Real-Life EC: 17th Month

This was a big month for us as we finally gave up diapers for good! It wasn't always perfect, but it also wasn't potty training. (Spoiler alert: It was way better and more fun!!)

5 1/2 years ago when my daughter was 17 1/2 months old, I decided to stop using diapers. We used a non-coercive potty training method, and it took a couple of weeks. 5 days for her to make any progress at all, and another week or so of practice and a couple of big embarrassing public accidents (but I know better now... or do I?). Potty training wasn't awful, but it was difficult. And scary too, I can remember being totally freaked out about her going diaper-free at nap time. Not to mention leaving the house.

With my son we started EC months earlier than we did with my daughter, and I was a lot more consistent with it. Overall, it went much smoother and I am much better at giving him MORE independence as the months go on, even if we were still having a lot of misses, I always worked on giving him the opportunity to do it himself and reduced my use of diapers at home more and more for the last few months.

Diaper-free at the library in wool pants (just in case) with a car potty afterward.

Our weekend accommodations, the potty ads a pop of colour, don't you think?

It went down like this... April 1st we took our first outing without a diaper back-up. Alek was wearing a cloth training pant (like padded underwear) with a Tiny Ups waterproof shell over, just in case. From that point I tried to use diapers less and less on outings, but would always reach for the Tiny Ups or Wool Pants over padded undies, just in case of a public accident, or one in his car seat. May 2nd we had our first accident-free day - well for pees anyway, since poop misses were a daily, if not twice daily incident! The day after that, I was feeling very brave and we travelled 30 minutes outside of the city to a farm for a family homesteading workshop. As usual, Alek fell asleep on the way there, and when we arrived he was groggy so I did not put him on the potty right away. It was also freezing cold when we arrived, so I started bundling everyone up, only to realize that he was still not wearing a diaper. By the time I tried to potty him, he was already wet and I perceived that in that cold there was just no way to continue with training pants that day. Pulling out a disposable diaper at that moment was one of the best decisions I have ever made!

After a very cold morning outside, we went indoors for lunch. I took him to the bathroom where he peed, and then we sat down to eat. At some point during the meal, Alek pooped but my friend and I who were sitting with him the entire time saw no sign of it and, despite being surrounded by people (or maybe because of it) he did not signal in any way. After we ate, I smelled something in his pants and took him to the bathroom. But what I found was THE MOST EPIC POOP EVER. I had not seen a poop of that size or consistency since he was much younger. It was very, very close to exploding up the back and out the leg cuffs. All I could think of was, thank goodness I switched to a diaper!!! Can you even imagine a poop like that in underwear?!?!

It is possible that he has a mild illness that day because honestly, that poop. But also, I have noticed that he almost never poops when we are out-and-about so it was very surprising. Overall though, he was rarely singling for pee or poop and yet, we were getting fewer and fewer accidents each day overall. 

Mother's day weekend, my sister invited us out to her in-laws cabin in the woods. Since things were going well, I decided to make it a diaper-free weekend, but used wool pants and the Tiny Ups just in case. The only diapers used all weekend were 1) At night-time  and 2) On the 1.5 hr. car rides. I was thankful for the car diapers because on both the trip there and back, Alek slept most of the time but woke, upset, with about 20 minutes to go before reaching our destination. Big pees in his diaper both times! The weekend was a huge success otherwise, I don't think there was an accident during the day otherwise. Yeah!!!

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About a week before Alek turned 17 months, I realized that we had stopped using diapers at all (daytime). I was still using a waterproof/resistant back-up most of the time, but started relying on those less and less also. In addition, Alek started staying consistently dry in his diapers all night. Wet pants would still happen most days, but pretty much always at home, when I am more distracted. Things are getting better and better and I am excited to share out update next month!

Interested in learning more about EC and early-start potty training? Check-out these great books which are available in my shop.
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You can't beat Go Diaper Free for everything you need to know about EC from infancy to completion. The Author, Andrea Olson also offers potty time mini-courses for EC on her website, Go Diaper Free.

Lose the Diapers is a potty training method that starts between 6 to 12 months of age. Its potty training the way grandma did it!

The Tiny Potty Training Book is perfect for anyone who wants to stop using diapers from 18 months of age and up.