What is EC??? And how do you do it???

[mamaofthree]

I have run across this before, but never realized it was NO DIAPERS!!!! How do you do this. At this point my ds #2 is pretty odvious when he has to poop.... but pee??? How would you know????

Just wondering



HEATHERH

[Karen1974]

Do a search for elimination communication on this forum and you'll find lots of threads with tons of info! As for when you know they're going to pee, my DD usually fusses a certain way. In fact, I for one have much better success catching pees, than poops!

Edited to add: Forgot about timing--if she's just woke up from a nap or in the morning, or not long after nursing (provided she's still awake), DD almost certainlywill need to pee.

[orangebird]

Pees are way easier for me too. There are books and websites and groups about EC. I personally think you just have to do it. Start by putting your baby on the potty when you "think" they might go, like when they first wake up or after nursing. Anything you might have noticed as a pattern. Some people use cues. I started by going potty too- I would put DS on his potty facing me on the toilet. The tinkling sound of me peeing sorta cues him to go. I think you just have to do it. Even just a few times a day. Put them on when you think they might go and don't get discouraged if they don't. I know there are other approaches so that is just my take. I tried a few days cold turkey at first, no diapers at all. That was crazy!!! We did catch some but we were cleaning stuff off the carpets more. Now I do it whenever I think it might be time. I let DS go around naked alot so I put him on the potty every so often. Also If I take off a diaper and it is dry I figure he hasn't gone for a little while, maybe he has to go now so I put him on the potty. I'd keep reading about it. Hopefully someone has a technique that will work for you.

[Quirky]

here's some helpful links:

http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/...potty_training

http://www.timl.com/ipt/

http://www.freewebz.com/freetoec/index.htm

[mamaofthree]

Thanks for the info.... another question...

Do you or have you done this with a new born? How does this work... all my babies went potty ALL the time.

[ShannonCC]

Hi! I personally didn't do it with a newborn since we didn't find out about EC til he was 6 m/o (it's not something that gets written up in the parenting magazines unfortunately ) There are plenty who have done it with newborns tho, since that is better than waiting til they are older. Right now there are a few moms on MDC ECing away with tiny babies. Have fun reading up on it!

[mrzmeg]

I started with a one week old. It really wasn't that big a deal. He still pees about every 15-25 minutes, but since I would want to change him as soon as he wets anyway, it's not any more work that CD'ing.

[Karen1974]

I started when DD was 4 weeks old and had successes with it pretty quickly. Our babies really know their bodies much better than we give them credit for! I tend to think of it like learning to read her hunger cues; certainly you don't know the elimination cues at first but you learn, and the more you catch, the more your baby's signals are reinforced because you pick up on them. Doing EC opens up another avenue of knowing what DD's trying to tell me with this fuss or that grunt. It's not for everyone, but it's really not as difficult as it may seem!

[Karen1974]

Originally posted by mrzmeg
I started with a one week old. It really wasn't that big a deal. He still pees about every 15-25 minutes, but since I would want to change him as soon as he wets anyway, it's not any more work that CD'ing.

That's also been my experience Melanie.

[Quirky]

i started at 3 months or so....the ideal is before 4 months but lpots of moms have success starting later.

we use a baby bjorn little potty which is great - i hold him on it but it's just the right size.

[BowenTherapist]

we started from birth, and caught most of her first and third poo
ummm it's late and i have mommy brain so i kinda forgot what you were asking hmmm.....
some days in the beginng i just thought about poop and pee all day and was like arggg is this what the rest of my life will be like until she is in college? but then that passed and now 4 mos, i hardly think about it at all. i just either get a feeling she has to go or just offer the potty when she wakes and timing types of things. btw the learning curve for me was about 4-6 weeks

i loved this n the newborn stage cause i think it made her cry less. she would fuss when she needed to pee so i was able to offer the potty b4 it went into the full blown cry and then wets cause she couldn't hold it anymore.
umm hope that answered your questyioon