let's post our BEST ec tricks for new mamas! - Page 3

[FreeSpiritMama]

Originally Posted by eirual

I had read, and it is true for us, that you're less likely to have an 'accident' if you are wearing your child.

Since I've comited 100% to nakey-bum (even when out) I have yet to be peed on. Since I wear him when we're out I think this has a lot to do with our success. All of his 'accidents' (my misses really....is there a gentle EC term for accidents??) happen when I've put him down to do something or in the carseat en route to wherever.

This is SO true, all our misses are either carseat or ds being put down for a second

Thanks for all the tips mamas

[ibclc2b]

lambskin

My ds sleeps nekked on his lambskin. when he wets, I absorb most of it with a prefold, then air it out. We have not had any problems. Although he has never pooped on it. I think that every time he pees on it, it gets softer.
We love it, It is so soft, and snuggly, and comfy.

[anitaj71]

Thank you for all the great advice - this needs to be a sticky ! :

[homemademomma]

bump

[MelissaMarie]

Originally Posted by ktmama

She's finally out of dipes, and I've made her some one-pee undies out of micro fleece with three layers of flannel and one layer of nylon at the crotch. I'm new to sewing and have found these really easy to make after a few adjustments. Here's the pattern link if you're interested:

http://www.geocities.com/songshirah1/

ktmama, what adjustments did you make to the pattern? This looks like something I might want to try. I'm new at sewing too so any tips would be helpful!

[sprinkle pocket]

i thought of another *kind of* tip...when my dh is teething, ec can go fairly out the window. so when his first set of teeth were coming, we discovered to make sure there was a pad under him in bed and to take lots of clothes with us and prefolds for the carseat. the main thing for us was to mentally prepared that he wouldn't pee on the potty and we may get peed on 10x in a day after a rough night of nursing/teething...challenging.
now he's 16 mos and has been walking for a number of weeks.a couple days ago, he mastered backing up to the potty and "making his deposit" without even telling us! very exciting. the best part about it is that he's teething his incisors. once he cuts the tooth, ec gets back on track, so we can't wait to see what happens when his incisors finish coming in! maybe pulling down his pants?

yea ec!!

[Liliana]

Here's a tip that may help those looking to switch to underpants:

The size 2T or 2 fits a lot younger than you may think. My DD started wearing size 2 trainers at around 9 months old. They still fit her at 3 1/2 years. (The ones that haven't disintegrated in the wash....we've had to buy new underpants a couple times now without upgrading sizes. Some day she may get wider.)

[*Isra*]

Im not sure if this was already mentioned, but it's worth mentioning twice.. LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION !!!

I recently thought DS was on a potty strike, but turns out he was just bored with the potty location. I took it out on our patio for him to watch the trees, sky, rain whatever, it helps him relax and he goes everytime!

[sunshinestarr]

:

[ktmama]

Oops!

ktmama, what adjustments did you make to the pattern? This looks like something I might want to try. I'm new at sewing too so any tips would be helpful!

So sorry, lost my sub to this thread - happens to me alllll the time : !

Anway, I pretty much just customized them to her by measuring her around the waist, the thighs and the rise (from the top of her little butt crack between her legs to just below her belly button). I used some old fleece and some old receiving blankets for the flannel and went from there. The biggest challenge was actually getting the elastic the right length and the leg openings large enough to bunch up with elastic while at the same time leaving enough for the casing.

Don't worry about being new at sewing - these undies were actually the very first thing I ever sewed. I just made my pattern on plain paper and I'm still using that (modified) pattern. Over time, the pattern has gotten more and more trim and not as balloony like it looks in the photo). The other thing I love is that the microfleece is holding it's color and not pilling really at all. PM me if you need some specific advice. Good luck

[mezzaluna]

great practical advice here!

my biggest lesson i learned was unclench. learned it from the ec yahoo group. a lot of EC was psychological for me.... i found myself so many times saying "but i *know* he needs to pee, why won't he go!?!" and getting frustrated when i would offer potty and then he would pee 5 minutes later in his diaper. unclench, unclench, unclench! and it all fell into place. he was totally picking up on my stress and frustrations!

[superflippy]

Just wanted to thank eirual for the wad-of-tp-to-redirect-the-stream advice. No more messes on the shower curtain, the floor, or mommy!

[MissSJ]

Here is something that I just discovered works for us. When my DS (8 wks) is wearing pajamas I leave the diaper off and when he needs to pee I just unbutton around the legs instead of taking his legs out. I'm not sure if this would work with a little girl but it sure works well for us!

Sarah

[seeking sisters]

I'm expecting our 2nd beginning of Jan. I had only barely heard of EC. Got curious and read this thread. After reading I searched our library system for books. Got and read (in 3 days) Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke.

I'm sold. This fits so well with my parenting philosophy already. DH is still working it out in his mind, but I am sure he'll dig it once it starts.

I would agree that this should be a sticky. Very helpful and inspiring!
Thanks!

[ktmama]

I guess my best trick is to not expect potty signals to become more "sophisticated" with age. After learning and then forgetting the "toilet" sign, my dd2 developed new non-verbal signs (like standing up and stopping all activity) that took me awhile to catch on to because I was waiting for her to begin signing again, or make a gesture, or say some word. Now she's 13 months and I can pretty much read all her non-verbal signs and grunts and we are back on track with very few misses!

[KBug]

I've found that you can gently stimulate pooping. In the early days I got pooped on during 'naked baby time' until I finally realized it wasn't a coincidence... Then I started offering once a day after a nap and a nursing session. I would sit on the bed with my knees up. DS would sit on a diaper on my lap facing me propped up on my legs. After a few minutes, he would start to work on a poop (if he needed to go). We transitioned to offering the potty (a sink, actually) once I saw him start to make signs he was 'working' on it. And now, every morning when I offer his first pee of the day, he immediately poops. Seems to have his own schedule now...

Ok, the only other thing is to expect constant change - as with everything when parenting! We seem to be on a potty strike right now - DS totally protests when offered the sink or potty and then pees a few minutes later. We were doing so great... I'm going to try the different location and relaxing back tickle or finger to suck on suggestions as noted above (he doesn't protest as much when I offer pees when we're out and about). Any other suggestions???? DS is 5 months old. TIA.

KBug

[Vortexing]

I noticed when we hit dd's 3 month growth spurt, we had a week of wet nights, after 2 months of dry ones! When the growth spurt seemed like it had subsided, dry nights ensued! KBug, maybe yours is starting the 6 mth spurt? Or teething? I have no clue, b/c I haven't been there, but I noticed such a change in my dd's attitude toward pottying, b/c we'd been doing so well right before then!

The other thing I've noticed is that we started ECing b/c of dd's enormous morning poos at 4 weeks. She's ALWAYS pooped in the morning when we'd first wake up. After that rough patch and the growth spurt, now she's pooping in the afternoons! Just like that. Weird.

[pishajane]

Hey thanks for all the great advice!
My dd is 6 mth old and working on cutting a 3rd tooth, so we're finding it pretty hard to catch all the pees... so my solution right now is to use trainer pants with a sanitary pad inside for when we're out. At home I just put a CD under her in sling.

[tuansprincess]

Originally Posted by winonamom2be

Okay, here's my tip, after ECing for the past three and a half months:

DD hates sitting directly on the cold plastic of the BBLP, so we throw a small (preemie size) cloth diaper or cloth wipe over the back of it so that the plastic doesn't touch her bottom. She used to not want to go on the potty (we started with the sink) but now it is the only way she likes to go, and I attribute it all to this trick.

Potty covers - best idea ever!

[stephaniefoulkes]

how do you unclench?

quote: "my biggest lesson i learned was unclench"


How do you unclench? just take a deep breath? that's a great idea. Ds is on a total strike! He won't even pee if I nurse him, which he did the other day!
the only thing that makes him relax is if I walk my fingers across his tummy below the belly button. This always made him laugh since he was six months old. He is nearly 20 months, and he is bored, I need to make it fun for him again.: :