We are not EC'ing, but I need advice.

[Thing1Thing2]

Like I posted above, we are not EC'ing - would have loved to, but with a special needs older brother I don't have the time.

But my 17 month old has started becoming aware of his eliminating and so I figured why not leave the diaper off and try a little EC'ing. Did that for a few weeks and now he loves to go on the potty whenever his diaper is off.

Problem is this: He has started going every couple of seconds now whenever I take his diaper off. I've let it go on, going back and forth to the potty, saying "yay" and then flushing it, walking out and then going back in again and again so he can push real hard to dribble a few drops and do the whole routine over again.

Finally when I find myself going crazy, I put the diaper back on. Im sure he would go on forever, although its only lasted 5 minutes at most before I lose patience and put the diaper back on.

So here's the question - I dont want to discourage him, but I also have no patience to keep going back and forth to the potty all day. Is this going to end? Is it because of the newness of going on the potty? Or maybe he doesn't know how to hold it just yet?

Please - advice would be so great right now! If he's ready to lose the diapers, or even just experiment, Im with him. I want to help him any way that I can to have a good potty learning experience.

[EchoSoul]

When are you taking his diaper off? If it's after he wakes up, that behavior is VERY normal(for my son), after waking. My in-laws argue I'm somehow forcing my son to pee like that.. but after waking he'll pee, then pee again shortly after  that, and when my son was your son's age, would pee AGAIN shortly after that.

Edit: Otherwise, perhaps he's feeding off your excitement. I'd be vocal about it after the first time he goes, and any time after that just talk to him like it's normal. Or if you think he can hold it for longer, try distracting him. Maybe he's doing it because it's so new and exciting, if you try distracting him with a chore to help you with for a while, or something else exciting, you might just find that he stops dribbling.

Edited Edit: My son's EC'd.. so when he puts himself on his potty I just say, in my normal voice, "Good job, buddy." and leave him to play while I walk away with potty in hand to dump it and flush it by myself.

I don't have him dump it and flush it every time, only if he follows me into the bathroom. Perhaps your son is also finding the flushing bit to be amusing, and is solely pushing dribbles out to see the toilet flush? Maybe, after he goes the first time, you can tell him to go and play, and flush it when he's out of the bathroom(and hopefully out of hearing range of the flushing).

Edited by EchoSoul - 3/4/13 at 12:43pm

[tinyundiesny]

Do you know how often he needs to pee naturally?  If I were you, after taking off his diaper and letting him eliminate in the potty, I would put training pants or shorts or whatever is at hand on him and then take them off after a half hour or an hour.  If being naked is becoming a cue for him to go, perhaps you can just make him naked when it is necessary for him to go.  I didn't have diaper free time with my baby.  I tried it a few times, but he was peeing all over on the floor, so it didn't work for us.  I used cloth diapers for 12 months and then underpants and mostly used timing when he was not yet communicating with me.

www.tinyundiesny.com

cotton underpants for diaper-free babies 3 months and up

[Thing1Thing2]

I usually leave his diaper off after his bath in the morning. This way he most likely has already peed (in the bath yuck) and I don't have to guess when the next one will be. His special needs big brother goes to school for 2.5 hours and that gives me time to pay attention to him and watch for signals. he has about 2 hours till his next pee, unless he drinks something which gives me 20 minutes. But that was all before he started this new habit of dribbling every few seconds. Maybe echosoul was right - he is gettin excited about either the flushing or my excitement. We also have had some messes on the floor, which kind of freaks me out because he splashes it around. I'm going to try not getting him so excited and of course I will try putting the shorts on him. Ill let you know how it goes

[EchoSoul]

Looking forward to it!

[Thing1Thing2]

Dont have much time since my kids will be killing eachother in about 5 seconds, but wanted to say I think having the underwear on him is working.

Except that now hes running to the potty by himself and sitting down and peeing in his underwear lol!!

Also, I've stopped giving as much praise and that may also play a part.

[Thing1Thing2]

Hmm... I still haven't figured out how to help my DS. He has started dribbling everywhere now. Im pretty sure he used to hold it in and let it all out in one shot, but now hes dribbling on the floor, or in the underwear or in the potty every few minutes. He just started getting his last 4 molars in, so maybe that could have something to do with it. Im not sure I want to call it regression, because he really wasnt in the habit of going on the potty all the time.

Im wondering if maybe I should stop trying and pick it up another time.

[seraf]

Molars might be the problem. The toddlers I've known who wore diapers tended to pee small amounts often when they began potty learning. My oldest was ECed from birth and peed very often, including in his sleep. His issue turned out to be related to a food he and I were eating (wheat in his case). If you feel like keeping a food journal something might stand out. He will eventually learn to deal with a small bladder or build capacity either way. My 16 month old can go hours between pees, so it is possible at this age.

[Thing1Thing2]

We have lots of food intolerances too. I haven't figured out all of ds's though. So that could be something. Thanks

[seraf]

It took me 4 kids to realize that everything my kids reacted to was something I reacted to. It's certainly not the same for everyone, but an easy place to start.

[flyrabbitfly]

Also, he may just be experimenting with this newly recognized bodily function and playing with to what degree he can control it. By all means, don't give him any negative reactions to associate with potty training. If you lose your patience, be calm while putting undies or dipe back on (you probably are, just thought worth mentioning). My son was EC'd from birth and grad around 18  mo. Then about 2 mo later, he suddenly really cognitively GOT it that this peeing stuff was something he and only he had control over, and he started doing dribbling games and holding it until he couldn't games and it was pretty  frustrating for me, and at first I didn't hide my mortification and I took him to the MD cause I thought he had a bladder infection! He didn't. But then I just figured he would learn whatever he needed to learn about it, and cleaned some pee off the floor all day and it took about a month before he really re-graduated. Since you can't be cleaning pee off the floor all day with older DS, I would just keep the diaper free time to the morning, like you have been and put a dipe back on after that. And while it is a good idea to look into food sensitivities, know that it is also just a normal way to explore a new discovery. Also, if he is splashing in it, it is a great time to hand him a prefold and ask if he would like to help you clean up. Toddlers often love to clean it up!