[liza-s]

Okay, I am a few months from this but it is 2:30 am and I can't sleep.

My 11 mo. son is pt-ec'd. We're okay at home but he's at daycare 3 days a week & in disposable diapers there. He has a latex allergy and I have to use 7th Gen or Tushies and they are just ridiculously expensive. I had previously hoped to have him diaper free between 15 & 18 months - I'm now even more motivated. I know daycare will work with me, but they are not used to working with kids under 2 for potty learning. He is now is the 1 year old room (8-12 kids, 4:1 ratio).

Any advice from wise experience mommas? Thanks.

 

[lovebeingamomma]

you can work all you want on it, but if they're not ready, they're not ready. FINALLY, my 2 year old is telling me often that she needs to go, and waking up dry, but this isn't something that I could force on her, even though I've been EC'ing her since 7 mo's...so just keep at it, and try to be diaper-free as much as you can at home to save some $. Just don't beat yourself up or set too high of a goal, as they all go at they're own pace.

 

[duckpond]

It might be cheaper in the long run to buy several AIO's for daycare and just continue to EC him at home. I know that doesn't address your real question, but it is super hard for daycares to have really early potty-trained kids. Most baby/toddler rooms just aren't set up for it, and it messes with ratios to send the kid to another room to potty. The daycares I've worked in were not supportive below age 2.

 

[Vortexing]

I have to say that I don't think diaper free (or at least the rarely wetting a diaper) is not a crazy goal for 15 mths - between 12 mths and 15 mths our DD went from us relying on timing mostly to hardly wetting any trainers/pants. BUT we EC'd full time, from birth, and only had DH or I watching her, so like the PP, I wouldn't beat yourself up about it if it doesn't happen.

I'd send him in cloth to daycare so he knows he's wet. Alternating between ECing and disposables, I think, is just biting yourself in the a$$ - too many mixed signals (either peeing in a potty, OR not really being able to tell he wet the diaper). It'd be easier to get your daycare to do cloth with him than try to have them help him GENTLY learn to use the potty. Their version of "potty training" may not necessarily be the same as yours. If he at least was in cloth, it'd save you some $$ in the long run, AND he'd have more connection with his elimination b/c he'd know when he's wet.

Good luck!

 

[schendledecker]

i agree with all the OPs. i've bought a few bumgenious, which seem to work pretty well with the CD and EC challenged people in our life.

on the other hand, i have a friend who has had the support of her nursery with EC/potty learning for her son who just turned 2. i think he started nursery PT about 6 months ago. he uses cloth backup all the time and still needs lots of assistance, but apparently they've been very supportive.

 

[Ophelia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vortexing Alternating between ECing and disposables, I think, is just biting yourself in the a$$ - too many mixed signals (either peeing in a potty, OR not really being able to tell he wet the diaper). It'd be easier to get your daycare to do cloth with him than try to have them help him GENTLY learn to use the potty.

I've had plenty of experience with part-time EC and disposables. My son was in cloth for a while, but it gave him terrible rashes so I had to use disposable - as backup at home, and full-time in daycare. I would not discourage someone from EC'ing just because they have to use disposables, either part-time or full-time.

I will say that in my experience, it did not 'confuse' my son. I EC'd at home enough, so that he always kept his sense of awareness. I do however, wonder if it has 'delayed' potty-independence, which he has not acheived at 2.5yo despite being part-time EC'd since 2mo. I'll never really know if disposables had anything to do with it, but could be. Either that or he just doesn't care when he goes in his pants (yuck).

Also, I think you would be hard-pressed to find a big-operation daycare center that will agree to use cloth. They usually have some 'rule' against it. In-home daycare are usually more lenient about it, from what I've heard and experienced.

 

[pixiepunk]

Do you have a good sense of his timing? i think the best thing to do, if the daycare is receptive, is to simply ask them to offer him the potty at specific times during the day - working with them if they say it's a particularly bad time (like right in the middle of a particular activity). if he knows he's going to get the opportunity, it's very likely that he'll wait for it and they'll be able to put his same diaper back on. i've been amazed and impressed with my 7 mo when she is in the childcare at the wellness center where i work - if i potty her before we leave the house, she almost always stays dry until i get her after my class. it's probably about 2.5 hours between potty opportunities, and normally at home she'd never go that long without peeing. she also adapted to our switch in morning routine when DD1 started school in september. for a while there, she was pooping and peeing in the car on the way home from the school. every single morning. but then she started to realize that i would offer her the potty in like 2 minutes, if she could just hold it (i pottied her when i got home every time, even if she'd clearly just gone). and within about a month, she stopped going in her diaper and it's incredibly rare now. so i guess i'm just saying that they do adapt to situations - if he figures out that he's going to get opportunities throughout the day, he might very well be able to hold it for those opportunities.

i agree that cloth is better if it's allowed (ideally some cloth trainers that are waterproof), but if it's not, are there any sposie pull-ups that would fit your DS? it would be easier for them to potty him if they could pull everything down vs. removing a diaper and then having to put it back on. and you want it to be as easy as possible so they actually do it. and in my very limited experience with sposies, there isn't much, if any, difference in absorbency between the diapers and the pull-ups.