Diaper Free Cesilee Update- EC at 13 months

Sheesh its been too long since I updated. I apologize, parenting two kids can make you behind on everything. Well Cesilee is now almost 14 months. She is in that wannabe independent stage where she must try things on her own or she freaks out. Its been fun. Due to her mobility and independence her pottying has some challenges. We are both frustrated. Now dont get me wrong, we take a laid back take it as it comes approach and are careful to not put any pressure on EC. I am just trying to figure out how to help her go in the best place possible. She is resisting sitting on her potty half the time and seems to prefer standing on laying flat on her stomach while she goes. I understand sitting is not the most instinctual way to eliminate but I wonder how I can effectively catch without her sitting on it? I think that because she is learning walking and other major things right now she is less focused on communicating her needs. Also I will admit that I got too laid back and wasn't noticing her signs. I am going to be better about it. Its hard to try to take her to the big potty and she seems to not like that she has nowhere to rest her feet. Despite these challenges I still prefer having a diaper free baby and she prefers that as well. Maybe I should actually read a book on natural infant hygiene to get some tips on how to move froward from here.

Life is good.

Dancing on the porch in mommy's shoes!

Things have been going well. Ceaghan is potty trained. I can't believe how quickly it happened. We are working on phasing out his little potty and him using the toilet all the time. He is very interested in using the toilet. He has even had an accident because he didn't time it right to make it to the toilet. We also struggle with him not letting us know that he has to go while we are out. I can tell because he starts grabbing himself and I ask. When I get him on the toilet and he finally goes, I make it a point to talk with him about how it feels so much better to empty your bladder and that he should let me know when he has to go. This kid would hold it for 8 hours! He is also learning a trillion (okay a slight exaggeration) words everyday and he makes me so proud. I can't believe he will be 3 in a few months. This Thursday is the first day of meeting up with a toddler preschool co-op. There are 10 toddlers around his age to learn and play with. I think it is going to be very good for him. I love that this can be an extension of our homeschooling.

This is how I hold her on the potty

  Elimination Communication with Cesilee is going well. We catch some and we miss some. Some days are awesome and we barely have any misses and then others we seem to be missing a lot. We have been going out a lot enjoying the summer weather and it has become a bit tricky. I need some sort of travel potty to take with us. We were at a family picnic the other day at a park. The park had a port-a-potty instead of restrooms. I couldn't take her in there to potty and I was not prepared with a potty bowl or anything. So she reluctantly had to go in a diaper. I changed her often but I can really tell that she has the preference to go on a potty. I am looking into the "Pottete Plus" travel potty/seat. I think I could fit it into my diaper bag and be used in situations like this and on public toilets as well. Cesilee is 5 months old now. Wow did that go fast! I sometimes stare at her in awe that she is so big now. Yet when I look back at photographs and video clips of her premature 5lb self, I am shocked. She has come so far and is such a beautiful blessing! She started babbling as well, which she has been trying to use to communicate the need to eliminate. She makes this certain pitch of sounds and I just know its time. We almost always catch poop but the other day I had set her down in the exersaucer while I tried to hurry and make Ceaghan a sandwich. She was showing sighs but I was just hoping she would hold it for a minute (mistake!!) she couldn't thought and was only wearing Gerber training underwear. It was very full and had leaked out ALL over! What a mess to clean up! But I did learn that she is serious about needing to go and there is no waiting. She has been wearing trainers during the day and diapers at night. She used to wake up during the night and wiggle and cry before letting go of a huge pee. However she has stopped doing this and doesn't make obvious enough signs that wake me up. I think perhaps this is due to deeper sleeping. I have reluctantly been putting her in a stuffed diaper with wool over top to try to make it until morning. (it never does though, shes a super soaker!) I am hoping to figure out a solution soon. I think a wool pad under her would really help as well. The little round wash basin that we were using as a potty bowl cracked. I bought a vintage potty bowl off ebay and it works a lot better. But recently she has decided that she does not like going on anything but the toilet. She will hold it and not go on anything else.  I think this is just her preference right now and I am doing my best to accommodate this desire. The way I hold her on the potty matters as well. She seems to want me to hold her backwards on the potty with her feet pressed against the back inside rim of the seat. She will protest if I try to pee her any other way. But when she has to poop, she wants me sitting on the toilet with her. I am not sure why, but I will do whatever works for her.

EC and Teething: Don't Stress!

This is how I have been trying to catch

Well we have hit a little bit of a bump in the road; Teething. Cesilee has been teething for a little while now but it has recently in the past few days seemed to really be bothering her. Anything that comes within a couple inches of her mouth will get chewed on (including daddy's clavicle! OUCH!) We have been using a baltic amber necklace and a teething oil to try to ease her pain. She enjoys chewing on a wooden teether and my knuckles. Poor little babe.
  Now let me explain how this has been effecting EC. We were doing great, we were in a great rhythm and were catching a lot more than missing. Then along with the teething, she started only releasing her bowel movements while cradled up on my shoulder in the burp position. And this progressed farther into her also only wanting to urinate in this position as well. I am not sure if its going to last but I have been just taking it as it comes. She seems frustrated and cries out when I have been offering her to sit on the potty. When sitting with me on the potty, instead of going with me like usual, she got very fussy until I put her on my shoulder and then she releases. Baby's happiness is most important to me and I of course am not going to try to force her to eliminate in any way that she does not want to. I have been trying to find ways to catch these up on the shoulder eliminations the best. It almost always ends up getting on my arm or lap. She is not communicating her needs as well right now either and sometimes she cries out of frustration while pottying. I am assuming this is because she is so focused on the teething. I have been either holding a prefold under her bum while on my shoulder or having the bowl on my lap and trying to catch that way. But sometimes I am not seeing her communicate the need and we are having many misses in her trainers. OH YEAH, that reminds me! I have been trying out a few different types of training pants and I will be posting a review on them soon. I wan4 to try them all out for a bit before I can give a good opinion. Anyway we are just taking as it comes right now and trying to keep her as comfortable and happy as we can. If that means more misses than that is okay. I am confident we will get back into our rhythm eventually.

Potty Potty Potty

  Okay let me give updates on everything.

Ceaghan is his undies!

    Ceaghan is doing great with potty training. We introduced these cute little underwear with his favorite characters. We assumed that this would be a good idea and that he would do even better due to not wanting to pee on them. However it slightly backfired. He was holding his urine for a very long time until he uncontrollably leaked some out and then would try and run to the potty. We would ask him if he had to go and he would get really angry and yell "NO!" We had to make him realize that if he took them off to go potty that he COULD put them back on. He doesn't wet while napping or sleeping at night and is getting somewhat used to the underwear. We still have accidents but not often. He really surprised us last night while taking a bath. He asked twice to get out of the tub to go pee on the toilet! I just assumed he would pee in the tub if he had to go, but he really understands now that the toilet/potty is where you go.

Tummy time!

  As far as how EC is going, it's even surprising me how well its going! Last time I was talking about how we were just learning her cues and patterns and that it was barely part time at that point. Well now it is definitely a full time thing. I just cant go back to letting her sit in a diaper. Sure we do have misses sometimes but I am still aware of her needs and making a conscious effort, so I say that is full time. If I was putting her in a diaper part of the day and just ignoring her cues and letting her "fill" it up then I would say that is part time. I have even been changing her out during nighttime. She doesn't usually pee while sleeping. She will wake up to nurse and have a full bladder. She fusses a lot and then releases it. I am trying to figure out the best way to catch it. Right now I will have her in prefolds and a belt and change them out. Its pretty easy because she only wakes up every 4 hours or so and after latching back on, goes right back to sleep. The biggest problem is that I dont usually wake up all the way, so then I forget to change it out. I just switch boob sides and drift back to sleep. I have found that during the day she really has a toilet preference. I have also noticed that usually when I have to go, she has to go. We sit on the toilet together ( I sit in the back of it and have her sitting between my legs) and as soon as I go, it cues her to go. She will go in our little potty bowl but doesn't seem to like it as much as the regular toilet. I think because its not as comfortable. Her potty bowl has a plastic edge that must be bothering her. We seem to have gotten into a rhythm and we dont have many misses now. It is really annoying having to snap on and off her diapers, so I have ordered some trainers and in the mean time I like to have her in a prefold/belt or I use those bloomers that you get with dresses with a cotton doubler inside to catch 1 miss if it happens. My mindset has changed so much that I dont think I could go back to doing diapers full time. This is going so well and its awesome!

Hey you!

  I have been doing the vitamin D regimen for 3 weeks now. I take my pill every morning and I feel alert and normal. I have noticed a few pounds of weight loss but nothing significant yet. At least I am not gaining anymore! The biggest thing I have noticed is that I have a normal appetite now and I actually am satisfied for a duration of time after eating. It wasn't like this at all before, I could eat large amounts, constantly throughout the day and never feel full or satisfied. I always felt hungry and constantly thought about food. I knew this was happening but could not control it. I hope this normal appetite stays after I am done with the supplement regimen.

Our first time going out while practicing EC

Cesilee wearing a receiving blanket flat and headband belt

   I wanted to write out a little update on how EC is going. We ventured out of the house for the first time since we started and I am still amazed at how it went.  Cesilee and I went to our local ICAN (international cesarean awareness network) chapters April meeting. She was asleep on daddy while I got things ready to leave and then woke up when we needed to leave. I offered her the potty but she did not go. We put a diaper on her and I assumed that she would pee in it on the way to the meeting. She got upset in the car and was fussing and I thought, "Yep, she just went" but when I got to the meeting (late but I got out of the house!) her diaper was dry. I set down my bag, said "Hi" and took her to the restroom. She was doing the pee dance. (its like a wiggle and a certain fuss) so I took her in the stall, removed her dry diaper and put her on the toilet, the opposite direction so her feet were planted towards the back. I cue'd her and she immediately went poop and pee! Then she smiled and I wiped her and put her dry diaper back on and headed into the meeting. She was nursing but then started fussing again after about 20 minutes or so. I took her back to the restroom and she peed again! I was so surprised at how much faster and easier it seemed using the toilet like this. Then we headed back and 30 minutes later she made the poop face and I was in the middle of a conversation and missed it. She loudly pooped in her diaper and everyone laughed. Oops! But despite this miss, I am so happy with how it went being out for our first time. She really does seem to have control and waits for her "potty opportunity" to eliminate. I was completely skeptical before and now that I am experiencing  this for myself, I am amazed!

Ceaghan "reading" Cesilee a story while on the potty!

  This morning I realized that she can sit on the on toilet potty seat if I hold her up. My timing was off though and although we sat there for awhile, she ended up eliminating into a prefold on my lap 2 minutes later. But I will continue to offer it upon waking up. Ceaghan is really interested in her potty time. I think it is helping him with his potty training as well. It was very cute this morning while holding her on the potty, he got a book and insisted on "reading" it to her while she sat there.
  Diapers are getting annoying to take on and off and since she doesn't wet at all while napping during the day I am thinking that switching to just using prefolds/belt and trainers would work for us for most of the time. I will keep the diapers on hand though and for nighttime. I have been using prefolds/ receiving blanket flats with a "headband belt" (using a headband as a prefold belt works great!) and I simply take the front portion out to potty her and then tuck it back in. If we miss, they are really easy to change out. I am selling some diapers right now to fund some tiny training pants for her. These will be good for naps and going out. When I need that waterproof security. I also really need to get her a tiny floor potty, so we can potty easier while in the living room.
  Overall this is going better than I ever expected. My thoughts have changed so much. I view diapering differently now and I feel like this makes more sense, for us. I am still learning all of her cues and timing but that will almost constantly be changing as she grows anyway. I am sure challenges will come along the way but I dont see us going back to our full time cloth diapering days.

Natural infant hygiene (EC)

   I've mentioned previously that we are practicing natural infant hygiene or as some also call "elimination communication ( EC ). We only are doing this part-time and lately its been more observing and learning than anything.  It seems like a lot of people don't understand that EC is not the same as Potty Training. With EC the parents are given cues by the baby that its time to go and the parents are helping the baby eliminate in the right spot/timing. With Potty Training the parents are teaching a diaper dependent child that they must now eliminate on the potty after being trained to go in a diaper.

  After learning about EC I have really started questioning the use of diapers. Let's really think about this for a moment; you are a baby and you have a choice to go to the bathroom all over yourself in a diaper multiple times and sit in it until its changed or simply cue someone and have them help you sit on a potty to go (you don't sit in your waste for any amount of time) which would you choose? Its pretty obvious right? After thinking about it, it seems so unnatural to allow a baby to fill up a diaper. In many countries they don't use diapers at all and caregivers are just aware of their baby's needs. In these countries the babies are independently potty trained much early than here in America. There babies are usually trained by 1 year and whereas ours 3 or 4 years! Anyway, it just sort of seemed like it would be better for my baby girl. I see Ceaghan potty training right now at 2 1/2 years and he is doing well, but its still a process for him to learn. He was trained to go in a diaper for 2 1/2 years so it makes sense that its work to undo this.
  I am going to continue to help Cesilee eliminate on the potty as much as I can and I believe she will be doing it herself earlier. Not because she is forced to, but because its a more comfortable and instinctual way than going in a diaper. We will be using backup diapers and I am not sure yet how to go about EC at night.  I have been observing her patterns and looking for cues lately. I noticed that when she wakes up suddenly from a nap she will fuss a bit. I noticed that her diaper was dry when she woke up and then she would do this fussing and then pee. So I put a prefold down (I don't have a potty bowl yet for her) and held her in a squat while making a long "sssssss" sound. You do this so they know its okay for them to release and associate it for timing in the future. And she did!! She smiled and seemed happy after this. I haven't caught a poop yet though or even had the chance because she poops only every 48 hours or so. (This is normal in exclusively breastfed babies) However we have noticed in the past that prior to pooping she will make this "poop face" where she makes a tight circle with her lips and kind of stares off into space. This is her "poop cue".
   I might be crazy, especially this early in the game but I am seriously considering selling some of my giant diaper stash so I can buy tiny training pants, some prefolds/prefold belt, and a potty for her. All of these things aren't "necessary" but make things a bit easier. I've been changing her after every pee during the day anyway, so what is the point of super absorbent diapers? All of this seems so crazy to friends. Especially those who know I have a huge cloth diaper stash and loved them so much. But as a parent who practices Attachment/Instinctual parenting, EC is feeling more instinctual than using diapers, seems to deepen the attachment, and I believe that my baby is happier this way/better off in the long run.