No Life

1047 Views 21 Replies 14 Participants Last post by 2Late2BCreative, Apr 1, 2006

ddschlr

Discussion Starter · Mar 27, 2006

I recently read the little blurb on ec in Parenting Mag. Why is it that all press has to make it sound like you spend your life running back and forth to the bathroom? They always makes it seem like a daunting task.

It just drives me a little crazy.

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

tippie

· #2 · Mar 28, 2006

Yeah, I read that, too. It always bugs me when they talk about how it's "parent training." They say it as if parents aren't trained to respond to their children's other needs like hunger cues.

I mean, I can see how some might get really frustrated, but they don't even present it as a viable option.

sarajane

· #3 · Mar 28, 2006

Yeah, really, drives me crazy too. Most people already have a negative outlook about it as it is, they sure don't need to put more negative thoughts in their heads.

I had my sister-in-law look at my baby several times while she asked me questions about my putting her on the potty and tell her "You are a strange baby!" This was in my response to telling her about her actually liking sitting on the big potty all by herself. Made me mad, my baby isn't strange, she pees and poos just like the rest of us.

2Late2BCreative

· #4 · Mar 28, 2006

Strange baby??!! What does she mean by that?? So insulting! I totally agree...wth....she pees and poops on the potty like the rest of us. What's strange about that?? It really irritates me that there are any negative comments about EC since essentially what we're doing is speeding up a process that will eventually take place. No one says a kid who can read at 3 years old is "strange"...they say she's a genius! So.....figure out the conclusion....our EC babes are geniuses!!

See less See more

trmpetplaya

· #5 · Mar 28, 2006

3

: I spent WAY more time pottying myself in my last trimester of pregnancy than I spend pottying my 4 month old... it was only the first 5 weeks that she really peed/pooped a ton and who goes out and leads a "normal" life before a month or two pp anyhow? I was recovering from a kidney infection and managed to EC from birth... it's not that terribly time-consuming

love and peace.

See less See more

rumi

· #6 · Mar 28, 2006

yeah i think in the glossy commercial world that most of the media inhabit, "Life" requires that you use bottles, diapers, cribs AND tons of belted furnishings. You will find people saying of bf, fb, bw that they interfere with your "life" as well. Small surprise they feel threatened by ec. If we just followed our baby's leads from birth then WHAT ON EARTH would we be buying and how could they publish their magazines????

AmyB

· #7 · Mar 29, 2006

I think rumi hit the nail on the head.

Conventional potty training is the result of marketing, and EC doesn't provide much to market. I have a friend who is currenly stuggling to potty train her 4 year old, while my EC baby has been potty independent since she was 17 months old. If everybody did EC the disposable diaper market would be crushed.

The thing that most irritates me is that the media always discusses totally diaper-free EC implying that the parent must be constantly vigilant or else get pee'd on. I think that EC with a diaper back-up is more practical for most U.S. moms, but you never ever see any suggestion of giving it a try.

--AmyB

hummingbear

· #8 · Mar 29, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmyB
If everybody did EC the disposable diaper market would be crushed.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

See less See more

2Late2BCreative

· #9 · Mar 29, 2006

2

I also think people think it's SO time consuming. I would really like to see how much time it takes for me to potty DS and compare that to the time it takes someone to change a dirty diaper....especially a poop diaper. I can't imagine there is much of a difference in time....BUT..with that said, it is far more time consuming to actually take your babe to the potty when they need/want to go. That is the time consuming part, but imo very well worth the time. I suppose many people who poo-poo (no pun intended

) on EC would rather let their babe pee several times before changing them. I used to be one of those people. I did not EC my DD (shock....I am still baffled at why I was not more open-minded bc I thought I was then....you know, BF, EBF, co-sleeping, etc). So, people think it's so time consuming bc with EC you do have to take the time to take babe potty. Either way....I am so happy that we EC'd DS. I have seen leaps and bounds in just the last few months and I really love the looks on people's faces when DS says he needs to go potty.

Totally agree with the marketing stuff too...can you imagine if EC really took off?? I mean really started to make a dent?? Just like breastfeeding....not much money to be made off of human milk or getting babe to put pees and poops in the potty. Maybe charmin would see an increase in sales?!

See less See more

caedmyn

· #10 · Mar 29, 2006

In all honesty, though, it often seems to me that I am forever pottying my DD--it does take up a pretty good chunk of my day. It's mostly because I'm not great at reading her signs, so I frequently end up trying to potty her every 5 minutes or so, and since she can often go 40-50 minutes between pottys, that adds up to a lot of time taking her potty. I probably should obsess about it a little less and only take her when I really REALLY think she needs to go, but then I get frustrated when she pottys and I didn't think she needed to go...sigh. I guess if I weren't so anal about it it would be a lot easier!

hummingbear

· #11 · Mar 29, 2006

$&yn]I guess if I weren't so anal about it it would be a lot easier![/QUOTE]

Ah yes. Something I got the hang of far later than I would have liked.

Can you go for a day without prompting her and see what her timing is?

See less See more

trmpetplaya

· #12 · Mar 29, 2006

2

nak

Greed and money, fo' sho'! Why Mothering hasn't done a story about it.... stupid consumerism... dh said he thought it took lots of STUFF to raise a kid till he met me

We really haven't had to buy anything...

love and peace.

See less See more

Vaquitita

· #13 · Mar 29, 2006

i read that article, it really annoyed me! and after talking about ec like it was SO time consuming and how you are constantly running to the bathroom and always covered in pee, the writer talks about spending lots of time in the bathroom and doing lots of laundry (the kids AND yours) while doing regular potty training. so either way you're doing those things, its just a matter of at what age.

caedmyn

· #14 · Mar 30, 2006

I really don't prompt her...I mean I do take her but she won't go unless she really really has to...as evidenced by me taking her, keeping on the potty for a couple of minutes with her giving no indication that she needs to go (often she will grunt when she is trying to go), and then 2 minutes after I put her down she goes. Timing is a bit of a problem--on average she goes 40 minutes between pees, but there's always a couple of times a day where she goes twice in 10-15 minutes, plus once or twice a day when she goes an hour or more between pees...so I've pretty much given up on timing except when we're out and about--then it works pretty well and I swear she makes more of an attempt to hold it when we're outside the house.

rumi

· #15 · Mar 30, 2006

Quote:

so I've pretty much given up on timing except when we're out and about--then it works pretty well and I swear she makes more of an attempt to hold it when we're outside the house.

we always did better out of the house too. i think that when things are interesting then pee takes a back seat as it were. i woudl so often notice that dd would need to go as soon as we got home. in fact, to my amazement, at the age of 6 months, before we were really ec'ing on purpose, she would often pee right before we left the house. i was using cd/no cover most of the time so i did know exactly when she peed, and therefore changed her right away. it often happened that between getting her ready and then me getting my shoes on, she would wet her cd. it was like she knew this was her chance to pee and get changed before we went out. and when we were out either i would make sure she was on an acceptable surface or i would use a cover but she would be dry even for several hours until we got home and then as soon as we got settled in the house, she would relieve herself.

regarding spending lots of time with ec, there sure were days i felt like it was taking all my time too. but it is kind of the same with the other stuff too. if i werent so sure about family bed there may have been days i would have wondered why i am doing this when others are just using cribs, etc ...i really do believe that it is not only what is best for my child, which woudl be reason enough to do it, but it really does save time in the medium run (1 or 2 or 3 yrs or whenever you think the "normal" PT age would have been) and i also believe it has benefits in the long run though of course there is no guarantee but it makes sense to me anyway that it would...

See less See more

orangefoot

· #16 · Mar 31, 2006

I've been thinking about this too. I'm planning to EC our new babe in September and I've mentioned it to a few friends - some more crunchy than others!

I thinking about how long it takes I think if you compare it to bf - you get a sign, you feed the baby which can take a good while in the beginning. How can catching a pee or poo take any longer than bf? Cleaning a sticky pooey bum takes ages and you need to have everything to hand to sort it so I can see big advantages to catching poos!

Dd hasn't pooed in a nappy since about 13 months nor peed since 17 months(I came to this late

) and I'm so happy that she has made it to 3 without having to have the indignity of poo stuck to her bum every day for the last 18 months or so as many of her peers have.

See less See more

tash11

· #17 · Apr 1, 2006

yeah it might take more time if you take the baby to the potty twice in the same hour, then not again for 3 more hours, instead of changing a dirty diper every 4 hours or whatever.

for me bfing takes waaaayy more time then ecing. at first it was like 25 hours a day to bf. Now with ec most of the ones that I catch are when I also have to go (and I drink a lot). So the time it takes is the same as changing a diaper.

I was watching this show the other day where this mom was trying to potty train her twin toddlers. The kids just thought it was fun to run around naked, and started peeing all over the house. they got it everywhere and didnt even notice or care. the mom was very frustrated, especilly when the kids started throwing stuff likes books into the puddels. Now I do use diapers almost all the time (she will sometimes 'air out' on the changing pad on the floor with a pre-fold under her). But when they are small and cant run around the house less stuff is going to get peed on anyway.

The only people who arent 'parent trained' are the ones that keep to a strict scedual. the ones that feed at certain times for a certain amount of time. The ones that scedual out nap time, change time, and even cuddle time. sure that might be more conveint to a modern lifestyle, but it doesnt make much sence.

and really when you think about it, over the long run do you spend more time on ec in the first 5 years, or do you spend more time messing with diapers and then training? When my kid is 3 she will be able to take herself to the potty with little to no help from me. While my non-ecing friends will still be working on the potty thing, chasing a much more mobile kid around trying to get them to understand the whole potty concept.........

See less See more

rishmommy

· #18 · Apr 1, 2006

I can tell you from experience that it is MUCH EASIER to EC than to pt later. We have been trying to pt my son, who is now 4.5 and still has accidents, since he was 18 months old. Oh, how I wish I had EC'd him. I didn't really plan on ECing my dd either; but I just followed her lead and I am soooo glad. I can't tell you how many poopy underwear I have had to rinse out and it stinks, literally and figuratively. Not to mention, all the time I have have spent trying to make him understand that you don't just "go" on yourself. I feel like I have created a monster sometimes. So, I just LOVE the idea of EC, my dh does too - his first comment was, "Think of the money we'll save!" We do cloth diaper; but we are still buying pull ups for my son at night and have been for about two years, WHAT A WASTE (literally and figuratively) of money!!!!

sapphire_chan

· #19 · Apr 1, 2006

Rishmommy. I hope that watching his little sister helps your son with his potty learning.

See less See more

tash11

· #20 · Apr 1, 2006

2

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarajane
....I had my sister-in-law look at my baby several times while she asked me questions about my putting her on the potty and tell her "You are a strange baby!" ....me mad, my baby isn't strange, she pees and poos just like the rest of us.

next time she is in the bathroom at your house go over and say "You are a strange sil!"

See less See more

1 - 20 of 22 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.