My little guy knows how to use the potty as we started doing EC with him from 9 weeks old. He's recently entered the next phase of cognitive development and now won't use the toilet at all. Even though he hasn't forgotten, it is as if his mind is having a hard time managing his need to have control over when he goes with his body's need to go if that makes any sense.

I've had to just back off and accept that as he continues to develop and mature that things change. I always knew that there was going to be some transistion between my offering and him being potty-trained. I still have no idea how it will play out but after 14 months of success I'm having no pottying successes and lots of poopy diapers (where I used to have one a month!) Eventually he will get there; synchronizing need, want, action, anticipation, etc. I can't make it happen for him.

Here's some info from Diaperaps about Potty Training that I reference now and again. We use their training pants on Jonah:

http://www.diaperaps.com/home/dp1/pottytips_main.html

On a pottying kick

Jonah's been on a pottying kick since the weekend. It seems as though now that he's mastered walking he can now devote a little more energy to communicating about when he needs to go. I broke out the training pants as I was getting tired of taking his prefold and cover off and on so much. He's been holding for long periods of time, communicating about when he needs to go, and staying fairly dry. Lots of trips to the bathroom and he love washing his hands so much that mine are soooo dry. We are still diapering him but I'm trying to make it easier when I'm able to focus on helping with the pottying.

The Diaperaps Training pants in 2T fit perfectly and are way easier off and on. I've been using them with Babylegs when we are just around the house.

What's this about? Anxiety around #2 all of the sudden

Here's my big EC challenge. My little guy, almost 11months old will wake up from naps or in the morning and occasionally will have to have a BM. He hasn't been signalling as well for BMs -- though it was the place we started with for EC and he was most consistant about since we started pottying at 2 months old.

Lately it seems I can get half of it in the potty, usually the second half, but just now and one other time it was the first half. I got him to pee and poop and then he started to freak and wanted off the toilet. It seemed like he had to go more but he wanted to have nothing to do with it and then just went in his diaper while playing but didn't say anything about it.

He seemed freaked out by having to go so much or perhaps because we've been feeding him solids more it feels overwelming to him now that things are starting to firm up more. I'm still nursing him quite a lot so things are still on the softer side.

Happy pottying at 10 months old

I just wanted to give another update. Our little one is now 10 1/2 months old now and we're still pottying part-time.

His recent thing to not want to go potty, even if it looks like he has to go (little boy's penises stick out a little when they are full); he arches his back and doesn't want to do it. One thing that helped was to change how I set him down on the seat (toilet seat insert), instead of draping him backward into the seat to sit him down by holding him under the thighs and setting him down more exactly.

The other thing he introduced over the past week which seems to be working better as well is to bring him into the bathroom and then asking him if he has to go. I'll let him crawl over to the toilet and then he tries to help set his little seat on (either I help lift the seat up with him if if it is on the floor or else he wiggles it if it is already on the toilet). I then undress him while he stands and he will go pretty agreeably. Yeah!

The problem with this was putting him back together again with the
prefold diaper and Snappi -- you can't really Snappi well while they are standing, at least in my experience. After reading something in the Sears Baby Book I decided to try out using diaper pins. I can unpin one leg and get him undone and then just have to slide that leg back through and repin when he's done. The cover I can do okay while he is standing. Pants of course are a different story --stretchy or snapped are better than ones that need a lot of pulling to get up.

The other exciting thing was that my parents are visiting and my dad pottied the baby while I was out the other day. That's the first time anyone other than my partner or I have tried to do it.

Hoping you are having happy potty experiences as well.

Using a Potty Seat

Jonah grew really fast and was getting a bit heavy to hold, particularly as I've got tendonitis in one wrist from lifting him (since last April, sigh). I decided to try out the Baby Bjorn Little Potty. He liked using that potty for a while (4-6 months), though I noticed that he really did need to have the ability to sit upright with some support to use it -- so I don't think it would work that well before then.

Now that he's gotten even bigger (wearing 18 month sizes at 7.5 months!) he has decided that he doesn't want to use that little potty anymore. Now I keep it by the bed and use it to stash wet diapers from changes overnight so I don't have to get up and don't wake him with rustling plastic.

We bought a toilet insert at Fred Meyer on a whim in August as we thought he was large enough for one and he likes that a lot. In fact, he won't really go now if I try holding him over the toilet by the thighs -- except when we are out.

With the toilet seat insert, a cushioned vinyl covered on with Blues Clues pattern, its not as cold as the baby bjorn potty was. Also, we don't have to clean it up -- everything just goes in the toilet which is a plus. We have some light up ducks that we use in the bath next to the toilet, on the edge of the tub which help keep him interested in sitting there. He also is liking learning how to turn the tap on the tub off and on -- usually if he's that distracted he's done or didn't have to go in the first place.

We keep his bouncer seat in the bathroom so often I will set him down in it and then go potty myself afterwards which seems to please him as well -- everybody goes potty dontcha know?

I think talking to him about pottying and introducing hands signs early on has helped out a lot. Also, anticipating when he will need to go next. He tends to signal more when he's sleepy, and less so when he's playing.

A recent development is that he doesn't want to pee in his diaper when we are out and often makes a fuss, which takes us a bit to figure out of course. My partner thinks its some sort of social behavior learning -- to not want to wet himself when he's in social settings.

He's only pooping every other day or so, which was a little harder to keep track of. He ended up soiling himself a couple times in the mornings and since then I think he and I have realized we need to make a better effort -- as he doesn't like it as much as I don't when he's got that kind of dirty diaper.

Pottying at 5 months

It's been a while so I thought I would give an update on my almost 5
month old. He did an amazing 9 potties in one day last week out of
the blue. We used almost no diapers. My parents were visiting and
were amazed.

My mom was telling me how they used to have highchairs with cut outs
in the seat and a shelf for a bowl beneath so that the baby could
relieve herself while eating. That seems so degrading to me, almost
like there's no communication involved at all. Perhaps some parents
used them like we do when we EC though.

It took Jonah a week or so before he adjusted to the Baby Bjorn
Little Potty -- plus some trial and error until I figured out how to
best help him use it. I have it on the floor in his bedroom and I
wrap my arm around him and let him rest his chin on it as he needs
to. I also help steady his head against mine and hold one of his
hands with my free one as he wants to. He's pretty into it and when
we are at home he seems to prefer it over the toilet. I keep a box
of tissues and a burp rap nearby to help wipe his bum/face -- he
often spits up while toileting (anyone else notice this?) My partner
is cool with using the little potty as well, but he just helps him
balance on it while holding his shoulders.

The toilet position is still good if he's totally sleepy though as
he can rest against me. He will wake me up if he needs to go while
sleeping. Not all the time but often enough. The frequency of that
has gone down from back at the start of May when I was mucho pooped
out after having my sleep disrupted so much.

In the past couple of weeks he's gotten the knack for standing up
while supported. If he's done on the potty and hasn't communicated
clearly (he's been talking while sticking his tongue out so I have
no idea if he's saying "all done" or what sometimes) he now will put
his feet down and try to stand up.

Forward/Backward Progress at Four Months

Monday my 4 mo, who's been using the toilet for the past two months,
wasn't really having it -- I'd offer the toilet to him at changes
and he'd look up at me and say "all dooo" (all done) even though his
diaper was dry. Then within the next 10 minutes he would say "all
dooo" and he wet his diaper. It went on like this all day and I was
getting frustrated -- he could potty and had been pottying but
wasn't. Sure our timing could have been off, but it seemed like
something more than that.

I sort of figured that we were at a different phase, that it was
time for something to change either way. My thought was to try
offering the potty more frequently, particularly if he was going to
be saying all done and wanting a diaper change each time (as we were
flying through diapers and he was crying a little sometimes when he
went and I wasn't changing him fast enough -- even though I wasn't
waiting).

Sure enough, by Tuesday evening he switched over once I asked him to
TRY to go pee pee. We then went from around 4pm until 6am with only
one diaper change. It was like he needed us to be more consistent.

Yesterday he had to come into the office with us and I tried
pottying him there (and the bathroom is far away on the other side
of the building). He didn't want to go and I ended up holding over
my trashcan in my office 15 minutes later (yeesh!) I'm not sure how
well we can potty him in the office unfortunately. (grumble)

I went last night to Bootyland (between 13th and 14th on Pine ST on
Cap Hill) and bought a Baby Bjorn potty and was able to try that
twice before bed. My little one wasn't so sure about it but we did
get one pee out of him. He was most comfortable using it if I say on
a foot rest behind him, with my arms and legs at his sides and his
back resting against the foot rest, similar to our pottying
behavior. It's going to take some getting used to I can see, and
probably some additional stability on my baby's part will help.

Right now I'm up at 2 am as he woke me and didn't seem to want to
nurse but then didn't want to be pottied either -- I think it was
gas. When I got him back in bed he farted and then had a big nurse --
but of course mama can't sleep now.

It just keep getting more and more interesting...

Easy Diaper Changes and Pottying Outfit Observations

When you have a little baby you are doing a lot of diaper changes. I don't think I've ever done so many snaps in all my life as the past few months. Over time though, and after so many different styles of garments, I've come to appreciate certain garments for their ease of changes or removal for pottying on the toilet. Mind you I have a little chunky monkey and we're using cloth prefolds with a cover from the diaper service, so if you have a skinny baby you might feel differently.

Things to look for:
Snap crotch
Narrow elastic that stretches easily (Zutano pants are soft and quickie at changes)
Gowns with snaps up the front and elastic at the bottom (Rabbit Moon makes some really cute ones, spendy but they will last a while and they are super easy on/off)
Short rompers if you can find them (Hanna Andersson rompers are great)
Overalls (the Gymboree ones we have are nice -- pull them off from the top or bottom)

Things to avoid:
Zippers (see Hanna Andersson Baby Zippers)
One-piece outfits that require you to pull bend and pull one leg up to thread it through the leg opening (see Hanna Andersson Baby Zippers)
Wide elastic bands that are snug (lots of things have this we've found)
Garments that snap up the side and at the crotch -- they can be really confusing to assemble and aren't easy to figure out

Sleepy baby in the middle of the night

My little guy will initiate wanting to get changed/go potty in the
middle of the night. I'm happy enough to oblige but in the past couple of weeks I've ended up sitting on the toilet with my baby sleeping in my arms.

He punches in the air (and me sometimes in his sleep) plus wiggles
when he has to go -- and sometimes its just a timing issue, that it
might take him a while to get everything ready to go in his little
system. It is leading to one tired mama though.

Sometimes we just need permission
(to not be holding our sleeping infant on the potty LOL)

I feel bad today as he only got to do 2 pees on the potty today and I missed 3 poops that I think he would have rather done in the potty
instead. It was just an off day for mom unfortunately.

So, I think I mentioned that he's been saying "all gooo" or "all
doooo" when he's done on the potty since last meeting. Well, he likes saying it all the time now so we aren't sure when he's got a wet diaper or is just practicing, or is wanting us to pick him up. He even shouts "all doooo" at his toys now. He does use it for pottying too, but you can imagine how interesting it is for us.

EC Notes

I learned from our local diaper free baby group that it was helpful to have a signal for "done" which we
are now introducing with our baby. I also started using the toilet
sign for go potty and he's shaking his hand at us now, within hours
really, so that's cool.

For me it was easiest to start with the morning BM as he was really
obvious about needing to go. He's also pretty easy going in the
morning, and even overnight if he has to go, so bringing him to the
potty then has been the easiest time in the early weeks.

I've been sitting on the toilet backwards with the baby in my arms
and that's been working pretty well -- though we have an elongated
toilet upstairs which is much easier to sit on than a standard round
seat.

People also mentioned that through observing they could see that the
baby could pee every 20 minutes -- which if you are still using
diapers and being attentive to changes you notice as well sometimes.
This helped me realize that I could actually offer more regularly
and that might help us out.

I started out by just announcing his movements at diaper changes for
about 4 weeks -- "oh, you had a poo poo" or "did Jonah just go pee
pee?" so he was more aware of what was going on. I now can offer him
by asking him if he "wants to go poo poo in the potty" and he will
smile if he wants to try. I try to keep it very low pressure. My
little one is just 11 weeks now and we've been doing this in a low
key manner, building up our confidence, for about the past month. My
goal right now is to have it stay an enjoyable experience for him,
and to reduce the number of prefold cloth diapers (diaper service)
we are using each week as a measure of success.

infant potty training works -- 6 poos and 2 pees later

I started working with our baby at 5 weeks on drawing his awareness
to his elimination patterns during diaper changes. Last week, after
observing that he passed gas prior to having a BM, I decided to sit
on the toilet with him and see if he would relieve himself there. I
was so nervous that I would miscalculate his intentions or when he
was going to go and that I would end up covered in poo. But a few
moments later he did it and he didn't mind at all and there was no
clean-up required, just a quick dab on his tush.

I tried it during the week last week but our timing was off. I tried
again on Sunday though and he had 4 poos and even peed once.
Yesterday I had him on the changing table and asked him if he wanted
to pee or poo in the potty and he smiled at me so we sat on the
toilet and he peed -- I was so proud. Today at my PEPS group meeting
he went poo again -- I'm just amazed that this is working.

Infant Potty Training/ Elimination Communication

Today was also a good day for pooping in the potty. I was just reading through my last couple of posts and I think I should explain about elimination communication, it is where you teach your infant to use the toilet and not just go in their diaper all the time. It requires you as the parent to be observant of your baby's elimination habits and cues and then to work with your baby to go in the toilet.

When Jonah was 5 weeks old I went back to one of the E.C. sites I have linked to show my sister about it. From that I got the idea that I probably should be helping Jonah understand about what was going on in his diaper. Since then when I change his diaper I will say to him "oh, you had a pee-pee diaper" or "Jonah had a poo-poo". It works particularly well when he tries to let me know he wants a diaper change or just when he starts to get cranky because he needs one. Sometimes while changing him he will poo, and less ocassionally he will pee. I try to use those as learning opportunities as well as it just happened so I can say "Jonah had a poo-poo" and it's more obvious.

My partner and I don't want to be diapering for years so the idea of E.C. intrigued us. Add to that the cloth prefolds that we're using through the diaper service and baby knows when he's soiled. I try to be highly responsive to his requests for a diaper change as well, so he stays aware of when he goes and knows that I don't expect him to stay in a dirty diaper. It's all part of a holistic approach we are taking with him about this.

Today Jonah went poo in the toilet twice, and both times he seemed game to try it. During last week I tried a few times but he wasn't ready to go just yet and got frustrated so we quickly abandoned the effort -- I don't want to torture him, if he's not into it then we move on. I think he likes being able to press with his feet against the seat to help bear down. Whatever works.

Jonah likes to eliminate while he's nursing so obviously that's not a good time to try to intervene. I have noticed though that most of the time, or more than half the time, when he spits up its because he's peeing or pooing. My biggest cues from him are if he is passing gas and hasn't yet had a poo or he's straining already to have a bowel movement. Peeing, I'm not so good with figuring that one out yet.

Here are some good links to learn more about elimination communication or going diaper free:

Diaper Free! The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene
by Ingrid Bauer

Infant Potty Training

diaperfreebaby.org

Infant Potty Training - Elimination Communication

Natural Infant Hygiene FAQ

The EC Store

EC Clothing Options

Dare to Bare, New York Times article

See also my post - Easy Diaper Changes and Pottying Outfit Observations

Cloth Diapering & Elimination Communication Links

I've been bookmarking diapering sites for a while and now that we have the baby on the way we're committed to not using disposables. I was a cloth diapered baby so it's nice I can ask my mother for background information on frequency of changes, quantity, etc. -- though things have changed a lot from the early 70's.

Cloth Diapering -- by Teachingmama
A well rounded site with links to other great diapering sites and resources.

Diaper Pages -- Karen's Cloth Diapering Site

Real Diaper Association

Diaper Pin - Cloth Diapers, Tip, Reviews and More

One Stop Diaper Shop -- sew your own

Kelly's Closet - Cloth diapers and accessories

Tiny Tush - Natural baby boutique

Katie's Kisses -- Cloth diapers and more

Full Moon Baby Gear -- Diapering and more

Kissaluvs

Fuzzibunz

Snappi -- diaper fasteners, covers and more

And if you are really wanting to get away from diapering there is always the Diaper Free angle:

DiaperFreeBaby -- information about elimination communication.