EC: Late Starters (6 mos. +) thread

I am interested in EC for my 13 month old boy. Just not sure where to start. He hates having his diaper changed, is very predictable with BMs, and is taking off his own diaper all the time, especially after he poops. Any tips at all? Do I buy a potty chair? What types of signs should I be looking for with peeing? We're at my parents house this week, so I'm going to wait until I am at my house to start so he can go diaper free. What do you do when you need to leave the house?

[Mert]

More questions... I know (mostly) when ds is in the process of having a bm. So, do I just scoop him up and plop him on the seat? It seems that by the time I get his clothes and dipe off he'll be done and honestly, like I'd be "interrupting". Couldn't that cause other problems? It seems like lots of you are letting your little guys run around naked. Hmmm...

[JavaMama]

Hmm, Mert I do that if I realize what's going on I will go ahead and undress dd to put her on the potty as she'll happily poop in the potty. I think if she was resistant to pooping in the potty, I would worry about it causing constipation, but she finishes up on the potty just fine.

The more naked days we are more likely to use the potty more. In fact, she just came and hung onto my leg grunting while I was typing and when I asked her if she needed to potty she got still (her way of saying yes) and peed for me.

We don't EC when we're not at home usually, though I have tried at my mom's. Since we use the Baby Bjorn Little Potty, dd isn't comfortable with big people toilets.

[JavaMama]

Oh, I was going to clarify that I bring the potty seat to dd and then remove her pants/diaper so all she has to do is sit. So it's not as big of an interruption as running her to another room.

[Mert]

Thanks, Michelle!! Anyone else?

[shercurrie]

A lot of times I "catch" poops when dd is grunting and tooting, just *before* she actually goes, KWIM? Every once in a while she will have already gone, and I put her on the potty and she'll finish up. Or not, if she was done to begin with. Basically, I put her on the potty whenever I change her diaper, and/or whenever I think she needs it, and we'll read books or sing songs till she gets up and starts to walk away.

[ThreeKids]

I might need to join you guys soon.

DD battles rashes. She had one at 3 mos. that wrecked her nerves and she spontaneously started giving me cues that gave me a head start to the changing table. (By wrecked nerves I mean her cues, even after the rash was clear, seemed like a fear reaction.) Sometimes, she'd get there and still be dry so I just put a potty there. I never intended to do infant pottying, but DD just insisted on it. She gradually started letting me know her diaper was wet after the fact, but would insist on being changed immediately until she recently learned to crawl and had better things to do.

Even in the dry winter with breathable covers and pre-folds, we still fight yeast setting in. I'm really nervous about this summer when we have to deal with humidity.

One thing we might just have to bite the bullet on is that she gives no cues at all for poops. They have always been frequent and loose, even after starting solids, and you just hear a splat. To win the yeast battle, though, I may be willing to let her go au naturel this summer. These carpets are about kaput anyway.

I'm really bad for noticing cues. My kids just learn to be really obvious so the important things balance out.

[NovelMama]

I never thought I would, but it looks like I'm in the early stages of ECing. PJ always wakes up dry, and today I thought I'd stick her on AJ's training potty to see if she'd go, which she totally did. I did it again after nap and again she had no problem--in fact, she got a cute little look on her face, a cross between a smile and being surprised. So I'm thinking, why not give this a try? She's 14.5 mos. so we'll have a lot of unlearning to do, but might as well, right? Maybe it will inspire AJ to start using the potty, since at almost 3.5 she has absolutely NO interest whatsoever.

I do have a couple questions for other late ECers. I'm not comfortable letting PJ run around naked since we're going to be putting the house on the market soon, plus the carpet in the new house is really nice and I don't want to mess it up. We use cloth diapers already, but I use pocket dipes, and unless she's *just* gone and I can feel the heat of the pee, you can't really tell just by feeling the outside of the dipes whether or not they're wet. Any recommendations for how to proceed with figuring out when to put her on the potty? I read the link in the first email, and it said they often go every 15 minutes or so after waking up, but I'm concerned that if I keep removing her from what she's playing with to put her on the potty she's going to get mad and start to resent it. Should I just go with once an hour? What do you do if the diaper is already wet when you take it off? Just set her on anyway? Do you let them get up when they want to, or do you try to keep them on there for a certain amount of time?

[peacefullone]

I've been pretty lazy with EC this time around. Plus I don't think it helps that Danny seems so much more cranky than what Timmy was, about EC. It's almost like Danny digs in his heals, when I offer the potty. and then sometimes I just result to the disposies.

[WI Mama05]

I think we are starting late ECing right now.

DD3 started waking up for naps dry so remembering threads on here I started holding her over the potty and 60% of the time she does! YAY!

I have a little bjorn type potty that I got at a garage sale for $.25 that I've tried, but she likes to try to stand or crawl off of it

I realized that she fusses and then stops at times. I'm usually so busy it's "just a minute" and then I realize she's done, but that her diaper is also soaked. I need to get better at the cues.

What age did everyone start using the sign with their DC and at what point did you use it? Before you go to the potty, on the potty, when they potty?

[lmd0137]

This may have been explained somewhere but I didn't see it, what exactly is EC??

[Enola]

I've been looking into EC and read that article but am very confused
I don't know if it is for us...I have literally NO idea how to tell when he pees but it is VERY obvious when he poops. He's not mobile yet (7 months old), so do I hold him over the potty?
I can't say I'm really up for letting him go about naked...I have enough cleaning to do as it is! Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you! x

[solatido]

I just bought a potty for my 15-month-old. Am I nuts to be starting now? He seems to be hitting disequlibrium right on schedule. And it's getting colder so I'm not so sure about letting him run around bare-bummed. I am considering using some snap-fitteds (not hip/waist, just a row in front) as trainers b/c they can pull down ok when snapped. I should probably make him some leggings so his legs don't get too cold.

[Helen_D]

Not sure if this is EC or early potty training. But put my daughter in pull-ups instead of nappies and have caught 2 wees on the potty this afternoon. She more interested than my just turned 4 year old!!! He's not bothered about being wet or dirty and not bothered about going to the potty or toilet. It's a start for my daughter anyway. Also currently experimenting with cloth nappies. A friend gave me 6 that velcro fasten and I've just bought one with poppers. So we'll see how it goes, I might buy more.

[arwen_tiw]

If you want to borrow a couple we have spares.

With Jenna we started sitting her on the potty at 15mo because we could sometimes tell she needed to go, and she did, and before long she was asking to go verbally. So it could totally be the start for Esther, she's a very aware little girl and I'm sure she'll catch on - and it's GREAT that you're spotting her signals so well on first try.