Elimination Communication Again - Page 2

[juliel]

Shannon - Thanks for the encouragement! Sometimes I feel like I haven't been quite as successful with EC as some other moms, but then when I realize she no longer (keep my fingers crossed!) poops in her diaper, I think it's been a success. We didn't really start until she was about 9 months, although I gave it a few small attempts at around 7 1/2 months. She does pee in the potty sometimes - usually after naps and upon waking in the morning. I try not to make a big deal about it, and stay pretty laid back.

I did have one funny story, though, that I thought some of you might enjoy. Yesterday, my dd was walking around with just a t-shirt on. (We live in Calif. so it never gets that cold, so this is pretty common for her.) I knew she had to pee, so I offer her the potty. She decides she wants to try and sit on it herself. She's tried this a number of times, but always ends up just standing in the pot, facing the back of the chair. (We have the big Baby Bjorn BTW.) Then she squats down, making the pssss sound. She's done this before. I'm thinking that if she pees, she's going to pee on her feet, and probably half-miss the potty, but I let her keep trying. Sure, enough, within a minute, she has peed in her potty...and on her feet...and half on the floor...l

She has also started bringing her doll and teddy bears to pee in the potty. She holds them over, makes the pssss sound and then takes them off, saying "done". It's so cute!

[ShannonCC]

I think the later you start, the more laid back your expectations need to be We didn't start til 6 m/o so yeah, we're not as "successful" as some of the moms I've met who started at birth, but that's ok. I'm happy and I'm laid back about it. And to be honest, when I started I didn't think it would go as well as it is so I'm pleasantly surprised! I thought that I'd probably get the first AM poop and that's it (that's an obvious one for him).

So yeah, don't worry about whether you are doing as well as other moms or not. It's like breastfeeding. It doesn't matter how often another kid nurses, or how big she is, or how well that mom picks up the nursing cues. What matters is that your child is thriving We've missed a lot of pees here lately but instead of getting sad about that I'm still happy we don't have any more poopy diapers!

Hee hee! That is funny about the dolls! And peeing on her feet I found ds sitting a puddle of his own pee today, playing with it, lol! I had him sitting on the floor at my feet while I washed dishes. I look down and he's peed on the linoleum and is happily running his fingers thru it.

[XmasEve]

a newbie with a question

My baby is 9 days old today! I read up on EC even while TTC, but haven't put it into play yet, so dd has been in diapers. She just wears a pinned flatfold so I know right away when she's gone and can change her immediately. I'm starting to be able to read her cues. But the problem I'm running into is: how to tell when she's finished her business? SOOO often I've changed her *too* quickly only to have her dirty the new dipe before I even get her off the changing table!

Thanks, Meg

[mrzmeg]

Meg, my DS would always begin to fuss when he was done. I would wait for that before I changed him. But I really didn't get in sync with him til we actually started EC'ing when he was about the same age as your baby. One day, right after he woke up from a nap, I held him over the sink and cued "ssss". Everything grew from there.
Congratulations on your new babe

Melanie

[ShannonCC]

Meg, I've read that's how many people got into EC in the first place. Baby would poo, they'd change the dipe and then baby would immediately poo again. What you can try is when she poos, hold her over the potty to see if she's got any more before you put the dipe back on. And you can make cueing noises while you do it. That will get her used to it