The Diaper-Free Baby_ The Natural Toilet Training Alternative - Christine Gross-Loh [40]
While you may or may not need to take a fully stocked diaper bag out with you anymore, there are still some things you should have in your bag that make it easier to EC your baby on the go.
POSSIBLE CONTENTS OF AN EC “DIAPER” BAG
A cup or plastic bottle with a lid (especially if you have a little boy)
A Tupperware container or Potty Bowl
A small portable potty if your child prefers a potty rather than the in-arms position over a toilet or a container
An actual diaper or two if you plan to cue baby to go in a loosely fastened diaper (or are practicing EC part-time)
A pair of training pants, depending on how EC is going for you, along with a change of pants
And if you use a car, be sure to keep a little potty in the trunk!
If all this brings up images of you dragging EC gear or a little potty around for months on end, remember that it’s really not for all that long. As your baby gets a bit older, her sphincter muscles will naturally strengthen if she’s been EC’ed, and in many cases she’ll be able to wait until you take her to a bathroom. (Many parents report this happening as early as mid-infancy.) If you were conventionally training an older toddler or preschooler, you’d likely need to take some gear with you for a period of time as well, on top of having lugged around a fully-stocked diaper bag for all those years of diaper wearing.
Parents Speak About EC on the Go:
For us, being diaper-free means being free from an exclusive reliance on diapers. For the most part, we still use diapers when we leave the house, but we will often spend several hours out and return to find the same (dry) diaper. In general, I’ve always tried to give Neshama a chance to pee at transitional moments, like when she comes out of the car seat or the sling.
—LAMELLE, MOM TO NESHAMA, 12 MONTHS
When we’re going out, we use a backup diaper, even though she doesn’t need it seventy percent of the time. We use cloth diapers; sometimes we’ll go out with a cover and sometimes without one. I usually put one on if I know it’s going to be a long day away from home.
—LARA, MOM TO RUBY, 12 MONTHS
We were traveling down to Florida. I knew my baby would have to go so I held him over the toilet in the airplane, and he went. You know what it’s like changing a diaper in the plane, and I knew I didn’t want to do that. I had just fed him; I knew he’d have to go.
—SABA, MOM TO KENAN, 7 MONTHS
We went on a weeklong trip when Dexter was five months and only took the toilet seat reducer with us. My husband and I would potty the baby when we were near a bathroom. To our amazement, we didn’t even use the diapers we had brought along! By this point he would wait until we got to a public restroom or the hotel room and then poop as soon as we put him on the toilet. He even went on the airplane toilet. It saved a ton of time and money not to change diapers.
—RIKKI, MOM TO DEXTER, 11 MONTHS
Since Nina was an infant, she generally hasn’t wanted to go in her pants. I’ve been fortunate in that Nina can and will hold it in public, let me know, and give me plenty of time to get her to a bathroom. I keep a Baby Bjorn Little Potty in the car and offer it before we go inside (the store, the mall, a friend’s house—wherever) and before we leave for home. If we’re just visiting someone, I bring it inside. If we’re at the mall or out and about, I have a folding potty that fits neatly inside my diaper bag and has disposable liners that I can toss in the trash. For the most part, though, she just goes less often when we’re out. I always bring a change of clothing but have never had to use it.
—THEMBI, MOM TO NINA, 12 MONTHS
To me, one challenge of EC in a big city has been doing it discreetly in public