PRE-SALE: Merino Wool Diapers, Belts, & Chappy-Nappies

Welcome to the Magical World of Wool! Wool care may feel intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it is very low maintenance!  This guide will walk you through the following topics (click the bulleted item to jump to the section): How to lanolize your wool (including brand-new wool) Day-to-day wool care  How to properly store your wool  Recommended wool care products Real parents' wool care routines and tips (included throughout--click HERE if you'd like to share your own wool care tips!) If you're brand new to wool, you can learn more about the amazing benefits of wool HERE and you can learn why it's one of the best options for nighttime diapering HERE. Affiliate disclaimer:  This blog article contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.  This helps keep my business running so that I can continue to offer free resources to families like yours! How to Lanolize Wool Diaper Covers This video here gives an overview of the process.  Or, you can scroll down to read the full details.     What is lanolizing and why do I need to do it? Lanolin is the natural wax made by sheep, and it is the key ingredient to making wool diaper covers magical. "Lanolizing" the wool means you'll soak your covers (and possibly also your Chappy-Nappies) in a lanolin bath.  When the wool diaper cover is coated in lanolin, this causes the fibers to become water-repellant so that your diaper does not leak. Urine also undergoes a chemical reaction when coming in contact with lanolin, transforming it into nothing but salt and water.  When you leave your woollies to dry after a day's use, the water evaporates and the wool is fresh and ready for use again the next day!  This makes wool a very low-maintenance diaper cover:  As long as it is not soiled with poop or dirt, it can be hung to dry between wears for up to four weeks before needing to be lanolized again.  Wow! Brand new wool needs to be lanolized at least 2-3 times to fully coat the fibers before first use. New wool has a bit of a "break-in" period where it won't perform optimally until it is properly lanolized and the fibers have felted. "Felting" is the process of tangling and locking loose fibers together to form a dense, sturdy fabric that holds liquids in, and is achieved from the physical agitation of wearing, washing, and handling the wool. Basically, the more you use it, the better it performs. Materials you'll need to wash and lanolize wool include: Solid lanolin Wooden spoon, popsicle stick, or chopstick Microwave-safe cup Water Wool wash Big mixing bowl or other container for soaking the wool Ice Towels for rolling/drying Drying rack I'll go into details below on what brands of lanolin and wool wash I recommend for washing wool, but if you want to jump right to my recommended wool care products list, you can click HERE. Step One Use the wooden popsicle stick (or spoon, chopstick, etc.) to scoop about 1 tsp of lanolin into the microwave-safe cup.  I use a wooden utensil when I do this so that I can safely leave it in the cup while microwaving.  Add about 2 cups of water; I use an old 2-cup glass measuring cup for microwaving.  Microwave the water and lanolin until the lanolin is melted (about 3 minutes). Step Two Add half a capful of wool wash (more on this below) and stir until foamy.  Then pour the lanolin emulsion into a big mixing bowl or other basin for soaking. Step Three Add ice cubes to the hot liquid in the big bowl until the water cools to a tepid temperature.  "Tepid" is about the same as lukewarm, or baby bathwater temperature.  You want it cool but not cold, warm but not hot.  Finally, add another cup or two of tepid water so that you've got enough liquid to soak your wool. It's important to lower the temperature of the lanolin emulsion slowly with ice cubes and match the temperature of any water you add at the end.  Claire explains why: “If there is a large temperature difference the emulsion will break, the lanolin will float in white chunks in the water instead of mixing in, and you will have to restart with a new batch because the lanolin will not properly coat all the wool fibers. In a pinch, I have lanolized with a slightly broken emulsion when little pieces of lanolin floated to the top and it was ultimately fine.” Step Four Add the wool and squeeze gently--you don't need to scrub, and wool fibers are delicate (especially when wet!).  Then you're going to leave it to soak for about 2-3 hours (let brand new wool soak overnight).  If you're lanolizing wool Chappy-Nappies (crotchless pants) or wool longies (long wool pants that can be pulled over a cloth diaper and used as both a diaper cover and pants in one), you don't need to lanolize the whole garment.  Just soak the "wet zone" in the lanolin bath.  Insert the the upper portion of the pants (from the waist belt down to the upper thighs) in the lanolin bath but leave the legs dangling out.  See the section on Day-to-Day Wool Care below for how to clean and maintain wool pants between lanolin baths. Step Five After soaking, do not wring the wool!  Instead, lay the soaking-wet wool onto a towel, roll up, and squeeze gently.  This protects the delicate fibers and prevents your wool from becoming stretched out or deformed. Finally, lay the wet wool flat to dry on a drying rack or metal/mesh table.  Wool can take a while to dry; I usually tried to lanolize my wool first thing in the morning on a warm, sunny day and let it dry outside. Periodically turning and flipping the garment can help speed up the process and help it dry evenly. Be careful of direct sunlight!  It works like magic to remove baby poop stains, but it can also bleach the color out of your wool (if it's dyed) or even colored plastic snaps. If there are no warm, sunny days in the immediate forecast, you can also dry your wool beside a crackling fire!  This is typically what we'd do when lanolizing our wool in the winter. A tip from Claire: “It’s okay if [the woollies] are a little or even very tacky when dry. The lanolin will rub into yours and babies skin and be super nourishing for the first few wears and then it will fade.” Day-to-Day Wool Care Unless your wool is soiled with poop or very dirty from being outside, you may hang your wool to dry after a full day's (or night's) use and re-use again the next day without washing for up to four weeks.  This makes wool very low-maintenance!  Once a month, repeat the lanolizing process to refresh your wool. But what if it gets poopy or dirty? If your baby's poop gets on the wool, you'll want to spot clean immediately with a bit of wool wash and tepid water and then hang to dry before resuming use.  If your baby has been playing outside in a wool diaper or chaps and the wool is dirty, pour a half cup of wool wash into a bowl of tepid water and add the wool.  Gently massage the wool to rub away the dirt and leave to soak for about 15 minutes.  Then lay flat to dry. Annie's routine for poopy wool covers: “ my baby has explosive breastmilk poo so i have to wash the covers frequently ... i wash them using this "no-rinse" wool wash:  [CLICK HERE for Annie's suggested product, which is sold in Australia. Similar USA-based products suggested below] it's great because it has extra lanolin in it so you are naturally conditioning the nappies each time you wash them. my trick to using it with soiled wool nappy covers is a 4-step process: 1. prepare wool wash and soak dirty covers in the solution for 15-20 mins, then agitate with your hands 2. use a small stain brush (like this one [Australia] or this one [USA]) to physically brush out any poo that has not lifted out via the agitation 3. repeat steps 1-2. 4. squeeze out excess water gently, roll in a towel to get out any more excess, and dry out of direct sun, but still in the sun. you have to dry outside to get the UV to erase the yellowish poo stains themselves. it's magic!" How can I prevent poop from getting on my wool covers? Ideally, poop would never touch your wool covers so that you never had to spot clean them and could just hang to dry every day without fuss.  Although this might seem like fantasy, it's actually possible to avoid poop on your wool! The following are some great suggestions: Use wool at night:  Although newborns can poop all day and night, eventually they do stop pooping at night.  We used a single wool cover (Disana brand) as our nighttime diaper for all 3 of our kids (over a fitted diaper). I only ever needed one wool cover because my babies quit pooping overnight pretty quickly, so we'd just hang the wool to dry before the first morning poop and lanolize once a month! Try Elimination Communication:  Babies as young as birth can start using the potty!  This is the best way to keep poop off your woollies--try to get poops into the toilet first. All 3 of my babies were fully "poop trained" by about 2-3 months old, meaning we almost never had any poopy diapers at all from that point onward.  You can read more about Elimination Communication HERE.  Pick well-fitting diapers:  Although EC is my top suggestion for keeping poop out of your wool covers (and I also suggest choosing your wool covers so that they assist with EC as well), some parents can't or won't do EC.  In that case, I recommend a well-fitting fitted diaper underneath your wool diaper cover that will hopefully keep poop well-contained. Claire's thoughts on Elimination Communication & wool diapering: “The wool doesn’t act completely waterproof in the case of very big pees. Instead it completely and entirely contains any moisture to the point that even if you can feel it it doesn’t transfer to your clothes for example. This is very supportive to elimination communication because you develop a feel for temperature changes and you know when your baby has a wet diaper very quickly.    You can lanolize large wool blankets to use under towels or prefolds. These make great natural fiber options for protecting the mattress or lining the changing table/portable changing mats." What about stains? For baby poop and spitup stains, sunlight is your friend!  The sun will bleach them away, but be careful of direct sunlight as it can bleach away the color from your wool. For extremely tough, set-in stains (like mud or grass on undyed wool), you can try applying a tiny drop of plant-based detergent (like Seventh Generation Free & Clear) straight to the stain, massage it in gently with your fingertips, and let it penetrate before washing with wool wash. Claire (quoted above) uses Fels-Naptha bar soap for stains, but she does warn that this can strip away the lanolin, so use sparingly. Alternatively, you can try diluted 3% hydrogen peroxide, which is safe for wool in low concentrations (unlike chlorine bleach, which dissolves wool) and acts as a mild oxidation agent to lift tough stains.  Mix 1 part 3% hydrogen peroxide with 2 parts water, dab onto the stain, and let it sit for 15 minutes out of direct light.  Then rinse thoroughly. How to properly store wool If you need to store your wool garments for an extended period of time without use, you'll want to make sure you store them correctly to avoid damage from pests and moisture.  Start with clean wool and ensure it is completely dry before storing. Breathable storage bags, like cotton, linen, or canvas, can prevent trapped moisture but are easier for pests to penetrate.  If you'd prefer to store your wool in an airtight container, such as a Ziploc bag or storage bin, ensure your wool is fully dry first and consider adding a silica gel packet to absorb humidity. To protect against pests, be sure to dry in a cool, dry place (avoid basements or garages) and add a couple cedar blocks.  Refresh your cedar blocks when the scent starts to fade by sanding the blocks slightly. Recommended Wool Products Read on for detailed descriptions of recommended wool products, including wool garments I recommend and wool care items.  Or, CLICK HERE if you'd like to jump straight to my list of favorites and start shopping! Solid Lanolin Brands If you have lanolin on-hand from breastfeeding (many nursing mothers use it to treat chapped/sore nipples in the early weeks of learning to breastfeed), you can use that to treat your wool!  Brands I've used successfully for both nursing and wool care include Lansinoh and Medela. If you'd prefer to buy in bulk, this jar of NOW Solutions brand solid lanolin lasted me basically the entire time we used wool diapers for kids 2 & 3!  Lanolin Treatments Most wool wash is infused with lanolin (see next section on wool wash).  Regular washing with lanolin-infused wool wash can help maintain a good coating of lanolin, but a proper lanolin bath will be needed if you're hanging the wool to dry without cleaning for weeks at a time. Instead of using solid lanolin to create an emulsion as described above, you can also try lanolizing with a special lanolin treatment, according to Annie: Annie's strategy for lanolizing: “when my wool diaper covers/chappy nappies arrive, i lanolise them twice using Disana's lanolin treatment - this is a german product that is basically a pre-emulsified lanolin solution... I just follow the directions on the Disana bottle for diapers... i re-lanolise with the disana treatment whenever i think the wool needs it, if it seems less absorbent or smellier, etc.” That particular brand is available in Australia (click HERE), but the following are some similar USA-based treatments you might consider (click on the bullet to view the product).  These treatments all include lanolin and can be added directly to tepid water to lanolize your wool without melting and cooling. Bumby Wool Emulsified Lanolin Blend Sheepish Grins Liquid Lanolin Oil Wool Wash Brands My go-to brand for wool wash that I used for almost a decade was the Eucalan No-Rinse Wash.  I always favored the unscented variety, as my family has always been sensitive to fragrances.  In addition to cleaning and lanolizing my wool diaper covers, I also use it to wash hand-knitted wool sweaters (courtesy of my wonderful Mother-in-Law!) and other garments.  Other great options for lanolin-infused wool wash that have been recommended to me include the following (click on the bullet to view the product): Outback Gold Wool Wash Woollykins No Rinse Felting Finishing & Wool Wash (Australian product recommended by Annie above) You can use the above-suggested wool wash brands both for lanolizing and also for spot cleaning poop or dirt from your wool. Claire's spot-cleaning routine: “I wash when my wool is visibly dirty from spit up, food or poop, or when the lanolin has become neutralized and it starts to look like there are salt rings forming around pee spots or whenever pee is not airing out of the diaper but instead leaving a pee scent even when fully dry. I do not usually wash dirt because it will usually shake out/air out and the wool is naturally antimicrobial. I try to wipe off anything like food or spit up if I can as soon as it gets on the diaper."  Recommended Wool Diapers If you're doing Elimination Communication with your baby, you'll want a cloth diaper that can open easily when it's time to go potty.  Flappy-Nappies® brand wool diaper covers are adjustable diapers designed to pop open like a flap!  They come in undyed and hand-dyed varieties in multiple sizes from newborn to big kid.  They are paired with 100% organic cotton snap-in pads, which are easy to swap out if they get wet or soiled. If you're looking for powerful leak protection for nighttime diapering, your best bet is the Disana wool diaper cover paired with cotton fitted diapers underneath.  I used this combination with all 3 of my babies at night, and it was the most reliable and leak-proof option I tried (even compared to disposables!).  You can read more about why wool is a superior choice for nighttime diapering by clicking HERE. Other Wool Accessories You might consider the following items for wool care and storage (click on the bullet to view the product): Laundry stain brush Horizontal drying rack:  This kind of drying rack has mesh shelves on which you can lay your delicate wool items flat to dry. THIS one is freestanding and THIS one can hang. Cedar blocks for storing Breathable storage container, OR Airtight storage container and reusable silica gel packets That's about it! I hope that this guide was helpful.  If you have tips for wool care or product recommendations that you don't see here, please feel free to contact me!  I am always updating my resource pages and would love to include what you have to share.

Shopping Links To make it easier to find the products recommended in this article, here is a list of links to every product discussed below (and more!).  Affiliate disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.  This helps keep my business running so that I can continue to offer free resources to families like yours! Click the bullet list items to head to the product or shopping list! POTTIES My shopping list of my favorite potties (all except Bimbibums and IKEA) Bimbibums lap potty IKEA potty DIAPERS Flappy-Nappies and Chappy-Nappies Wool diapering accessories and wool diapers for nights Bedwetting list: Bedwetting alarms, nighttime protection for big kids, etc. ACCESSORIES EC-friendly clothes, small undies, step stools, soap dispensers, puddle pads, etc. Recommended toys for distracting babies on the potty EC-friendly swim suits, diapers, and summer gear Watch the video! Or keep reading! Jump to FREE checklist Good news!  You don't need a ton of "stuff" to do Elimination Communication.  But, your potty, diaper, and clothing choices can make a difference in how easy it is to navigate EC on a day-to-day basis.  If you're a new or expectant parent and want to build your diaper registry with EC in mind, read on for my top suggested potties, diapers, clothing, and other gear. Best Potties & Toilet Seat Reducers All potties and toilet seat reducers recommended in this section can be found in my list HERE, except the Bimbibums lap potty HERE and the IKEA potty HERE. Option 1: The toilet The benefit of the toilet is that you can just flush and be done--no cleaning necessary! If your child cannot sit unassisted yet, you can sit backwards on the toilet with your child or sit on a chair or exercise ball beside the toilet (click here to learn more). Once your baby can sit unassisted, you'll need to invest in a toilet seat reducer. My top favorite seats are the following: The Baby Throne is the only toilet seat reducer that positions baby in the ideal squat for eliminating. It also doubles as a potty! The Baby Bjorn Smart Seat Reducer is a sturdy and compact option that is easy to clean, has a good splash guard, and fits almost all toilets. Don't want to have to constantly remove the seat reducer? Get one that's permanently attached to your toilet instead! Option 2: Lap potties Lap potties are designed for babies that cannot sit unassisted yet. You set the lap potty between your thighs with the opening facing up and then hold baby over it to go potty. These are useful for the newborn period so that you can potty the baby from the comfort of your couch or bed, but they are not essential for EC. In a pinch, you can use a bowl or Tupperware instead! My top favorite lap potties include: The Top Hat potty is widely available in the USA, but parents complain that the opening is small and there is no splash guard. The Potty Plane boasts an excellent splash guard and wide, stable wings for your lap. Based in Australia, they do ship to the US. Don't want to buy anything special? A floor potty with a removable insert, like Baby Bjorn, doubles as a lap potty! Option 3: Floor Potties The benefit of floor potties is that they help baby get into a deeper squat, are portable, and a baby can learn to climb on and off independently much easier and safer than the big toilet. I personally recommend investing in both a sturdy floor potty (for portability and independence) and a toilet seat reducer (because we do eventually want the child using the real toilet!). Most potties are designed for toddlers aged 3-4 (that’s the average potty-training age, after all), and will be much too large for your baby. The following three potties are the exception--they are short enough for a baby or young toddler and all three are consistently available: The Tiny Potty is the companion potty for the Top Hat Potty. It is the shortest of these three potties. The IKEA potty boasts one of the best splash guards for boys and is designed to pour out easily for quick cleaning. Baby Bjorn (my personal favorite) is short and sturdy and the removable insert doubles as a lap potty! Option 4: Travel Potties Most parents keep a potty in the car for outings. You can also find foldable potties and toilet seats that can be carried in a backpack or the basket of your stroller for on-the-go pottying: Foldable Toilet Seat Reducers fold down small enough to fit into your bag and can help make public toilets less scary. The Potette Plus Fold-Up Potty has a reusable, collapsible silicone insert. The Collapsible Travel Throne collapses completely flat and comes with bags for lining. Other Options Some parents find sitting backwards on the toilet to be uncomfortable. Prior to starting solid foods, you can use the sink instead! Exclulsively milk-fed baby poop is water soluble (liquid) and can be safely rinsed down the sink. Your baby can also entertain herself by watching herself in the mirror. Moms of toddler boys may consider teaching their son to stand and pee using a baby urinal! These are great options if your son consistently pees over the splash guard while sitting but is not tall enough to stand at the toilet yet. Best Diaper Backups for EC Most EC parents don't try to catch every pee and poop in the potty at first and use a diaper as a "backup" until at least 12-18 months. Yet western diapers were not designed with EC in mind: Disposable diapers are especially problematic due to their ultra-absorbent stay-dry qualities. Disposable diaper companies also aggressively encourage parents to wait as long as possible to potty train. On the other hand, cloth diapers feel wetter to the baby. When baby is uncomfortable, she maintains awareness of her bodily functions and her instinct to keep clean. And because cloth diapers need to be laundered, parents also have more motivation to quit using them. Unfortunately, most cloth diapers aren’t great for EC, either. Many types of cloth diapers have multiple layers (diaper plus diaper cover) that need to be folded, pinned, or snapped in place. On top of that, baby will probably wear a onesie and pants. That’s a LOT of layers to have to remove and replace every time your baby needs to go potty! Things get even worse when your baby learns to roll over and becomes a ninja-rolling escape artist. Every diaper change quickly becomes a massive battle to get your child to lie still. Imagine baby trying to roll, crawl, or run away while you’re struggling with those snaps, pants, and onesie! Not fun.  I started EC while using regular cloth diapers on my first baby, and quickly learned that all of my diapers were a huge pain for EC. That was what inspired me to design the very first Flappy-Nappies®, which are drop-flap diapers with a two-part design. The separate waist belt goes on your baby first, then you snap the diaper to the belt. The belted design allows the Flappy-Nappies® to pop open easily from the front or back like a flap to go potty. This also helps with diaper change battles because they can be changed while your baby stands, crawls, or one-handed with your baby in your arms. No changing pad needed! Types of Flappy-Nappies The following are descriptions of the three types of available Flappy-Nappies®, but you might also like to see the Product Comparison Chart HERE, which includes video demonstrations of each type of diaper. Pockets (one-part diapers) Flappy-Nappies® pocket diapers (click here to shop) are the easiest diapers on the market to use and change.  Unlike other brands, our pockets are lined with a cotton training pad.  This means that they can be used by themselves as training pants (ideal for EC or potty-training).  If you need more absorbency, simply insert a soaker pad into the pocket. Changing a Flappy-Nappies® pocket diaper is ridiculously easy.  Just pop the used diaper off the belt and replace it with a fresh one.  Your baby can stand or sit on all fours, or you can scoop your kid up with one hand and change the diaper with the other.  As long as the belt isn’t soiled with poop, you can re-use it all day.  Toss the used diaper straight in the hamper—just be sure to remove any extra pads before washing. All-in-Twos (two-part diapers) Flappy-Nappies® PUL all-in-twos (click here to shop) consist of a waterproof diaper cover and snap-in pads.  The cover can be re-worn between changes as long as it is not soiled with poop—simply swap out the wet pad for a fresh one. Unlike other types of two-part diapers, Flappy-Nappies® all-in-twos require ZERO folding or pinning.  Since the pad snaps straight into the cover, the whole diaper can pop open quickly for standing diaper changes or potty trips.  Wool Flappy-Nappies® wool diaper covers (click here to shop) work just like the PUL all-in-two system.  They are belted and have separate snap-in pads.  The only main difference is that the cover itself is made of wool instead of PUL. Wool is a natural and eco-friendly material.  It is soft and breathable, antimicrobial, ventilating in summer, and insulating in winter.  Although it does require special care, once you get the hang of it, washing your wool is a breeze.  Read more about washing instructions here and benefits of wool here. Other Clothing Suggestions EC is easiest with clothes that are easy to manipulate!  The following are some great suggestions.  You can shop Chappy-Nappies HERE and all other clothing suggested in this section HERE. Chappy-Nappies Chappy-Nappies are crotchless pants that can be paired with Flappy-Nappies® brand cloth diapers.  Snap the diaper to the waist of the pants instead of the belt, and enjoy easy drop-flap pottytunities and standing diaper changes year round!  You can also use them without the diaper for warm legs during diaper free time. Shirts, Gowns, and Kimonos Onesies and bodysuits that have lots of snaps, zippers, or footies tend to hinder potty time. Instead, choose gowns (great for newborns) and regular t-shirts, dresses, or kimonos without crotch snaps and pair them with Chappy-Nappies. Do I need tiny underwear or training pants? Underwear and training pants offer little to no protection against misses and are awkward to remove from babies that can't manipulate their own clothes yet. Until you feel ready to ditch diapers completely (usually at least 12-18 months) a diaper backup that opens easily like Flappy-Nappies® will be ideal. By the time you're ready to ditch the diapers, normal 2T undies will likely fit, but you can find smaller sizes of underwear by heading to my suggested list HERE. What about nighttime diapers? It might surprise you to know that the best, most leak-proof diapering option available is NOT a disposable diaper. It’s wool! Why wool outperforms other nighttime choices All diapers have two basic parts: A waterproof outer layer to keep both liquid and solid waste contained and an inner absorbent layer to soak the liquids up. The outside of disposable diapers is made of a plastic topsheet and the absorbent part is made of superabsorbent polymer gel. The absorbent layer of a cloth diaper is usually cotton, bamboo, hemp, or microfiber. Many modern cloth diapers have an outer layer of PUL, a synthetic waterproof fabric, but wool can also be used as the waterproof outer layer. Unlike plastic or PUL, however, wool has both water-repellant and water-absorbing properties. Wool absorbs about 30% of its weight without feeling wet, giving you a protective boost beyond the cloth diaper underneath. Any “spillover” from your inner cloth layer will get absorbed by the wool. In other words, no leaks! Caring for wool is easier than you may think Wool has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it’s even easier than using regular cloth diapers. A unique property of wool is its resistance to odor and bacteria. The lanolin breaks urine down into mineral salts and water, which then evaporates quickly as the wool dries. This makes your wool very hygienic! In fact, it can be hung to dry in the morning without washing for up to four weeks unless it is soiled with poop. In that case, spot clean with a bit of wool wash and hang to dry. Yes, you read that right. Wool only needs to be washed ONCE a MONTH! You can click HERE for detailed washing instructions and HERE for more details on the amazing properties of wool. If you’re doing EC at night, you might consider using the wool Flappy-Nappies® diaper cover with snap-in pads discussed above. If you’re not doing any nighttime pottying, wool shorties, such as the Disana Merino Wool Diaper Cover, paired with a fitted diaper such as Esembly brand may be a better choice (pictured below). When properly lanolized, this is the most leak-proof option I have ever tried (including disposables!).  You can shop Flappy-Nappies® wool diapers HERE. All other wool covers & inners recommended above, plus recommended lanolin, wool wash, and other wool accessories are listed HERE. Putting it all together You don't need much stuff to do EC! But planning your clothing, diapering, and potty choices with EC in mind can set your EC journey up for success. You can use the following printable registry checklist to make sure you have everything you need for your baby! Download Printable Version Have suggestions for our checklist that we didn't think of? Let us know in the comments!

Watch it: Or keep reading! You’ve just learned that you can potty-train babies and want to know if it’s too late to begin with yours.  Or, you’ve known for a while that you want to do Elimination Communication, but life happened and you haven’t gotten started yet.  Either way, we’ve got the tools you need to begin! Affiliate disclaimer:  This blog article contains affiliate links. If you purchase a product through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.  This helps keep my business running so that I can continue to offer free resources to families like yours! Is it too late to start EC? It is never too early or too late to introduce the potty!  The only thing that changes with your baby’s age is how you approach EC.  This guide includes the best approach for babies that are past the newborn stage but still under a year old. EC sounds like a lot of work.  Is it? A lot of people hear about EC and think that it must be time-consuming.  They imagine that EC parents sit around all day watching their babies, waiting to put them on the potty.  Or that you must have to put your baby on the potty hundreds of times to get lucky enough to catch anything. Fortunately, it doesn’t work like that!  EC is very easy to build into your baby’s routine; most parents don’t try to catch everything, and they use a diaper backup for “misses” (a fun EC word for accidents).  Here’s a typical EC schedule: Potty first thing in the morning Potty after breakfast Potty between lunch and nap time Potty right after waking up from the nap Potty before bath/bed Notice anything about this schedule?  ALL of those pottytunities (another fun word!) happened when you were probably changing your baby’s diaper anyway.  An easy way to begin with EC is just to offer the potty during diaper changes!  Your baby is already bare-bottomed, and diaper changes tend to happen at times babies naturally need to go.  Once you start doing this, you’ll also pick up on your child’s cues (behaviors that precede or coincide with pee/poop), which will help you better predict the ideal times to offer the potty.  It quickly becomes second-nature, and poops are MUCH easier to clean up when they go straight into the toilet rather than smeared all over your baby’s bum.   If you’re using cloth diapers, you’ll ease your laundry burden tremendously by starting EC.  If you’re not using cloth diapers, you cut down significantly on your diaper trash and cost.  Many babies prefer to poop outside a diaper (don’t we all?) and will quickly start to hold it or signal to their parents that it’s time to go. EC also gives you a massive head start on potty-training.  If you start EC now (even part-time or laid-back) you’ll go into potty-training already knowing your child’s timing and cues.  Also, the longer your child poops in a diaper, the more conditioned he will become to that feeling.  Some of the most common issues in potty-training toddlers stem from poops:  Poop withholding, demanding diapers to poop in, fear of pooping in the potty, etc.  All of these can be lessened or prevented by introducing the potty for poops as young as possible. How to Start There are two ingredients to EC:  Natural Timing and Diaper-Free Time.  Both of these ingredients will help you learn your child’s unique elimination pattern and cues. Natural Timing All humans have natural times that they need the bathroom; the most obvious example is first thing in the morning.  The following are some optimal times to offer the potty.  Note that your child might not need to go potty at all of these times; these are simply suggestions for you to get started.  You’ll figure out which times work for your baby very quickly! After Waking.  Offer the potty first thing in the morning and after every nap. After (or in the middle of) a Meal:  Eating can get things moving, so to speak.  For example, some babies poop right in the middle of nursing or right after having a meal of solid foods. During Transitions Between Activities:  Try the potty after riding in the car, swing, or stroller, before a bath, during a diaper change, etc.  Try a few transitions and see if they work for you. Watch for Cues:  You might already know when your kid is pooping.  She might make a "poop face" or have really smelly farts right before.  These are “cues”—body language or behaviors that precede or coincide with peeing or pooping. All 3 of my babies went through phases when they needed to poop mid-meal! The first step of EC is adding the potty to your routine during these key moments.  Pottytunities offered during natural times, like waking or feeding, are what we call “prompts”, because you initiated the pottytunity, not your child.  A prompt may be initiated by you in one of two ways: You prompt your child based off natural timing (like after a meal) You prompt your child when you notice body language cues Every time you take your baby potty, use a cue noise:  A sound that you make that your baby will associate with going potty.  The idea is to build a sound association for your child so that he will go when prompted by the noise.  Most parents use a sound like “pss pss” or “shh shh” for pee and/or poop, or by blowing raspberries or grunting for poop. Diaper-Free Time Diaper-free time is exactly what it sounds like:  You observe your naked (or bare-bottomed) child.   There are two objectives to this EC tool: Observe your child to learn his body language cues.  Provide opportunities to teach your child cause/effect (I started to go pee + mom put me on the potty = Pee goes in the potty) to encourage intentional cues. Choose a time for diaper-free observation when you can dedicate your whole focus to your child for at least an hour or two.  Your only job is to watch your baby.  Do not scroll your phone, don’t fold the laundry.  Do nothing but watch your child (you can play and interact with her, of course!). As soon as she starts to go pee or poop, transfer her immediately to the potty and use your designated cue noise (again, this is usually "pss pss", but some parents grunt or blow raspberries for poop).  Keep the potty close so that it’s easily accessible.  Yes, you will probably leave a trail of pee or poop during the transfer (more on that in a bit), but do the transfer anyway, even if nothing makes it to the potty.  Talk to your child about what’s happening, too.  “Oh!  You’re going pee.  Let’s go to the potty.”  Use the ASL sign if you’d like.  If there’s a mess on the floor, you can also matter-of-factly say, “Uh-oh, pee got on the floor.  Pee goes in the potty, not the floor.  Let’s clean up.”  The ASL sign for "toilet" When your baby goes in the potty, you can acknowledge it (“You went pee in the potty, where it belongs”) or praise it (“Good job!  You made it to the potty!”), depending on your parenting philosophy on praise.  Afterwards, be sure to take note of any body language cues you noticed prior to the pee/poop (you can use this potty log here). The immediate transfer to the potty is extremely important (even if nothing makes it into the potty) because that is how your child connects the potty to pee and poop.  Instead of prompting your child, like with natural timing above, this type of pottytunity teaches your child to self-initiate.  The more diaper-free opportunities you give your child to learn cause and effect, the quicker your child will connect the dots, start to hold it, and begin intentionally signaling (which, after all, is the ultimate goal of potty-training!). When your baby will start intentional signaling is unique to your child, and there is a wide range of normal.  Some babies start signaling well before their first birthday, others won’t do this until closer to age 2.  It might not be consistent in the beginning, either; you’ll likely still have to prompt your child based off body language cues or timing for a while. You can encourage intentional cues by using the ASL sign for “potty”, consistently talking to your child about the process, and immediately responding to intentional cues when they happen. What kind of potty do I need and how do I clean it? Most potties are designed for toddlers aged 3-4 (that’s the average potty-training age, after all), and will be much too large for your baby.  My favorite short potties that are little enough for babies and young toddlers can be found by clicking here. You can also use a toilet seat reducer over your actual toilet for easy cleanup.  I also recommend the following items: A foldable toilet seat reducer and/or foldable potty for outings Waterproof pads for diaper-free time Step stool for the toilet and/or the sink Soap dispenser that your child can use All of my favorite potties, toilet seat reducers, and travel potties are linked HERE! To clean the potty: Pee:  Dump the pee in the toilet (or a bush, car tires, etc. on outings when a toilet is not accessible), rinse with water, and dry with a towel.  Pee is sterile, so sanitizing is not necessary. Poop:  Dump the poop into the toilet, rinse, clean with a disinfectant of your choice, rinse again, and dry with a towel.  If you’re out and about without access to a toilet, line the potty with a plastic bag or diaper for easy cleanup. Poop hack:  Put a square of toilet paper into the potty beforehand so that the poop doesn’t stick to the potty and is easier to dump. Those are the basics! I hope this information helps you get started with EC!  If you still have questions like... Do I really need to do diaper-free time? How do I contain the mess during diaper-free time? What if my baby has no cues? What if my baby resists the potty? How do I potty my baby while out and about or traveling? How do I tackle night training? I go much deeper into the ins and outs of newborn EC in my full book, Diapers Stink!, which covers how to start, how to navigate common challenges, how to ditch the diapers for good (and how to tell it's time), plus other important topics such as daycare, travel, bedwetting, and more.  Click below to snag your copy now!