Getting ready to start

[Kutie.Pie]

Hello, I've been bracing myself in getting ready to attempt EC. DS is almost 8 weeks old, but he got thrush, so now I'm just waiting for him to finish up with the medicine before I start. Any advise for starting out? I'm a bit nervous, but I definitely want this to work, so I'm willing to put forth the effort. Also, DS tends to poo while he's nursing, any suggestions for what to do? Thank you so much!

[Michigan Mama]

i am no expert, as we just started a few weeks ago. Just the past few days, we have had a lot more success! ds2 is 8 wks tomorrow.

He's just started to respond to cues, really yesterday and today. It's very exciting! He also still poops while nursing at times, that has been tricky for us. I've used my sitz bath on a high surface while nursing - I stand and try to hold him appropriately. That works for poops, but I find it really hard to catch pees while nursing, just because of the trajectory.

Now, he'll usually nurse a little bit, then be calm enough to turn him forward to pee or poop, put a diaper back on, then continue nursing. He gets a little bad during the diaper putting process, but it seems doable now.

Sometimes I'll also sit on the floor or couch indian style and try to get the bblp under his bottom at an angle so he's nursing and actually resting on the potty. It's a little tricky to get it all at the right angle, but it can work.

All in all, I still find the pottying and nursing pretty awkward, so I'll look forward to seeing other mama's suggestions.

[Michigan Mama]

oh, i also wanted to add - i borrowed the Diaper Free book from my library and in it she suggests that if it's too overwhelming to start all out at the beginning, it can be helpful to start with just certain times or situations at first, such as upon waking in a.m. or from naps (this is where we've had the most success from the beginning), before or after nursing, only at home, etc.

You can just go for it, of course, but it's also ok just to focus on certain time periods at first while you're learning. That has helped me, as I also have a two-year old to care for and trying to catch every single poo or pee would have really frustrated me at the beginning.

[InMediasRes]

During the first few days/weeks, mostly what we did was just use cloth with no cover, and cue whenever she peed/pooped. Then when I felt like I could make a catch, I trie,d and she did! She did not like being held in a basic position, so I sort of made a cradle out of my arms and rested her on my forearms and dangled her over the bowl. I'm not sure how this would work with a boy. She always gave VERY strong signals for pooping (latching and unlatching while fussing), so i would just take a break, do the poop, clean, and then come back to nursing. She sometimes protested, sometimes not.

You can nurse with your legs spread apart on a couch or bed with baby's butt dangling between them, hanging over a large bowl or sink. I'm not sure how this works with a boy, but you might either have to aim or lower him down into the bowl completely.

Mostly just be relaxed about it and have fun. If you don't get it right for a few weeks, that's fine. They figure it out pretty fast.

[hrsmom]

That's awesome that you're ready to give it a try! Great advice so far! At some point you can hold your baby over a bowl or potty or sink and make a cuing sound (you don't have to, but it is helpful, I used "s-s") and see if he pees. You can talk to him about peeing in the potty place. Good times to offer the potty are right when he first wakes up, during a diaper change, and a time period after eating, and when you take him out of a sling or come home from a trip. And when you think about it! As for the pooping during nursing, some mamas here are good at catching pees and poops while nursing, in a yogurt container or something like that. I never was. What I would try would be to stop and take him to the potty. We had lots of poop catches that were the second half of the poop after my LO started to poop in her diaper. That's a good starting place! Or try with the cup, whichever seems best for your baby.

If you are able, you can lay him on a towel or stack of prefolds or something, and watch him and see if he wiggles or something when he's about to pee. You can make the cuing sound while he's peeing. I don't think I ever actually did this when my babe was tiny, but I would with another baby if I could.

Any time you notice him peeing, make the cuing sound. And don't worry about catches going in the potty! They pee so much at this age! Changing the diaper right away and talking about going in the potty and cuing are all important parts of EC. I personally didn't even try for all the pees when she was tiny. I just wasn't there. You can try to get him to the potty for all the pees, but if you don't it's ok! Sometimes they pee right after taking them off the potty, that's ok, too, and normal!

This is what I remember, it's been over a year since my baby was that young! So I might be leaving something out! Enjoy!!

[Farmin' with Baby]

Just have fun and don't let yourself get stressed out! If it's too much, back off. In the beginning, I got frustrated when I felt like I was spending too much time on EC. So, I backed off and started doing less naked time and just offering the potty first thing in the morning and at diaper changes. That was enough to give her the idea eventually that pee/poop went in the bowl not in her diaper. And slowly she's learning to resist more and more going in her diaper, so signaling more.

Sometimes it takes her forever to poop in the morning and I know she has to go but I can't wait for it. So I lay her in her crib on some prefolds with a wool blanket underneath and let her finish there. She inevitably poops within 10-15 minutes. Kind of a mess to clean up, but better than in her diaper without me knowing!

When she was younger, we tried the nursing over a bowl thing. I didn't like it, too stressful, so like I said, we backed off.

[AislinCarys]

What really made a difference to us was putting naked DD(3 or 4 weeks old) on the bed, with a wool underlay under, and a towel and a few folded diaper flats under her bottom. We did this right after a morning feed, and I noted every wees/poos and what time in a notebook.

After that we used timing, acording to the notebook times, with great success. We also pottied her every time she woke up, halfway through a feed and after every feed. We didn't potty when out until she was at least 3 1/2 months old, and I often gave it up and put a diaper on her around 5 or 6 in the evening (she didn't sleep before 10). At home she had a bare bottom, and I had her in my lap/arms, on a folded diaper flat on top of a wool underlay first, and later we got a wonderful sheepskin (amazingly soft, and easy to just wipe up wees off the surface, as it didn't soak into it). I kept the little potty bowl next to me, and just put it under her bottom. I only emptied before sleep or feed, unless she had pooed. It was lovely times, we read stories, and sang songs. This is the one thing I'd definitely do again, an amazing bonding experience!

DD didn't like to be held over the potty, she wanted to sit on it. So breastfeeding and pottying at once was not a hit with us, instead she soom learnt that there was a potty offered before a feed, one halfway through and one right after, and she started waiting for them. I have friends who did put a bowl in their lap, under the baby's bottom, and had great success with that.

We had a few misses most days, but she was dry after naps from about 2 months, and had less than 5 poo misses between 2 and 6 months. By 6 months she was dry most nights as well as days. Every couple of days we have a few misses. That hasn't changed much, except now she only wees in bed one or two nights a month (she wears a cloth diaper in bed). We used sposies until she was almost 6 months old (mainly because she had a tiny bottom, and we couldn't find any cloth ones with a good fit for her), and we changed them as soom as we noticed she had weed.

She signalled with poos, by grunting right before until about 4 months, but never with wees. when she was about 11 months she started signing that she needed a potty or had had a miss. Around 16 months she started taking herself to the potty frequently, and soon after started saying potty before going, and letting us know while sitting there if it was wees or poos.

Good luck!

Edited to add: EC should be a positive, relaxing, bonding experience. If it is stressful, change the way you go about it, until you find a way that suits you and your baby.