The Diaper-Free Baby_ The Natural Toilet Training Alternative - Christine Gross-Loh [61]
Using the Potty or Toilet
Once your child appears aware of the pee sensation and is starting to make a connection between peeing and cues, and once you are also developing a good awareness for when he needs to go to the bathroom, you can start to offer the potty or toilet. Keep toys or books around the potty to make the experience fun, and make it clear to your child that sitting on the potty is going to be a very special bonding time. Also be sure to make the cue sounds he has learned to associate with eliminating as you place him on the potty.
Some children may still have trouble releasing their pee or especially their poop in this new position. Be patient. If your child’s trouble persists, go back to step two and simply work on his associations. At this stage, it’s most important that he learn these associations and become reacquainted with his bodily awareness. There will be time enough for potties later on. Nevertheless, keep offering the potty at intervals so that he knows the opportunity is there for him if he is ready. Dumping the contents of his diaper into the toilet will also help him make the connection between elimination and the potty or toilet.
IF YOUR CHILD IS UNENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT THE POTTY
Some people find that their children are very resistant to the potty or toilet. If this is the case, again, you may wish to stay in the “association” stage for a while. It’s quite common for there to be windows of time when your child is naturally eager to sit on a potty, and others when your child seems to want nothing to do with it. Keeping a potty available and introducing it every once in a while is a good way to determine if it’s an appropriate time to start helping your child use the potty.
Remember to try other methods, such as offering different potties, or using Potty Bowls, or toilets with a toilet insert. Quite a few parents find that their toddlers will pee while being cued when they are outdoors or in the shower or bath. You can also offer other containers for your child to pee in, like a plastic cup or bottle.
If your child is reluctant about the potty, and you find yourself feeling frustrated, it might help you to take a look at things from your child’s point of view. Consider how you would feel if suddenly you had to switch positions and eliminate in a totally different position or place than you were used to. Maybe you have even experienced this firsthand during a camping trip or other outdoor excursion. Think about it for a second: isn’t it a bit hard to switch gears? This is what your child is going through. Be patient. It’s normal and even healthy for the process to be gradual. Quite a few toddlers who were exclusively diapered throughout infancy will show a strong attachment to their diapers (actually asking for or waiting for a diaper before eliminating). Given that the diaper is what your child is used to, this is more than understandable. Respect this attachment while continuing to help your child redevelop his bodily awareness. Keep talking about or offering chances to use the potty. And remember—all of this is still progress! Just a short while ago, your baby appeared to have little to no awareness of his own elimination at all. How far he has come in so little time!
Parents Speak About Getting Started EC’ing a Toddler:
I started EC when Corwin was fourteen to fifteen months old. I began by giving him diaper-free time for two hours each morning and switching to two to three cloth diapers a day. It took one week before he started to notice if he had peed on the floor; he would bring me to the area to clean it up. I also began to cue him in the tub (because he was reluctant to use the toilet) after naps. About one month after starting, he was really associating the sound “sss” with peeing, and he had also switched to using the toilet. For poops, I’d sit him on the toilet,