This is going to be brief in the interest of getting something posted...
EC Update
* Age of EC tot: 8 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...very well. I have to think much less about EC. I can easily go all day without a miss, even if I'm out of the house.
* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?
timing: Poops - no timing - I either hear a gas, feel tightening of tummy or he is fussy. For pees, I'm not relying nearly as much on timing anymore, other than upon waking and when I leave and arrive anywhere.
signs: Easiest signal is that in the wrap, he pushes his body away from mine; Sometimes blows raspberries; Tightened tummy muscles; Squirming; Fussing; Crying (if we don't catch the other signs); Sometimes gas for poops. He has also responded to verbal questioning - I say, "Do you need to go potty?" and he gives a big smile.
* Is there a difference for poos and pees? More discomfort before a poop, so the cueing is clearer. Only one poop miss this month - I was on the computer and he pooped on the floor. I was so engrossed, I really don't know what signals he gave prior to the miss. He was nakey butt at the time.
* 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 so tired that I actually forget about EC when he stirs and we miss a pee.
* 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 1-2 misses a day. We do have a lot of miss-free days. Most misses occur in the morning, when frequency is greater and I'm more tired.
* What's your next EC goal?
Work on helping Elie learn the pee sign. I do it some, but I usually forget...
* A tip for this age/stage?
Frequent pottytunities; go with all instincts. RELAX! I have the fewest misses when I think the least.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Dry Night
Elie was dry from 10:30PM (when I went to sleep and peed him) until 6:30AM! I don't know if he even woke to nurse - I only know he was dry because his pee bowl was empty in the morning.
It's getting to be so easy for both of us. I've been out of the house several times recently with Elie diaperless or even naked with no backups with me.
It's getting to be so easy for both of us. I've been out of the house several times recently with Elie diaperless or even naked with no backups with me.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Verbal and Facial signals
We had an amazing EC day today. We went to Lee & Jen's house in Greenwich for Jeremy's aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. So Elie was in the carrier more than normal, but we only had one miss and that was with Jeremy first thing in the morning. At one point today, I said to Elie, "Do you have to go potty?" and he smiled at me and made his little psshh sound! And he went right away when I took him! I did that again for the rest of the times today that I sensed he had to pee and got the same response!! It's so amazing to me that he can understand what I'm saying and verbalize a response to me at his age. I guess not so crazy since babies already are doing sign language at his age or a little older. Unrelated, I think he's starting to make the sign for milk as well, but I'm not sure. I've seen him do it but not sure if it's necessarily when he wants to nurse.
I used a cotton Tushies diaper a friend gave me for the car ride. It worked well - I just opened it and stuck Elie's penis out the corner and he peed onto a cloth diaper. The only problem was that the stickiness of the tab was totally gone by the end of the day. I wonder if they do that on purpose so people don't reuse the diapers? Seems weird that they can't use better tape. Or maybe usually it just isn't needed and people prefer to be able to get them off easily.
I used a cotton Tushies diaper a friend gave me for the car ride. It worked well - I just opened it and stuck Elie's penis out the corner and he peed onto a cloth diaper. The only problem was that the stickiness of the tab was totally gone by the end of the day. I wonder if they do that on purpose so people don't reuse the diapers? Seems weird that they can't use better tape. Or maybe usually it just isn't needed and people prefer to be able to get them off easily.
Monday, July 21, 2008
36 Hours with no miss
We went about 36 hours without a miss - Saturday evening until this morning. Last night Elie didn't even need to pee all night. I guess he peed around 6am when he stirred awake because I was dry when I first woke up and realized I was wet soon after :)
Yesterday was so easy - Elie was in the wrap most of the day because we were outside and moving around a lot. He's been verbally signally a lot, both for pee and poop. It's so cute. He puts his tongue out a tiny bit and blows lightly to try to make the psshhh sound ;) I think he gave a verbal signal about half the time yesterday.
Yesterday was so easy - Elie was in the wrap most of the day because we were outside and moving around a lot. He's been verbally signally a lot, both for pee and poop. It's so cute. He puts his tongue out a tiny bit and blows lightly to try to make the psshhh sound ;) I think he gave a verbal signal about half the time yesterday.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Outdoor Nakedness and Signaling
We just went to Union Market. Elie was asleep in my mei tei on the walk over and woke up just as I was about to go in. I took him out to pee him and found that he was only wearing a shirt! I've been wearing him naked or at least diaper-free at home and hadn't even thought to check before going out :) Not such a big deal while out, I guess, but it would have been embarrassing to have a miss in the grocery store since the pee would have likely dribbled to the floor without undies on.
Speaking of misses, though, I only had one miss today and that was first thing in the morning when we were lying in bed, me dreaming of being asleep LOL. I think we have the signaling down pretty well now. Elie has been consistently blowing raspberries (or at least doing something similar to the pssshhh sound that I make - I'm still not really sure what it means to blow raspberries, but I think that's what he's doing based on other EC posts I've seen). He also makes a noise (feels like an "aahhhh"-type noise - relief) AS he's peeing. Which isn't so helpful in getting the pee in the potty except when I miss the original signal and then if I hear the during-pee signal, I can say, "Wait" and move him to the potty to finish.
Speaking of misses, though, I only had one miss today and that was first thing in the morning when we were lying in bed, me dreaming of being asleep LOL. I think we have the signaling down pretty well now. Elie has been consistently blowing raspberries (or at least doing something similar to the pssshhh sound that I make - I'm still not really sure what it means to blow raspberries, but I think that's what he's doing based on other EC posts I've seen). He also makes a noise (feels like an "aahhhh"-type noise - relief) AS he's peeing. Which isn't so helpful in getting the pee in the potty except when I miss the original signal and then if I hear the during-pee signal, I can say, "Wait" and move him to the potty to finish.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Going nekkie outside
Elie is completely naked in a wrap and I'm supposed to me Jer and Yoav (who are on a walk) for breakfast in 10 minutes so I'm taking him out naked :) I usually don't wear him naked in my wraps b/c I don't want them to get peed on, but I got lazy today.
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.
* 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.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Elie's Verbal Cueing
Elie's verbal cue has suddenly (since yesterday) really improved! Yesterday and for the week or so before, he was sticking his tongue out and blowing almost in the "Nanny Nanny Boo Boo" way LOL. Tonight when I was walking him to sleep, he held my cheek with his hand (the way Yoav used to do when he was a little older) and tried a few times at a "psshh" (and pooped right away when I put him on the potty). He certainly got close enough that if he continues it'll be even easier to catch poops! Hopefully he'll start doing it for pees - so far, I think he's just doing a verbal cue for poops.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
6 Month Update
EC Update
* Age of EC tot: 6 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...very well. The ECing is becoming much more natural for me - I don't have to think about it so much to be miss-free (or close to it). I've gotten much better with poops since last month and rarely miss a poop now - I only missed one poop in the past three weeks and that was once when I was randomly holding Elie naked in the potty position walking around the house LOL - I've been careful since then only to hold him like that when I'm pottying him :) He's pooping on average once a day now and even missed a day once recently. Oh, and I did give up diapers, so we've been diaper-free for a month - we're just using cloth training pants now (no covers, no PUL).
* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?
timing: Poops I'm not using timing anymore - I don't think it's been at the same time everyday now that he's moving to one poop a day. 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.
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 sticks out his tongue and blows. I think he just does it for poops.
* Is there a difference for poos and pees? For poops, Elie is now doing a verbal signal. The gumming of the nipples is also more common and intense as a poop cue. And general unhappiness/fussiness when he needs to 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); 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: Poquito Pants, Little Beetle training pants, Gerber or Under the Nile training pants or diaper-free.
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 to cues and the sheet and lambskin blanket end up a soggy mess to wash...
* Who takes baby to the toilet?
Mostly me. Jeremy does it some.
* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?
Pretty much catching all poops now - haven't missed a poop in two weeks. Missing very few pees - many miss-free nights and an average of maybe one miss during the day. The most common miss is when he wakes up in the morning, because I've been leaving him in bed while I make breakfast, so he often wakes up and pees before I can get to him.
* What's your next EC goal?
Goal is to learn the new signals that will hopefully come as Elie starts to crawl more and be out of my arms more.
* A tip for this age/stage?
Diaper-free or training pants instead of diapers helps to tune in.
* Age of EC tot: 6 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...very well. The ECing is becoming much more natural for me - I don't have to think about it so much to be miss-free (or close to it). I've gotten much better with poops since last month and rarely miss a poop now - I only missed one poop in the past three weeks and that was once when I was randomly holding Elie naked in the potty position walking around the house LOL - I've been careful since then only to hold him like that when I'm pottying him :) He's pooping on average once a day now and even missed a day once recently. Oh, and I did give up diapers, so we've been diaper-free for a month - we're just using cloth training pants now (no covers, no PUL).
* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?
timing: Poops I'm not using timing anymore - I don't think it's been at the same time everyday now that he's moving to one poop a day. 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.
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 sticks out his tongue and blows. I think he just does it for poops.
* Is there a difference for poos and pees? For poops, Elie is now doing a verbal signal. The gumming of the nipples is also more common and intense as a poop cue. And general unhappiness/fussiness when he needs to 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); 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: Poquito Pants, Little Beetle training pants, Gerber or Under the Nile training pants or diaper-free.
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 to cues and the sheet and lambskin blanket end up a soggy mess to wash...
* Who takes baby to the toilet?
Mostly me. Jeremy does it some.
* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?
Pretty much catching all poops now - haven't missed a poop in two weeks. Missing very few pees - many miss-free nights and an average of maybe one miss during the day. The most common miss is when he wakes up in the morning, because I've been leaving him in bed while I make breakfast, so he often wakes up and pees before I can get to him.
* What's your next EC goal?
Goal is to learn the new signals that will hopefully come as Elie starts to crawl more and be out of my arms more.
* A tip for this age/stage?
Diaper-free or training pants instead of diapers helps to tune in.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Verbal Signal?
Elie might have given a verbal signal tonight. I was putting him to sleep and he was 99% asleep but a little fidgety and I thought it was because he wasn't comfortable in the wrap and wanted to lie down. So I put him down on his tummy in the moses basket and he seemed like he might fall asleep, but then he started "blowing raspberries" (kind of blowing a noise with his tongue). I took him out and he peed. We'll see...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
1 Week with no Poop Misses
So I made it the one week. No pee misses overnight. My only pee miss was (again) when Elie shifted in the carrier during a nap and woke up enough to pee. He also peed once right on Jeremy when he was standing on Jeremy's legs facing him diaper-free :) He hasn't peed on me in a long time. Not sure why it's happened to Jeremy twice in the past week.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Poops
Still no poop misses since last Wednesday. I did laundry today and there were no diapers in the wetbag for the first time! I've just been putting the pee undies in the regular laundry basket. Very exciting - one more day for a week. Probably shouldn't write that - I don't want to jinx it...
I haven't missed a nighttime pee in a while too. Seems like about the same amount of time - definitely close to a week. Daytime misses are 1-2. Today was 1. He semi-woke up for a few seconds to pee during a long nap in the mei tei while we were at Trader Joe's.
I haven't missed a nighttime pee in a while too. Seems like about the same amount of time - definitely close to a week. Daytime misses are 1-2. Today was 1. He semi-woke up for a few seconds to pee during a long nap in the mei tei while we were at Trader Joe's.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Krazy City
We went to another birthday party at Krazy City today. This was the first public toilet Elie pottied in and today he peed and pooped there again. It brought back memories :)
Poops
I just want to keep track of poop misses because we have so few lately. The last miss was on Wednesday, which I wrote about in the previous post. I'm going to see how long it is between poop misses. Seems like I have to be pretty dense to miss a poop. Most of the time, I can't even tell he has to go - he just does when he gets a pottytunity. Like today, we went to a birthday party in NJ from 10-1. He pooped once while we were there in the toilet when I took him (he hadn't signaled to poop) and then he just pooped when we got home - also no distress/poop signaling.
Friday, May 16, 2008
No more diapers
So I'm officially going diaper-free. I'm only going to use trainers and undies from now on. I started actually about a week ago and it's going fine. The past two days were really smooth with maybe one nighttime miss and one daytime miss. Today was worse - I missed a pee at LLL (I was cueing him to pee in a disposable, then when he didn't go, I stupidly put his trainer back on and nursed him and he peed as he was nursing), then I missed one when he woke up while we were waiting for the subway (I knew he needed to pee and bounced him a bit but couldn't get him to wait long enough - I wouldn't even have been able to pee him on the subway since we only had two stops - guess I could have peed him while waiting and just missed the train and waited for the next one, but I don't like being down in the subway...), then he peed once on Jeremy. He pooped about four times today though and I caught them all. I think the only poop I missed this week was Wednesday at night he was a little fussy as he was falling asleep in the wrap and came off the breast and I just thought he was gassy from over-nursing. Since he hasn't pooped late at night in a long time, I didn't even think it could be a poop. He finally pooped in the trainer and, in hindsight, he was definitely giving me clear signals, I was just letting timing get in the way of my ability to understand the signals...
So I've been doing Gerber and Under the Nile cloth trainers at home (day and night) and the Little Beetle and Poquitos out of the house.
Just a note about the poops - it seems like mostly he doesn't really signal for the poops, he just poops when he gets a pottytunity. Except in the morning - he often wakes up because he needs to poop and will frequently poop immediately upon waking and getting a pottytunity.
So I've been doing Gerber and Under the Nile cloth trainers at home (day and night) and the Little Beetle and Poquitos out of the house.
Just a note about the poops - it seems like mostly he doesn't really signal for the poops, he just poops when he gets a pottytunity. Except in the morning - he often wakes up because he needs to poop and will frequently poop immediately upon waking and getting a pottytunity.
Friday, May 9, 2008
No misses - using signals
We had a miss free day so far (it's 7:15PM) today and I didn't look at my watch at all to help on the ECing! It's the first day I've gone miss free relying completely on signals. I can't really say what all the signals are, though. Some are very subtle and I can't even verbalize what they are, but they catch my attention and I get Elie on the potty. We were home all day, so that makes signals a lot easier since he was naked most of the day with a potty close at hand, so it's easy to go from signal to potty...
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Signals
Elie has been making some verbal signals recently (past week). I haven't quite figured them out exactly, but I do catch a lot based on the signals, I just can't quite say what they are. He also sort of makes a mmmm mmm sound while pooping some. I think it starts just before. Gotta get to sleep - more later.
Monday, May 5, 2008
5 Month Update
EC Update
* Age of EC tot: 5 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...very well. The ECing is becoming much more natural for me - I don't have to think about it so much to be miss-free (or close to it). I've gotten much better with poops since last month and rarely miss a poop now. He's only pooping twice a day now, which helps a lot!
* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?
timing: Just after waking up (poop-wise, he generally poops within an hour of waking in the morning and again within an hour of waking from his afternoon nap); he usually can pee about every 30 minutes in the morning and every hour or so in the afternoon if I try even without the signs below. I also pee him whenever I go pee (I sit him in front of me on the toilet) and after bath.
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 has also started making verbal signals, but I don't know them well enough to verbalize yet. He's also started saying "mm mm" as he pees/poops sometimes.
* 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. The gumming of the nipples is also more common and intense as a poop cue. And general unhappiness/fussiness when he needs to 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); 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: holding over a toilet with hand over penis, peeing into a prefold or disposable; 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 or naked. I keep him naked some at night when I'm too lazy to put a diaper on him, but if I miss, it's a bummer b/c he doesn't really stay on his lambskin blanket anymore.
* What are you doing away from home?
Training pants - Poquito Pants or Little Beetle. I only use diapers when out if I'll be embarrassed to offer him a potty (like when looking at apartments recently)
* What are you doing at night?
Gerber or UTN training undies or naked (I use the undies because they're easiest to slip on/off). Now I'm using the lambskin blanket and don't bother with the prefolds usually anymore, since he moves around so much. Elie wakes up a bit and shifts around when he needs to pee and/or nurse, which generally 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. 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. I seem to have some miss-free nights or maybe one miss and other nights with all misses based on how tired I am, I presume.
* Who takes baby to the toilet?
Mostly me. Jeremy does it some.
* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?
The poop catches are going really smoothly. Seems like if I give him enough time on the potty soon after waking in the morning and again after nap, he'll poop.
* What's your next EC goal?
Want to improve my out-of-home ECing. I find it particularly hard to get back on track once I have a miss, since a miss is never a full emptying of the bladder, so there's another pee coming 5-10 mins later and usually another 5-10 mins after that, which is really hard to manage when I'm out and about.
* A tip for this age/stage?
Diaper-free or training pants instead of diapers helps to tune in.
* Age of EC tot: 5 months
* We started at...1.5 weeks, cueing from birth
* Generally speaking we are doing...very well. The ECing is becoming much more natural for me - I don't have to think about it so much to be miss-free (or close to it). I've gotten much better with poops since last month and rarely miss a poop now. He's only pooping twice a day now, which helps a lot!
* How do you know your baby has to go / when do you offer baby a wee?
timing: Just after waking up (poop-wise, he generally poops within an hour of waking in the morning and again within an hour of waking from his afternoon nap); he usually can pee about every 30 minutes in the morning and every hour or so in the afternoon if I try even without the signs below. I also pee him whenever I go pee (I sit him in front of me on the toilet) and after bath.
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 has also started making verbal signals, but I don't know them well enough to verbalize yet. He's also started saying "mm mm" as he pees/poops sometimes.
* 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. The gumming of the nipples is also more common and intense as a poop cue. And general unhappiness/fussiness when he needs to 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); 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: holding over a toilet with hand over penis, peeing into a prefold or disposable; 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 or naked. I keep him naked some at night when I'm too lazy to put a diaper on him, but if I miss, it's a bummer b/c he doesn't really stay on his lambskin blanket anymore.
* What are you doing away from home?
Training pants - Poquito Pants or Little Beetle. I only use diapers when out if I'll be embarrassed to offer him a potty (like when looking at apartments recently)
* What are you doing at night?
Gerber or UTN training undies or naked (I use the undies because they're easiest to slip on/off). Now I'm using the lambskin blanket and don't bother with the prefolds usually anymore, since he moves around so much. Elie wakes up a bit and shifts around when he needs to pee and/or nurse, which generally 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. 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. I seem to have some miss-free nights or maybe one miss and other nights with all misses based on how tired I am, I presume.
* Who takes baby to the toilet?
Mostly me. Jeremy does it some.
* Catches or Misses - how many and what times are especially interesting?
The poop catches are going really smoothly. Seems like if I give him enough time on the potty soon after waking in the morning and again after nap, he'll poop.
* What's your next EC goal?
Want to improve my out-of-home ECing. I find it particularly hard to get back on track once I have a miss, since a miss is never a full emptying of the bladder, so there's another pee coming 5-10 mins later and usually another 5-10 mins after that, which is really hard to manage when I'm out and about.
* A tip for this age/stage?
Diaper-free or training pants instead of diapers helps to tune in.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Public ECing
It wasn't much, but I peed Elie before and after we shopped at Trader Joe's today in the little entranceway of the store. I just peed him into a disposable diaper. We have a pack from my FIL that we've never used on Elie, but I use for ECing out of the house. That way, it kind of looks like I'm just changing his diaper and I feel less weird about it.
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