Review: Baby Bjorn Little Potty

A while back, I talked about Elimination Communication (from this post). When we finally got up to the suburbs on Wednesday, the twin and I went out on a hunt for the Baby Bjorn Little Potty (here on out referred to as the BBLP). After staring at toilets in the Babies R Us store, I decided to just go with the toilet that fellow EC'ers recommended. I had a few qualms about it, mainly that it wouldn't last her for the duration of her potty training (2 years old?) and that it looked difficult to get clean. Regardless, I bit the bullet and just bought it. It was only $12, right?

C was still sleeping when we got home but Lil' Miss was up and playing (we left the girls with our mom, Mimi). Those of you who know Lil'Miss personally know that she will not sit still for anything. We thought the BBLP would be a momentary distraction and she'd be on her way. Not so much--this BBLP held her attention and she sat on it for quite some time. (note that she still has her clothes on--we weren't pottying her!).

When C woke up, we immediately placed her on the chair (prior to the BBLP, I supported her on the big-people toilet). She knew what to do and, after a few minutes, out came a gigundo #2! Amazing.

After the poo, however, I had no idea what to do with the thing. I managed to plop it into the real toilet and then rinsed it out in the bathtub. Not ideal and not what I was hoping to do everytime this circumstance occurred.

Here are pictures of the two girls on the BBLP:

So, the verdict: Do I like this potty? Well, yes and no.

Yes, it is the perfect seat for C and she doesn't mind being on it at all. It does the trick and she goes potty (usually just #2 but often #1 as well).

The downside is that it isn't very convenient to clean. I posted a new thread on Diaper Swappers (my favorite cloth diaper community website) and received a few tips from some other EC moms--like place some toilet paper in the bottom so that the deposit lands on it instead of the potty; keep an antibacterial spray nearby and squirt it down after every use; etc. I've been doing versions of those suggestions with pretty optimal results.

All in all, it sure beats holding C up while she does her duty but it is a little bit messier than just placing her on my "throne". (by the way, I think this toilet will definitely come in handy when we are on road trips (or so I hear)!)

Please note: I was not compensated for this review. This review is based on my own opinion. We use the BBLP so much that i just wanted to share my take on it!

Diaper Free EC

So. Never ever thought I'd be writing a post like this. (what never? no never!*) But, thanks to my friend Amy who asked to learn more about this whole craziness, I decided to write a post on it. It should be mentioned that Amy was actually the one who convinced me to try cloth diapers in the first place thanks to this post! Thanks Amy!

And, feel free to skip this post entirely if 1) you no longer have children in diapers 2) you have no children or 3) you find this whole topic gross (but keep in mind this was my attitude before I started!)

When we were meeting with our doula group to decide if a doula was right for us, we were "subjected" to more "earthy/crunchy" propaganda. I listened politely but swore up and down that I would never use a cloth diaper and definitely not ever try to use EC (elimination communication) with my children. Were they NUTS? Sure, I'd listen politely and carefully pass around the diaper using just the tips of two of my fingers but, seriously, who did these doulas think we were? We surely weren't that crunchy.

Apparently, I was the one who was/is nuts.

One of my sorority sisters (my grandbaby) had a baby in December and she started trying EC soon after her daughter was born. It apparently worked for her. It made me think, 1) that she was crazy 2) that maybe we could do it and 3) that it was too late to start with C but we could possibly, just maybe, look into it with our next one.

All that changed after C went #2 in the bathtub 3 nights in a row. Keeping in mind my doula's (she EC'd her last two kids) and my friend's experiences, I thought it wouldn't be bad to implement one aspect of EC--put the child on the potty before bathtime as warm water usually causes a BM of some kind. Just implementing one aspect wouldn't make me nuts and crunchy, would it? Surely this experiment would never last!

I put C on it the first night and, to my amazement, off she went. It was like she was born to poo on a toilet. Exciting stuff. The next day, anytime I thought she was thinking about passing a #2, I'd whip off her diaper and put her on the comode. And, amazingly, she went every time (save the one time we were in the "family restroom" with Mimi at the mall--but she did try very hard when she was on it!). Soon, she even started going #1! C has gone for hours without a wet or dirty diaper.

The trick to remember is that you are not training your child to hold it all in but, rather, you are training yourself to learn his/her potty cues and then acting on them quickly. I think it is fun to try and get her to go and to not have to change a dirty wet diaper is a huge bonus. As long as you keep an open and flexible mind about it, you'll be fine. There are a lot of parents who want to get their baby diaper free and get too stressed out and then their baby gets stressed out and then the whole thing is a mess, including their house (because most likely, there will be a few misses!)!

I haven't read much more on ECing but I do have the following books on reserve at the library. I am by no means an expert on this method of pottying but, if you do a google search for "elimination communication" or "diaper free", you'll find out a lot more! Also, feel free to click on any of the following books for more information about them. These are the books that I will be getting soon.

*From the Simpson's (I also NEVER ever thought I'd quote a line from the Simpsons. J is having an effect on me)