3 month update

EC Update

* Age of EC tot: 3 months

* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth

* Generally speaking we are doing...surprisingly well. I'm catching most pees and poops. We usually have 1-2 misses per day (night included). Our best was a 48 hour stretch. Elie is pooping about once a day now and peeing once or twice a night and 15ish times a day.

* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?

timing: Just after waking up; after nursing; he usually can pee about every 30 minutes if I try even without the signs below

signs: Tightened tummy muscles; Legs shifting a bit (I only notice this when he's in the wrap); Squirming; Fussing; Crying (if we don't catch the other signs); Sometimes gas for poops

* Is there a difference for poos and pees? For poops, we sometimes get gas and he is often very calm and stares into my eyes just before pooping. I can also feel the tightening of the tummy muscles more pre-poop.

* What cues do you use?

I say psshhh for both pee and poop.

* Which positions/receptacles do you use?

Insert for Baby Bjorn potty (with my hand in front to help catch the pee); tub; sink (with hand in front); sometimes toilet for poops to avoid cleaning the insert and also in a toilet when we're out; the great outdoors!. He briefly didn't want to pee into the tub, but we're back on track with that one. Seems like now he'll pee in any position.

* Nappies, training pants or other?

Poquito Pants or diaper-free.

* What are you doing away from home?

Just started using the Poquitos for away from home. I use a pair of Poquitos (size M) with Ruskovilla woolen longies (not lanolized) over. He's peed once in them (so far) when out and my shirt did get damp, but personally I want it that way so I know when we have a miss. If I bothered to lanolize the longies, I probably wouldn't get damp. I then wash the Poquitos by hand in the sink, dry in my spin dryer and hang to dry. They dry very quickly this way. He pees much less frequently when we are out, especially if he is sleeping a lot - he has gone as long as about 5 hours during the day without peeing.

* What are you doing at night?

Poquitos or diaper-free. We have a lambskin blanket, then a soft organic blanket, then a flat diaper (to protect the blanket), then a few prefolds, then baby, then another flat (to protect top blanket), then wool baby blanket. Elie wakes up a bit and shifts around when he needs to pee and nurse, which wakes me up. I keep the BB insert in the corner of the bed and use it if I'm pretty sure Yoav is sleeping soundly - if I'm worried about waking him (or if I have to pee myself), I take Elie to pee in the tub. As an example, though, last night he went to sleep at 10:30pm and only peed once in the middle of the night at 5am and then again at 7:30am.

* Who takes baby to the toilet?

Mostly me. Jeremy has done it a few times.

* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?

Most of our misses are when I can't easily get to a potty or when I'm completely distracted and forget that fussiness likely means he needs to pee LOL. When we have a miss, I have to try again as soon as I can get to a potty because it seems like he only partially empties his bladder with a miss. If I don't do this, we'll often have another miss 10-15 minutes later. Also, if I touch his penis or shift suddenly when peeing him, he'll sometimes stop peeing. Sometimes he can then continue right away, but sometimes I guess if he's already emptied most of his bladder, he'll wait 10-15 minutes before finishing.

* What's your next EC goal?

I want to improve on my out of the house ECing. I'm going to practice peeing him into a plastic bottle some at home so I can bring a bottle for out of the house.

* A tip for this age/stage?

Diaper-free time helps me stay in tune with Elie's elimination needs. Also, I often keep a pee/poop/nap/signal log to help me sort out patterns and just to keep track.