Totally New To This

[starblue32]

Hello. I have a 13 month old baby and I am interested in this. My hubby would not really be too keen on it, so I would like to try it out first. I can't spend a bunch of money on it, so does it take "supplies?" The reason I am interested is this: my son does not sleep outside of his crib, but will fall asleep if he is really tired and I am driving a good distance. There has been several times lately where he normally would have slept in the car and he did not. Not only did he not sleep but he screamed the whole way. All three of those times within minutes of being out of his car seat he pooped. This made me think that he is aware enough of what is happening with his body that I can train him to go in the potty. Any thoughts/tips/suggestions?

THANKS!

[Sakari]

Totally! He's practically asking you to give him somewhere else to poop! How great!!

It doesn't take any supplies at all - you can buy stuff if you want, some of it's nice, some makes it easier - but absolutely NOTHING is necessary!

My suggestions are to read Diaper Free Baby by Christine Gros -loh (two chapters are about babies younger than yours, but the next two will apply. Plus there is lots of be gleened from the frist two as well)

Read the forums here - there's a ton of info to be had! and feel free to ask questions!

The best way to start (imho) is to establish a cue sound or word and use that every.single.time he goes. Eventually you can take that understanding and communication - and turn it around. You make the sound and he'll go!

It is a bit different starting at his age - but don't you ever let anyone tell you that it's "too late" - they're just plain wrong! The principles of EC can be applied at ANY age.

Good luck and have fun! (and you might be surprise at your hubby - you never know! I thought mine would think I'd lost my rocker - but he didn't! Now he tells perfect strangers all about the wonders of EC )

[mel j]

You really don't need to spend a lot of money on EC. I didn't! I just used what we had for the most part, though I did get a baby bjorn little potty. I got a toilet insert from someone on freecycle. I just used the cloth diapers we already had as back-up, and sometimes I used random containers. I used a potty bowl too, from a potty we got from someone on freecycle. Even used the bath and the sink! I got old wool blankets from freecycle as well as cheap fleece blankets.

A lot of things would be nice, but they're not necessary. You can use "supplies" if you want, that could make EC more convenient, but you don't have to. For a 13 month old, you might want to be able to try getting him to sit on a potty or toilet insert over the toilet, because he might be heavy to try to hold... that said I do still hold my daughter over the sink or toilet even though she is heavy.

And my daughter, who is also almost 13 months, is often the same way in the car. She almost never uses her diaper while in her carseat anymore and will often cry if she has to go. She usually waits until we get out of the car. She hated going in her diaper even when she was very young... we had a very long trip and had to stop several times for her just to change her diaper!