(As much as I hate to admit that with an unnecessary title calling your environmental concerns "mumbo jumbo")

Let the floor be your changing table.

Thanks! I'll give the floor a shot. I've changed her several times while out in various places, and she hasn't reacted as poorly to that; so, this might work!! :)

We already have a few washable pads we put on top of the changing table; so, that's no problem.

And, we use "Baby Girl" to the tune of "Wild Thing" for our singing needs:

Baby girl, dum-dum dum-dum-dum

You make my heart twirl, dum-dum dum-dum-dum

You make our pictures URL.. groovy

Baby girl, I think I love you

(This message courtesy of a temporarily distracted baby girl.)

I did use cloth diapers with my son, cause the same environmental concerns, but when my son was 6 mo, he started to be extremely active at the diaper change time. I use the floor most of the time.

So I decided to try potty training. Maybe it sound crazy but after two month of try/success/failure I got him to use the potty regularly. Communication was the clue, and some patience to be able to sit with him every 90 minutes for around 10 min. After he got the "idea" of the potty, we spend just 5 min on it.

Maybe my experience is not the usual so Good luck, and try the floor and other places.

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Congregatio pro erudio et auxilium
Information Technology User X
Itux

I tried the floor, which did give some improvement. (I think because she could make a getaway. Go baby girl, go!)

However, I also noticed that she's complaining more whenever she goes horizontal these days. Could be just because she's up to crawling and limited cruising now, so lying down is for babies.. but I think it's actually teething. She's producing buckets of drool, and she coughs much more lately when horizontal.

(I also tried switching to disposables for one or two changings and noticed no significant difference.)

So, we're back to the changing table, and I'm trying to just do everything a little faster. So far, this has only led to one poop-on-the-foot-and-floor incident.

(This message courtesy of a temporarily distracted baby girl.)

This is really two questions:
1. What's the best place to change an eight month old, and
2. What do I do when my kid throws a tantrum?

The answer to 1 varies. If you like standing up, do it at the changing table. My back hurts when I do it on the floor, but it is a lot easier to spread out.
Do what YOU (not the kid) prefer. This brings me to #2

You're not used to tantrums as much as I am. Here's my hope: that you will learn early and often not to give in to them. If what you are doing is reasonable -- you're not smacking the kid in the store, or Diapering While Drunk (DWD) -- then stand your ground. The kid needs to test the limits -- to find out their own power. Kid is thinking: "If I yell loud enough, do I get my way?" If they do now, guess what kind of teenager you will have.
And the secret to toddlers is that the answer they really want is "No, you, the kid are not in control. I, the parent am. I don't have a weird trip about it, but I do decide when you got to bed and what is safe to put in your mouth, and that's that." NOTE WELL: The kid WANTS to hear that you are in control. That makes them feel safe. There isn't much more important than feeling safe.
Giving in to tantrums leads to raising a spoiled kid, it's that simple.
Not giving in means short term pain, long term gain. You will not be "stifling creativity" or any of those other worries. In fact, you will be increasing the potential for fun behavior, because the kid can only go out and have fun if they already feel safe. (Look up "secure attachment" somewhere...)

Hey Itux,

At our 12-month visit I asked our ped when we should focus on potty training and she told us no sooner than 18 to 24 months. So, I was quite impressed (and surprised!) to read that you had some success at such a young age.

At this stage, I often take him in with me and explain that the toilet is the place where big boys go potty. I thought this was a great way to begin introducing the toilet. I may try your technique to see how he responds.

After coming back from breakfast yesterday, our son appeared to be having a BM as we were getting him out of the car. I checked his diaper, but it was clean. Just for the heck of it, I took the diaper off and placed my boy on the toilet. After about 15 to 20 seconds, he pooped! I couldn't believe it...

Thanks, Itux, for the suggestion. I think we are going to spend some time on the toilet!