Cloth Nappy Journey Update! Our Early Potty Training Experience

We are 11 months into our cloth nappy journey and a few things have changed since we have shared with you about this last.

We are still loving the cloth nappy experience but the whole "procedure" has changed since we have started toilet learning with Faye, just before she turned 10 months.

Does that sound crazy? That's what I thought, I was under the impression that she won't be on a potty or toilet until she will be almost three. But I learnt really interesting things about the topic through my weekly Montessori Baby Group. The educator told me that Faye is at a great age to start and "ready".

Now if you have a mobile baby you might have noticed that nappy changes become a bit of a struggle/mission as they no longer like to lay still on their back. Mobile Babies have places to go, things to see and aren't "babies" anymore.
So we did a whole new setup. No more changeable and change mat for this little one.
It gives her much more independence and she is a lot happier.

New Setup:
We were recommended to change her in the bathroom, as that is where we all go to the toilet, so she will learn that pee&poo belongs there.
We have the nappy bin in the bathroom and also her wipes box and balms.
The latest addition is a Montessori Baby Chair, which is super versatile. It helps her to stand up and hold onto. Soon it will help with her getting dressed/changed as well.
We change her standing up and involve her in the process. She holds on to her little chair and can see what is going on.  She prefers this A LOT to lying down.
We also put the poo (from the nappy or potty) into the toilet together, flush and wash our hands. The whole thing is really fun for her now.

Training Pants:
At home, we do nappy free time and training pants, which are just like undies but hold a little bit of liquid, so that pee doesn't go straight to the floor.
They give her more mobility and are much more trim than her cloth nappies.
We only use them at home and also not all the time. It's great that they are quick and easy to put on.

About the potty:
We bought a Baby Bjoern Potty Chair, which seems decent quality and can be emptied easily. She seems to like sitting on it, although it's still a little high.
I couldn't find a more eco-friendly/not plastic version...but at least I this will last us a while.
It's also BPA free/toxin free plastic, so it seems the best version I could find.

How does it work?
Well, I actually just sit her on the potty and let her know that she can pee or poo into the toilet now. The first time she peed in the potty, which may have been beginners luck, but I was so stoked. We did celebrate a little, but we don't use praise or any shaming.
We also avoid the wording of accidents or any negative language around toileting.
Faye is 10months old and she poos into the toilet every morning, right after getting up!
During the day we have some hits and some misses. Of course, we are also on the go and travelling about and Faye is too young to tell me each time she needs to go.
And that's more than okay. We are not trying to rush her to teach her anything too early.

We are just showing her how the whole pee & poo thing will work longterm and giving her the option to use her toilet. Sometimes she isn't into it and doesn't fancy sitting down.
For number 2's she usually tells us that she needs to go. She says "P-P-P" when she needs to go and then goes to the toilet.

I am so happy that I heard about this, as I really had no idea that she was ready!
There are lots of benefits of showing them the toilet early in a fun and gentle way.
An interesting fact is also that before the super nappies showed up in the 50's in the Western World, everyone would do this early learning and tribes and native people have never stopped doing it. Of course, with our lifestyle today I am grateful to have nappies but I am also excited that there is still a way of connecting Faye to her body and learning more about her needs.

It's a journey and obviously, we don't expect her to be fully trained at this young age.
We are definitely all about baby steps and lots of patience over here.
Mostly we also won't pressure Faye to do anything she isn't ready for.
It's all about being gentle and just giving her the opportunity.

Have you heard about Early Toilet Learning or elimination communication? Have you tried it?

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Petit Kiddo Bum Cleanser
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Baby Bjoern Potty Chair
Montessori Cube Chair