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Who's Here? Introductions.

22K views 188 replies 161 participants last post by  howeberry 
#1 ·
Hi Mamas/Papas!

I'm just curious to get a feel for the folks who make up this community, and thought we might do well to have an "Introduce Yourself" thread. Voila.

So I invite you to share the following:

Name:
Partner:
EC'd babe(s):
EC'ing since:
Other kids (+ages):
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?):
Favorite 'potty':
Other info:

I'll go first.

Name: Aletheia, 29
Partner: Dr. Ramsey, 30
EC'd babe: Oliver, ~3 months
EC'ing since: 2 weeks old (9/06)
Other kids: Kitty MacKenzie

Diapers: We use fitted cloth without covers, except for the morning when nakey butt makes rapid fire pees easier to catch.
Fav Potty: Big mixing bowl from Wal-Mart
, though sinks and toilets are fine, too.
Other info: I'd love Ovi to have more naked time... maybe come summer. I'm currently trying not only to figure out Ovi's signals to go, but what his signals are that mean "no," or "i'm done."

Before this thread was a sticky, I was trying to keep track of folks by their experience level in the following groups, but it quickly got to be an organizational behemoth. So in its stead, I invite you to page or post to other mamas in the similar status groups in the forum at large to build yourself a support group. Here are the group names and experience levels we were using here at one point.
Gurus (EC'ing 12 months or more)

Experts (EC'ing 6 months or more)

Experienced (EC'ing 3 months or more)

Learning (EC'ing 1 month or more)

Newbies (EC'ing 1 day or more)

Wanna-Be's
(EC'ing in the future)
 
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#152 ·
Name: Emma
Partner: Seb
EC'd babe: Sophie, 20 months
EC'ing since: part-time from birth, full-time from 3.5 months

Other kids: Anna, 5 y/o (who was conventionally diapered & toilet-trained at 2.5 y/o)

Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): 12 good ole' English terry cloth flat 'nappies', used for early days, nighttime, wiping up accidents ;-)

Favorite 'potty': we have always had several Baby Bjorn LP's placed strategically about the house (and one in the car) ! I also recommend the transparent "Little Elephant" potty out of the UK. Sophie used the toilet (herself) exclusively from 15 mths onward...

Other info: please see our slideshow "tribute" to our dearest diaper-free Sophie at :
http://picasaweb.google.ca/emma.kwas...eedomATribute#
(click on 'Slideshow' at left to see them all, plus commentary)

EC is a paradigm shift -- it's as simple as that !
All you have to do is try it, and you'll be hooked...
 
#153 ·
I am Lee-Ann
DH: Danny
ECing: Danica 23 months
Since: Birth
Diapers: have filtered through a number of "systems" at various stages. We started with cloth, baby on diaper, used diaper liners inside of tiny panties, just tiny panties, fuzzi bunz, g diapers, or a prefold inside a g diaper cover. At night she sleeps next to me on a sheepskin mat, in either a shirt only or nude, if I think she might pee or am really tired she wears a hemp cloth diap w/o cover.
Potties: BBLP with a fleece potty cover, sinks and toilets (urinals with dad) sometimes I hold her over the diaper pail that sits next to our bed. Since she has been independant (since 18 mos ) she uses the toilet, takes off pants, climbs on goes wipes, flushes, gets down washes hands and sometimes puts pants back on! She also pees in the BBLP or the dog dish, or the trunk of her push car, any bolw shapes receptical lying around! She thinks this is really funny!
Other: she is basically graduated now, but I have to wrap my mind around it as I am still hauling diapers everywhere with me even though she never uses them any more!
 
#154 ·
Name: Olivia
Husband: Michael
EC'd Baby: Phoenix (4 months)
ECing since: 1 week old
Other kids: Sage (27 months old)- used some EC ideas for him at 18 months
Diapers: Prefolds and wool covers; some AIO's for outings
Potty: The Potty Bowl, and now venturing into using the sink and toilet
Other: I wish I could turn back the hands of time to have started EC with my oldest son when he was a baby! No diaper rash, no poopy butts, and the joy of seeing my baby use his potty and see him smile afterwards. I just wish more people knew of how great EC is! I am now starting to read my babies cues for when he needs to go versus using timing (Phoenix always poops while nursing), but so far, I'm having lots of "misses" with his pees but my "catches" are starting to increase. Yay!
 
#155 ·
Name: Tracy
Partner: Sasha
EC'd baby: Luka, born 2-20-08 (9 mo old)
ECing since: 2 mo old
Other kids: Leo (d/n EC him, but cloth diapered. He potty-learned about 2.5 years with lots of slippage on the pee-pee part up to 3.3 years or so
Diapers: A few Fuzzibunz, which I prefer and would like more of. Then prefolds with various covers, snappied prefolds at night with wool Aristocrat soaker
Potty: BBLP - but I am still mostly holding him over the sink in the bathroom. (then I clean the sink each time, no worries!) It's hard to hold him over the actual toilet and if I'm not comfortable I give up too early. Over the sink I have fun flirting with him in the mirror and singing to him
Other: We are having great luck with poops, like I catch 98% of them. He always goes in the morning first thing. Sometimes at other times but I can tell beforehand. I swear, I have intuition about it. And I'm not a naturally very in-tune intuition type of person! Pee-pee we're more casual about. He's nakey at home a lot, I try him after naps and after taking him out of his sling. when his Dad is home, he's very good about taking him every 45 min or so when we're just spending the day at home.
When we're out I hardly ever try him but I'd like to start that soon.
 
#156 ·
Name: Keri-Ann
Partner: Nick
EC'd baby: Besnik (8.18.08)
ECing since: yesterday!
Other kids: none
Diapers: he's been hanging around in prefolds without covers and BumGenius at night
Potty: a big pot until our BBLP arrives; he gets a little freaked out when I hold him over the toilet or sink -- we're still working on that
Other: I was a little afraid to get started but we caught 7 pees yesterday just through timing and giving him lots of opportunities and, you all were right, it IS addictive!
 
#158 ·
Name: Christina
Partner: Alex
EC'd babe(s): Lyra, 12 months
EC'ing since: 3 weeks
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): Cloth prefolds with a velcro-affixed cover, double stuffed pockets at night
Favorite 'potty': Regular toilet with me or DH sitting backwards. She had a BBLP but stopped using it, and has a bigger potty but doesn't care for it much either.
Other info: We've had days with nary a miss (almost) and days where we change 12 diapers. It depends on how we're feeling. Lyra wakes up dry unless she sleeps extra long. I'm really enjoying EC and I think it's because I don't expect to catch every pee. I do wish she'd start signaling her poop again (we've had issues since solids/becoming mobile).
 
#159 ·
Name: Mellissa
Partner: Ant
EC'd babe: Luke 2 weeks
EC'ing since: birth
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): Anything absorbent held loosely under the bottom without a wrap. Waterproof sheet on the bed covered with a square terry at night. Use disposables at night when I need sleep, but that's not working because he wakes immediately after every pee.
Favorite 'potty': The bathroom basins and a round plastic tub that fits between my legs when breastfeeding. Sometimes on the toilet when I go.
Other info: Amazing how early I could start reading the signals! I never expected to, was just planning on watching and catching everything on the cloth and putting more effort into it later. But we get most of the wees into the sink and a lot of the poos. Started off with so much laundry (clothes, bedding, nappies, towels) but now MUCH less and starting to feel like a good idea and not craziness. Some people are so sceptical about newborns signalling and being able to hold on, but babies do it.
 
#160 ·
Name: Chrissy
Partner:Erin
EC'd babe(s): Skyy
EC'ing since: One week
Other kids (+ages): just animals
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): At night, cloth, on occasion
Favorite 'potty': small rectangular tupperware, the "tim hortons cup"
Other info:

I'm SOOOOOO happy that we are doing EC! I picked up a book on it while I was pregnant, and was so impressed, that I told my family I was determined to do it. They all laughed! A baby that doesn't wear diapers? As if! They already thought I was crazy planning a home water birth, and baby sign language, but EC they thought was impossible. Boy are they happy now, since they realized they never have to change his diapers! My DH just said last night "You know what, I don't think I even know how to change a diaper!"

One thing I forgot to add: In the beginning, we took is diaper off to pee him. Then after a week of that, we took him out of diapers completely. I did this because I found that having him with NO BACK UP meant I was 200 times more aware, plus, it was easier to see what my husband so fondly calls DW, which stands for Danger Willy. That is when his little penis stands up partially, a sign that pee will soon follow.
 
#161 ·
Hi there
Sending a message all the way from New Zealand. My little son Matai is just over 6 weeks and my husband and I are very committed to EC. We don't know anyone in our community who does it so its been great reading all the comments and getting some ideas and realising that its NOT just us who are struggling! We are getting better during the day at reading his cues however he seems to get quite distressed at times when he needs to go for a wee - in fact that seems to be one of his signals. Seems very distressing to me. We put him in a cloth diaper for his sleeps and take it off when he wakes and do the cues with him then. We have tried sleeping him diaper free but he wakes almost immediately - within 15 minutes screaming as he has just peed. with a cloth diaper on he sleeps 1.5 to 2 hours and is usually awake for about 2 hours at a time. Any hints on what to do? Really want to do the diaper free thing when he sleeps but don't want him to be distressed and don't want him to be awake every 15 mins and getting over tired ( including his parents!) and not wanting to sleep. Seems a vicious circle and wondering if anyone has had a similar situation and what they did about it. Currently he sleeps at night time with us in bed with a couple of cloth diapers changes. We want to get the day time sleeping sorted first and hopefully follow on with the night.
Fantastic that there are so many people committed to this way of listening to your babe and great to have the support. NZ parents are into it too as I have discovered- just hoping to meet some like minded folk in our area
 
#162 ·
Hey there!

Sara 29
TJ 35
Mason 15 mo's

OK can't remember the other questions. EC'ing has been on my list since pregnancy. Today is our first official day as I have finally opened these pages! My son used the potty for the first time at 4 months. I see this as an easy operation as my son WILL NOT go to bathroom any where but toilet, his potty, or most favorable his diaper! (cloth) We do spend lots of naked time and he has maybe peed on the floor twice and he was very mad at me both times!! So yea for mama finally getting off her butt and starting. I'm off to learn!!
 
#163 ·
Name: Terra
Partner: Patrick
EC'd babe(s): Hazel (8 weeks)
EC'ing since: Started when H was 6 weeks
Other kids (+ages): Just the one!
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): Cloth, mix of prefolds and fitteds
Favorite 'potty': Started out being the sink, now I'm enjoying the toilet
Other info: We are accidental part-time ECers. I knew about EC but wrote it off as being too much work. Hazel forced me into it with her obvious cues and general refusal to pee in the diaper. Every day I am shocked by how easy and satisfying ECing is. From day one we have been catching several eliminations a day.... it's magical!!
 
#164 ·
Hi folks!

Name: Kristin
Partner: Isaac
EC'd babe(s): Lea, 10 mos.
EC'ing since: 5.5 mos.
Other kids (+ages): none, but a big white furry one named Daisy-dog.

Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): I was very gung-ho CD all the way at first, but she has a rash issue with covers, and with most synthetics like fuzzibunz, and leak issues in younger days, which all led us to EC. I had heard of it vaguely, but thought it would be too hard for us. Anywho...we mostly use kissaluvs with no covers. And locally made babyboms with kissaluv inserts sometimes too. Since its winter, she wears fleece pants as 'longie' type covers. Also 7th Gen. 'sposies when we go out for very long, and at night. She nurses and pees all night so ECing at night makes NO sense to me!! I need some sleep!

Favorite 'potty': BBLP, little seat on the big toilet, the actual toilet (dh holds her well there, grass in summer.

Other info: I posted here last night about our recent 'regression.' We'd been having success with timing and cueing. Not full time, but PT as is convenient. It's gotten harder with her new mobility. Unfortunately she seems to feel FINE in a wet dipe. Mostly she cries a lot now with diaper and clothing changes, and this includes when we sit her on the potty as well. When we traveled for a week, she refused to poop on the potty (or at all; but we always put her on the potty when she signalled to go) for 7 days (she had been pooping every 2-3 days before that). I finally let her go in her diaper so she could be more comfortable (was getting upset over constipation, if that exists with a bf baby). So, we've been taking it a bit slower lately, but today had success with a poop and even a pee!

I am wondering if 'sposies are helpful in keeping them 'dry' since that seems to be a theme of EC. I know, this may be sacrelige!
 
#165 ·
Name: Amanda
Partner: Jeremy
EC'd babe(s): Grady ~22 months
EC'ing since: birth
Other kids (+ages): just furry ones

Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): During the day, he wears underwear/trainers; at night we use a stuffed imse vimse one-size fitted, pinned, and wool for cover
Favorite 'potty': he uses a regular potty; from about 8 months to recently we had a little baby bjorn add-on toilet seat that allowed him to be on the potty without us holding him. Prior to that, we always just held him in arms over the toilet. Now he can sit unassisted on a regular toilet, though we are still always with him.
Other info: Haven't read through all the previous EC intros yet, but I will come back to it! Love that there is an EC board on here, hard to find EC support it seems.
 
#166 ·
Our little girl refused to go in diapers since she was about a week old, she would wait till the diaper change and then will go. So at about two weeks, we decided to get her a little potty ( it was difficult to find one that would fit her, ha), and from the day one she loved it. Now she fusses and squirms as she needs a diaper change, we take her to a changing table and every time her diaper is dry ( even if it took as a little bit to react, like in the car, driving, it takes at least a few minutes sometimes to get to the stopping place), then we put her on the potty and she goes, both number 1 and number 2. And she is the happiest little soul sitting on the potty. (We support her sitting). We never heard about anything like that, and we never hear even about ECing before even, so it came as a total surpise. We talk to each other that she came potty trained from Heaven. She is a real happy little girl and definetly prefers potty. We are missing one out of about 25 times ( once in a few days), and that is when we were not able to take her to the potty for a long time after she asked, like trying to get off the packed freeway for the longest time... She even wakes up from the deep sleep to potty and then goes straight to sleep, or stopes nursing and starts squirming when she needs to potty...Does anyone else has similar experiemce?
 
#167 ·
Name: Anne
Partner: James
EC'd babe(s): Clementine (almost 5 months)
EC'ing since: last week

Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): right now we are still using prefolds with covers, but I am looking into making some training pants or using AIOs or AI2s without a cover. We are missing so many opportunities to potty when we try to remove cover, snappi, and prefold.

I knew about EC from time spent in China during college, but didn't think I would ever try it for myself. I was reading about it again last week-something clicked. I tried it, and she peed in the potty on the first try! Now we've been catching a lot of pees (and a poo yesterday!). My DH thought I was crazy when he first saw my hold Clementine over the potty, but as soon as she went he couldn't wait to get on the phone and tell everyone he knows about EC! Poor people---I'm not sure the childless amongst them wants a blow-by-blow of her potty activities for the day!
 
#168 ·
Name: Sarah Joy
Partner: Julio
EC'd babe(s): Gabriel, born Jan 10, 2009
EC'ing since: flirted with EC since his birth (cueing when he peed during BFing or when he pooped), starting in earnest just before 2 months (using timing, cueing, and lots of nakey time)
Other kids (+ages): none
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): CDs when out of the house - usually prefolds in Bummis SWWs or Kushies AIOs. At home we are using Motherease OSs (aside from nakey time) because I can leave the covers off for more immediate awareness/action. He is used to a dry diaper, so fusses right away when he pees.
Favorite 'potty': I've been using prefolds when I am nursing and we are also starting to use the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. His first "caught" poop in the potty was when I first posted this (3/3/09)!
Other info: My best friend from elementary school started ECing when her daughter (now 7 years old) was born and I was fascinated to hear about it - she inspired me to read Diaper Free! and be prepared for ECing my own baby.

I am a perfectionist so this is hard for me... I am trying not to obsess over ECing, but still focus on it. Hard balance! My other friend who has successfully EC'ed tells me that I'm doing just fine and the best thing is just to relax and enjoy the process. I guess it's good to remember that there's no deadline and that he'll most certainly be diaper free before anyone else his age!

Our current stage: I generally hold him over a prefold while I'm nursing and make our cueing noise ("pssst") when he pees. But he does spend most of his days and all of his nights in cloth diapers - I'm leery of putting him in the sling without a diaper cover. Not sure why since he's dry I'd say 90% of the time when I get him out! Most of his poops we've caught; they've either been while he was nursing over a prefold or he waited until we were already changing his diaper to let loose!
 
#169 ·
Hello!! I just discovered EC yesterday as I was thinking to myself "there has to be a way to live with a baby without a diaper on. My LO is sooo much happier when bare bummed! So we're starting EC today. Ophelia is 3.5 months.

Name: Julia
Partner: Antoine
EC'd babe(s): just starting with Ophelia
EC'ing since: today, yesterday if you count researching it
Other kids (+ages): not yet
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): we have been cloth diapering and will continue to use them at night and out of the house until I figure that all out!!
Favorite 'potty': plastic kitchen bowl so far
Other info:
 
#170 ·
Name: Janis
Partner: Phil
EC'd babe(s): Zoe, born 1/9/09
EC'ing since: Monday ...
Other kids (+ages): DD1 9yo - in diapers til 4yo, night time til 6yo - DD2 5yo - woke up dry consistently starting about 12mon, mostly toilet learned at 15mon
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): cloth
Favorite 'potty': me holding over toilet for now but looking at http://www.amazon.com/Primo-792Y-PRI...5632937&sr=8-6
Other info: this is something i've known about since DD2, who slept naked for awhile at this age, but since i worked full-time (with her), it just wasn't practical to implement. when she showed awareness of potty and wanted to use it at an early age, we were very excited. i don't like 'potties' - since i really don't need another item to clean, but i'm willing to try if it makes it easier for the baby. (DD2 used a cushioned seat that she carried with her for over a year, so she could use any toilet anywhere)
 
#171 ·
Name:carrie
Partner:none at present
EC'd babe(s):my oldest dd is a graduate, we went diaperfree at 4 months, though I began EC at 2 weeks. dd2 i started EC right after the meconium was done, and she is frequently diaperfree and has been since 1 month old.
EC'ing since: oops i answered above... since 2 wks with dd1, and 3 days old with dd2.
Other kids (+ages):just the 2 dds
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?)I have cloth- prefolds and birdseyes. I have one fuzzibunz cover and 7 Bummis Super Whisper Wraps. I used disposables at first with both becasue I was just soooooo tired. but i am proud i used less of them with this dd! I am soon to be totally diaperless because dd2 is really big, so they look like they are getting too small for her already and i feel the wraps impede her learning to roll and crawl, not to mention our ECing...
Favorite 'potty': i use the BBLP almost exclusively at this size.
Other info: i wish everyone could EC! So many people talk about their baby crying at this or that at a few months old and i know part of it, at least, is the child trying to tell the parent to take that big thing off their behind so they can pee or poop. I try to spread the word every way i can

If we are to assign ourselves to a group I would be in the

Gurus (EC'ing 12 months or more) group...
 
#172 ·
Name: Heather
Partner: N/A
EC'd babe(s): Terran, born 1/19/08
EC'ing since: birth
Other kids (+ages): Phoenix, age 21, lost custody when she was 6 months old, f; Jeanita, age 20, out of dipes by 2 1/2ish daytime, longer at night; Christopher, age 17 who tried singlehandedly to teach me about EC from the time he was 6 months old, out of daytime dipes before his 2nd birthday
Diapers: Mostly just out of the house, since we have hardwood floors and I'm not grossed out by baby pee.
I had diaper service for the older kids and sew and wash my own for Terran. I can do ultra-cheap with flats from old flannel sheets and covers from leftover scraps of fleece, but I also have two fuzzibuns so i don't sound like an idiot when I talk to sposie-users who'd be grossed out by flats and covers and I figure the mobility potty pause will be done when I finish making a few of my own toddler-sized wool covers and some trim and comfy bamboo and hemp prefolds.
Favourite potty: it's changed as he grows; he loved his BBLP from the time he first became mobile until potty strike and for some reason the sink at my office job is better than any other sink in the world.
Other info: We're very relaxed and I don't think we qualify as "gurus" despite how long we've been doing this. I WOH and have other responsibilities so I have had to give up some dreams and preconcieved notions and be happy that i met my most important EC goal and saved this kid from the rashes his siblings had to endure and that babywearing never had to be sacrificed for nekkie-butt time.

My floors are easier to clean than my clothing, so I'm okay with "put me down! I have to pee!" and "I'm pooping! Come get a diaper and clean it up before I step in it!" and he still manages to communicate both of those sentiments to me just fine in spite of his potty pause.

Terran may not be a poster child at the moment, but I am SO GLAD we did this instead of just putting the dipe on and buying a zillion diaper rash products that don't work.
 
#173 ·
Name: Jennifer
Husband: Mark
EC'd babe(s): Patience (4 months old)
EC'ing since: 3 months
Other kids (+ages): Bradford-11 Benjamin-9 Nathaniel-7 Grace-4 Sadie/Sophie-2
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): whatever is cheap. i use them all the time, but I look forward to the day we use less/none
Favorite 'potty': sink, toilet, Baby Bjorn
Other info: this is the first time we are doing ec. I was preparing to do it with child #5, but when the surprise #6 child came at the same time, I was overwhelmed enough with twins and didn't pursue it. Very happy with our progress.
 
#175 ·
Name: Erynne
Partner: Chris
EC'd babe(s): Jacob (almost 7wk)
EC'ing since: 5/11/09
Other kids (+ages): None -only the baby
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): Cloth (mostly FuzziBunz). Sposies if we're out and about. Prefolds for him to sit on for nakkie time.
Favorite 'potty': Just purchased the BBLP and a Potty Bowl... have been using bathroom sink, toilet, prefolds laid on top of a gallon freezer bag, a plastic bowl... he'll go anywhere, as long as he's held in position.
Other info: Relevant to EC? Not really! Random? I'm a dog trainer! *L*

- E
 
#176 ·
Hi all! Thought I'd say hello before I post my specific question.

Name: Leah
Partner: Mike
EC'd babe(s): Jane (3 months old)
EC'ing since: 4 weeks
Other kids (+ages): Andrew, just turned 2
Diapers (use 'em? what sort? how often?): Regular prefolds, no covers (although I have them), sposies when we're out.
Favorite 'potty': The potty insert for the potty that my son doesn't use. The pour spout works really well for emptying it. We also like the sink.
Other info: We're really going through ups and downs with EC, especially since I'm now "potty training" my son. We never did EC with him per se, but we've done our best to keep him otherwise aware of his potty needs. He randomly decided he was done with diapers a few weeks after his 2nd b-day! I feel like I'm thinking about someone going potty all day long.

This is a great site! I can't wait to jump in.
 
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