[artparent]

mine is 16 months. about half of the time she will sign 'toilet' and say 'puh puh' when she needs to go, and will shake her head 'no' if i ask her and she doesn't need to go. she likes to pretend to wipe her own bum, and is interested in the toilet, will ask to sit on it just for fun. she gets down rather than peeing on anyone, and tries not to pee on the couch either. night time is usually totally dry, sometimes she needs to pee and about 75% of the time that's on the bblp. i started at birth and am sometimes surprised that she's at the same point as her sister was at this age, having begun at 8 months...however she didn't get her first tooth til 1, so is very busy with that! we are heading to europe at her 18 mos and i am hoping she'll be done...it would be great to take less clothing! it has been such a beautiful process, we've really enjoyed it.

how are things with yours?

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[eirual]

Funny you post this now, because now that I think of it, it's been almost exactly a year since we started (at 5.5mos...oh wait, that makes it exactly 10 mos

....oh well!)

This week has been a big week for us. DS has come and got me when he needs to pee a bunch of times in the past few days. We took a bit of a nakey-bum break over the past few months- only being naked at home and through the night (diapered at daycare and when out visiting the grandparents' on the weekends). Up until a couple weeks ago he had been dry at night for over a month and on a very regular basis before that. It seems he's wet almost everynight for the past couple weeks though (not sure why).

We've always caught the first pee in the morning, and been nakey at home, but in a way I feel like we've taken a break from EC lately. I'm feeling now though, that we're starting a new chapter and going full-speed ahead (although nightime's a little off, I'm sure we'll get back on track with it eventually) I'm really looking forward to warmer weather and being done school so I can really spend some more time with him, and re-gain the progress we had made before the craziness started in September.

 

[weliveintheforest]

I'm pleased with how things are going, although I doubt we will be done with diapers soon. Sometimes we will have a really great day and I will think diapers are almost done, but then other days we have lots of misses. I'm loving that she can tell us 'pee' and 'poo' when she has to go, it has made life much easier!

 

[Daffodil]

John is 15.5 months, and we've been doing EC since he was about 2 weeks old. We're still behind where his sister was at the same age, but I'm pretty pleased with how things are going. He's generally willing to sit on the potty whenever I want him to, unless he really doesn't need to go. In the last few weeks, he's started saying "poop" a lot of the time, either just as he's starting to pee or poop, or just after (or before he even starts, with poop.) Sometimes he'll come to me from another room to tell me "poop." (He says "poop" whether he's peeing or pooping.)

Even on our best days, we typically have at least one missed pee, and some days we have a lot, but I usually use diapers only at night. Training pants (especially with fleece pants or a waterproof cover over them) usually keep the pee contained well enough. (This seems to be a big difference between girls and boys - when Lindy peed in her training pants, we'd often have puddles.) Days when we're out and about are generally when we have the fewest misses. When we're home all day, sometimes it seems like I miss more than I catch, though I'm sure I could do a lot better if I didn't have the distraction of an older kid to take care of. We've had a few dry nights, but he seems to pee at least once almost every night, and doesn't like the idea of being taken out of bed to pee, so for now I'm mostly just letting him use his diaper at night.

 

[tsfairy]

DS is 19mo now and we started at 2.5 months, so wow almost 17 months of EC under our belts! It's been a really fun ride so far, and it's not over yet.

DS had to be hospitalized in January for a week after being ill for several weeks. He was on IV fluids and simply *couldn't* control his bladder, so we started using disposable pull-ups while we were in the hospital. We're still relying pretty heavily on them almost 2 months later, because when we're out, unless we're visiting family, we have to rely on waterproofing (which right now is the pull-ups because they're the trimmest thing I can find) because he simply will not potty anywhere but his little potty in a bathroom that he's familiar with. I'm hoping sometime soon he will be interested in the big potty, but I'm not pushing it right now. Though it is a little frustrating (and expensive!) to have to rely on pull-ups when we're away from home. Any tips to get him interested in using the potty away from home? I need to come up with a waterproofing solution other than the pull-ups...

He's usually nakey-bum at home, and we have anywhere from as few as 1 miss per day to as few as 1 catch per day. Diet seems to play a big role in how well he signals and how well he can hold it afterwards. He has some sensitivities that I'm trying to work out, plus high-water foods like grapes and melon always cause problems.

Somewhere around 2 months ago he started using the potty sign, which was a fantastic leap for him and led to some interesting developments...

First, unfortunately I think I started relying on HIM to give me a clear sign, and stopped relying on MY intuition and timing as much as I used to. I was really surprised to realize how much I was relying on intuition and timing before DS started signing. People used to ask me how I knew he had to go potty and I never could tell them... well now I realize that's because I was using my intuition and some very subtle signals.

I was quite sick for a week or so last month, and DS quickly figured out that even if I felt too crappy to get up for much of anything, I'd still jump for the potty sign... so he began to sign for the potty when what he really wanted was for me to get up and play with him.

: Needless to say, he got the attention he needed, but also a gentle reminder that the potty sign is for when he needs to use the potty.

Now, he'll use the potty sign sometimes to get out of bed when it's naptime or bedtime and he doesn't want to stop playing. I never force bedtime of course, but I do ask now, "do you really need to potty or do you want to play? because it's time to sleep now..." He usually responds by either climbing out of bed and actually going to the potty, or settling down and going to sleep.

He's been really resisting wake-up pees sometimes, which leads to a miss just a few minutes later of course. I'm noticing that when he's really resistant, it's usually because he wants to head for the kitchen instead of the potty. He's been nursing a lot less due to my pregnancy, and I think I'm finally figuring out that he's just THAT hungry when he wakes up, so that pottying takes a backseat to his hunger. Once he's eaten something he'll usually go pee just fine, if he hasn't already had a miss on the kitchen floor. Maybe I need to keep a snack by the bed?

Other than all that... we're doing great! I love EC.

 

[artparent]

oh, this is so great to hear! lots of developments. anyone else ec-ing a one+ year old? i like to hear what things look like, it helps me get some perspective.

we had a funny twist yesterday, the babe started saying 'pa pa' for opa, her grandfather, and it sounds so much like what she says for pottying, i was in confusion all day!

for waterproofing, we use an absorbent flannel pad, held inside a pair of underwear, inside a wool soaker or longies that have been lanolised.

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[suprgrl]

DS (nearly 16mo) is in underwear/training pants 99% of the time. We have not had a poopy diaper in months (since probably 8mo). We have pee misses, but the last month or so has been great! Maybe 3 misses a week. He is really good at communicating when he needs to go. No signing or words yet, but he goes to the bathroom door or starts pointing in that direction. If he doesn't need to go he shakes his head no when I ask. He holds it well at night too. Once in a while I have to take him to the potty at 4am cause he starts pointing toward the bathroom, or just being really restless.
It is so nice to just be able to run him in the bathroom quick when we're out and not have to wrestle with changing tables and diapers! Especially the poopy ones!
Oh, we started EC when he was about 2weeks and he really seemed to get it from the start. Of course it has been back and forth with lapses when he was learning to crawl and walk. Right now we are in a good stride and I am soooo enjoying it!

 

[LeslieB]

DS is almost 13 months. We started ECing when he was 4 weeks old. He's still in diapers, but things are going pretty well. I'm starting to catch a lot more pees than before, but it is still really hard. With the warmer weather coming, though, I'm hoping that will make it easier.
DS just recently started answering "yes" (well, his yes sound

) when I ask him if he has to go poo and he does. So that was really cool. Sometimes, he will actually go to the bathroom door when he has to go poo. We had a big miss today, though. Well, it wasn't actually a "miss". He had to go poo so I took him and he went then said he was all done (with his all done sound). Not 5 minutes later he had exploded in his diaper, and oh my god, when you are not used to changing poo diapers, they are SO MESSY! AAHHH! So I think he thought he was done pooing, but wasn't and probably just hit him and he went. Ah, but oh well. What can you do?
He pees a lot in bottles when we're out. I've noticed he likes to pee standing up so this works great. He's been pretty dry most nights, but he will pee as soon as he wakes up, soaking himself, if I don't get him on the potty quickly.
I kind of feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel and have to remember that even though he's still in diapers, he's still very aware of his elimination. I'm so glad that we learned of EC and have been doing it. I think it's been such a special gift to him.

 

[geekmoma]

We started EC when DD was 8 months old, and now she's almost 20 months old. From 8 to 14 months it was not really a smooth ride: she had ups and downs including a long on-and-off potty break somewhere around her birthday.

Our big breakthrough was when she was 16 months old. All of a sudden she gained great control for pee, and would try to go everytime I put her on the potty. That lasted around 1 months, and then she started adding toddler's resistance in to everything including potty, so it was again not linear progression. But over all, since 4 months, things has been going positively and now we have in average 2-3 misses per 24 hours.

When I analyze our misses, 90% of the time is 1-2 hours after she has her 6-oz of milk. Her system seems not being able to treat such a big amount of liquid, and it just comes without she having the time to signal. For now I just try to remember to bring her to potty after she has milk: I don't think she'll be happy if I stop giving her milk!

We don't know when she'll be a grad, but we don't really mind. We are totally capable of handling 2 misses per day. I've been enjoying EC a lot, specially the fact that DH and I were able to response to her need. It's the same satisfaction as looking at her eating food she likes: she would just eat and eat with great smile in her face.... talking about the joy of parenting!

So very happy here, no regrets at all.

 

[arimama]

we started at 6 weeks and had great success untill about 10 months when DD started to resist being taken to the potty. I eventually just started using diapers again. If i noticed her pooping I would take her dipe of and take her to the potty to finish. She occassionally peed in the bjorn potty, but I pretty much considered us dropouts

Then suddenly at 16 months she began showing interest in the potty again. She started telling me right after she peed, than pretty soon started telling me RIGHT before, but not in time to get to the potty. About 2 weeks after she began to show interest again, I decided to just stop putting diapers on her. She had about 3 misses that week and she now uses the potty 100% of the time since! actually we use dipapers as a backup at night.
I am shocked that shes diaper free at her age after our VERY long "strike"
I think it really paid off to continue talking about the potty even when she ws wearing diapers all the time, and taking her to the toilet for poops helped retain her awareness of where poo and pee should go. I just had to wait for when she wanted to stop wearing diapers.
Its so strange that people really dont believe kids have the ability to "potty train" before like 3 years old.
I was at the bookstore the other day and picked up a parenting book. A mother asked a question about when to start PT her 19 month old. The "expert" said that A child has NO awareness of bodily function at that age and advised the mom to wait untill 2.5-3 years old.
My hubby and I had a good laugh.

 

[artparent]

16 mos has been momentuous for both of my girls.. my first finished at that time after starting at 8 months old...following one month strike. you are persistent, it is great you were patient throughout. every babe is so different! my second has daily breakthroughs in communication..i spotted a new tooth coming in today, so i am eager to see how things will be when she is no longer working that out.

these are wonderful stories!

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