We were not planning on it with our new baby, taking it more as an exception with our first girl. Well, … the short answer is – our new little boy did the same thing, he preferred using little potty straight from birth! He asks to be changed, stays dry,and as we put him on the potty he would use it within seconds. He would hold it even long enough for us to get off the free way to put him on the potty while we are traveling.
That made me thinking that perhaps it is not that rare of an occurrance, and possibly it is just the our mentality as parents needs to be changed to realize that babies are capable of communicating like that and that they actually prefer to be clean and dry to start with, rather then trained to do their business in pants.
So this is just a answer to a few inquiries I’ve had and an update on our little new edition, he is 6 weeks at the moment!
One of my colleagues “potty trained” her daughter from birth. She and her husband watched their daughter for clues (facial expressions and body movements) as to when she was ready to go to the bathroom and then put her on the potty. She said there were very few accidents and that over time she and her husband and her daughter got better and better at communicating/understanding when to put her on the potty.
She said she learned more about this from books (not sure of the titles). So, I’m sure there are books out there on the topic. Will try to get some titles for you.
Yes, it worked that way with us from the very beginning as well. We have not read any books about that though, but that just shows how amazingly our babies can communicate with us if we just listen, watch and take them seriously. I think it also creates a special bond.
My girl is 3 months. I just started with EC or Potty training. I’ve lots of questions. At the moment i miss all her pee moments. So lots of accidents. While nursing she’s pooing so this i know. But she sucks her thumb lie on her stomac and pee’s without any expression. I would love to know others experiences. Where can i find forums about this topic?
Skylark,
Is there any special potty you use for your little bittys, or just put them on the big potty? Do you bring a travel potty with you in the car?
I am interested in EC for the baby I’m carrying. We didn’t know of such a thing with my older girl, but it always seemed like I could tell when she needed to go, so I would just get ready to change her immediately because she hated being wet.
Once I suggested to my mom that I thought she could use the potty. My mom was very against it and said don’t do it she too little. I second guessed myself and wondered if I seemeed like some crazy, pushy mom, even though I know I just wanted what is best for her.
I really think it could have worked though, and reading things like what you have written on this forum makes me wonder.
My girl went ahead and potty trained before age 1 anyway, but she developed such a dislike fro the feeling of poopy drawers that she tried not to poop at all, since she was about 3 months. This lasted untill she was could use the potty and even beyond. She hated it so, she just wouldn’t go. It caused her a lot of physical distress and us a lot of emotional distress.
I think if she could have gone on the potty all along she wouldn’t have had a problem with it.
Anyway I think it is really cool that you listened to your babies like this.
We used elimination communication with our daughter. She was nearly potty trained at 15 months. Then I moved her out of my bedroom into her own room and we started having lots more misses. She stopped wearing diapers except at nap and bed at about 22 months. She stopped wearing diapers at nap at 36 months. We are still working on overnight. I really think she wakes up and pees in the diaper first thing in the morning out of laziness. I get up and have her go potty between 10pm and midnight and she is usally dry then, goes potty, but is still wet in the morning. You can check out mothering.com for some forum about EC.
EC from birth, now 13 m, signs when she has to go (or already has gone sometimes) and pees in her diaper at night. check out “infant potty training” by laurie bouke (sp?) it is THE manual.
baby bjorn makes a great stand alone potty for the wee ones, we’ve used it since 4 m.
have fun!
We use BabyBjorn Little potty in the car or out, and original BB potty at home. From birth till about 3 months we used safety first potty with the insert and foam cushion, as BB was too big still Hope it helps
Thanks for the suggestions on the potty’s, we’ve been searching everywhere for a little potty that our five month old will fit on and have had no luck. He’s just about ready to sit up so once he does this we will really get on top of the EC training. I read ‘early start potty training’ by Linda Sonna which was recommended to be somewhere on this forum and I found it really interesting. I even convinced my hubby to read it too! We’re having trouble with the wee cues but will hopefully get better at this soon!
Thanks to everyone for all the great tips and helpful links. I have had a connection with my baby to where I can sense when he is about to use the bathroom by his actions and facial featuresas well as his schedule. I thought maybe I was just imagining and that my thoughts were just a concidence. Now I can be equipped with the knowledge and proper training tools to start training now.
From birth my baby would always poop and pee as we changed her diaper and everyone said that it was just normal. After a month and a half my husband said we should just hold her over the toilet since we knew she was going to go. The same people who said that it was nrmal for babies not to go in the diaper said that that would trumatize her. Well she is ot traumatized yet and waits for a toilet to poop. We are not quite so good at pees yet. I firmly believe that this is a normal occurance. Moms have obviously known that babies do not wnt to go in the diaper. Why is using the potty such a big deal?
You are right, Not a big deal at all, babies love it! And the same people who prefer to use diapers for convenience, and say that babies would be traumatized if they are allowed to use potty, would go ahead and impose truly traumatizing “sleep training techniques” ( like Babywise or CIO, which would have lasting sociological and physiological effects) on their babies, again for simple convenience… So sad… So glad it is working for you! Just follow your parent’s instincts and follow your baby’s lead, she will be so happy that you understand what she is communicating to you!
Well I also use Babywise and have not seen any trauma from that either but that is a different topic. I am happy to say that most of the people who thought ec was traumatizing have changed their minds. Most people think it is weird but does not matter. A few find it interesting or cool. My husband and I are trying to persuade all our siblings to do it when they havekids. It just makes so much sense.
He there, Ryan and this is the first time I have heard of potty training from birth. I am the father of a gorgeous 6 month old girl named Hailey. We have been so lucky with her and we have this easy going mello litlle baby that never complains about anything. I see a lot of potential in her and she is so alert and confident. And now I’ve read this post about potty training and I’m getting Ideas.
So just wanted to say thanks and I’ll keep you all posted on how I get on.
Ryan
The Diaperfree website has a list of great books on the topic. I’ve read all of them, but I read Ingrid Bauer’s book first and acquired the most/best information from that book. I EC’d my first daughter starting at 6 weeks and my son starting at birth.
The more I do it, the fewer misses I have, it does get to be second nature and seems normal after awhile. At first my partner was reluctant, but then he discovered he would much rather take a baby to the potty than clean a diaper!
I am a mom of 5 and love the idea of EC but all my kids are under 5 and I do not have the time that I think i need to teach her. or them about it.
We started training early with my olders and 3 of them are potty trained. My newest is 4 months today and I am really trying to do EC with her please sehare any helpful tips for pee as that is my bigest miss. thanks I wish it worked for older babies we had a hellish pregnancy with the las one and I got lazy with training my 4th so he is almost 2 and not trained yet!!! >:( anyway I hope he learns soon as all my others were clean and dry consistantly by 18months
My advice for a 4 month old would be to get a bunch of potties and put them all over the house. I resisted this because I wanted my baby to use the toilet but when I finally did a 5 months I doubled the number of catches. I confuse signals a lot so we re on and off the potty 3 or 4 times for every catch and I would get sick of taking her to the toilet and then miss. When it is right in front of mI do better. Other than that sped lots of time in a cloth diaper with no cover or naked and good luck. We do not catch all the pees but I tell myself that is not the point. I want her to kow that she can go in the toilet as well as a diaper so the transition to toilet only will come naturally.
I think this can work with my grandaughter. Can any one that started EC early enough tell me what type of potty do you use, she is so small that i doubt i will find in the market one for her age.
If you can, please send me a link to where i can find one appropiate.
Thanks
