potty training - So Easy Being Green

5 Tips to Make Nighttime Potty Training a Success

Last week I shared with you how Nighttime Potty Training was going in our house {it's not} and a Tutorial for a DIY Waterproof Mattress Pad. This week I'm sharing 5 tips that will making Nighttime Potty Training a Success {hopefully!} 5 Tips to Successful Nighttime Potty Training 1. Wait Until Your Child is Physically Developmentally Ready. We've tried a couple of times to get Sophia potty trained at night, one just recently, with little success. She is just not developmentally ready. So, how do you know if your child is? He/She should be waking up dry at least 5-6 mornings out of the week. Sophia would occasionally, but that just wasn't enough. To have success, this is important that your child's bladder can handle holding the liquid all night. 2. Limit Liquids at … [Read more...]

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Lindsey

Filed Under: parenting, potty training · 9 Comments

Nighttime Potty Training {& a DIY Mattress Pad Cover}: When Parenting Gets Tough {a series}

Today I'm tackling one of the toughest parts of parenting a toddler - Potty Training. Well, specifically Nighttime Potty Training. I would almost guarantee that every parent would list Potty Training on a list of Tough Parts of Parenting {well, that is until they reach the teenage years} and although there are a ton of methods of Potty Training out there - one doesn't work for everybody. Luckily, Sophia started potty training very early. She was wearing panties at 18 months, but still had occasional accidents and actually still does. It's really hard for a 2.5 year old to pause in play to take a potty break. But now we're dealing with Nighttime Potty Training. Nighttime Potty Training Nighttime Potty Training isn't quite as predictable as day potty training {is any of it predictable, … [Read more...]

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Lindsey

Filed Under: diy, Green, parenting, potty training, sewing · 20 Comments

My Top 5 Favorite Earth’s Best Organic Products – Potty Training

As the start of my 2nd round of the Earth's Best Blogger Program, I've been given the opportunity to share my favorite Earth's Best Organic products with you! They've given me the ok to share the product that I've loved the most throughout my previous months of reviews and I get to offer it for a giveaway to you! Ready to see what it is!? 5. Earth's Best Infant Puree Pouches are great! They come in so many flavor varieties and mixtures. I love that I know the fruits and veggies that are in them are organic and good for Moreaya. They're easily portable so when I can't take along my homemade baby food for her, she has a great option! 4. The Pop Snax are a great and easy snack to offer Sophia when she wants something quick. Earth's Best only made them better … [Read more...]

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: Green, parenting, potty training, Review, travel · 44 Comments

Potty Training Continued – Out and About

I recently shared that we are still technically Potty Training. We have days where no accidents occur and then something switches and I feel like we've taken 2 steps back in the process. But, knock on wood {for the hundredth time}, this past weekend Sophia has done great! She's been consistently potty trained at home for months, but when we got out in public it's a totally different experience. As I said before, as soon as we get in the car she needs to go and you can bet that any store or restaurant we visit - we'll see their bathroom! Some aren't so bad and I don't mind, some we could definitely do without. Potty Training in public as easy as changing a diaper on a changing station, like those from BabyChangingStation.com. It's more about trying to keep a toddler from touching every.single.thing in the stall! We've … [Read more...]

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: parenting, potty training · 1 Comment

We are still technically Potty Training!

Yep. I would definitely use the terms "Potty Training" rather than "Potty Trained" to describe Sophia. Even though she's successfully being using the potty for over 6 months now, we've not got it totally down pat to where she won't have an accident randomly. Sometimes it will be a week between an accident and other times she will have 2 in one day! When we're home she does wonderful. She wears big girl panties around the house and cloth trainers for nap time and we're still in cloth diapers at night. But as soon as she gets in the car, it's like her bladder just can't take it! So, when we know we're going to be gone for awhile, we usually grab a Pull-Up. It seems to set her back a bit every time, though, because she knows she can have an accident in them and it won't show outwardly. So, we try to let her wear her … [Read more...]

Posted on July 2, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: parenting, potty training, Review, travel · 10 Comments

Potty Training Continued

Although Sophia is technically day potty trained, I still say that we are in the stages of Potty Training. Why? Because she's still very young - turning 2 in just 6 days!!! She still has some accidents, although they are usually just small because she tries to "hold it" and wait until the last possible minute to make a dash for the bathroom. I also use disposable pull-ups on her when we go on longer day trips - when we're going to be in the car for over an hour. She is still not night trained or nap trained, but I'm not pushing it because she isn't ready at all. We tried a variety of cloth training pants and although they worked great for around the house, for small accidents - they do not work for us outside of the house. So we've been using disposable trainers. I was really excited when I saw a pack of their TOTS Potty … [Read more...]

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: Green, learning, potty training, Review · 35 Comments

Choosing Green Options with Earth’s Best Disposable Diapers

Although I use cloth diapers on both girls 99% of the time, it's nice to know that there are green options even when choosing disposable diapers. Some people choose not to use cloth, which is totally fine, but I would still urge you to find safer, green-er options for your baby! This is especially true for babies that have sensitive skin. Earth's Best Chlorine Free Disposable Diapers are available in seven sizes and made with renewable resources and fewer petro-chemicals to reduce your baby's environmental footprint. Made from non-chlorine bleached materials Contains natural absorbant material such as corn and wheat Made with fewer petro-chemicals Breathable sides Moisture barrier cuff Refastenable tabs Latex-free, dye-free, perfume-free I was sent a pack of Earth's Best Disposable Diapers in my last box of … [Read more...]

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: Green, potty training · 2 Comments

Real Diaper Week: Waste Reduction/Elimination Communication

This blog post is a part of a series to celebrate Real Diaper Week and the Great Cloth Diaper Change that will be taking place this Saturday, April 21, 2012. Each day this week, I’ll be discussing a different angle on the topic of cloth diapers to bring more awareness to the Event and to CD’s themselves! Feel free to chime in by way of the Comments section, or if you’re a blogger yourself – JOIN IN the fun! Real Simple Real Diapers Waste Reduction – Waste Reduction, Environmental benefits, Elimination Communication (diaper-free baby) It's a very easy debate to win when you make the declaration that cloth diapers produce much less waste than disposables. An average child will go through about 6 disposable diapers a day, in a 2 1/2 year period that's 5,600 disposable diapers!!! Another great advantage to using … [Read more...]

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: blogging, cloth diapers, Green, potty training · Leave a Comment

Elimination Communication FAQs {a Guest Post}

My name is Rachel. I became a mom to a beautiful little girl on 2011-11-11. I am a trained Speech Language Pathologist therefore, I am very interested in anything that has to do with communication. I think that's why Elimination Communication appealed to me from the first time I heard about it. I read 'The Diaper Free Baby' by Christine Gross-Loh and decided that this approach would fit perfectly with the way we want to raise our daughter. I've been ECing her since she was born. First of all, let me say that I'm really happy to share my knowledge of EC (Elimination Communication). I don't claim to be an expert but I can share what we do, what works and doesn't work for us. Before I share my personal experience (in a future post), I'll start by answering the top 10 questions people ask me all the time. If there are other ECers reading … [Read more...]

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: learning, parenting, potty training · 4 Comments

Elimination Communication: Got Questions?

Elimination communication (EC) is a toilet training practice in which a caregiver uses timing, signals, cues, and intuition to address an infant's need to eliminate waste. Caregivers try to recognize and respond to babies' bodily needs and enable them to urinate and defecate in an appropriate place (e.g. a toilet). - Wikipedia's definition of EC. So, I've talked about trying to practice EC with Moreaya, but I haven't researched the concept much yet. Luckily, a reader left me a comment and suggested that I check out the book "The Diaper Free Baby". It's on my list of reads now! But even better, we have a great resource in Rachel {the reader who suggested the book}. She practices EC with her 4 month old and has agreed to write a couple of guest posts on the topic! The first of which she's going to answer our questions! I'm … [Read more...]

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: parenting, potty training · 8 Comments

Potty Training cont.

The giveaways may all be posted {and aren't there some awesome ones?!} but I've still got a few more posts to go in the Let's Go Potty Event! This post is a hodge podge of things that I want to share with you all about the process and a couple of updates on our Potty Activities and a few very short reviews on some Trainers that I purchased myself. We are still in diapers at night. She's still waking up with a significantly wet diaper so I'm not pushing the issue. Although before she fell asleep last night she told me she needed to potty and we got up and she did... a lot. This was a big step because she knows when she has a diaper on that she can just use it and she thinks I won't know since it doesn't make a puddle of pee under her. When I take a wet diaper off of her, she replies with "It's a little bit dry". Oh, this … [Read more...]

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: cloth diapers, parenting, potty training · Leave a Comment

Let’s Go Potty w/ Help from our BecoStool {giveaway!}

Today I'm bringing you the last in a great line-up of products that will make your Potty Training process just a bit easier. I've already featured one great potty stool, but today I'm bringing you another! This stool from BecoThings really stands out from the rest that you'll find on the market. This eco-friendly step stool is made from our bamboo and rice husk plastic making it sustainable to produce and even biodegradable when you've finished with it. Although the step is eco-friendly it has been designed with the child's safety as a number one priority. Available in 3 colours, blue, natural and pink the BecoStep looks perfect in the bathroom alongside the BecoPotty. As it's made from our bamboo material it is heavier than most other step stools, which means it is more stable and less likely to topple over. Additionally the wide … [Read more...]

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Lindsey

Filed Under: Green, potty training, Review · 51 Comments