That first catch

[fyrebloom]

It's elluding me! How long did it take to get a catch and how old was your LO? DS is two weeks old, doesn't pee on the table and actually I think he hates being changed/exposed. He FLIPS out when his bottom is exposed. He cries when I try to potty him on the toilet or sink or potty, and I can't seem to even get a miss to Get a cue sound on. He poops rarely and irregularly and when I think he MIGHT be going I take the diaper off and he doesn't go! Any hints? I'd really like to EC this baby and I'm completely new to EC but I don't want to traumatize him either!

[reducereuserecycle]

i didn't start EC with dd until she was about 6 weeks old. well, i would sorta catch on a prefold when i started nursing her cause she would usually pee then, and I started watching the cues but as far as putting her on the potty chair, over the sink, etc., it was when she was 6 weeks old.


so, i really don't have advice since your little one is way younger than 6 weeks but i'm sure others do.

[Carlyle]

I didn't start until dd was 3 months old, so I don't have btdt advice. I wouldn't worry about trying to catch yet (as if I know anything), but just try to get a few cued pees in--like she starts to pee and go go "OH PSSSSSS" But that will take a bit of naked time or just prefold with no cover, so just do it when you have the energy. Congrats on your new baby!

[sapphire_chan]

About 4 weeks and she was 4 weeks. Had a few pees that happened in a little bowl just because I was sitting and nursing her over it at the time. In retrospect, I would've tried offering sooner with a cue. And would've just offered every half-hour at that age.

[hrsmom]

Sometimes it does take awhile. What do you mean by he doesn't pee on the table? What kind of diaper do you have on him? If it's something non-waterproof, you might be able to cue him when you feel that it's getting wet. If you have time/opportunity, you can leave him nakey on a towel or something for awhile and observe. I didn't ever get around to doing that, even though I would have had time, I just didn't. Plus if he doesn't like being exposed, that might not be the best plan for him! I just threw that out there as something to think about. A lot of people don't really start EC until the baby is older, and it's fine if you're not having any catches right now. Also, if you're getting frustrated (you don't really sound frustrated, but it can get frustrating!) then it's totally fine to put a waterproof diaper on and not even worry about it, check and change as needed.

ETA- just had a chance to review your siggy- I'm guessing you don't have the time to just sit with your newborn on a towel, so don't worry about that one!

[nudhistbudhist]

What worked well for me for the very first catches was to offer right when baby wakes up, in a bowl in the bed. If I took the time to walk to the bathroom, he was already awake and wanting boobas With the potty bowl on my lap and him still sleepy, he always went. Also, for the bare bum thing, you could try wearing baby in the sling with just a prefold under bum, and the rest of babe naked or just a top on. I did this and wore DH's button up shirt over the sling, for extra warmth. Babies also have tendancy not to pee in the carrier, and will squirm/cry when they need to go, so you could even try it without a prefold, so babe gets used to having a naked bum.

Also, I noticed my ds would cry when he was going pee and poop, even WITH a diaper on. I think it may be an uncomfortable sensation for them maybe? Or perhaps the crying is natures way of alerting the parents to baby's earliest pottying needs? Hang in there it will come!

[paulamc]

I have it written down somewhere, but I think he was between two and three weeks old. Before that whenever I noticed him peeing or pooping I'd whistle. (He did pee on the table sometimes, and I could hear when he pooped). Then one day I sat on the edge of the tub with my feet propped up on the other side holding him in potty position (his back against my tummy, my hands supporting the bottom of his thighs), whistled, and he peed and pooped, on the first try!!! It was amazing!!! For a long time the tub was our potty. It wasn't until a couple months later that we shifted to the sink, and these days we use a combination of toilet, sink and BBLP.

Good luck - it'll happen for you too, I'm sure!

By the way, I decided to whistle instead of saying "psssss" at the advice of a Chinese friend, because I felt like "psssss" would sound too close to "shhhhh" which I used to soothe.

[paulamc]

Originally Posted by hrsmom

What do you mean by he doesn't pee on the table? !

I figured she meant that he only pees when in a diaper, and never when he's nakey butt on the changing table.

[fyrebloom]

So I've been trying to give him some nakey butt time and he seems OK with this. I learned however that he has NO prob peeing in the wrap . I did take advantage of being peed on to make a cueing sound and the times when I'm awake when he poops (he likes to do it in the middle of the night... a couple of times actually ). I also unbutton his diaper so he's exposed while nursing. No chance to cue though so far. He seems to go 10-20 min after nursing... sometimes longer if it's a poop. I can hear it churning in his tummy but he's a watched pot I guess and doesn't want to go when he knows i'm watching. He does fuss in his sleep and always wakes up after 2-3 hours soaked (i'm using fitteds without inserts so I can tell better when he goes) so should I cue when he's sleeping and fussing? His brother would have been easy to EC, he pooped every feeding, about 1 min after letdown. Wish I knew about it back then!

I have a bunch of BBLPs for the older kids but he's still kinda small for it. His butt would fall in . I like the idea of the lap potty in bed. I'll try that. I ordered one a few days ago so it should be here next week I think. He always wakes me though and he goes from sleep to scream with no in between. Hopefully I'll get a catch then. What counts as first thing in the am with a newborn? Immediately upon waking in the am or any time babe's had a good stretch of sleep?

[fyrebloom]

Originally Posted by paulamc

I figured she meant that he only pees when in a diaper, and never when he's nakey butt on the changing table.

Yes this exactly! My DS1 never did either. Growing up I thought all boys peed on the changing table, aparently not with my boys! Both did it once and never again.

[nudhistbudhist]

I would always offer the potty when I would see or hear ds stirring in his sleep. He usually does this just before he pees. Definately try and get in there before babe wakes up fully. Peeing seems to happen just as baby is fully awake. For us, anyways

[hrsmom]

Originally Posted by paulamc

I figured she meant that he only pees when in a diaper, and never when he's nakey butt on the changing table.

Got it! Now I get what she was saying about that!

[fyrebloom]

Three catches today!

I tried first thing this am. He was dry after sleeping 5 hours but wouldn't pee. Then I nursed him bottomless in the tub (JIC). Nothing! Then we were sitting on the rocker and he was fussing like mad... so I put a prefold under him, held him in position and whistled. He peed EVERYWHERE! OMG this is so cool! He needs about 20 min after a feed but he'll pee on cue! We's totally doing it!

[sapphire_chan]

You are officially an EC success now!

And by the sound of it, things are going to go really well for you, at least until his next phase. (Which could still be easy, just warning you that they like to change things on you just as you get used to one pattern.)

[Carlyle]

WHOAH COOOL! Sorry, this is way off topic, but I just read your whole siggy Fyrestorm, and I'm so curious. Where are you going to cohousing?! I live in cohousing in Nevada City (http://www.nccoho.org/)...my husband and I were some of the founding members, and have now been living here for 4 years (we got pregnant the month we moved in )

Also, I saw you ate your placenta--how WAS that?! I'm totally hoping to do that next pregnancy (assuming I get pregnant again someday). Did it give you more energy? Help with milk production? ??? I'd love to hear about it. Cool!

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled discussion...

[fyrebloom]

We're moving to Mosaic Commons in Berlin MA. I'm so excited. They're a really great bunch of folks and The place is beautiful! It's only been through utter good luck that we could even do this and I feel so blessed that things seem to be going in our favor! Knock on wood the bank is still amenable come Closing!

Placenta is awesome! I just make smoothies with it (I'm still eating it actually) and there is really no flavor at all. I got my milk in the next day after I gave birth and my recovery has been awesome... so awesome I keep overdoing it and bleeding again LOL. One smoothie the night after I birthed the baby and it dried up my lochia immediately! It was awesome. Two weeks out and NO baby blues and no PPD, I had both with DS and severe PPD with my twins. I wish every woman knew how awesome placenta is!

Had a miss this afternoon, but I was able to cue him. He's SOOO much less fussy, I totally know why he was crying before! To think, I though it was colic or something!