Tips for EC and potty training in public

EPISODE 248: Tips for EC and potty training in public

Nicole Cheever:

It's here! It's finally here. The solution to that obnoxious auto flush sensor problem: the Flush Hush. I'm going to give you a special preview today as well as some tips on how to use it. But first, let's talk about how to handle EC or potty training when you're on the go. This is episode 248, tips for EC and potty training in public.

Hello and welcome to the Go Diaper Free podcast. I'm your host, Nicole Cheever, Go Diaper Free certified coach and mama to three kiddos who all went through EC and potty training at different ages and stages.

Hey everyone, so glad to be back. Nicole Cheever with Go Diaper Free here, and this is episode 248, Tips for EC and potty training in public. As always, you can go to the blog when you're done listening here, godiaperfree.com/248. You will get all of the links to everything I'm going to mention today, including where you can get on the early bird list for the Flush Hush, and you'll have the transcript to download, you can ask us questions, leave your comments. If you're listening on your favorite podcast player, please subscribe, that way you know when a new episode is coming out. And if you're watching on YouTube, hey there, you can subscribe here as well. The YouTube video is always linked on the blog down there at the bottom, and today would be a good day to head to the video because I do have some demonstration tools for you. You get a sneak peek visually about the Flush Hush, and I also have a little bear friend here because we're talking about doing EC and potty training in public.

We get lots of great questions from all of you on social media, on our platforms, through our email, and we got one specifically, of a poor mom, one of our listeners out there, really just wanting a step-by-step demonstration of how to do EC in public because she could not picture it. And I get that, I'm a visual person too. So, we're going to go through a little bit on how to do EC in public if that's what you're choosing to do, and then some tips for being successful when you do finally start venturing out of the house when you're doing potty training. So let's get started.

The question specifically was wanting to know how you move from the toilet stall to the changing table to put the diaper back on, clean up everything. So this sounds like whoever asked this question has a tiny baby. It is going to be a little bit different depending on how old your baby is, what phase of development they're in, what phase of EC you're in. It's also going to be a little bit of a matter of preference and all of us have our own different styles. Rest assured, the first time any one of us took our baby to a public bathroom for EC or potty training, it was a fumbling mess. So, don't worry about looking silly. Any parent in the bathroom is going to see you, and probably offer help, and really relate to you and understand because it is a whole juggle. I'm on my third child now and I still sometimes juggle with her depending on what we're doing, but you get the hang of it, you will get it, it takes practice like anything else.

If we are starting out with a teeny, tiny, little baby, you can absolutely do the in arms hold, and I've got my bear friend in my bear undies here. You can do the in arms hold right over the sink. I personally have never ECed my babies in a public sink. You can! If it's pee it washes down. If it's exclusively breastfed poop, that washes down really easily, but you might get some weird looks. So that's totally up to you if you want to attempt that. You can just do the in arms hold like you would at home right over the sink. Personally, I prefer to take that in arm's hold into the public restroom. I don't like to do a full squat right in front of the potty holding my baby in-arms because I don't like to get that close to a public toilet.
So, I do a little bit of a modified squat where I lower baby down closer to my stomach, so baby’s supported against my stomach and lean forward a little bit so I'm not getting pee over my pants or my shoes. So, baby's a little bit more up in the air, but if you have baby's back supported against you and you've got a nice good hold under the thighs, baby will still feel supported. You can also absolutely do the cradle classic hold where you just shift baby over into the crook of one of your arms and that's a little bit easier to hold out further away from your body or down while baby is still nice and supported with that arm in that cradle position. So those are options for teeny, tiny baby.

I would not worry about trying to clean up at a changing table. Some bathrooms don't have changing tables, and I probably should have said this at first. The first time you do this, let's pick a bathroom you're familiar with. Somewhere you've been before, you've scoped out the situation. Maybe you do a dry run. Maybe you just go in before you even try EC with your kiddo and check out where the changing table is. Sometimes they're in the larger stall, in the handicap stall. I love that because then you have some nice privacy there. And sometimes there's no changing table at all. So, check it out. Sometimes there's an auto flush sensor, which is why we're bringing up Flush Hush today. Check it out beforehand to see what you can do.

But as far as taking baby to clean up at the changing table…. First off, when you're holding baby in an EC position, poops are usually really clean.
There's not a lot of mess because there wasn't a diaper there to smear the poop all over baby's butt, and you have the toilet paper right there in the stall. Scope that out first too, make sure you get in a stall that actually has toilet paper. And you can very gently clean up anything that might be there or just blot away the pee for girls. For boys, if they pee, you don't have to do anything. And then you can just put baby on your hip or in a cradle position, bring them back over to the changing table. Most changing tables have these little notches on the corners that you can hang the diaper bag. I prefer to bring it into the stall with me. I have a diaper backpack so I can sling it over one arm or wear it on my back. So those are things to consider as well. But again, just be prepared to be a little fumbly and you will get the hang of it.

When you have transitioned your kiddo to sitting on a potty, when they have neck control and they can sit independently, and you can sit them on either a mini potty or seat reducer, you can of course just do the mini potty in the trunk of the car. I have a hatchback, so we usually just use the trunk of the car because baby can be sat pretty far in and have some nice privacy, or we use an open seat in the backseat to just put the potty on. But if you're going to use the public restroom, you can always bring a seat reducer from home. Andrea, I know, always brings around the Potette Plus when her kiddos are transitioning to big potties in public. And I have one, I think it's pronounced Gimars, that I'll link as well that my kids loved.

My second baby, when we were doing potty training with her at about 18 months, I got that one. It has owl eyes on it and she just fell in love with it. It was her best friend. She was so proud to take the toilet seat reducer with her to the bathroom every time. She had to carry it. If you have a kid like this, you know exactly what I'm talking about. But that really helped her to make that leap from home to the public toilets, if your kiddo is a little bit nervous. So, we would practice with it at home first, just like Andrea uses the Potette at home, and then you bring it with you so that's something familiar and comfortable for them. So you can just put that on the stall and again, you've got toilet paper there in the stall, wipe baby up. Then same thing, you can put them on your hip or cradle and carry them over to the changing table to get back dressed and everything that you need to do there.

When they start to get older and they're pulling up to standing, and you're finding at home that those diaper changes are difficult laying down on the changing table, I usually take my kiddos and stand them on the changing table facing the wall so they have something to hold onto, and then we can put the diaper back on standing. That's always a very helpful skill as a parent. Or if you're doing EC and you're out in maybe Tiny Trainers and TinyUps, you can just have them stepped into those. Pull them up, you're good to go.

My youngest is now 22 months, she is a full-size toddler. And what we've been doing is I carry her into the bathroom on my hip and she usually has her arm that's towards my back hooked over my arm. I'm demonstrating this in the YouTube video if you're listening, so you can head over there and see what I'm talking about. And she's on my hip and what I do is swing her a little bit away from my body and sit her on the front edge of the potty, still holding her around the back and supporting her. So we don't even use a seat reducer anymore. We transitioned to that as early as possible, so if I forgot it at home or it got lost or something, we're not in a tight spot without it. So I'll just support her that way, I can use my free hand while she's sitting on the front edge of the potty to get some toilet paper. Or, when I'm planning ahead, which I don't usually do very often, I'll grab it first and then have it ready, and I can go ahead and clean her up. And she's in undies now, she's fully potty independent now at 22 months, and so I usually then, she's hopefully got shoes on, stand her up in front of the potty, pull her pants up, we're good to go.

These are similar tips you're going to follow if you are potty training, this is one of your first outings. Again, try to pick a familiar bathroom for both you and your kiddo so you know where everything is, you're ready to go. If they're walking, if they're working on wiping, pulling up, et cetera, you don't need that changing table, you're going to take care of all of that in the stall there. But if there's an auto flush, we need the Flush Hush. So I will cover that in just a minute. I'm really excited to give you guys a sneak peek. I'm a little nervous because while I'm recording this, it hasn't been revealed yet, but I know it will be by the time you see this. So, excited and nervous.
We had another question about EC in public, when a poor family got denied bringing their Top Hat Potty into Disneyland with them. Apparently there was concern that it would be unhygienic. Where would people dump the poop? Of course, please always dump your poop in a bathroom. You can cover it with something. You can put the Top Hat Potty in a bag. But if you're out in public and you're using the Top Hat and you're at an attraction or a museum or wherever you are, please, please, please take it and dump it in the toilet and flush it in the public bathroom. We don't want to be creating the stereotype that parents who practice EC are unhygienic or that they're disrespectful. So please, when we're out in public, let's all just agree that we're going to be tactful and discreet and put the waste where it goes. At home, if you want to dump your pee in a bush, go for it, but out in public, let's all just respect each other's spaces.

So this poor family ended up with blowouts on both days that they were at Disneyland without the Top Hat Potty, and I am so sorry that happened to you. That is so frustrating. I know you can't go back in time and change that now, but for anyone heading out to this situation or if you end up in the situation again, I do have tips for you on that as well. I also really love Robin on Instagram, she's @ecinthecity, which I will link. And they're in New York City, and they do EC on the go. So if she can do it, you can absolutely do it too. And she's got lots of great tips there, so make sure you check that out.

If you are stuck without your potty, like I said, you forgot your seat reducer, left the mini potty in the car, whatever it is, let's try to find another container. Whether you go and purchase some food and when you finish it, you're going to use that container. If your baby's teeny tiny, which it sounds like this family might've had a pretty small baby, if they're still using the Top Hat, you can still just sit baby on your lap. You can even do this in a toilet stall for privacy. You can sit on the toilet with baby on your lap (here's my bear), and open the diaper and have it under baby, and cue into the diaper, and then you would wrap it up and throw it away. Yeah, you're using a diaper instead of saving it and using the potty, but then everything stays clean. Your baby still doesn't have to pee all over themselves or poop all over themselves. It gets caught right there and you can clean up right away. So you can either do that in a discreet location like you would've with a Top Hat Potty or go ahead and go into the public restroom. You can do the in arms hold we talked about over the potty or over a sink, and you can just pay attention to your baby's signals and your baby's timing.
Hopefully, if you're preparing to go on a big vacation, you have some handle on what baby's timing is, so you know when a poop is going to be coming, and you can position yourself close to a public restroom or in an area where you can let them go potty in a container or in the diaper over in a secluded, discrete area. So, those are my tips for you. Hopefully no one else gets stuck without their Top Hat. I get it, I guess? But obviously we can't expect everyone in the world to understand EC. We're here trying to help that happen, but it hasn't quite happened yet.

Now the big reveal: Flush Hush! We're so excited about this. It comes in this great case with a carabiner, so you can put this on your keychain, your diaper bag, wherever you need to have this. It also comes with two in every pack, which if you're like me, you have more than one kiddo. A lot of times when one has to go, they all have to go. So, having more than one of these is really helpful. They're easy to hold. They've got this great suction cup. It can go literally anywhere. Stays, it sticks well. It's easy to hang on to and get off when you need to, and I love that there's a better solution than putting toilet paper over.

I know you've probably heard Andrea's story of poor Isadora having an accident at kindergarten, when she'd been out of diapers for literally years, because the toilet paper kept blowing off. And I've encountered toilets where the sensors actually mounted in the wall, it's not on a pipe coming up out of the toilet. It's mounted in the wall and there's no way to get anything hung on it. You'd have to put something like a sticker there.
My kids are obsessed with stickers, and my husband and I have such a hard time getting them off of things. So, we don't want to be vandalizing toilets, and this is a much better way. I think it really helps to make the toilet a little bit more kid-friendly. My oldest is five-and-a-half and he still hates the sound. He's not afraid of getting flushed down the toilet. He just really is sound sensitive, hates the sound, still to this day asks for me to wait till he's out of the stall before I even flush the toilet, whether it's an auto sensor or not, because it freaks him out. He doesn't like it. It's not pleasant for him. So having something like this gives them a little bit more control over it too, and makes it a little bit more of something that's accessible to them. So, these are amazing.

Make sure you head to the show notes. If you haven't gotten on the early bird list already, please make sure you do that. I think there's a limited quantity, if I understand correctly about this first launch of these. So, you're probably going to want more than one. Make sure you get on that list. I know I'm going to have one for me, and for my husband, and we have a babysitter as well. It's better to just have everyone have this in case you get to a place where you didn't realize there was going to be an auto flush sensor, and that can really be a barrier for a lot of families to helping their kids be successful with potty training and EC.

All right, thanks for sticking with me today everybody, I'm so excited. We want to know: what do you think of the Flush Hush, and what are your best tips for potty training or practicing EC out in public? Please share with us over on the blog, godiaperfree.com/248. Again, subscribe if you're on a podcast player or you're watching on YouTube. And I'm Nicole Cheever with Go Diaper Free. We will see you next week.

Want to catch your first pee today? Grab Andrea's free easy start guide and do just that. It's only one page and it will change your world. Get it at godiaperfree.com/start. We'll see you next time.