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A day in the life: ECing a mobile baby – What it looks like in our home

A day in the life: ECing a mobile baby

Today we’re going to stroll through a day of doing Elimination Communication with a mobile baby.

Is your baby starting to pull up, rock on all fours, or show other signs that full-on mobility is just around the corner? Are you wondering how EC might change once your baby is mobile...or what a full day (that includes pottying your baby) might look like?

Well, you aren't alone in wondering. And yes, things will change! In some ways EC becomes easier, and in others there are new challenges to tackle. Today I’m going to give you another little peek into my home, and how we do EC all day long with our mobile baby, Twyla.

This is the second in a three-part series where I’ll share what a typical day of EC in my household looks like...newborn, mobile, and toddler. Stay tuned for next week where we’ll look at a day with a young toddler in our home...specifically, Branson. (In case you missed them, here are the newborn and young toddler episodes.)

You will learn:

  • What I do first thing in the morning
  • How I incorporate pottytunities into our routine
  • What we do during outings
  • What receptacles we use with our mobile baby
  • A few tips from our listeners

Links and other resources mentioned today:

Download the Transcript

If you can't listen to this episode right now (um, sleeping baby!?)...download and read the transcript here:

Transcript download: A day in the life: ECing a mobile baby

Watch the Video Version

If you want to watch me record today’s podcast episode, you can do that on my youtube version right here:

Thanks for Listening!

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  • Share your thoughts by leaving a note in the comments section below!

Do you have any questions about doing Elimination Communication with a mobile baby? Please leave a comment below with your experience!

I look forward to chatting with you in the comments.

xx Andrea

Disclosure Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small commission from purchases made through the links on this page.

Andrea Olson

About Andrea Olson

I'm Andrea and I spend most of my time with my 6 children (all under 10 yo) and the rest of my time teaching other new parents how to do Elimination Communication with their 0-18 month babies. I love what I do and try to make a difference in one baby or parent's life every single day. (And I love, love, love, mango gelato.)

8 Comments

  1. Avatar Kimberly on August 13, 2019 at 2:04 pm

    We have been trying EC with our 22 month old and she still pees in her underwear as well as poops in it about twice a week. She only tells us when she has to go on occasion but most of the time she says she needs to go when she had already went. Also if she tells us she needs to go it is a race to get her to the potty on time. She is also still peeing in her diaper through the night. We do underwear at home except for naps and at night. We will do diapers when we go out which is only once or twice a week. Please tell us if we can do something different to help her choose to go when she needs to. Thank you for all your wonderful information and support!

    • Avatar Andrea Olson on September 18, 2019 at 9:30 pm

      Hi Kimberly! First I would stop using diapers for awake time. At her age that is confusing and doesn’t show that you have confidence in her abilities. Just pack extra clothes in case of a miss. You may also try having her commando for a few weeks instead of in undies. It will feel very different and help create awareness. For nights you will likely have to take her to potty 1-2x. Not all kids can hold it all night, or adults for that matter. If things aren’t progressing I’d do potty training with my Tiny Potty Training book. EC isn’t as effective at her age, and potty training will get you better results. xx Andrea

  2. Avatar A on August 13, 2019 at 7:58 pm

    Great podcast! I’ve very casually EC’d both my children, poos only, only to avoid dirty cloth nappies, and I’m very glad I did, so now with my third, still on the way, I want to do it from the beginning, and these podcasts are super useful.

    One tip about constipation, use probiotics! There’s stuff you can get from the pharmacy, ask the pharmacist which is the best right one for your child, but you can also try milk kefir, it’s like a thinner yogurt and very effective. My kids love to have berries (I use frozen) with kefir and a bit of maple syrup as dessert. After over a year of constipation, it’s been revolutionary for us.

    Sorry for the off-topic, but I wish everyone knew about it!

    • Avatar Andrea Olson on September 18, 2019 at 9:30 pm

      You’re absolutely right! Probiotics can help so much with constipation. xx Andrea

  3. Avatar Alice Sarginson on August 14, 2019 at 4:47 am

    Hello, Our son has just turned 1 and we’ve been ECing since he was about 6 months old.
    He took to the potty pretty easily and we were catching a wee or a poop most times we put him on. After naps were definitely the most successful though we aren’t super strict and he does still wee in his cloth nappy. Lately though he has really gone off the potty all together and kicks and arches his back fighting it so strongly we take him off. He does seem to like to go outside now! So this has become more common , even here in mid winter !
    I would however really like to use the potty more , any tips for this please ? I try to offer the potty first but he seems to get upset as soon as he sees it! This has been going on for a few months now. Thanks in advance :-)

    • Avatar Andrea Olson on September 18, 2019 at 9:33 pm

      Hi Alice! Try putting his potty outside! You can also try a seat reducer instead. Change things up a bit, try new distractions. If you feel stuck I do have a Potty Pause Resolution mini course online that will help you work through it. xx Andrea

  4. Avatar Sylvia on August 15, 2019 at 3:12 pm

    Aaagggh I need some help with my mobile baby. We started EC at 10.5 months with a mini potty and your book, Andrea, and at first it was thrilling, we started catching poops immediately and everybody was excited about it. Now at almost 12 months we have the following challenges:
    1) Baby boy is crawling and clearly wants to take care of potty himself, so he goes in the corner when I’m not paying attention or as soon as I leave the room. He needs my help to get on and off the potty, though, so if I ask him to wait and take him to the potty he’s clearly feeling his privacy has already been violated and won’t go even if I turn away.
    2) He honestly doesn’t seem to care if he’s wet and he doesn’t seem to mind sitting on poop. We used cloth diapers exclusively after three months except when traveling so this confuses me. He can feel when he’s wet.
    3) I’ve given up on trying to catch the wakeup pee at either mornings or naps because he interprets it as me putting him down when he wants to be held. He won’t pee while I’m holding him in any position because of his need for privacy.

    I’ve been listening through the archives of the podcast and poring over Go Diaper Free and I’ve perceived we need a reset, but here’s what I want to know: At this point, since he’s developing negative feelings toward the potty, am I better off just waiting a little longer and then doing a potty training experience with him? We didn’t find out about EC in time to start him early, and now I’m wondering whether we found out too late for it to be effective with him. Thanks for any help, anybody.

    • Avatar Andrea Olson on September 18, 2019 at 9:41 pm

      Hi Sylvia! First off, it sounds like you’re doing a wonderful job. It is very normal to see some resistance at this age. They are mobile and potty isn’t a priority for them. 1) Continue to work on teaching him to get on the mini potty on his own. He’s really a great age for this. 2) Some babies don’t mind being wet. If they are left in cloth diapers for a while after peeing they will get desensitized and not notice the wet feeling anymore. Frequent changing will help with this. So will increasing diaper free time. 3) There’s nothing wrong with cutting back right now, that often helps with resistance.

      I would absolutely continue EC, even part time is awesome. There’s no need to wait to potty train when he’s older. If you continue to feel stuck I do have a Potty Pause Resolution mini course online that will help you work through this. xx Andrea

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