You know I truly feel I have grown as an ECer! I can imagine some mature ECers reading the start of my journey and either thinking... hmmm she is going to try too hard,or she's too planned and set on goals. I have read and learnt more both from online and my little gem of a boy 'Logey Bear'. I truly understand what people say when they talk about starting out with it being about toilet training or whatever and then realising it isn't about the toilet it is about communicating with your baby and the bond you share.I think it strengthens the bond that much more. I have developed in my thinking and realising it is not about the 'catches' or the 'misses' for that matter... nor the 'stats' on how it is going. (Although I have to say when I started it was SO AMAZING,and I was so pleasantly thrilled by the whole concept, I could not help but keep some stats. Even it this was just to believe this couldn't just be luck!) I have officially relaxed into it and stopped counting.I have also come to terms with the fact I know there will be some potty pauses,and some days or weeks once he starts to crawl or walk etc that he may seem to be too busy and have difficulty relaxing. I must remember not to stress!
Now in saying that, I think we have had such a fabulous success rate with wees over the last 5 days it is soooo cool! I love to think he can wear a pair of training pants for a few hours or the same nappy on and off for 3 or 4 hrs with all the wees caught,wake up dry,another wee and away we go. The mornings are tricky with 2 other children,trying to get them ready for school etc, and he wees much more regularly in the morning after waking. So I usually get one, miss one, get one, miss one,till school, drop off. He has certainly got both the cue 'chsssss chssss' and the position down pat!
Fri I started taking him outside,which i never thought I would do. I didn't really like the idea with my other children, so why would i TEACH it to my baby? But again I have come to realise again it is about communication. Logan is getting to rely on the fact that I will take him to the toilet. Invariably even if I have missed a wee,I still offer. He can often still do a pretty decent wee. He can't stop wee if his bladder gets past a point (we know this isn't developed yet) but he can certainly (if relaxed) release the bladder at will. As he grows and develops and his 'holding ability' improves (and he has held up to an hr or just over while awake and even longer counting sleeps.) even the mornings will be easy. BTW, he LOVES it outside at the moment. I have the potty sitting out there at the bottom of our big step and I sit on the bottom step,hold him in a comfy position and aim for the potty. Makes it easy if he does a number 2,and he visually gets the picture that the ideal goal is to wee in a specific spot.
I know one of the fears people have is that it is very time consuming. I have to say although it probably is a little more so than just leaving him in a nappy for 4hrs or so... it really isn't that bad. By the time you take out sleeping in the day,he is only really awake for 10/maybe 11 hours a day. An offer takes a few minutes. He either goes or he doesn't and you move on. If you notice a miss in between I just change the insert or nappy prefold. I mostly save the nappys for going out now,because at home it is easier to have something small that holds a wee and quick to wash and replace. I haven't finished all my trainers yet as I decided to buy some propper PUL, some bamboo fleece, elastic to make drop front ones and some plastic studs and stud pliers... so just waiting on their arrival. Will be much easier to just change pants or a little bamboo filler in them when required. Anyway, my main point is that it doesn't stop me doing most of the things I am doing. Someimes I set the timer just to 20 or 30 mins,so I get a little reminder. I find this handy if I am busy doing things at home.
Marnie and the girls came around today.It is so nice to have someone who knows exactly how you feel and where you are coming from. Also to be able to freely do what you want to with someone around, because it must seem strange to some people if they see you taking your baby to the toilet/potty etc. I don't have many people yet I would feel that comfy to do what I want to in front of them.It is also amazing the great puzzle of life, the poeple that come in and out of your life because of different things. I wouldn't have ever met Marnie if it wasn't for EC! I bought 2m of PUL for the training pants and Marnie went halves,so she collected that today. She too has decided some trainers at home would certainly be handy! We even enjoyed some yummy little mango and lime tarts, as it is Elis birthday today...8 yo, and he loves this tart, so I made a bigone for his b'day cake and a few littlies as spares.YUMMO!
Oh and one last thing to finish my post... I spoke to Nanny tonight when she rang for Elis b'day. I have been meaning to ring her, and just had to ask about tt and nappies etc from bringing up mum and the gang. Mum has 10 brothers and sisters and I knew there were no disposables then so cloth it was. She said that she always bought a new set of cloth for the baby and then the older ones passed up to the next baby, after you'd feed them you would 'hold them out'... YES 'HOLD THEM OUT". This was in her own words. I was surprised to hear it. So I confirmed and repeated, and she said yes that's right.I said that is what i do,after feed and after sleep and she said yeas that is the most common times, 'that was what they taught you to do'... hmmm I thought, no one teaches us to do that anymore. She said when you don't have many you can do it more and put more time,as youhave more children there isn,t as much time and you let them train in their own time. (Still making these general offerings though)She said some were early some were late. I said some are not training them till later nowadays, maybe 2 and a half... she laughed and said oh no, my longest one was still done before then.
This was my first real contact with an older generation, and my family what's more, that certainly did basically what I am doing. She said if you have the time then why not? Of course it didn't have a name because it was the norm and was even partly the way they were taught to look after their baby!I wish people were given this basic knowledge so more babies from younger ages saw and experienced the potty ot toilet so it was the norm before they had a chance to think about it. She did say some did it from birth but she felt that was a bit much.In hind sight I would have loved to of observed my newborn giving clear signals and possibly started around 3... but I am happy with our progress and know that whatever the case, going to the toilet will certainly be something that is just 'normal' to Logan and there will be no specific transition to speak of... it will be a matter of learning control and then independance. He will probably need my help up to 18mths/2 yo and even longer for wiping or clothes maybe when we are out etc. He will still have accidents to this stage and beyond. But I am saving money, I will and already am slowly washing less and less nappies and eventually wipe very few poos off of a bottom that has had it mooshed against it. Yay yay yay, what mum wuldn't LOVE this!!!!!
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