Last night I let my son be diaper free for a while. I did this for a few reasons: I wanted to let his nether regions breathe, I was curious how it would work since I want to at least do elimination communication (a method of infant potty training) part time in our home, and I read it would be good to let his penis stay dry part of the time since he still has some adhesion issues from his circumcision.
Fletcher LOVED it. I have often wondered why he was so happy during our diaper changing times. Was it the fact that he was up high on the changing table and very close to my face? Did he enjoy being wiped down (yes, he does actually. He giggles when I wipe him.) Was it that he liked being naked? Now I think he really does enjoy not wearing clothes or a diaper. He played on the floor for a good twenty minutes very contentedly. I was ready to put him to bed and brought him over to his father who was laying in the chaise when I noticed a yellow stream!!!
I had a prefold diaper on the blanket for this occasion but we were in the air so I turned him toward the blanket and let him pee on that. By then he was mostly done and so it was a few drops. We saw later that the majority hit his bouncer.
He seemed really happy after that so I let him play just a bit longer. I stayed on the floor with him in case something happened. It was another ten minutes before he went, again. This time I was not next to him, but taking a picture of my naked son for blackmail purposes. I had positioned a piece of fabric over his man parts. I put the camera down once I realized he was letting loose. This time I grabbed a prefold and caught what didn’t land on my son. I cleaned him up, then he was put to bed.
What have I learned from this? I learned that I am going to have a tough time with EC if he goes every ten minutes! I have not started putting him in coverless fitteds (diapers that when peed in will feel wet on the outside, which will help me understand his “schedule” of elimination and any patterns or cues) so I still do not fully understand his elimination yet. I am not discouraged. If anything I am curious enough to try it again today. Our first major effort with EC will start once he can sit unsupported. It is then that I will hopefully catch his first elimination of the day in a potty by taking him directly from his crib (or my bed of he co-slept part of the night) to the bathroom. This is how my mother-in-law potty trained her two children. I do know that my son rarely urinates during the night.
Some people think EC is a crack pot, hippy idea. The fact is that Americans are virtually the only people not potty training their children by age 2. I mentioned that my mother-in-law potty trained her children using EC (although she wouldn’t have called it that). They were both using the potty by age 1. She was also raised in Germany so this was nothing new. Now that disposable diapers have made life so much easier, Americans are letting children use them far longer that anyone else in the world. So not only are we using them, we are using them twice as long as we need to. I find this crazy to think about. I am not guaranteeing that I will be successful but because I am eager to be rid of diapers as early as possible I am willing to give it a shot. I have actually started late!
On a lighter note, I actually found out late last night that I caught Fletcher urinating in the picture I was taking. I would love to show everyone but I will leave him with some diginity!
