Diaper Free

M

monte

Registered User
Anyone here have experience with "early" potty training, or ec? I know that in the US most doctors and books say to wait until the kid is older and shows "readiness" signs, but elsewhere in the world, and even in the US until a few decades ago, most kids were out of diapers by 18 mo-2 years.
My boy is 12 months now, so I'm just starting to think about this now, but don't really have any plans for when/how to start. Just wondering what other people's experiences have been ...
 
I've had acquaintances in the US who did the EC. Let me tell you, it does not win over friends. They were at a party had to hold their little one over a potted plant as it was the quickest place. They also held their little one over the kitchen sink with dishes in it. It did not bode with with guests. I've talked to people about EC. There are some that it must be started very early. I've read that using cotton cloth diapers (not fleece because it wicks away moisture) can help with early potty training because then the babies feel the wetness. Disposable diapers have gels and liners that keep the moisture away from the skin so babies don't feel wet. If you chose to do EC, it can be stressful because you always have to be ready for the cues even if you are somewhere like on public transport. Each child is different and it is important to look at their developmental cues. In mainland, they do EC with the split pants and no diaper. But their society is perfectly ok with a baby eliminating on the street. I've actually seen a mainland couple allow their little one to urinate on the marble floors in front of what was the Vivienne Tam store at Ocean Terminal mall. That is not acceptable in HK.
 
Not everybody who does/did EC did what was described about. We did a combination of EC and baby signing.

With EC, we basically do the sounds (e.g. swsss and mmnngg) so that they'd associate the action with the sounds. We never had to change a poopy diaper with our son since he was 11 months. At 14 months, he was able to "hold" if necessary. We were out in a restaurant in Singapore and he indicated that he wanted to poo, we asked him to hold while we rushed him back to the hotel and he did. For pee-pee, he was off diapers (during the day) by 18 months and totally off diapers (dry through the night) around 27 months old.

With #2, we use a combination of EC and baby signing. At 9.5 months, she was able to tell us when she needed to "go potty" with the use of baby signs. She would actually go to the washroom door and do the sign for POTTY. Before (she could talk), when she was sitting on the toilet, she could tell us with the use of signs whether she was ALL DONE or if there was MORE. That makes it so much easier for us.

You can read more about the potty training using baby signs here. The document talks about the advantages of using baby sign language to help with potty training.
 
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I also want to add that we were not "purist" in our EC approach and therefore were a bit more relaxed overall. I think that helped, too, because you really can't get overly stressed over this. (Note that I said "overly," because I do know that potty training can be frustrating). :smile:
 
My son is just on 14mnths and can use the potty. We only started a few weeks ago with the actual potty, but he started squatting to pee and then trying to wipe himself, as well as clean up the floor at 12mnths. He spends a lot of time without a diaper anyway, because it's warm and he likes to be naked.

He now tells us (using his own hand gesture) before he's going to pee. He doesn't tell us before a poop but we can tell by his behaviour, posture and facial expressions when it's about to happen.

By the way, we use cloth diapers full time, and DS has spent at least a couple of hours diaper free nearly every day of his life. I think that has helped his potty learning early.
 
I think it does depend baby to baby. I put both my daughters on the potty from 8 months, so that they know what the potty is for and the feel of sitting in it. My older one however, even though ready, was not out of nappies until 26 months, cos she did not like sitting on the potty. My younger one, now 17 months, was able to tell me she wanted to poo at 14 months and would follow us to the toilet and poo sitting on the baby seat on top of the normal toilet. She has not done a poo in her nappy since. Now we put her on the loo every now and again and she would wee in the the toilet, and sometimes she will tell us she needs to wee. Of course she will sometimes wee in her nappy, but I think she would be toilet trained very soon. Anyway, we used the same method for both and 1takes to it much faster and easier than the other. Don't think it's something you should force on them, unless you are sure that they really are ready.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I think we're going to get a potty and start letting DS just get used to it, and also try some ec with baby signs too. It is very obvious when he is having a poo, (and he's very regular too--the same time everyday!) so maybe we can start with that and get him used to doing that on the potty.
 
I think it depends on how ready the kid is and how routine the timetable is. If you are doing things out of the ordinary like day trips or travelling long distances, it's better to use diapers. However, if you are at home most of the time, you can train the kid in a relaxing environment. Like Buckeroo says, there's no need to be 'purist' about it. Good luck!
 
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