EC Journey End

It's been a while since we checked in here! Our daughter is only four months shy of 2 years now! ECing has been few and far between. She took to protesting strongly at the use of the potty, so we stopped offering the potty and have been using cloth nappies full time.

We keep the potty around and offer it to her at nappy changes or when she points to her nappy or says "poo" (she is fascinated with her poo, by the way), but a lot of the time she just wants to have a chat about nappies and poo rather than actually needing to do any or be changed LOL.

So we had approximately 6 months of full time EC success, another 6 of part-time EC and since around her first birthday we've been full-time nappy users :) I don't consider this unsuccessful or a waste of time. I think the insights I gained from our EC journey will help us when the time comes to re-learn how to use the potty and the toilet. We intend to EC the next child, whenever that may be and will resume blogging here when the time comes, but until then it's farewell from us.

The blog will stay here for all to read and hopefully it offers other families some insight into EC and the links provided will be of use :)

Peace, love & poo catching to all *waves goodbye*

Elimination Communication With A 1 Year Old

I've been neglecting this blog because there really hasn't been much to report. We're plodding along, content with part-time ECing. We catch almost every poo, and the older she gets the more obvious her poo signals become. We catch all her wee's after she has had a sleep and most of the one's after she's had a feed. Her wee signaling never really returned after she learned to crawl, so we've stuck to the timing catches and little more.

Recently she has decided she prefers not to use the potty and prefers to be held, the way we used to do it when she was a wee baby (no pun intended lol). She really loves having a mirror in front of herself when she's ECing so that she can see our faces too. She finds it much easier to relax when we're smiling at her through a mirror, and also it provides enough distraction so she doesn't get bored. It is a bit of a struggle to kepe her sitting on the potty during her business when she is so on-the-go and interested in the world around her, she doesn't want to sit still when there is so much to do.

We've had a couple more milestone funny moments. Now that she can stand she has done a couple of standing up poos, one when we weren't ready lol. I also had the pleasure of stepping in a number 2 miss the other day, ewwwww.

We will continue with our part-time ECing until she eases into toilet use over the next couple of years. If we get back to our successful cue reading we had in the early days that will be great, but we really don't mind if things stay as they are.

The important thing to us is that the communication remains open and she still has some awareness of her elimination instincts, which has been consistent since she was a newborn. She is familiar with the sensation of eliminating on the potty and other forms of eliminating outside of her pants, so the toilet will never be a terribly new concept to her. Since we've achieved those two things we class ours as an EC success story.

(photo: Mum & Bub ECing shortly after Bub's 1st birthday party).

Offer The Potty

I need a self-reminder! So here goes:

• If she pulls off the breast but I know her to be hungry or tired and still wanting to suckle, offer the potty, not the other breast.

• If she tries to pull off her nappy, looks down at her nappy thoughtfully or is just generally playing with her nappy, offer her the potty.

• If we are lying down to feed and she gets onto her hands and knees and begins to sleepily crawl/stumble away offer the potty.

• If she is "winging" for "no reason" offer the potty.

• If she is suddenly gets herself onto her hands and knees (or hands and one knee), stops, and is silent/concentrating offer the potty QUICKLY!

I think we might be back in the EC game, I think her new post-becoming-mobile cues are becoming clear to me.

Online EC Support & Info

A friend asked me if I knew of any online forums devoted to elimination communication. I did not. So I googled on her behalf and found the following resources:

OzNappyfree

"This group is to provide a predominantly Australian and New Zealand source of information, contact and support about natural infant elimination methods (elimination communication, natural infant hygiene etc) for parents raising their babies in this way and those who wish to learn more about it."

Elimination Communication List
International email list run by yahoo about elimination communication and gentle parenting more generally.

Natural Infant Hygiene Group
"This group is for those parents and prospective parents interested in a diaperless lifestyle for their baby. Natural Infant Hygiene, also known as Infant Potty Training and Elimination Communication (EC) is the practice of tuning into and responding to your baby's elimination cues in a timely and compassionate way. It is the primary way of tending to the elimination needs of infants in many (if not most) non-western cultures...This group is for parents who want to exchange ideas, ask questions and provide support with other parents practicing Natural Infant Hygiene. Both those new to the concept and veterans of it are most welcome. The only rule is to stick to the topic of Natural Infant Hygiene, and to be respectful of one another."

Infant Potty Training for Late Starters
"'Late Starters' assumes your child is older that 6 months and even likely older than one year (in which case the above is even more important and should be given some thought). When starting after 6 months, we tend to have different questions and concerns than parents who start in early infancy." This is another yahoo group.

Some more elimination communication blogs:

Happy Pottying!

Elimination Communication: The Journey

Elimination Communication Journal

Playing Potty

I’m starting to feel like we are getting somewhere again (I mean since her growth and development spurt which saw to an EC strike). We still can't see any signals before she wees or poos so we are relying on the timing method. I've noticed that the breaks between when she wees or poos when wearing her nappy have become longer. It's like she's holding on for the potty, she definitely prefers not to do it in her nappy if she can help it and it seems like she is developing the ability to do that (our baby is approaching 9 months of age).

To ensure she still eliminates regularly the way that she feels most comfortable we offer her the potty regularly minus her signals. Usually when she is offered the potty she uses it.

She also enjoys playing with her potty if it's nearby. She beats on it like a drum with her hands or a toy - potty's make a good sound apparently. I think allowing her to play with the potty in her own ways is a good thing because it becomes even more a normal part of her life. The playing familiarises her with it. We make sure that it is clean at all times (emptying and washing with detergent after every wee or poo) so that is safe for her to play with.

Another thing we have noticed/had a laugh about is how fascinated she is with her wee. On occasion during nappy free time on her playmat we notice her sitting with her legs apart, looking down and swaying her legs back and forth. Closer inspection reveals that she is swishing wee back and forth with her legs lol. We have always made it to the mat with a wipe before her hands have joined in on the fun....so far....;)

Great Website About EC

One of the members of Nappy Free Babes on Ravelry sent me a link to this website about elimination communication, it's really terrific for newcomers to EC:

http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/elimination-communication.html

It includes the authors EC journal, info about ECing postitions and ECing on the go, and how to EC an older baby.

A Tuned In Day

I love days like today. Today I felt really in-tune with my baby. When we got up at 9am she was wet, we moved into the lounge room and I offered her the potty, she did a wee and then I wiped and put a fresh nappy on her. Then we had breakfast, got dressed and headed out for the day at 10am.

Almost all of todays EC catches were based on the timing method. Whenever she woke up from a sleep I would take her to a toilet and she would wee into it. Or if we had been walking for a while (which means her sitting in her sling for a while) I would make a toilet stop for her and catch again. None of todays catches were based on her signals - I am still feeling lost when it comes to signals at the moment. But the really cool thing that happened today was I made an instinctual catch.

I was in a book store and I took bub out of her sling to let her crawl around for a little while, as I took her out I said "I bet you're wet" and felt her nappy and I swear it was wet. So off we went to the toilet, only when we got there I discovered I had totally hallucinated the wet nappy! She was dry as could be. I offered her the toilet and caught another wee. We were both smiling and I wondered what it was that made me think she was wet/needed to go?

From before 10am until 4pm today my baby wore the one clean and dry cloth nappy! Just like underpants.