EC Etiquette - Page 3

[Arwyn]

Peeing in the sink is not spraying urine all over the bathroom. I get more urine all over the bathroom trying to potty him in the toilet than I do in the sink. And if we get some on the rim of the sink, I can rinse it off. Not so the toilet.

It's urine. It's sterile. Even teeny tiny drops of poo - no different than if I change his diaper and then wash my hands in the sink. Or rinse off a poopy pair of pants in the sink, so they don't stain in the bag trying to get them home. It may be an "eww" issue, but it isn't a hygiene issue. It just isn't, in my opinion.

We're a little germphobic in this culture.

[Carlyle]

I'm fascinated by this thread! We pee our dd in our bathroom sink all the time at home, and used to do it in public sinks too, but after we saw how many people were really put off by it, we stopped.

To me, the public perception of EC is more important than peeing my baby in the sink, even though I too find it much more uncomfortable and less sanitary to use the toilets (oh the things my dd touches in the stall...they make me shudder).

It's interesting, as Arwyn pointed out, probably none of us would have an issue with someone rinsing out a poopy diaper or pair of pants in a public sink (I could be way wrong here...maybe people WOULD be grossed out, but it wouldn't be as "wacky" or culturally bizarre KWIM?), but a baby peeing in the sink seems to freak people out much more (even to me, who does it at home, it does seem weirder).

Cultural perceptions are fascinating this way--I'm fully convinced that it's not more hygenic for other bathroom users if my baby uses the toilet rather than the sink (IF I wash the sink off with soap when I am done--pee is sterile after all)...but because of our cultural perceptions, it does turn people off from EC if they see me doing it. So I stopped. To me, it's not worth it. (Although, I AM more careful to avoid public bathrooms if possible! I try to find a discreet place outside for her to pee--not poo--so that nobody will see us and be grossed out, etc.)

[elisheva]

Haha - someone said that they didn't think a baby would pee all over the bathroom... DH took ds to pee in the bathroom on the ferry a few weeks ago. It was the kind of bathroom that you lock behind you - only one toilet. Anyway, dh said the toilet was SO grody he didn't want ds anywhere near it, so he peed him in the sink. Mid-stream, ds reached down, grabbed his penis, an proceeded to paint the walls of the bathroom.... Dh tried to clean up, but the bathroom was so disgusting he didn't try too hard

Another poster asked about the toilet seats that are made for potty training. We bought the bjorn adjustable one but we have yet to use it. Anyone have experience with these? Do you tote them around for use in public? I figured it might be easier than toting a BBLP.

Oh well, I pee ds on the the wheel of the car all the time. He loves it. The joy of being a boy, I guess.

[ckhagen]

I EC'd my DS part time from about 3 months until he PL'd on his own at about 18 months. Never, not once, did it ever even cross my mind to pee or poo him in a sink and certainly not someone's tupperware. I've never met another ECer in person, but I think I would have probably been extremely put off if I had and they did this as common practice. I can only imagine what a mainstream non-parent would think. I agree that it's poor PR for ECing.

[lexmas]

Originally Posted by QuantumMama

I may take some heat for this: we've EC'd him in parking lots, right on the pavement as well as on the beach and on the side of the road. When he's gotta go, he's gotta go!

Yeah, we pee ds next to/under/on the tire of the car in parking lots every day. It's just easier. And to be honest, everyone we know has no issue with it, and it's usually evaporated by the time we get back, so if anyone was going to step in it, it was probably us.

As for the sink, I don't do it in public restrooms because I would be uncomfortable with it. It's not a hygiene issue to me, it's just a little weird. And I would certainly wash out a poopy diaper in the sink, not carry it home with me, which would by far be grosser and much more messy than ds pooping in the sink.

Mostly when we're out I just have dh take ds to the bathroom, because no one ever comments in the men's room, and he can take advantage of the urinal. (Evidently the ones at the toronto zoo go all the way to the floor so my tiny 16 lb. 9 month boy got to pee standing up all day at our vacation lol) I do know dh often undresses him on the changing table, and probably leaves our stuff there, but it seems he has a much easier time than I do.

I really just don't find it gross, but I also don't find it gross cleaning a poopy diaper. Not the most fun, but not gross. I've spent time potty training other people's kids and cleaning the poop out of their pants, so I guess if that didn't gross me out, maybe nothing will. Interesting conversation though, even if I'm late to find it!

[eastmillcreekmama]

Originally Posted by ckhagen

Never, not once, did it ever even cross my mind to pee or poo him in a sink and certainly not someone's tupperware.

Just to be clear about the tupperware, we have used a tupperware with a lid as DD's primary potty since birth. It is soley for potty, and we would never use it for food! We keep separate ones for food!

[Arwyn]

We use a tupperware bowl (with lid, natch) as our travel potty. Makes peeing in the car much nicer when we can't find a convenient bush or grassy area.

It is solely for pottying.

But I have been known to stick it in the dishwasher, after it was well rinsed out, when we had let the ammonia sink into the plastic. If I can wash the cutting board with raw chicken juice in the dishwasher, why not a potty? Either the dishwasher is protecting me from icky germs, or it's not. So far it does just fine.

[EdnaMarie]

Arwyn- Pee is usually sterile, but when it passes over the anus, it can become contaminated. Also, it is possible for the urine of a sick child (depends on the illness) to contain germs that can pass on the illness. Rare but possible.

And regarding the dishwasher- we don't all use a dishwasher. Some of us use cold-water cycles only in our washers and do all dishwashing by hand.

If we want to get back to natural ways of living, I think we need to accept some totally natural taboos regarding certain bodily functions. The taboo for urination and defecation is not a product of the industrial revolution. It is found in all societies. And it comes from age-old experience.

Poop is dirty. Pee is less so but also not safe. We do not pee upstream, uphill, or in public areas.

These taboos helped to develop the Torah, the Quran, and many other traditional sanitation codes.

The breastfeeding taboo, by contrast, is very new and localized to a few cultures. So I disagree that we can compare these two taboos. One is age-old and comes to us from thousands of years of experience. One is new and comes to us from a puritanical-cum-oligarchical capitalist society. I question the latter but not the former.

And regarding the washing of hands: nasty. I know that people don't wash their hands and it's disgusting.