Quote:
Originally posted by hlsanders
Hey where has Freddy been? All this talk about EC and not one post . . . hmmmm . . . |
I've been writing on a reply to this threat and when I had it finished with a million interruptions the threat was already much longer and there where new things I wanted to write something about...
So here we go:
Heather, great you are giving EC a try – and a very successful one too! No wonder you are excited! I remember how excited I was that it really WORKED when I tried it first with Wolfgang at 2 months old. And it’s still fascinating me after 3 years and now doing it again with Jutta. But looking at my posts here, it’s not difficult to tell that I’m an EC-oholic big time.
As books are going instead of „Trickle Treat“ Laurie Boucke now published „Infant Potty Basics“ which is a short version of „Infant Potty Training“. It’s a small and thin booklet with lots of information as far as I can say – just reading it at the moment. But I can also recommend „Infant Potty Training“ (which includes a testimonial of my experience with Wolfgang) and of course Ingrid Bauer’s „Diaper Free!“. Difficult to decide if you don’t want to have them all like me (figured I might just as well spend some of the money I saved for diapers and bought myself „Infant Potty Training“ and „Diaper Free!“)
I bought a potty for Wolfgang when he was 8 months old. At first I continued to hold him under his tights, but it was more comfortable for me, as I could rest the backs of my hands on the rim of the potty. Jutta used the potty from the beginning occasionally. She’s regularly using it (but also still toilet, sink, bowl and bucket) since she’s about 5 months old. I like it, because it doesn’t tip as easily as my little bowl and I can free one hand to make the „potty“ sign or to prepare a fresh diaper/fresh pants. I have to keep one hand on her though, because although Jutta can sit on the potty fine, if she decides to want to have something else that’s on the floor she dives off the potty head first.
I don’t think there is a way to predict, when you will be „100%“. Anyway you might be almost 100% for some time and then teething hits or learning to walk or whatever. Since Jutta started scooting on her belly a month ago – not really crawling yet – we are having quitea lot of misses again.. So what?! I can’t carry her in a sling all day against her will just to catch all pees and poos (missing one or two of those a week right now, still not bad with 3 to 6 bms a day). Wolfgang went without daytime diapers from 12 months on, but still had occasional „bad days“ of 4 or more wet diapers for quite some time. We stopped using nightime diapers later (16 months) but had much less accidents there, with a maximum of 3 a month. He only had one single nighttime accident after his 2nd birthday - at about 2 ½ years.
Charlotte:
This can definitely done with older kids around. Laurie Boucke didn’t discover EC for her first two sons, so she had those two around when ECing #3, Ingrid Bauer ECed child #2 and #3. On the elimination communication e-mail-list there are lots of ECed babies with older siblings, some of them ECed themselves, others not, some of them going through conventional potty training while baby goes potty, too. I don’t think doing this with Jutta is more difficult because Wolfgang is keeping me busy all day. Of course we do have some misses because he distracts me or because I’m just in the middle of doing something with him which I don’t want to interrupt apruptly. But on the other hand he’s a great example for Jutta, he sometimes tells me what Jutta wants, he provides entertainement at potty time and he just loves his little sister and she adores him, so this definitely compensates for a few misses.
Lisa:
You don’t have to hold boys and girls differently, holding Jutta is the same as holding Wolfgang for me – minus aiming the penis.
Jane:
We started cloth diapering for the same reason. When I read about EC Wolfgang was 2 months old and in fulltime disposables. I didn’t even consider cloth diapering – all that work, no thanks! ECing very soon got me hooked on cloth, disposables just didn’t work well with it. You’d have to throw them away for almost no pee, you were never sure if they had been peed into or not – at least you can’t check them by just poking a finger in there – and sometimes the velcro would wear out before the diaper was even used once by putting it off and on again for several times.
Yep - I'll send it as an email attachment.
DH doesn't get it, but then he doesn't change the majority of the diapers around here!
