Yep, we're still doing it...

Warning: This post is a little graphic and a hair preachy.

In case you thought I would give up by now on this new, crazy, parenting technique...Nope. We're still going. Why? Because it honestly feels so natural and normal now. We went out to dinner recently and I noticed that she needed to go to the bathroom. So I swept her up quickly and off we went. I held her over the potty and she had a nice big poo. Later, while we were shopping, I needed to use the ladies room so I offered to let her go, too. After I was finished, I held her over the potty and she had a nice little pee.

We have passed the off ramps and there's no going back now. Now that Nola knows she can use the potty when she needs to poo, it feels a little strange of me to make her go in her pants. Can you imagine telling your newly potty trained three year old, "I'm sorry, but I don't have time to take you to a bathroom. Can you just poop your underwear?" I think we'd all agree that would be an unfortunate situation for all involved.

At this point, pee is still a different story. She pees WAAAAAY too much for me to get her to a potty every time, but little by little I've noticed her holding it longer. Today we went grocery shopping. She peed in her car potty before we went in, we shopped for about forty five minutes, and then she peed when we got back to the car. She also holds it more when she is being held, riding in her car seat, and just generally sitting up or standing. She pees the most when we are at home letting her play on the floor on her belly. I swear she pees every five minutes when we stay home all day. Any ideas why that would be?...

Remember, anyone can do this. I have no superpowers. I guess I'm just really into pretending I live in a third world country!

EC update

We are doing well with the pottying! I say "we" because it is definitely a joint effort. Nola still does not give any signals when she needs to go. At least, not that I recognize. But she seems to do really well with timing. Meaning that she goes almost every time the potty is offered. She has been doing so well today I let her wear some tiny undies while we are at home. As I write this, I had to clean up a tiny little "miss". But it's only the second miss today in a five hour stretch. That seems pretty good. She has not pooped in her diaper in over a week now. She uses the potty every time. So I think we may have that one pretty much conquered.

We have good days, and we have bad days. I never would have thought I would do this...but I'm actually really enjoying this process!

Hippy Mommy

I have decided to attempt infant potty training. Go ahead and laugh.

I bought a tiny potty when Nola was only a couple of months old. I had heard of parents who practice “elimination communication”. The goal is to learn your child and know the signals they give before they eliminate. And then put their elimination somewhere besides their diaper. It sounded a little extreme, but worth a shot. I set her on her potty once in a while and she even pooped in it twice. But in the end found it too difficult and stressful to “catch” her sudden, explosive poos. Once she started solid foods that all changed. It became very obvious when she was attempting to eliminate. So one day she was attempting and I thought, “Hey, let’s give it a try!” So I quickly got her on the potty and she went! She went an entire week pooping in her tiny potty, and once on the big potty at Grandma’s house. She did still go in her diaper when we were out shopping or doing other things, and at naptimes she seemed to always sneek one in before I got her up. But when we were home and awake she was a champ!

Pee is a different story. Although she has peed quite a few times in her potty, it’s harder to tell when she needs to go. So today we are experimenting. I have a huge quilt spread out in our living room. Nola is playing and watching Plaza Sesamo with just her onesie on. No diaper. This way I can see when she needs to go. (The cloth diapers I use are amazing and I have trouble telling when she is wet.) And, yes, I’ve already had to clean up one mess. But it was worth it because now I know…it appears she needs to pee a few minutes after she poops. Which I wouldn’t have thought. I assumed she was already peeing in her diaper before I catch her pooping. Lesson learned.

Ryan said to me last night, “You’re kind of a hippy mom.” I guess so. But only a little. I pick and choose my hippiness. Nola wears cloth diapers, but she eats canned baby food. I enjoy the breastfeeding bond, but Nola has slept in her own bed since the day we brought her home. I want Nola to learn to poop in the potty not for the health and well being of her inner zen, but because I’d rather flush her poop down the toilet than wash it out of her diaper!