By Kimberley on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - 10:47 pm:

Hey there,
just wanted to share our progress. We've been doing EC on and off and Elsbeth just loves not having a nappy on when we're home. Actually, she prefers no clothes and refuses to put her jarmies on, so I've been dressing her when she goes to sleep, its' funny to see her push her arms in her sleeves in her sleep. She's been doing a lot of weeing on the floor and we wipe it up. Sometimes I put the 'bucket' (old ice cream container) in the stream to catch some. I've gradually learnt her cues of crossing her legs, holding her crotch, going still like she's thinking about something and looking down at the floor. Sometimes she even seems to be in discomfort, as though she doesn't like the full bladder feeling. Well yesterday, she said 'wee wee' and I grabbed the bucket and she did a wee in it and we went through tipping it in the toilet and flushing etc. This morning, Damien and I were talking about something and I didn't notice her signs and she just started weeing in the bucket (I've got a few around the house kept in the same spot). She did that a few more times today, so I think she's got it. Tonight she asked to sit on the big toilet before her bath - she didn't go, but did a little push lol. I think she's enjoying the independence and control over her own body. She's still happy to wee in nappies and understands that I put one on when we go out, as she hasn't got the control to hold on for more than about 5 seconds. Oh, another thing that I think helped, hope I don't freak you guys out, though it kind of freaked Damien (lol) but I did a couple of wees in the bucket too a few days ago - I figured if I expect her to, I should show that it's ok for mummy to do it too. Gosh, I don't know what I'll do re number 2's, hopefully it won't come to that.... Thanks for listening to our very wee story Kimberley

By rebeccab on Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 07:32 am:

wow, that's so great kimberley. sounds like you are really keyed in to her. i think the wee in the bucket was a great idea!!!
well done,
becc

By Michelle on Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 07:53 pm:

Fantastic!
I let Taliver have no nappy time when we are outside, and he has done a few poos in the garden, but we have carpet and are renting, so I'm not as game as you inside. I brought Taliver a little plastic potty which he plays with, and sometimes he sits on it like a chair.
He actually did a poo on the carpet one day when we went inside and I started cooking dinner (a bit neglectful, eek) and David absolutely freaked out (but of course he wasn't the one who had to clean it up!). But I got most of the stain out, so hopefully will still get out bond back hehehe.

Anyway, sounds like you guys are doing great, especially that Elsbeth did it in the bucket without you! Thats great!

Hey, I saw an 'Elspeth' in a book the other day!! first time I had seen it anywhere else

By Amanda on Thursday, February 16, 2006 - 09:44 pm:

Congrats Kimberley, thats great! I think weeing in the bucket was a great idea too. Weve been toying with this too. Just Steve and I in our heads because we found Jesse standing in front of the toilet weeing lol cute! I dont mind either and just mop it up. He has even done a few poos when I have been distracted (why is it always when we take the nappy off) and its been no big deal to clean it up. LOL Im not sure what you are going to do either re. no 2's hehe. I guess if you are ok with it thats all the counts. Great stuff!

By Kimberley on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 06:08 am:

Thanks guys, that's great Michelle re the poos in the garden!! How funny about the poo on the carpet and David freaking out, how do they escape all that smelly stuff, must be the old 'y' chromosome lol. Our carpet's pretty gross, dog in the house, Elsbeth in the house lol, they really should ban carpet for houses with children lol.
I think snow white's step mother was Elspeth. It's the scottish form of Elizabeth and we've got some scottish on my dad's side, but I liked it with 'b' for beth. The german form is Elsabet. Damien liked Elizabeth, but I like to be a bit different, as if you didn't know that already lol.
Good on Jesse for weeing in front of the toilet!! Funny they do like pooing without a nappy or in a clean nappy. I got the bucket idea from Sarah J Buckley's site, she used a little beach bucket.
She has a great article about EC, yet she started it from birth, eeww, I can't fathom dealing with wees in the middle of the night as well as all those early feeds. I guess if you're up anyway, but not for me. cheers Kimberley

By beck on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 10:52 am:

the sustainable living festival is on this weekend at fed square in melb actually starts today and they have a talk on no nappies (ec), also parenting and healing birth amongst other things but these are what i am going to.

beck

By Phoebe on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 05:26 pm:

My bubs only 6months old si im not an expert but I would have to say that kids here (Bali) seem to be toilet trained a lot earlier than in Aust, and I imagine its cause from birth they dont wear nappies. the are much more aware of what is going on. However in Austrlia I dont know about the ramifications of this (I mean for allday everyday, no nappy use)becdause of the water needed to wash blanckets, clothes, sheets, mums and dads clothes etc.....In Indonesia they have an abundant supply of water. Anyway thats all I know about that topic!!!! In about a year or so iM SURE i'LL BE AND EXPERT!lol!!!

By Michelle on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 07:58 pm:

so, does your baby wear a nappy phoebe? are you doin' it like the locals? or taking what you consider to be the best from each culture?

By Kimberley on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 08:52 pm:

yeah it makes sense, if they don't wear a nappy early on, they learn about their bodily functions sooner. When Elsbeth has a nappy on, she looks down for the wee and it's not there, so it does 'untrain' them of makes it take longer to learn I guess.

By Amanda on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 10:33 pm:

It was actually SB's article on EC that inspired me while I was pregnant but alas it didnt work out due to our circumstances. Bit hard when you are living with other people. So true K that they love no nappy or a fresh one. Wonder why? I would love Jesse to wear a nappy less. Some days hes go most of the day without one but only after hes done a poo in the morning lol.

By Kimberley on Friday, February 17, 2006 - 10:53 pm:

Yeah, odd isn't it, we'd been out today and when we got home I asked Elsbeth if she'd like me to take off her nappy, she normally yells 'nap' and hits it for me to take off, but she said no and later did a poo in it. I've noticed if she's pooed without it, she'll only do a small amount, but with it on, she'll push everything out over the space of about 5 minutes, so maybe she feels more secure with something catching it, dunno. Maybe they like clean ones too for the extra space and absorbency lol.

By Amanda on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 07:23 pm:

Yeah - little smarties...so clever!

By Michelle on Saturday, February 18, 2006 - 09:28 pm:

Taliver has learnt to say 'poo' now, and points to his nappy when he has done one (well he did to start with) but now everytime he farts (or anyone else farts for that matter) he loudly announces "Poo! Poo!" taliver also sort of grabs at his nappy to let me know he wants a change.

I was just re-reading my last post, and realised it sounded as if I thought that EC wasn't the best from each culture, but I wasn't referring to EC, I was meaning all aspects of parenting...just thought I'd correct myself there.

By Kimberley on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 02:58 pm:

Ah that's funny, could be handy if you're waiting in a queue and someone farts.

By Amanda on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 07:50 pm:

He sounds like such a cutie Michelle...
nahh I got what you meant =o)

By beck on Sunday, February 19, 2006 - 10:06 pm:

well i've decided to try ec after going to the talk by sarah buckley. tomorrow is the day we will start. hmmm just imagine no nappies to wash.
beck

By Kimberley on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 02:25 pm:

sooo jealous you saw sarah buckley talk, sorry I haven't seen Pinky talk either good luck with the EC

By AmyS on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 04:48 pm:

I didn't exactly do EC but did sighn with Molly. She started signing at 12-13 months that she wanted to go to the toilet and now at nearly 17 months is out of nappies during the day and is having lots of dry nights. And without me doing anything! :D The only accidents we have are if I'm busy and can';t hear/see her. But usually she yells out 'wees' loud enough :D

By Amanda on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 09:53 pm:

Thats great Amy! Are you both clever... I should really take more interest. =o)

By Phoebe on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 01:40 pm:

Yes I use nappies..I had a brief moment when i thought that he wouldnt, or that I would use cloth nappies here...but we don't have a washing machine!!! I send our clothes to a laundry (I know sounds very posh, but everyone her does it!)but somehow I dont think they would be very happy about washing pooey nappies so we are in disposables...on the up side they are incredible cheap, on the downside I look at the horrific atate of the environment here and think "oh??!!"!!! I find a lot more mothers are starting to use nappies here, maybe not everyday at home but always when they go out, or in the wet season when it rains for 4days straight. I think you also have to realise that houses here are a lot different...they have tile floors, and all the windows and doors are open all day and they have endless sun (except in the wet season)to dry matresses and rugs that get pee on them. I think I have blended the best, or what I think is best of the two cultures. Dena gets massaged everyday with a mixture of cajuput, aniseed and coconut oil, to keep his body and skin good. I think with a mixed race relationship you have to blend to be far to the child. You all seem to know so much about toilet training, Im still working out solids!!!!

By Amanda on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 09:25 pm:

We have dabbled with modern cloth nappies which basically means fitted not squares which you fold. So I know a little bit about some of the systems used by mums. You can use what is called a little squirt http://www.littlesquirt.com.au/ to wash into the toilet any solid matter. Then I gather they use a wet bucket system where you would pre-soak the soiled nappies until you came to wash. I think some use a combination of bicarbonate soda and vinegar and of course water. Im sure if you Google’d natural nappy soaker you would come up with a few ideas. As you get your laundry done you could then just squeeze out the excess water and hand over as usual I would imagine. Also you can get various liners which helps with avoiding staining etc such as fleece liners keep the baby dry by removing moisture and the poo washes right of it (doesn’t stick like to cotton or flannel). You could make these yourself by just cutting up pieces of polar fleece. Great for lining normal disposables if you don’t like the gel next to your bubs. Or there are biodegradable liners which are a NZ product I believe. You can view these at http://www.eenee.com.au/ In fact Eenees have a great system of using a breathable plastic outer cover with disposable pads and liners. I have tried these and they work quite well although they have changed them from what I gather now looking at the website. Also there are Eco Disposables now which means some are compostable and other claim to be biodegradable. Here are a few websites you can check out Moltex at http://www.ecodirect.com.au/ which is what we use and they are wonderful, Bambo at www.nordicnappies.com.au which I hear are very good also and much more economical, and Tushies at www.earthcarebaby.com which don’t contain any gel only wood pulp if I recall correctly although not great leak guard in my opinion. If my website was up and I had stock I would gladly send you a free sample but all of these websites will be happy to provide a free sample in any case. So literally heaps of choices. A great cloth nappy resource is Oz Cloth Nappies http://www.ozclothnappies.org/about.html. There are nappies called All In Ones (AIOs) and Pockets which I like most. Most pockets have a breathable plastic outer and lined with fleece which you stuff with what ever but allot use a hemp prefold because hemp is very absorbant - so theyre great. But can be expensive! I have some that are very simple just a pocket (no plastic outer) which you stuff (I use the Eenee biodegradable pads) with what ever you want which cost under $10 each. Works well for us now that he is predictable but not sure how these would have worked when he was younger. Then there is EC which you’ve all been talking about and there is a Yahoo group you can join in on but it sounds like you have a resource of mums doing just this out your front door so probably no need to consult anyone else lol.

By beck on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 01:06 pm:

ok well we are doing well, no poohy nappies, yay. i am not feeling confident to leave nappy off though. i just hold him over the toilet and he poohs in it. it's great.
beck

By Kimberley on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 07:04 pm:

Wow Amy and Beck, your littlies are doing well, and Amanda what great information. We're still pretty much the same, but elsbeth still prefers to poo in a nappy, might try popping her on the toilet or on the potty perhaps. cheers Kimberley

By rebeccab on Monday, February 27, 2006 - 08:40 pm:

hi all,
any suggestions on encouraging pooing in the toilet? nicholas will happily wee on request ( not quite ready to tell me pre-wee yet) but flatly refuses to poo other than in the nappy. he knows when he needs to poo and says 'bye, mum, i need poo, away mummy' and takes himself off somewhere and comes back after and wants me to change him. i am in no hurry to push him but interested in pointers.
becc

By Amanda on Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - 04:25 pm:

I think I would just follow his lead Becc. He obviously knows when he needs assistance and pees on the toilet. Probably just a matter of time. I imagine hes sees you and Nigel so it will just be a natural development I imagine. Sorry no pointers. Amanda

By Elise Howes on Friday, March 24, 2006 - 01:00 pm:

Hi, i've enjoyed reading everyone's experiences - Stephanie is 16 months and has been using a potty 'sometimes' since 7 months, she loves it but I've been a bit erratic with how often i manage to suggest it at the right time! Now she's walking well I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about helping her learn to get her pants off by herself as I think she'll find it less frustrating if she doesn't have to wait for me. We live in a cold climate and we don't artificially heat the house during the day so no pants isn't really an option ... any ideas or experiences?

By beck on Saturday, March 25, 2006 - 10:27 pm:

elise dr sarah buckly suggests pants with a split in them so when they sit they open up but when standing their bots are covered. that's really my only suggestion. sorry.

as for us i still haven't had any poohey naps. and he will often indicate to me he wants to use the potty and do a big wee. i love listening to his cues, i feel so connected to him.

beck

By Elise Howes on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 - 09:22 pm:

Thanks Beck, i might have to do some sewing to try out your suggestion!
Elise

By Katrina Butler on Thursday, November 13, 2008 - 08:22 am:

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