In describing our experience, I find myself hesitant to refer to EC now as "Infant Potty Training", although that seems to be the only phrase people can relate to to understand what we're doing. I get a lot of "oh, yeah, I just read about that in the NY Times" or "They do that in other countries, why not, I guess", but I still also get "well, who's actually getting trained? You or them?" The answer, as I see it right now, is neither, and both. It absolutely requires active participation on my part. Nothing could be simpler than to go back to sticking my daughter in a disposable, and letting her balloon it out to capacity the way I used to (as my part in minimizing our garbage and diaper bills). So yes, I'm doing a lot of the work in catching my daughter's output. I'm learning her habits and her behaviours that indicate when she needs to go. I"m catching about 50% of her output now... One day last week I only required four diapers in the day. But yes, it is ME catching - although she's starting to recognize the cues that I give HER to go, and is going when cued (but still not holding it when not).

My ultimate question, though, is why is that considered a BAD thing? Why shouldn't I get to know my daughter so well that I can predict her needs? We're so ingrained with the fear of being manipulated by our children ("don't let them sleep with you, cause then they'll become needy kids", "if you don't force them to go to sleep without crying, they'll never learn to be independent", "if you don't wean them from the breast early, they'll never learn self confidence!") that we're projecting that onto 3 month olds. I'm sorry, but my 3 month old is incapable of manipulating me.

She is, however, capable of putting her pee in the potty where it belongs.

In both the cloth and doing the EC (potty "training") it's been a week, and both are going great! I'm really learning about my daughter's patterns and can predict a lot of her output, and the way I see it is every diaper saved is $$$ and good ecological practice. I lose track of her output pattern when we're out and about, which is often with two older children, but at least in the AM's and PM's I can get her. She seems to like it.

Further, she's actually been DRY at night, all night, for the last four days... and while I put a disposable on her at night cause she doesn't like her wet heiny in her cloth and I don't want her waking for that (selfish? You bet!), I've been able to reuse it.

So between the two - the cloth and the EC - we've had surprisingly little waste. I'm doing diaper laundry about every third day, and it's a small to medium load, and I've tossed two disposables, only because I had no covers one day as they were both in the wash (yes I have more coming in the mail, two isn't enough), and one for a long bike ride (I wasn't gonna make her sit in a wet cloth for that long).

So, as far as I'm concerned, thus far this venture is a complete success!

I'm taking the plunge and switching to cloth diapers. One of the critical elements of switching, though, is embracing the laundry... which I've always hated. But now I'm actually excited to stay on top of the laundry. For some reason it gives me a great sense of accomplishment, if I manage nothing else in the day, if I can get at least one, preferably two loads done and put away in a day, it's a good one!

It's an economical, as well as ecological move... but also a means to an end. What we're really doing is an experiment in infant potty training, also known as Elimination Communication (EC), or Natural Infant Hygiene (NIH). But I'm finding disposable diapers to be a big hurdle to that. I can't feel when she's already wet, and she can't feel when she's wet either.

In reality, I feel like I'm starting it late, although "the experts" don't seem to think so (she's 10 weeks). Fact is, we train them from birth that peeing OUT of the diaper is a bad thing. So we spent over 24 hours getting her comfy just peeing when her diaper is off...

From there, we have to create the Pavlovian response. We start with finding when she pees, even learning her cues to pee. When she does pee, we make a pss sound, which she learns to associate with peeing. The end goal is that we make the sound, and then she pees.

Should be fun! Poor third kid, she's one big experiment in conditioned responses!

It's one of every new parent's goals, one of the "BIG QUESTIONS"... When will MY kid sleep through the night???

Of course remembering that "through the night" to a new baby is 5-6 hours, some do it pretty early. But to US, we really want that nice 8-10 hour night.

What am I finding as my 2 month old is stretching out her nights? I LOVE it, but the downside is that I'm pumping as I type this - as I'm getting engorged by the time she feeds, and she can't possibly take it all. Owie.

But then, it just takes a few days to adjust. By mid-next-week, I'll be in sleeping heaven, I hope.

Know your rights around breastfeeding, mama's! A quick websearch including the search terms "breastfeeding", "laws" and "California" brought me to the WIC website's summary of California legislation that protects breastfeeding.

It states:

As of January 1, 2002

Here are some California laws and resolutions that may be of interest to employers and/or employees. For the full text of the law or resolution, go to www.leginfo.ca.gov.

1997: Personal Rights: Breastfeeding

Section 43.3 of the Civil Code.

This law provides that a mother may breastfeed her child in any location, public or private, except the private home or residence of another, where the mother and child are authorized to be present.

1998: Breastfeeding at Work

Resolution Chapter 152.

The California legislature encourages the State of California and all California employers to strongly support and encourage the practice of breastfeeding by striving to accommodate the needs of employees, and by ensuring that employees are provided with adequate facilities for breastfeeding, or the expressing of milk for their children; and that the Governor declare by executive order that all State of California employees shall be provided with adequate facilities for breastfeeding or the expressing of milk.

2000: Jury Service: Breastfeeding

Section 210.5 to the Code of Civil Procedure.

This law exempts breastfeeding mothers from jury duty, and requires the State to take steps to eliminate the need for the mother to appear in court to make this request.

2002: Lactation Accommodation.

Chapter 3.8, Section 1030, Part 3 of Division 2 of the Labor Code. |

This law requires all California employers to provide a reasonable amount of break time and make a reasonable effort to provide a private space, other than a toilet stall, close to the employee's work area, to accommodate an employee desiring to express breastmilk for her baby. The break time shall be unpaid if the break time does not run concurrently with the rest time authorized for the
employee. An employer is not required to provide break time for pumping if taking break time beyond the usual time allotted for breaks would seriously disrupt the operations of the employer. Violation of this chapter is subject to a civil penalty of $100.