Are there any pottiers out there? We've been ECing for 3 mo now and it is great!

What is your favorite carrier for easy ECing? I like my MTs when at home because I don't have to worry about dragging straps in the bathroom. I just made a pouch so I think this is going to be my new favorite because I can leave it on and it doesn't get in the way. I'm looking forward to making my stretchy one because it seems like it would be easier to get the baby in and out.

Hope to hear from other ECers! Are you all in hiding?

Liane and Micah

Hi Liane!

I do not EC but I am interested in learning more.  How old is Micah?  Can you tell me more about how you started EC'ing?  Thanks!

 

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Angie

Mom to Brady (4.04) and another little bun in the oven EDD 9.14.06

Micah just turned 5 mo this week. We have been ECing since she was 8 weeks. It was difficult at the beginning because she peed like 20+ times a day, but now we have her patterns down and it is much easier. When we first started I just tried holding her over a bowl after nursing and right after waking up and she would usually pee, it was so fun that we just kept trying all the time and eventually I could tell when she fussed that meant she had to go. It really helped with calming her overall fussiness and now she sleeps great. When she wakes up even a little it usually means she has to pee. Now she is dry at night (if I wake up soon enough to take her to the potty), and it is great not having to use so many diapers. It is pretty difficult when we go out, though, people look at us weird on the side of the road--ha ha ha.

Hope that helps!

Liane

Not to sound like a complete novice, but what is EC? It sounds interesting and something I would like to possbibly try with our little one.

Hi Kristen!

I am not very familiar with EC myself, but at least I can provide a short answer. It stands for "elimination communication" and it basically teaches baby how to communicate to you when they need to go to the bathroom.

I hope someone chimes in here on the benefits, because I'm not completely sold on it, relatives think I'm weird enough that I use cloth diapers, lol.

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Angela
Mama to Satori (11/04)

Hi all!

We have been ecing since birth and started having some success around 6 weeks. At 3 months I catch maybe 60-80% per day. Where I need help are tips on how in the world to get baby to the potty when we are out somewhere. I read about these babies who are diaper free at 9 months and I wonder if they also have a 3 year old who will not always willingly and quickly follow me to the bathroom. The other thing is that baby is afraid of the toilet and won't go and frankly I would feelvery weird holding him over a sink in a public bathroom. What to do?

As far as carriers he seems most reluctant to pee in a wrap,so wraps are my friend. :) Mei tais are not so fortunate, at least this week, LOL.

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Kim
mama to 2 boys--a peanut and a preschooler

Hi! How are you doing with taking baby places? I found I was very limited in terms of how long I could stay out with baby (2 hours max) before she got very fussy and mad at me for not being at home. That was the only downside to EC for me for a while. Around 3 mo. baby got used to me holding her over the big toilet, or I have a potty in the car so I would just set her on her potty in the backseat of the car and give her a chance to go before leaving the car. I also used diapers w/covers all the time when out so if she really needed to go bad she could just go in her diaper and I would change her right away.

Another thing that helped to pee baby when out is changing the places that you let baby pee at home. Like rotate outside, bathtub, sink, big toilet, potty in different rooms of the house, etc. I found that once baby got used to a certain position, she would not want to go in any other.

Now that she is almost 6 mo she is comfortable going almost anywhere, esp. outside. :) If there are a lot of people or noise around, she will just go in her diaper. We can stay out all day and barely have any wet dipes in our wetbag! (This is on a good day, LOL!)

Happy ECing!

Liane

I think Elimination Communication is more about the communication between the caregiver and the child, it only seems natural to be in tune with baby's elimination patterns when we already can tell when little ones are tired, fussy, overstimulated, hungry, or uncomfortable without them actually telling us verbally.

For us starting EC pretty much cut down on the amount of crying at 2 mo (maybe they stop crying around this time anyway, though). I could not figure out what was wrong with her when she would wake up 20 minutes into a deep sleep. But then it was like "ah ha!" , that is what she is trying to tell us!

Then it started to get fun, catching pees and trying to read the small signals (grunting, squirming, fussing, etc.) that dd gave us before she wanted to go.

Of course baby still has many wet diapers during the day, but we get the majority of the pees and poops in the potty. Easier laundry and clean up for me!

Anybody who is curious should give it a try! I find that after nap pees are the easiest to catch since babies don't usually pee in their sleep. :)

Happy ECing!

Liane