Catching the Pee, not Moving Physically to the Potty
Thus far in EC, you probably have an amazing bond with your child.
You know her signals and you rush to potty her, mostly where it’s
convenient. I love the fact that EC gives you “permission” to potty
anywhere. However, once you officially start potty training, you do
want to get your child to the potty of choice (either the little potty or
the insert on the toilet). The big thing here is getting the child
physically to the proper place. Every potty training mom has had to
get her creative pee catching groove on in a tight spot. But the norm
has to be getting the child to the potty. I’d say this step alone is the
biggest in the bridge from there to here.
Philosophy
I know that “traditional potty training” is a dirty phrase in EC. I
know there are “boot camps” for potty training and all kinds of
coercive methods or advice. I hope that by now you realize I’m very
prochild and feel very protective of children. However, at certain
times I find myself having to remind parents that it’s okay to have
boundaries and expectations. There’s a lot of philosophy around EC
and attachment parenting that sometimes falls apart as your child
nears the twos. I don’t think the twos need to be terrible by any
stretch, but you may find that some of this EC-associated philosophy
doesn’t hold up. I don’t want to argue this point, and I’m not saying
anything about anyone’s parenting style. I simply find this is a hard
place in parenting to maintain theory. Your child will begin limit