Do you have an EC mentor?

[andtay23]

or wish you had one?

We learned about EC through newspaper articles and then I researched some more by reading books. But I would have loooved to have someone walk me through everything from the beginning - how you do diaper free all the time, how you manage nights, etc. I feel like most of us here just wing it because we're starting from scratch.

When I read about places like China and India where EC is just a part of culture, I really want to take a trip there and SEE how it's all done. How many misses do they have or how do they deal with them? Do they have to do extra laundry too?

I know there are DiaperFree support groups and message boards like these, but it isn't quite the same as having a mentor, you know?

[hollissmama]

I totally know what you mean, without knowing people and seeing them do it at playgroups or EC meetings I would have proabbly gave up by now. It is awesome to celebrate the good times and catches and find solutions for the tough potty pauses. I am definitely a learning through experiencing type of person so no matter how many books I read I didn't actually start until I saw another mama doing it with her son. Maybe you could find your local diaper-free community and try to go to a meeting. We could always do a big sis, little sis type thing too, but with EC mentors instead of cloth diapering (although cloth diapers are often involved). I would definitely be up to be a mentor but I am no expert and only have a potty-pausing 11 month old.

[Indianamom*2]

One of my IRL friends has been ECing since her LO was 3mo and when we have play group at her house or mine or another friend of ours we always pull out the potties and undies and we have a big EC party as DH calls it.

If I am having problems getting DD to go then she can get her to go. She has given me tips several times. Its nice tohave someone IRL that can help you out with it.

[Mac-a-Doodle]

One of my friend started EC-ing her daughter at 4 month old and now her daughter is 16 months old and almost potty trained. So, I started my daughter when she was about 3 mo old and it is still hit or miss but more hits especially w/poopy.

[MUHAJABAH]

Oh my gosh, I know, it would've been so much easier to have had someone to talk to about it! I never read the book and just sorta figured it out myself. I just got some inspiration to do nights since I "met" a local mama who ECs and has a son close in age to mine. Even though we have just been emailing so far it has been a HUGE help and really to have someone you can talk to about it is awesome! That would be really cool to see/learn how they do it in other countries also!

[Cloth4us]

When I visited Vietnam I stayed in my husband's family's house. There were two children there, one was about 4 months and the other was 14 mo. They were both with their nannies all day. One morning when I woke up I saw the 14 mo old sitting on her little potty (just after she had woken up) and her nanny was talking and "ssss" to her. She sat there for a few minutes, but I had never heard of EC at the time so I just assumed, if you don't have diapers you need to do something. The 4 mo old was held all the time and whoever was holding him tended to keep a cloth (kind of like a cloth diaper) on their laps all the time. Whenever he peed, the nanny whisked him away and he came back with a new pair of pants. I never saw them try to put him on a potty so I think they just changed his wet clothes the instant he went. My MIL says her children were all using the bathroom by 12 mo, they definitely didn't have diapers and they might not have worn pants very often. She told me if I want DD to use the bathroom, I should probably just let her go naked, it seemed to help her little ones. It's not everyday that your MIL supports something like this

[hollissmama]

That's so cool that your MIL supports it, I think mine thinks I am a little nuts! :P It would be great to see how other cultures handle misses and what they use to help contain the messes also. I am really looking forward to some nakey-butt time this summer.

[trilla_marion]

That's pretty cool. My family all thinks it's cool since they have seen my DD do it, but no one else really tries it. hehe I need to do some nakey butt time with her....maybe we can get over our long potty pause...hehe