EC anyone?

[linguistmama]

I decided to start a seperate thread. There are at least 3 of us. We are planning to EC this baby from the start. I learned about it after dd was born and at first thought it was really weird, weirder than the really weird stuff like homebirth which we are now planning ! But then we switched to cloth diapers and I didn't like her sitting in them since she gets a rash so easily. I read Diaper Free and was so inspired. I love that the author EC'ed right from the start. That's my goal, though of course we will just do as much as we can and at least change diapers quickly. DH is all about poop in the potty instead of a diaper!
Today I went through all the blankets I had packed away from dd. When they were given to me I wished people would stop because we have alot. But now I'm glad because there are several polar fleece blankets for a waterproof barrier and others to fold and use like a prefold under the bum. I won't have to buy any!

[rmzbm]

I might be in. I need to learn more.

[titania8]

yea i am *definitely* considering it. my twins are still in diapers and showing very little signs that they will be out of them any time soon. i need to read up on it more, its on my "list". i already have 4 potties so that shouldn't be a problem! at least someone will get some use out of them! and im hoping that by seeing a baby use the potty the big brothers will want to get on board too!

[sarahmck]

Maybe. I need to decide if it's more work than I'm up for. Of course, I always think of it as all or nothing, which is what stops me. But I met someone on the airplane the other day who told me that they EC just several hours per day. That sounded to me like it would be confusing to the child, but she said it was a common way to do it. So I need to read.

DD is currently potty training. We've had her in underpants for the past few days with great success. But then we go out and put a diaper on her. She doesn't seem terribly confused by that. So maybe a newborn would be the same way? I just don't really want to have to carry a little bucket around with me and do pees and poos while out and about. I know someone IRL who does that (started EC from day one) and it just seems like a whole lot of effort. Also, I suspect that I wouldn't be a chilled out about it as she is and would get embarrassed when people gave me funny looks. I wish I wasn't that way and I do try not to be that way, but I am still that way at heart.

I guess it's clear that I need to read more and figure this out.

[Hemiola]

I'm so glad others are considering it! When I first read about it, I literally laughed out loud. I mean, come on...a baby not in diapers!? Were these people crazy!? I mean how earth mama tree hugging hippie can you get!?? I totally dismissed the idea for several weeks until I saw it mentioned again and by that time I was getting really tired of changing poopy diapers (DS was about 3mos). I did some reading and had to admit to myself that it did actually make sense. I tried it with immediate success and then mentioned it to my DH. He thought I was an absolute fruit loop and basically refused to participate. DS and I continued to use the potty to catch poops and when DH realized I wasn't changing poopy diapers, his attitude toward EC changed VERY quickly and he was totally on board! I was extremely lucky that for the most part DS only pooped once a day and would save it for me when I got home from work. From about 4mos on, we had a 99% poop catch rate! I'm not saying we never had pee or poo on our floors (believe me!), but most 2 or 3yo potty training kids have accidents on the floor, too. And I would much rather clean up the pee puddle from an 18mo than a 3yo! DS was out of diapers except at night by 18mos, and he never wore past a size 2 disposable diaper or newborn size AIO Kushies. Granted, he was small, but talk about saving $$$$! So we are total EC supporters and I am happy to answer any questions people might have. Below is a list of links I give people who e-mail me who are interested in EC but want more information. I hope these all still work and that other ECers will add to this resource list!

Laura


Articles
•http://www.natural-wisdom.com/nihgentlealternative.htm
•http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/aug/chi-diapers.htm Good for the skeptics out there!
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elimination_communication Nice list of links at the bottom of the article.
•http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/po...f/infantpt.htm
•http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/...training/72926
•http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/...potty_training Scroll down the page for article links.
•http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/in...ytraining.html Link to an EC article, but the website has great info on many topics.
•http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03sep29f.cfm
•http://onyx-ii.com/birthsong/page.cfm?elimination
•http://theviewfromhere.wordpress.com...communication/ A mom's blog.
•http://www.timl.com/natec_1.htm


Websites
•http://www.mothering.com/discussions...play.php?f=227 This forum is fantastic, but the website is even better. Truly a great resource for parents!
•http://web.archive.org/web/200302080...reeyellow.com/
•http://www.bornpottytrained.com/
•http://www.diaperfreebaby.org/
•http://www.ec-information.com/
•http://www.timl.com/ipt/ A new product - a 2 disk DVD set called Potty Whispering: The Gentle Art of IPT by Laurie Boucke
•http://w.webring.com/hub?ring=trickletreat
•http://www.freewebs.com/freetoec/
•http://www.natural-wisdom.com/
•http://www.apconnect.org/InternetCD.htm
•http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.c...unication.html


Groups - Either sign up for the "daily digest" option or "no e-mail" when you join these or your inbox will be flooded. These are very busy (and informative) forums!
•http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NaturalInfantHygiene/
•http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eliminationcommunication/


Books
•Infant Potty Training by Laurie Boucke (2000)
•Diaper Free by Ingrid Bauer


Products
•http://www.theecstore.com/

[Hemiola]

Sarah,

I definitely understand your concerns, as I had the same ones! We found EC to be less work than when we diapered. And we certainly did NOT carry around a little bucket in public! I would have died from embarrassment!!! OMG! We certainly did EC part time, like when we were feeling lazy or he was with the grandparents, and DS wouldn't have anything to do with it at night. It allows for a lot of flexibility. I think 3mos is a good age to start. That way you get time to bond with your baby without the stress of learning something new, and when you feel comfortable starting, you can. I think you are right...being relaxed is the key!

Laura

[rmzbm]

Wow, Laura! Links galore, thank you so much!

[linguistmama]

Thank you for those! I still need to learn some more.

[sadiejane08]

Mmm . . . I don't think it's for me. I'll probably read some of the links Hemiola so graciously and copiously provided, but it doesn't sound like "my thing."

There's a hormonal thing that runs in DH's family and means the kids (he and his brother, and now our 8- and 6-year-olds) don't wake to pee in the middle of the night. As a result our kids are still in "night undies," as we call them. It's totally no big deal to us, and fortunately it isn't to the kids (yet) either. Eventually they'll either grow out of it (as DH did) or need a hormone shot (as DH's brother did).

[rmzbm]

Originally Posted by sadiejane08

Mmm . . . I don't think it's for me. I'll probably read some of the links Hemiola so graciously and copiously provided, but it doesn't sound like "my thing."

Ya GOTT'A read 'em, lol, that's alot'a links! I'm still ! : EVERYONE must read Laura's links, it's a rule - those that don't will be outed from this DDC! :

[Ironica]

We fortunately found out about EC early in my pregnancy with DS. Still took us a couple of weeks to get off the ground with him, and there's a definite learning curve, but still, he was 8 weeks old the first time he "held it" for the potty (he started to pee when I took his diaper off, one drop hit his leg, and he STOPPED until I picked him up and put him on the potty). We used cloth diapers without covers (diaper service) until 10 months, at which time we switched to training pants full-time, and then at 14 months we were having no more than one miss a week and switched to undies full-time.

Yeah, you BET I'm doing it again! ECing for 14 months is way, WAY less work than FT diapering for 2-3 years! Granted, even at 14 months, our DS would signal *most* of the time, but it was still largely our responsibility to keep track of things and make sure he got to the potty on time. At 17 months, we had a big bobble because I ate whatever I wanted for my birthday, after having been wheat-free for 8 months because he reacted to the stuff. From that point on, he STOPPED signalling for pee for about a year or so, but started signalling perfectly for poops, and if I had to choose, you know... ;-). Now, he's 3, and he still needs help with some of his clothes, so he tells us when he needs to go, but he's basically on his own. He puts his seat reducer up, does his thing, and then we wipe him if it's poop (he still can't really reach).

So, developmentally, it's similar to conventionally-diapered kids; he didn't "take over" responsibility until the age where people usually start potty training. But in the meantime, he was using the toilet instead of a diaper, which made clothes, outings, everything sooooo much easier. We took him to Disneyland for the first time for his 18-month half-birthday, and brought some friends with a girl four months younger than him. We had a backpack with all our snacks and a couple changes of clothes "just in case"; they had a giant diaper bag and a stroller packed full of stuff (we don't have a stroller, just an Ergo or three). We spent soooo much time waiting for them. It's fun to be nimble! ;-)

[Hemiola]

I hope the links are helpful, and please let me know if you find some that are out of date so I can remove them. I checked them all about 6 months ago.

One thing I forgot to say before, was that I had to really shift my attitude about EC so that I could relax. Instead of focusing on "early potty training," and getting frustrated when we didn't have a good EC day, I had to tell myself that each catch was one less diaper. Baby steps with a new mom and a newborn


Laura

[WildHoney]

I'm loving this thread! I had never heard of EC...I'm fairly new here and hoping to be due in 4/08. Thanks for all the interesting links.

[Hemiola]

to you WildHoney!

Laura

[sarahmck]

I'm getting convinced and I haven't even looked at the links yet!

I guess I've just been a bit put of by my acquaintance who does it 100% full-time. I guess I thought that was how you do it so I would have to do it that way, too. She carries little Tupperware containers around and has the baby pee and poo wherever she goes. Now that my DD is potty training, I have already had a few situations where I've been embarrassed by what we've had to do for that. For example, we were in a park area where dogs are allowed, so one can have an expectation of pee and poop on the ground. DD needed to pee. So I took her to the edge of the grass where it turned into bushes and stuff and held her so she could pee (there were no toilets nearby). DH heard people talking about it in a negative way and then I felt all uptight and like I wanted to sink into the ground. I can only imagine how I'd feel if people looked at me like I was an alien for singing the potty song to my infant while she peed in a yogurt container. So, more power to my friend and I wish I was more like her, but given that I'm not it's nice to know that you can use diapers when you go out.

For those of you who have done it before, do you find that that increases confusion on the part of the child? They signal for the potty and you just say "go in your pants, kid." I know my DD doesn't seem pleased by that answer on the few occasions that I've given it to her recently.

[Hemiola]

Originally Posted by sarahmck

I can only imagine how I'd feel if people looked at me like I was an alien for singing the potty song to my infant while she peed in a yogurt container.

: Great image!

[Hemiola]

Bump!

[JorgieGirl]

Thanks Laura!!! Awesome links.

[3for3hb]

Please someone explain to me how it's less work... if you miss a catch, you still have dirty clothes to wash, right? Do you end up needing more clothes? I really did try to watch for ds2's signals when he was born but I'm in major la la land for the first few weeks postpartum and I didn't notice anything. Plus, how do you do outings without carrying a container around?
I've done quite a bit of reading about it and it makes sense but I still don't understand the logistics.

That said, ds1 has been using the potty since I first found out about EC (around 13 months) and ds2 has been since about 18 months. Ds1 is out of diapers completely and has accidents at night once in a while (we eat late dinners and I know that's the culprit). So maybe I've EC'd and didn't even know it???

[RidentMama]

Originally Posted by willemsmamma

Please someone explain to me how it's less work... if you miss a catch, you still have dirty clothes to wash, right?

It depends...we still used diapers while EC'ing. Just without covers, so if we missed a catch, we knew quick enough to change diapers so DD wouldn't get used to sitting in her pee/poo. You can go completely diaperless, put babe on a mat (fleece, or even a puddle pad). You aren't relegated to changing loads of clothes.

Originally Posted by willemsmamma

Plus, how do you do outings without carrying a container around?

LOL...in times of desperation, diapers or the grass!

Glad to see this thread! There is a pretty good EC board around here, for more in-depth questions/answers if you're interested.

We EC'd DD (she was using the potty full-time by 4 months, and then had the regular regressions upon sitting up by herself, crawling, and walking...but was able to take care of her needs (minus wipes) by 18 months)--from the time we started EC with her, we changed a whopping total of 7 poop diapers--YAY!

Didn't try very hard to EC DS, but regret it now (he seemed to prefer diapers vs. EC'ing, but still...He's almost 2 and still has no desire to use the potty...I'M SO TIRED OF CHANGING DIAPERS!!!!). I tried a few times with him, but he was NOT interested and would actually go from about to pee in his diaper, to holding his pee while I tried to get him to use the sink/potty, to peeing in his diaper immediately upon having it put back on him. I do not know how this could have been remotely comfortable, but whatever.

I'm hoping that with this little bean, EC will go much more smoothly!!! Since I carry our little potty around with us all the time anyway (it makes a TERRIFIC travel potty), it won't be any different to have it around for the new baby to use.