Develop Your Part Time EC Confidence.

 Mel, Keith and Logan, Melbourne, Australia Mel and Keith live in slightly rural area of Melbourne with 7 of their 8 children

When did you begin practicing EC with your little one and how did this look? 

I began watching from birth and cueing at a couple of weeks old and had our first catch on our first try which was very exciting, I remember asking my daughter to grab the camera so we could catch a picture-lol If bub started to grunt for a poop I ran to pop him on the potty and cue, we also used a lot of timing and offering a chance at nappy changes

Which nappies and alternatives did you use in the process? 

We have used cloth nappies all the way and have never purchased a single disposable so far and Logan is now almost 9 months old, I started with flat flannelettes as Logan was a tiny baby, but then bought fluffies flannelette fitteds which worked well as a one wet type nappy with no cover and had velcro for quick pull off, I then bought fluffies terry fitteds (more absorbent and a bit bigger) for overnight as Logan started to get upset at being changed or potty opped overnight, he still hates being disturbed in the night and thus I only change him if he is very wet so we combine ecing with cloth nappies and soakers or longies at night. I have more recently bought large sized bamboo fitteds Bambineo which again are very easy to pull off and oober cute as well, but not waterproof as I want to know when he wets if I miss it and we use wool covers or baby beehinds magicalls as they are easy for my daughter and she really loves helping with the baby when we have no chance at a potty etc as we have a huge amount of hospital appointments as we have a daughter just recovering from cancer, a son with cerebral palsy and my husband has a heart condition and our 4 year old has kidney issues plus a newborn-lol.

What differences/changes did you notice in your baby after beginning EC? 

I have found Logan has settled into a routine and hates being in a wet or especially a dirty nappy, for example if I am in rush hour traffic and know he needs to go but just cannot stop and he cant hold it (new adventures in solids has led to changes in ability to hold on depending on whats been eaten?) then he will get quite upset until I can pull over and clean him up. He is definitely not happy to sit in it like friends babies who will poop at playgroup and mum says "Oh I'll change him when I get home in a few minutes" - not an option for us!

What difference did it make to your day-to-day life and your relationship with your baby? 

I Love knowing that we can communicate and are in tune with each other and that this is just an extension to the other parenting practices we have such as slinging, co-sleeping, breastfeeding which are all about listening to and communicating babies needs to each other, this is just an obvious next step to me. I don't know whether it will mean baby is toilet trained earlier and that is not the most important thing to me as most of my children are long term bedwetters- but I will be very interested in seeing!

How long before you were feeling confident including a few 'baby potty breaks' into your day? 

I was happy to add opportunities when Logan was a few weeks old, it took me that long to get a handle on the feeding etc as he was small and a slow gainer and I found ecing a way to gain some confidence in our communication and relationship when others said I wasn't feeding him enough etc, seeing how much came back out was a big plus.

In really busy times, what do you do? 

I just use my cloth and try not to stress about it all, I know he feels he is wet or dirty and doesn't like it and hope this keeps him aware of it all at least and we just get back up and try again when things are better.

What impact has reducing nappies had on your budget? 

It has got washing down to only twice a week and only then as I don't want them sitting any longer, could be only once a week otherwise, the savings have allowed me to purchase an ergo sling and to not have to shell out $20+ a week on disposables and never have to make a mad dash because we have run out is a huge plus for me.

Mel in Australia