). At some point I noticed that her sleep was progressing and that changing her was waking her up more, but she still got really wet at night so at around 7m we actually switched to using one disposable at night and just not changing it till morning. We still do that but I think we may be able to stop soon since she's sort of night weaned except for one feeding before I go to bed (her diaper was actually dry this morning, except I took too long to accept it was morning and take her to the potty). So that's a possible temporary solution. I didn't like the disposable idea at first, and also worried it would interfere with EC, but it hasn't at all (even when she was in them full-time for a month while we traveled internationally this summer she would *not* poop in them and they'd often be dry after naps etc). You might also try post in the cloth diapering forum for advice about nighttime solutions, I know there are cloth diapers designed precisely for that.

We use the baby bjorn potty chair with the armrests and back to lean on (not the little potty, although that seems like it could work too). I thought it might be too big but she took to it immediately last month, no hesitation at all, peed the first time she sat on it, and has preferred it since. She'll happily sit there looking at a book or chewing on a toy for 5min, even when she's done sometimes, but it's especially good when she needs to relax a little before she can go.  

Edited by petitpois - 9/18/12 at 8:14am

[eknuckles]

Just wanted to give an update for future mamas!

My Dd is now almost 15 months (in 9 days) and is using the toilet most of the time!!

First off we have a beco potty which is awesome, great size for ecing and is compostable when done!!
She was refusing the potty when we started at 11 months. I didnt think she would have a potty strike from day 1, but she did.
She just wanted to be independent!! I stopped offering it to her all the time and worked her back into using it in the mornings, and after naps.
Almost every time she peed, it would be on the floor (tile) because we went diaper free. It meant less laundry (you can use a towel more than once for a mess,
But only once on a bottom) and her insane rash went away!!!
About three weeks ago we had a break through (mostly with myself) and we have whole days without an accident!! It's great!
When she does have an accident it is my fault almost every time. (You can't put taking
Them to the bathroom off- there is no 'hold it for one second sweety'). Still, it's wonderful to only have maybe 3 accidents a week!
Night time she still wears a diaper and we will be working on that soon, but it so great
To have a child without a diaper, with undies on only.
Oh!! And '2t-3t' underwear work great for a one year old.