Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the links below and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support. 
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In almost every class I teach, I have one parent who asks me whether they can just teach their child to use the big toilet, and not use a floor potty. The reason behind the question varies; some parents fear that their child will become dependent on the little potty and not want to use the toilet, others are reluctant to have to clean-up the little potty and would rather everything go straight into the toilet bowl, some are minimalists who just want to reduce the number of "things" and might not see the point of this particular potty training accessory.

First I want to ask you... ​
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IF having a little potty that sits on the floor, in the middle of your
living space (for a short time) were the determining factor in your
success or failure with potty training, would you get one? ​
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The cost is minimal, $10 (second hand) to around $40. You can even just borrow one from a friend for free. I am not at all overreaching here... despite a little "extra" clean-up of the little potty after use, it will save you time, effort, and very likely money on diapers since potty training will go more smoothly be more likely to stick if you have a little potty. Let's break down the reasons why:

1) The little potty goes where you go. If you are starting potty training the way I teach it, you would start with a day of naked teaching. On this day, your child is naked from the waist down and you are waiting and watching for him or her to pee. Once they start to pee, you airlift your little one onto the nearest potty aiming to catch at least 1 drop of pee in the potty each time. This is the quickest way to teach your toddler how it feels to need to pee, what happens when you do, where pee goes, and how to get there. This method encourages independence too, as your child is learning from day 1 how to recognize when they need to pee, and not relying on a caregiver or a timer to tell them its time to go. So, using this approach, you need to have a potty close at hand at all times since you don't want to have to run down the hall or up the stairs to the bathroom with a peeing child in your arms! Playing in the living room? Bring the potty. Eating lunch in the kitchen? Bring the potty. Spending time in the back yard on a sunny day? Bring the potty. ​

2) Your child is easily able to mount the floor potty without assistance. Speaking of encouraging independence, a floor potty allows your child to get up onto it easily without assistance, unlike a toilet that requires a caregiver to lift the child up, a toilet seat reducer so that their little bum won't fall in, and/or a stool or steps that your child needs to climb up on. Any extra steps in the potty process (asking for help, putting the reducer on the toilet seat, or climbing precariously up onto the toilet for example) can make it less likely that a child will bother using the potty. Or, best case, they try to get there in time, but these extra barriers make it more likely that the pee accidentally lands in their pants or on the floor. 

3) Let's talk about ergonomics... A floor potty is more comfortable for your child to sit on than the toilet. They are designed to fit a child's tiny bum and short stature. If you have heard of the Squatty Potty, a toilet stool designed to get you body into a better alignment for bowel movements, you may know that a deep squat position puts our colons into the best position to poop in, and that modern-day toilets actually make pooping more difficult.
When your toddler or preschooler is sitting on the big toilet, with their legs dangling, it makes elimination much more difficult on them. It might mean that they are straining more, or not fully emptying and these can create more accidents, and even reluctance to use the potty/or toilet for bowel movements. At the beginning of potty training you want everything to run as smoothly as possible (no pun intended), and the floor potty ensures a better, more ergonomic fit for your child, especially for pooping. You can also fit the potty to your child, so if you child is smaller, choose a potty that is smaller too! Colour, shape and fancy gizmo's are far less important than simply choosing the most comfortable option for your child. Once they are accustomed to pooping in the potty, by all means use the toilet too. But make sure to have, in addition to a comfortable toilet seat reducer, a nice high stool for your child to rest their feet on and to keep their knees elevated above hip level.

4) Pottying on-the-go, playgrounds, car trips and more... the title kind of says it all, sometimes you don't have a toilet to go on! So, rather than worry that your child will not want to use the toilet, I would worry that my child would never want to use the potty! Floor potties are designed to be portable, you don't have to get one that looks like a real toilet and is 3 feet high. There are plenty of small, portable potties that can be stashed under your stroller, strapped to the back of your bike or semi-permanently stored in the trunk of your car to make potty use convenient at any time and place. 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the links below and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support. 

Thinking about potty-training? Curious about EC? Not sure how to start or whether your child is ready, or whether you have the time? Ahhhhhh!!!! So much to consider. Right? Well, worry no more, Wee Potty is here for you. And today I would like to share some of the best books that can help you on your journey. Some educational, some instructive, plus some of the best board books to get your child in the mood for “potty time”. 
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Do you have any favourite potty training books at home? Let me know in the comments. 

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on the links below and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support. ​

I get asked "What's the deal with training pants?" at every class I teach. Today I'm going to tell you exactly what the deal is, and why you might want to get a few pairs (yep... its time to learn from one of my personal potty training faux pas!). One thing I want to make clear is that Pull-Ups are NOT training pants. They are advertised as such, but they are really just diapers that go on like underwear. They are not recommended for potty training, unless perhaps you are still using diapers at night, then by all means...

So, what exactly ARE training pants. When my daughter was potty training, I could not figure their purpose out for the life of me. I had read that going commando (a.k.a. pants with no underwear or training pants) was the clearest and best signal to a child that they are not wearing diapers, helping them to stay dry and let you know when they need to go! So that's what I did, and it worked extremely well for us until one day...

We were on Step 3 (Phase 1) of potty training "The Tiny Potty Training Book" way, so it was time to venture out into public for some longer diaper-free outings. I decided that it would be fun to go to one of the library's daytime kids programs that day, and I had it all figured-out... My daughter could pee right before we left the house, we would take a short drive to the library, the program is about 25 mins long, another pee right afterwards and then we drive back home. A foolproof plan, I thought! To make a long story short, she would not pee before leaving the house, nor upon arrival at the library. So we went to the program regardless, and let me remind you... she is not wearing any training pants. Just a pair of jeans. JEANS!! (Somebody should have told me to use absorbent outer pants, at least). She was having a blast at the program, the most fun she had ever had at one... and I didn't want to break it up for a potty-break. I was sweating, I was watching the clock... every time she came near me I would ask "do you need to use the potty?" A MAJOR mistake I now know, because of course she just looked at me like I had 2 heads and kept playing.

Finally the program was over. We had made it! Until I started putting her boots back on and "WHOOSH" the worlds biggest pee came flooding out of her pant legs, into her boots and all over the floor. The *ahem* carpeted library floor. I did my best to clean it up with the cloth pre-folds I was still carrying me, and had to call over the library staff to let them know, and all the other parents were still their getting their kids into their winter gear. Embarrassing!!! Obviously there were a lot of things I could have done differently, but barring the alternatives, if she had at least been wearing training pants I could have avoided a big puddle on the floor!

There are two main types of cloth training pants available:
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The thinner, padded underwear type. These are great for everyday wear if your child is doing well in trainers/undies (as opposed to going commando). An accident in this type will result in wet pants for sure, but they will absorb a lot of the wetness, reducing the chance of a puddle. And the pants being wet is a good thing! Your child will receive appropriate feedback and discomfort, and you will be able to tell immediately if your child has wet his or her trainers.

 The thicker waterproof type. This type of training pant has more absorbency and has a PUL layer sewn in. They are designed to hold one (small) pee. The advantage of this type is, of course, less mess! But it is likely that pants get a bit wet. You would probably not want to use this type on a daily basis if possible, as they are more diaper-like. These are best used for specific situations where you would not want a big mess, like church or a long car ride, or situations where you will not be paying a lot of attention to your child, like a big family party. This type is typically made by cloth diaper companies and can be found at online retailers or any local stores that carry cloth diapers. 
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You should start using training pants once your child has already been working on potty training for a few days or you can continue having your child commando in pants for a couple of weeks if that is working well for you. Following the Tiny Potty Training Book approach, you would start trying underwear or training pants at home in Step 3 (approx. day 3-10 of potty training, depending). Using underwear-like products too early in the potty training process can cause confusion as your child may mistake the sensation of training pants/underwear for a diaper and accidentally begin having more regular accidents at first.

How long you should continue using training pants is up to you, but in general, if your child begins to depend on them to soak up a bit of pee, you will want to discontinue using them right away. The other consideration is the age of your child. Often when doing Elimination Communication, parents choose to use training pants rather than diapers some-or-all of the time with their baby. In this case, you might use training pants for a year or more. However, if starting potty training after about 18 months, you will likely want to use them anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months, except possibly in unique situations where you really need that added protection. Otherwise, thin cotton underwear will be your best choice for avoiding regular accidents.

Do you have a favourite cloth training pant you want to share? Let me know in the comments!​

This month's progress has been super-interesting to me, because I began doing EC with my daughter when she was this age.  The contrast between starting at 7 months with her and starting at 4 days old with my son has been huge. For my son, this month brought about an increased ability to hold-in urine and to release it at will. Signalling by signing is quite rare, however we are still managing to catch a lot of pee and I am finding that I can go up to 4 days between washes of my cloth diapers (not sure how good that is for the diapers though?!?!). In contrast, starting at 7 months with my daughter I found naked observation time a real trial as she would sometimes pee every 10 to 15 minutes, especially in the morning. I never did find any signals or timing that made sense and she never caught on to the ASL sign for potty. Eventually we did have a successful EC experience, but no where near the catch-rate I am achieving with my son.

After last month's poop roller-coaster, this month has brought about new changes and we are catching almost all the poops now. His bowel movements are now about every two days and since they are much thicker now, it is very obvious when he needs to "go". All of the classic signs are there, the grunting, a serious or red face etc... And catches in the toilet have been a dream; little to no clean-up! We were doing so well in fact that one day Alek began to grunt in the car. I knew right-away that it was a poop, but I hoped it wasn't! I considered pulling the car over, but with two car seats in the back and a trunk full of groceries and a stroller, I was worried about the logistics of it all. So I continued on. Well... upon arriving home, I was met with a stinky, sticky mess in his diaper which is especially bad in cloth when you have to scrape it all off and rinse (for the record all poop in disposables is supposed to be dumped into the toilet too).
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I cannot imagine NOT trying to catch all the poops in the potty.... EC makes my life sooooooo much better. 

Two weekends ago the four of us attended Folk Fest and I brought my top hat potty (the Tiny Baby Potty) along. I chose to use disposable diapers at the event, just to minimize what I needed to lug around, and to keep the little guy comfortable and dry-feeling in case I could not change diapers as often as usual. My plan was to pour any pee into my wet-bag, lined with a cloth or a used disposable diaper inside to absorb the wetness. It would have worked well... we tried, but we didn't catch any pees while out and about that day :(

For anyone reading this blog post who is interested in doing EC but has not started yet, just go for it! You have nothing to lose. As long as you always approach pottying with love and respect for your baby, you cannot go wrong. And if you are looking for help or support, check out the Go Diaper Free of Edmonton group on Facebook! 
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So... what are we wearing for EC this month? At home I am loving being "diaper-free" more and more. That doesn't mean naked, most of the time it means having Alek in a diaper without a cover. Easy to change, easy to potty and easy to see/feel when he is wet. The diaper belt/prefold is becoming a favourite for its ease but we seem to have the most success at staying dry in the fitted cloth diapers for some reason.
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​The photo on the left shows my super-mobile 7-month old climbing the stairs in his wool Flaparap. Up until now I did not like the way these EC diapers fit, and found changing them to be a real challenge. At 7 months and over 20 lbs I do find them a bit better but for at-home use I still prefer the simpler (and much cheaper) diaper-belt solution. Part of the challenge of these is the way that you install the pad, you kind of scoop it in from behind - which is ideal for a crawling baby, but not so simple on a non-mobile back-laying baby. I do think that Flaparaps will come in handy for trips out of the house when Alek is wearing pants, since the cover is waterproof and yet really easy to open for pottytunities wherever you are. I'll have to give that a go soon!

Curious about EC and early potty learning? Check out these books and get started today!
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My second child was born about 5 weeks ago, and Elimination Communication (EC), or infant potty training, is off to a good, albeit very part-time start! Since the practice of EC changes so much as babies grow and develop, I thought it would be fun to write a month-by-month account of how its going for us... through catches, misses, and full-on potty pauses.

I will also admit, that while I am a coach and EC educator, this is my first time practicing EC from birth. My daughter was about 7 months old before I finally got up the courage to try it, and by then - like most babies - her innate desire not to soil herself was long gone. She did not show any visible signals that she was about to 'go' and in addition, she seemed to pee small amounts every 10-15 minutes; my 5-week old can hold it longer than that already!

My second child, Alek, was born on December 20th, healthy and full-term. While he has peed almost immediately after birth, and again one other time, on his third day of life he was showing the beginning signs of jaundice and had not peed in over 30 hours (eliminating helps to clear the bilirubin that causes jaundice). We were told to take him to the hospital if he did not pee in the next 10 hours. EC to the rescue! I took my 4-day old baby to the bathroom sink, and held him in the "classic EC position"... waiting. I blew some cold air into his genital area, and he began to pee! After that, he began consistently wetting diapers for the rest of the day. I also caught another pee and a poop!
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In the first two weeks of his life, I wasn't focusing much on EC. However, I was loving how it helped me to tune into his little being... developing an awareness of his cries and his elimination habits. I did find some unique challenges during this period though, for example, his legs were all curled-up like frogs legs. Each time he peed into the potty or sink, one of those feet or legs was in the way and got soaked! Also, it was nearly impossible to hold him up and hold down his penis with a finger in order to point it towards the sink or potty... it would often spray as high as the mirror above the sink! ​

Though those two particular challenges eased in the next couple of weeks, there are a few things that generally make EC a bit more challenging with a newborn. For one, they sleep ALL THE TIME, but not necessarily while they are laying down on a waterproof mat! My new baby for example, almost never sleeps unless he's in someone's arms or a carrier, making it tougher to observe his timing an signals while he's asleep. If he happens to be happy and awake - or asleep and not in my arms - it's usually a time I use to shower, make lunch or empty the dishwasher... not to be focusing 100% of my attention on waiting for a pee to come. A further complication for us EC-ers with multiple children is... the other children! There are so many other demands on our time compared to a first-time-mom, from giving the other children our attention, to feeding them, to taking them places etc... its hard to keep your focus on your naked baby for any significant amount of time. Also, my daughter often wants to be in Alek's face when I'm pottying him, and then he just won't go. 

I was super-excited to receive my first top hat potty, The Baby Potty when Alek was 3 weeks old. I try to potty him at most diaper-changes, and having a portable potty was a game-changer as I no longer had to walk him all the way to the bathroom. However, with a newborn, you can't predict whether you're going to catch some pee or poop - or both - and I am finding it quite challenging to get both ends pointing into the little opening at the same time! 

In the last couple of weeks, Alek has had many DRY diapers when I've checked them.... even after 1-2 hours! This is certainly the exception to the rule, but really cool to see. He definitely has awareness of his elimination, as well as some control. One time, when he was 4-weeks old, I had taken him into the bathroom to potty in the sink. He started to pee, but then stopped because I jostled him a bit when it started coming out. A few seconds later, he pooped, but no more pee came out. I said to him "all done?" then wiped his bum and began to walk away. Alek started screaming - which was really odd. So I took him back to the bathroom sink and held him in position. He quickly got really calm and completed his pee, with no more crying after that! 

Although I have talked a lot about the challenges we've faced this month, EC has never been hard. It is, as it should be... fun, rewarding and not stressful. I have not been working terribly hard at it, just pottying when its convenient. Sometimes he "goes" and sometimes he doesn't and that's just fine with me! In the next month my goal is to find more uninterrupted time to do naked observation, and see if I can detect any signals from him at this stage. 

Want to learn more about how to start potty learning in your child's first year? Check out the book Go Diaper Free by Andrea Olson to learn more.