Mamatography 2013 - Week 37

Day 251 - September 8

Elmo had to walk up a 45° tree to get this geocache.
We go for several finds on Sunday mornings now.

When they gotta go...

Welcome to the second edition of the "I'm a Natural Parent - BUT..." Carnival

This post was written for inclusion in the carnival hosted by The Artful Mama and our feminist {play}school. During this carnival our participants have focused on how mainstream society has affected their natural parenting and how they have come to peace with this.

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Our Elimination Communication journey with Spencer has been amazing! I love it! I do get annoyed for night time EC, though. Once we found our groove during the day, he started insisting on being pottied at night, even when he doesn't actually want to go. He can't settle or stay asleep when he needs to go. He will toss and turn and fidget before eventually peeing in the bed. His wiggling is enough to wake me.

I figured all this out because he would wiggle, I would nurse him "back to sleep" and put him back down. Just as I would doze back off, he would start to wiggle again. It wasn't milk he needed, it was an empty bladder.

Mamatography - Week 18

Day 120

(04/29/12)

On Sunday, we were still visiting in MO. Cooper napped on his momma and when she tried to get him to wake up he chose to doze on the floor for awhile first.

Mamatography - Week 17

Day 113

(04/22/12)

This is the first time my stove has been clean since we got the trailer. It looked beautiful to me!

Change can mean Puddles

Welcome to the Fabulous Hybrid Blog Carnival. Our topic this spring is Change! This post was written for inclusion in the quarterly Blog Carnival hosted by The Fabulous Mama Chronicles and Hybrid Rasta Mama. This month our participants reflect on change in all of its many forms. Please read to the end to find a list of links to the other carnival participants.

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We practice Elimination Communication. It seems odd to call it that with Sasha anymore, since she has been out of diapers for about a year. She literally tells us when she needs to potty, so there are no "signs" for which we must watch. We're also doing Elimination Communication with Spencer.

A lot can effect babies and toddlers as far as communicating their needs, including elimination needs. When we moved in October, Sasha was suddenly making puddles everywhere. We knew she was capable of getting to her potty or telling us she needed to go, but we had miss after miss after miss.

EC - Head Start on Potty Training

I've seen it said often that children with Down syndrome potty train at a much later age than other children. When we found out that our son had Ds, this was one thing I researched. I wondered if anyone with a child with DS had ever used Elimination Communication and whether it could work to shorten that time.

I definitely found some early mentions of using EC with children with DS and found the information encouraging. I'm not sure why I was worried, as if there would be some reason I shouldn't do it.

Sunday Surf: EC & Bad Parenting

Another week full of appointments behind us. Each of the kids had appointments this week, including Sasha's first dentist visit. Thursday was the only day free of them.

Here are just a couple of links for you.

Pottytunities for Two

Clarifying Intentions with Newborns

What is truly the goal when practicing elimination communication with a newborn? This is a great article about what it is like to practice elimination communication in our mainstream society, especially with a new baby.

Cracked.Com

5 Hallmarks of Bad Parenting That Are Actually Good for Kids

I love Cracked.Com. They always take a no-nonsense, fun, often foul-mouthed approach to topics, including parenting. This article lets me know that maybe I'm not fouling up this whole parenting thing. I especially appreciated the section on risky play. Click over to learn something new.

What fun things have you read lately?

Wordless Wednesday: Camping @ Spencer Creek!

Our first family tent camping...
This is how it began.

She stayed plenty busy for tent-raising and enjoyed throwing dirt into the air!

EC - No Praise / No Discipline

It can be very difficult, especially in the beginning with Elimination Communication, to not go nuts when you start catching pees (and/or poops). I definitely got excited, but tried not to specifically say "Good job!" or whatever. (If you don't understand why I wouldn't want to tell my child she is good, please check out Hobo Mama's guest post by Anktangle on Being "good" and/or Hobo Mama's own follow-up post a month later about Why "good kid" bothers me.)

Everett on the Potty
Photo Credit

So, instead, I'd excitedly say "Daddy, Sasha went peepee in the potty!" I also don't punish for "accidents." She's been using the potty (off and on) since she was two months old! I don't think you can consider a 6 month old wetting the bed (because I let her sleep naked) an "accident." I do not want to shame her into using the potty! or anything else for that matter! Shaming children... is a shameful act!

So... how on earth do I motivate her?! Well first off, the idea is that babies do not want to sit in their own waste! However, I have found a way to "praise" or "bribe" her that I feel totally good about!

Signing on the Potty

I started signing to Sasha when she was just a couple of months old. The signs that are suggested as first signs are milk, eat and more. However, they advise that you choose whatever you would use the most. Eat wasn't a good one for us because we started so young. I use milk, but not consistently enough. The one sign I have used most consistently is finished. (They recommend starting with three signs only.) I use it to ask Sasha if she is finished on the potty. I ask and sign, then answer back and sign. Sasha recognizes the sign now as meaning it is time to get off the potty. She responds by hopping a bit and putting her arms up. I am terribly pleased with this development, but it also urges me to sign more consistently. I need to use finished in more situations and add a couple more words that Daddy and I will both use often. I'm looking forward to adding a sign for potty, but I think it is too soon.

I am open to suggestions of words to sign! Anyone know the sign for teething ring? That might be a good one for us.

By the way, I recommend the DVD set linked above, though I don't recommend television for babies. I do feel better about television for babies if you're watching good programming with them. I also recommend this book that was really my start to baby signing. You can read my review of this book published on Hobo Mama's blog.

Women Go in Pairs

We had a great EC kind of weekend! Now that Sasha can sit up so well (even better on her BBLP!), I moved her potty from the kitchen counter, where I could support her back easily, to the bathroom floor. It sits in the corner, directly across from the toilet. So now in the morning, as usual, I take Sasha's diaper off, then bring her downstairs to her potty. Only now, I go at the same time. No more rushing to go before her or holding it to go after her. I hate doing the pee pee dance while trying not to rush her. This new system is working very well. I sit on the potty every time she does. Talk about a signal to go! Now she hears Mommy pee and she pees. I still throw in the verbal signal, too. heh

I keep an extra BBLP in the car. She used it at Grandma & Grandpa's this weekend, too!