EC Update - 7 Months

EC Update

* Age of EC tot: 7 months

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

* Generally speaking we are doing...well. I have more misses than I did overall last month because I've been putting Elie on the floor to play more. I haven't quite figured out his signals when he's on the move. He makes a noise when he's a second from peeing, but it's not usually enough time for me to recognize the signal AND get him to the potty fast enough. He's mostly diaper-free at home, though, so Jeremy thinks if we put undies on him more at home, he might signal stronger and wait for the potty more. We haven't missed a poop in a while - offhand, I can't remember the last miss and I don't currently have any poopy undies, which means it's been at least since camping - oh, now I remember, the last miss was on our camping trip, a week from yesterday - I was holding Elie naked at the car in the potty position after he'd peed and he pooped on me - same mistake I made last month! I should have realized he needed to poop that time because, when he's done, he usually turns around to start moving away (not that he actually can, since I'm holding him) and that time he stayed in the potty position after he peed.

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

timing: Poops - Still not using timing anymore - it's definitely not at the same time everyday now. Lately, he's been more likely to poop in the late afternoon, though. Well, today he pooped this morning. No regular time of day as far as I can tell. For pees, I try to offer a pottytunity about once every 30 minutes in the morning and then move to about once an hour as the day progresses. I also pee him when I pee and after bath and when I take him out of the wrap and on leaving the house and arriving anywhere .

signs: Tightened tummy muscles; Completely calm - kind of looking into space; 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; gumming the nipples when nursing; clearly not wanting to nurse when he's tired and would otherwise nurse to sleep - he'll kind of twist his head away from me. He is making verbal signals for poops - he's developed his signal into a more sshhhh sound and it's usually accompanied by a proud smile when he's doing it as a potty signal.

* Is there a difference for poos and pees? More discomfort before a poop, so the cueing is clearer. He hasn't pooped in trainers in a long time (ever since I started with just trainers?) so obviously the signal is clear enough for me to recognize it.

* 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); sitting on the Baby Bjorn insert on the regular toilet with me holding him under his arms and squatting in front of him; sink or tub (with hand in front). For out of the house: peeing into a small wetbag with a prefold inside; the great outdoors (for this, I squat down and hold Elie with his back to my tummy in the basic EC position, so it's fairly discreet)!

* Nappies, training pants or other?

During the day: Mostly naked or Gerber or Under the Nile trainers while at home. When out, I use Poquito Pants, Little Beetle training pants.

Night: Naked.

* What are you doing away from home?

Training pants - Poquito Pants or Little Beetle with Babylegs as pants.

* What are you doing at night?

Pretty much always naked now. Most nights are miss-free, but sometimes I'm just too tired and am too slow to respond. A few nights ago, Elie was nursing and nursing and nursing and finally I woke up enough to think maybe he needed to pee, I peed him and he literally fell asleep as his body hit the lambskin ;)

* Who takes baby to the toilet?

Me and Jeremy

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

Pretty much catching all poops now (see beginning). Missing very few pees - many miss-free nights and an average of a few pee misses a day - usually while he's playing and I'm cooking/cleaning or playing with Yoav and not paying close enough attention. Looking at last month, I see I don't have the morning miss anymore because the kids have been either waking at the same time, or I stay in bed with Elie - I'm not leaving him in bed alone anymore - the only time he's in bed without me is at night with Yoav and since they're both there, the warmth of eachother helps them both to sleep better - they rarely wake during that period.

* What's your next EC goal?

Goal is to keep working on the pee signals while Elie is out-of-arms.

* A tip for this age/stage?

Frequent pottytunities; go with all instincts.