Chapter 15: Diaper woes

September 5^th, 2011

Not many changes since the last post except that I’m feeling I need to do more to “communicate” with E.  I’ve been very complacent about  diapering vs. trying to listen to cues and I think she is becoming more “ready” for potty learning.  I guess this sort of signals that we are trying more traditional potty training methods versus solely relying on EC?  I don’t know.

Things that tell me that E is nearing “readiness”:

·         She is capable of sitting down on the Baby Bjorn Little Potty (BBLP) on her own.

·         She is showing her dolls how to pee/poop on the potty by putting them on and telling them good job.

·         She is letting us know (somewhat sporadically) after she has peed or pooped her diaper.

She’s still not able to pull her pants down on her own yet, so we’re not ready for total training yet, but I think my goal for this next week is to work on keeping her in trainers more often than in diapers.  I really want her to “get” that it is uncomfortable to pee or poop in your pants.  She definitely is aware that she is not supposed to potty on the floor… if she goes, I always hear an “uh-oh poop” or something to that effect and she will come show me where it has happened.

She seems to think going outside is somewhat okay, though.  She still tells me “uh oh” but she has tended to go outside a considerable amount.  My only theory on this is that it’s when I’m not out there with her (sometimes she plays on the deck while I run into the kitchen to grab a snack) OR possibly it has to do with the fact that the dogs pee/poop outside??

We’ve done quite a bit of naked time in the mornings, but we do diaper when we go out.  Naked time has been pretty successful overall.  Way fewer accidents in the house!  It seems some days she holds it for the diaper, though.  Could this just be her asserting her independence?  Today I think that was the case.  Daddy tried to sit her on the potty after she had been fussing/crabby and she couldn’t come up with anything she wanted (we have learned sometimes this signals a need to go potty without her communicating it directly to us).  He tried, she refused.  I tried… this time with a little help from her friend Elmo (watching TV while sitting on the potty has been really successful as of late!).  She sat for a while, but didn’t go.  So we got her diaper, shorts, and shoes on and were ready to go for a walk.  As I was grabbing my sandals (upstairs) she told me “I shii shii” and held her diaper.  Sure enough!

So we changed and then made our way out the door.  I try to change her with little emotion toward the pee in the diaper.  Sometimes I also ask her to tell me when she has to go instead of going in her diaper.  I didn’t mention anything to her this time, as I assumed it was a silent battle of the wills.

Other “newish” things this month:

·         More pooping in the diaper (so not a fan)! 

·         E has requested to start helping us dump the potty (“Me dump it”)

·    Refusing to sit on the big potty in favor of the little potty.

Chapter 14: Stay the Course

May 11^th, 2011

·         2 months since my last post!  Preposterous!  I think a lot about updating this and it seems that other priorities take over!

·         I think I’m going to move away from this bulleted format and go to paragraphs!  I’m not really sure why the bullets, other than – it’s easier than trying to worry about complete thoughts and paragraphs, but in hindsight, I sort of finding it annoying to read that way… Paragraphs…Aaaaanddd…. Go!

So since the last update, we have moved into our new house.  Exhausted and stressed through most of it, we only did EC when she was clearly telling us or we could clearly see that she needed to go.  And we relied pretty heavily on disposable diapers.  I did NOT want to deal with washing poop diapers (or any diapers) so they were used sporadically.

I’m not sure quite when she got with the program again, but E decided it was okay to sit on the potty again.  I like to take credit for this, but in reality it’s her.  I did re-phrase my “pottytunity” language to sound more like ‘Do you want to read some books?’ instead of ‘Do you want/need to go potty?’.  Seemed to work regardless of how it came to be!

The first couple of weeks after the move Granny came to stay with us and was a HUGE help!  She ripped up carpet (and tack strips and stubborn carpet padding) and did a lot of yard work on the nice days.  Not to mention watched and took care of E so that I could do some minor unpacking and sifting through the garage!  Again, not much EC going on during this whole time, but I think that’s understandable!

New house, new changes.  Once we finally got the hardwood floors laid and were all sleeping in what would be “our” rooms for a couple of weeks I decided to move E to a separate bed.  I still wanted/needed to be able to nurse her, so instead of moving the crib to her room, we instead have the Queen bed setup without a frame.  We pushed the top mattress over a bit so that the box spring creates a bit of a step and she loves that she can easily crawl in and out of bed.  Mommy, however, does not love it quite as much – especially during nap time when she thinks it’s fun to get down and go play in the bathroom!  We’re still night nursing quite a bit, but I’m hoping the transition to her room will eventually cut down on the number of times I have to get up at night.  Mediocre success here.

On the positive side of things, as previously mentioned, E has been okay with sitting on the potty as of late.  She poops on the potty about 95% of the time which is FABULOUS!!!  I had the potty down in the living room and would just sit her on it when I saw her thinking about it and/or when she would signal.  Man, I don’t remember when she started to signal, but she is doing it fairly consistently now.  Not always for pee, but she will sort of make the grunting sound and then make the potty symbol when she realizes she needs to poop.  How will we ever figure out pees!?

Timing is still a very big factor for pees.  Though, it does appear that she is catching on a bit more regarding signaling for pees, too.  A couple of times I have taken her diaper off while she is laying in bed (just after naptime or sometimes weekends when she will come into our bed after going potty first thing and then nursing and cuddling some more).  Seems like she is definitely more aware when she is on the bed and has cued several times and we have gotten to the potty and gone consistently (yay!).  She has peed on the bed once (her bed) and diaperless + play time is not a reliable equation for signaling for pee.  If I don’t offer in time, she WILL pee on the floor – it’s just a matter of when!

Another interesting, if not annoying, trait is that she has mastered the art of EC manipulation.  It didn’t take me long to catch on, but she will now signal and make the grunting/straining sound when it is time to lay down for a nap.  I played along (and continue to to a certain extent) and take her to the potty.  This typically is a way for her to get me to get her out of bed and then as soon as she gets on the potty she “magically” doesn’t have to go anymore!  Stinker!!  After we repeat the process a couple of times, I tell her that she had her opportunity and we lay in bed and work on going to sleep for nap time.  This has backfired a couple of times and she has peed before her nap or (today) pooped in her diaper.  Not quite certain what to do about this other than offer once and be consistent with the fact that she gets one opportunity – not 4!

All in all, I’m still pleased with EC, though I have read some things on forums recently where it seems that some EC’d children aren’t potty trained until 3 or 4!?  (The horror!).  I’m hoping this summer (if summer ever comes!) we can work on a lot of naked time and hopefully be potty trained by 2!  The faster we can get out of diapers, the better!

So… I will continue my casual EC approach for now and when I think of it, try and offer more.  Oh, we also have a new toddler potty seat that we have on our toilet and she has been pooping and peeing on that quite consistently which is much quicker than having to clean out the potty each time!  Now I just need to get a stool so that she can crawl up there on her own (when she’s ready and able!).

Til next time!

Super Mom (well, at least sometimes I feel that way!)

Chapter 15: Want Some Candy?

May 17^th, 2011

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post is that I’m struggling with how to move to the next step of EC.  I feel like I’ve been in this holding pattern for a long time.  Catching poops, missing most pees (with the exception of the first AM pee and after nap pee – and these days, those aren’t a sure bet, either!).

That said, I decided to try out a reward system… if E told me she needed to go potty and actually sat on the potty and did something she would get an M&M.  (Singular… only one!).  That morphed into… if E goes potty on the potty regardless of her telling me or me just trying her on the potty.  So far, I’m not sure we’ve been consistent enough to determine success/failure.  She definitely likes those M&M’s and wants to spend a lot of time sitting there (partially due to new “toilet only” books, I think).

Also new this week, I tried a few pairs of Gerber Training Pants (size 2T).  They fit fairly well.  They did not hold one full pee.  E has a tendency to walk away from me and pee and so while I was in my bathroom getting ready, she walked into the hall.  Not long after I heard her say “Uh Oh” and I came to see what was wrong.  Wet trainers and a partially wet floor.  Well, at least I know she is aware that it is wet and not what wearing pants is supposed to feel like!

Chapter 13: Another Pause

March 11^th, 2011

·         It’s been a while since I updated.  Things were going slow, but smoothly.  I felt hopeful for her progress and thought we might be able to start training pants… and then… another pause.

·         I’m not sure if it’s because she is now walking?  She doesn’t want to read on the potty like she used to.  Other factors are a recent ear infection and then a cold… plus, we are packing and preparing to move.

·         I feel much less stressed about this pause than the first, but I will admit I’m a little tired of cleaning poopy diapers since I had gotten used to her pooping in the potty pretty consistently!

Chapter 12: EC Clothing, Part 2

January 23^rd, 2011

·         The baby legs have started falling down and I'm finding it annoying!  As a result, I wanted to look into the crotchless pants I have seen at the DFB store and heard about the Chinese using.  Only, I didn't want to pay for them.  So being a not so great seamstress, I looked at the picture online and questioned if I could make them or not.

·         My first attempt was a failure.  I thought I cut barely any fabric, but it ended up being such a big hole once I hemmed it that the "pant" part of the legs barely stayed up.

·         My second pair was mostly a success.  Enough so where I will plan on making another pair.

My advice is to cut as little as you possibly can!

I love them!  Look how cute they are with the diaper!  I love them even more without the diaper... seeing her cute little baby butt in there is priceless, but I will try to maintain her dignity!

·         Now to try them out.  We put the pants on first and the diaper on over it.  I was hoping pee would not get on the pants and only in the diaper.  She peed before she went to bed and so far so good.  After she went to bed, it was a different story.  I was too lazy to get up with her and alas, she peed her diaper – which also got the pants wet.  So, she went pants-less the rest of the night last night – plenty of blankets to keep her warm, but I like using the baby legs or these new pants for the times when she kicks the blankets off!

·         I like these pants so much that I think I’m going to go to a consignment store and find some “cuter” pants to cut up in order to wear most of the day when we are at home.  Makes EC’ing a toddler in winter SO much easier than yanking down the pants each time!!