EC Update
* Age of EC tot: 4 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...pretty well. I'm missing more than I was last month, but it's because I'm out of the house more and definitely have a hard time ECing when we're out. I'm also not writing down times anymore and have been trying to use signals as much as possible instead of timing (when I can). Elie is pooping more now for some reason - generally 3-4 times a day. Seems like he briefly was pooping 1-2 times a day, but has been at 3-4 for several weeks now.
* 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. Poop is generally upon waking in the morning, once again an hour or so later, once or twice in the afternoon.
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; I just figured out two new poop signals: If he's nursing when he needs to poop, he'll bite and twist my nipple. If he's not nursing, he'll sometimes seem to be trying to nurse, but putting his mouth further back, similar to his sign of being ready to nap.
* 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. And the two new signals mentioned above.
* 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 (with hand in front); holding over the toilet when we're out; the great outdoors!.
* Nappies, training pants or other?
During the day: Poquito Pants, Little Beetle training pants, Gerber or Under the Nile training pants or diaper-free.
Night: Motherease diaper without cover. I switched to this because he moves in bed a lot now, so if he does pee, it doesn't necessarily get caught by a prefold under him.
* What are you doing away from home?
Training pants if I'm not going to be out for long or if I think I can EC where I'm going. Otherwise, I use a Motherease diaper with a prefold. And since it's still cold out, I always put Ruskovilla longies on him.
* What are you doing at night?
Motherease diaper with no cover. Now I'm using the lambskin blanket with a soft organic blanket on top. I don't bother with the prefolds usually anymore, since he moves around so much. Then an organic cotton blanket and then a wool blanket on top. 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 then dump the pee into a bowl on the floor when I'm done. I just switched to using my own blanket, so I seem to be waking Yoav up less now with the nighttime ECing. Sometimes Elie actually pees without nursing - I put him down when I dump the potty and he either falls immediately back to sleep or he keeps squirming if he wants to nurse.
* Who takes baby to the toilet?
Mostly me. Jeremy does it some.
* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?
I was having a lot of trouble with the poops and am still missing usually one poop a day (usually one of the afternoon ones). I used to think that sometimes he pooped suddenly or without a signal at all, but in the past few days / week, I've been really focusing on his poop signals and now only miss if I don't make the connection. Like this afternoon, he didn't want to nurse but wouldn't sit still (I was reading to Yoav) and he pooped on me. Mostly with the poops, he just can't sit/be still.
* What's your next EC goal?
Want to improve my poop catching. I'd like to catch all poops. Seems like a lot of people are able to do this. I also want to continue to improve on my out of the house ECing. I've been bringing a disposable dipe to pee him into, which works well. When I visited Jamie in Long Island a few days ago, I used the same diaper three times!
* A tip for this age/stage?
Diaper-free or my nice training pants time helps me stay in tune with Elie's elimination needs (I only have two each of Poquitos and Little Beetles for this size and don't want them to get pooped on...)
