Taking EC to the next level!

ECingWe’ve had a great Elimination Communication journey with BiP to date – we’ve had some impressive times when it’s backfired too! Over the last couple of months I have noticed that she wakes up with dry diaper every morning so I decided this week to take things to the next level.

The first night I let BiP sleep in just her pajamas and no diaper. I put a towel under her just in case. She woke up dry, had her morning feed and then peed in the potty. The next night it was really hot so she was just in a t-shirt and cotton bloomers/panties (the ones that come with cute dresses) and she was dry all night (in spite of being up 3 times in the night and I didn’t potty her). I took the towel away because it was getting bunched up. 5 nights on she is still diaper free for over 12 hours and dry. At 14 months! It’s all her doing!  (I realise posting this will probably set us back into a regression but that is ok! I do have a mattress protector so all is fine.

We have had a fair share of potty pauses and days where I just can’t do it. It’s important to remember that it has to be manageable – it’s not a contest and it doesn’t have to be full time.

Interesting signs I have noticed with BiP recently:

  • She’ll bring the potty to me
  • She will wait until she is taken out of her highchair or car seat to pee
  • She will get off the bed or sofa to pee (even if it’s just on the floor)
  • She won’t pee on me
  • She has started putting her doll on the potty
  • She likes peeing in the garden
  • Poops are harder to catch with a diaper free baby
  • We’ve had misses and sadly it’s the dog who seems to enjoy the delicacy (*gag*)

By allowing BiP to be diaper free at night, I’ve noticed that she is more into ECing during the day, I realise that I am too. She brings the potty to me, she spends hours playing with her potty and practising getting on to it (previously she was the master of getting off it and peeing nearby!) She is completely aware of her elimination and tells me (non-verbally) when she has to go or if she’s had an accident. I know many EC experts say that the goal of EC is not to potty train early but it looks like it’s already happening naturally.

What are your recent EC experiences?

If you are looking for ways to start ECing your baby check out my 5 Tips on how to start

11 thoughts on “Taking EC to the next level!

  1. Janine

    How can they say that the goal isn’t to potty train early? Of course it is! I love catching even half of Zeb’s eliminations but let’s be honest – I’m banking on him being mostly potty trained by 18 months.

    He used to make it through the nights and doesn’t anymore. I am not sure why that is. He also used to sleep in later, so I’m wondering if he does stay dry but pees early in the morning before I wake up. I think I am going to start forcing myself awake to check his diaper the moment he wakes me up and see if he is in fact still dry.

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      I dunno … for me it was to have her trained before the average age of 3.3 years.

      I let BiP decide completely for herself at what speed she wants to go at … it’s so much easier. I have to admit I was shocked when she woke 2 x in a night, fed and then went back to sleep and still woke up dry! Now, I can tell she does not want to go in her diaper. I won’t push it. I do have to admit I am SO happy that it’s happening this way … just wish she didn’t feel the need to do al fresco poops – I had to shoo the dog away tonight I was so disgusted!

      Reply
  2. Erin

    P is 2.5 months old, and I don’t catch the majority of her pees, but she hates pooping her diaper. Was that the case with BiP? Did she start to like pooping without warning once diapers were off, or were there other factors?

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      BiP would howl when she pooped in her diaper which is why we started ECing at 3m. She always made distinct noises and signs when she was going to poop so it was easy to get her to the potty – it’s harder now actually because she runs off! P is still young! Sounds like you are doing a good job already.

      Reply
  3. Multilingualmom

    Recent EC experience? Well, we tried putting LilO on her potty a few days ago for the first time (she is almost 12 months) and she cried. I didn’t even know what I was doing. I knew I should have read up on it BEFORE putting my baby on a potty. Now we’re going to try it again soon but taking diaper off/etc is a hassle. I REALLY need to document myself!

    I’m SO proud of BiP for her dry nights! Whether she decides to continue or not, it’s great anyway 🙂 Woohoo!!

    Reply
    1. mummyinprovence Post author

      If she cried then try again another time … it’s easier now to keep her diaper off that the weather is warmer … try maybe in the garden first?

      Reply
  4. Chris Bell

    Hi Ameena

    I wanted to write and say thanks for blogging about this. Our baby girl just turned thirteen months and we have been ECing with about a 60-70% success rate since she was 10 days old. Since she started standing, ~9 months, her daytime ECing ritual really took a nose-dive, she really wasn’t into either being put on a potty or held over anything. She would rather go stand up against something and pee. Luckily number 2’s were still a EC staple and night-times were EC all the way.

    However once she hit 12 months and full-time walking ECing (the usual rituals) completely fell away (and fair to say our house and bedsheets got a pasting). Our only thought was to put her in nappies until she was ready to EC again, as per numerous disruptions before. However the ECing did not resume, and over the last week her sleeping had been terrible and mum, dad and bub were exasperated as of yesterday.

    Previous experience has taught us that when things get like this mum and dad are missing what bub is trying to tell us, and we need to open up the issue and try something different. That is where we came upon this post. We have noticed a lot of the signs you listed above and last night gave bub a nappy-free sleep. The results speak for themselves. All night dry, and mum, bub and dad well rested today. And yes we notice her frustration levels have come down during the daytime too.

    Great blog and thanks a bunch for sharing your story it has helped us immensely…!

    Chris, Chantel and Ayva in Oz

    Reply
    1. Ameena Falchetto Post author

      Thanks so much for sharing your story! Yes, when they hit milestones there is almost always a potty pause!

      Reply
  5. Elaine

    I just found your blog, and love reading about your adventures!

    We’ve been ECing our LO since she was 5 days (because she was peeing at diaper changes anyway). She often had a dry diaper after 2-3 hour naps, but when she started lengthening her nighttime sleeps at around 6 weeks, she always woke with a wet diaper.

    She had her first completely dry 7 hour sleep a few days ago at 9 weeks old! Frankly, I was a little concerned there was something wrong but I put her on the potty and she had a big pee. I guess it just took a few weeks for her body to catch up to the longer sleep periods.

    She’s had another dry night since then, but I don’t think I’m brave enough to try going diaper free at night just yet 🙂

    On a side note, I empathise with you re: cloth diapers. I wanted so badly to like them, but they’re just so darned bulky on a newborn. I’m hoping I’ll go back to them when she’s a bit bigger, but her Daddy’s now firmly entrenched in the Disposable camp (though he loves potty time and the corresponding minimisation of dirty bums).

    My shameful secret: I put her into CD before heading to the Eco baby store >.<

    Reply
    1. Ameena Falchetto Post author

      Hey Elaine, That’s amazing you started so early! GOOD FOR YOU!

      Your shameful secret is hilarious – I would have totally done the same thing – thankfully BiP is now fully potty trained (she decided herself at 22m) – guess I need to update 🙂

      Keep me posted – there are a lot of fun EC hurdles to get over before graduation 🙂

      Reply
  6. Jennifer

    Did your baby start peeing on purpose around 12 months? My daughter will now pee on purpose when she doesn’t want to be somewhere like her playpen. So even if she has just gone on the toilet she will look up me from her playpen and pee! And i am pretty sure she is using it to control me

    Reply

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