# Partial EC/Potty learning



## happymamasallie (Jun 12, 2015)

It's been 18m since my dd was born (we count age by conception, so I tell people she is two, but for the purpose of this thread I'll say 18m :smile. We started partial ec around 8m, mostly just taking her after waking, whenever I noticed she was pooping, and whenever I changed her diaper. We kept at that for about 5 or 6 months and then I decided to crack down and do some serious diaper free time. She was doing really well, to the point where I didn't even put her in a diaper when we'd go out, pretty much only at night, and even then she didn't really need it.

Fast forward a couple months and we underwent a very sudden and very quick move. The day we were moving she kept saying "potty potty" pretty much constantly, but when I'd take her she wouldn't go and she'd have a wet diaper. Most likely she just wanted attention, since dh and I were both very distracted. 

Since that day, she has had a lot of trouble communicating when she needs to go potty. She stopped signing altogether, and has pretty much stopped telling me, except for on rare occasion (maybe a few times a week). 

In our situation now we have to walk up a flight of stairs to the closest toilet, and I'm sure the awkwardness of that affects her as well. We don't have a little potty, only a seat reducer. I typically keep the seat reducer on top of a small bucket in the main area where we spend most of our time (it's very stable, but she can't get on it herself, I have to lift her). When we first moved in she didn't want to use it at all and would cry when I'd put her on, so that, combined with having to make a long trip to the big potty, made us go through a very tough time for a little while. We are now in diapers full time again, catching most of the poops, and taking her when waking and after diaper changes, same as when we first started.

Mostly the past couple months I have been working on myself and my expectations, trying to be patient and understanding of the situation from her point of view. It was a very stressful move for all of us, and that didn't help at all. Now she's getting to be 18m, I feel like I am more emotionally prepared to try again, but I'm wondering how to proceed. She was doing so well before and I don't want that experience to cause me to be frustrated if she doesn't catch on as fast again. 

Now that she is older too, I am seeing that she will most likely want some independence when it comes to potty time, so I am wondering how to go about that as well.

I'm posting this here instead of the EC forum because of dd's age. I know that EC works best from birth until 18m, and that after that a different approach may be needed. I guess I'm just wondering what that approach is!

Any advice or even just sympathy would be much appreciated!


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## girlspn (Apr 14, 2011)

No advice, but am struggling with a similar situation and have no idea what to do.

My dd is almost 17 months and been partially EC for awhile. She does most of her poops on the toilet (I put her on once I see her start straining). 

She's been refusing diapers for almost a month now. We use cloth diapers and she takes them off, even under a pull up soaker. She takes off the diapers when she has peed or wants to pee. I have to wait until she's asleep to put on her night diaper. I have noticed the diaper isn't saturates in the mornings anymore, and she usually does her morning pee on the toilet.

Nowadays we have her i underwear, sometimes padded sometimes not. She would prefer not to wear them, often running away from us before we can put them on. I hate to forcefully put on underwear on her since she clearly dislikes it. 

We have a small potty on the floot without a toilet, and apotty ring on the toilet. She has peed in the potty twice only, still preferring to squat and pee on the floor. I thought she wasn't emptying her bladder completely but yesterday she kept squatting and peeing a few drops (every other minute!) and wanted to wipe the puddle, so it seems she has some bladder control. She doesn't pee like that when she's distracted.

What do I do? Let her run around without underwear? Do something specific to potty train? Is she old enough developmentally to be capable of using the potty?

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