Do you potty a sleeping newborn?

[guitarmama]

Or should I just potty him during his alert times? He's just 1 1/2 weeks, so he's asleep the majority of the time. When he wakes, he's always ravenously hungry and does not want to be pottied. Does ec get easier once they start waking up a bit? The first day I tried it I caught 2 pees and a poop (go me!), but I haven't caught anything since. Part of my problem might be that Ive got him in a prefold with a cover, but if I didn't we'd both be covered in pee and poop since he's sleeping in the sling for hours at a time. Any advise?

[dogretro]

Let sleeping babies lie! I would not worry about pottying him all the time at this point. If he is too hungry to sit on the pot, you can still cue him while he is eating, esp if he poos while eating. Those still count as catches and help him associate your cue w/ eliminating. You can also nurse while having him sit on the pot, but I always found that to be too awkward. I know others have done it, tho. I can bottle feed w/ baby on the pot. We always kept our babies in prefolds and covers b/c we didnt want to be covered in pee or poop, either! I esp dont want to worry while they are nestled in the wrap/sling all cozy and sleeping Ec will get easier once he is awake more. Catch what you can and enjoy the rest!!!!!

[pixiepunk]

ITA with dogretro - focus for now on cuing whenever you notice he's going (prefold gets wet, you hear poo, etc). i didn't start really offering the potty until about 2 weeks post partum. and i didn't do much diaper free time in those early days, we relied heavily on prefolds.

sounds like you're doing great! relax and enjoy your baby moon!

[guitarmama]

Thanks! I guess I knew the answer to my question when I asked it. LOL He gets mad enough when I try to change him when he's asleep, I can't imagine what it would be like if I tried to potty him.
I'm also having trouble figuring out a good system for getting him out of the diaper and to the potty. I'm thinking about leaving the bblp on the changing table so it's easy to pop him out if the diaper and onto the potty quickly.
Thanks so much for the advice and encouragment!!!

[pixiepunk]

what about a prefold belt? at least when the diaper is dry, you can just drop the front down, potty, and put the front back in the belt. and if it's wet/dirty, it's pretty easy to remove and to put a new one on. my SIL has been using that pretty much exclusively as her EC system, and i love the simplicity of it. if i were going to have another baby, i'd definitely do that (i did pf's with a snappi, which was good too, but the prefold belt looks easier).

[dogretro]

We kept a bblp on the changing table when dd was v little and it worked perfectly for us. I could lay her down, take off dipe, sit her on pot and give her good support since I did not need to bend over. She either did her business or not and I could lay her back down to re-diaper. We mainly used the little potty bowl in our laps during those days, but having a stable potty right there on the table was great!

[Adasmommy]

I'm ECing a two week old and when she's too hungry to wait I cue her on a prefold lying under her while she nurses, or when she fusses during nursing and pops off the nipple. That way we don't have to stop nursing and go somewhere--I just cue her during the pause, she goes, then latches on again. No mad baby!

Doesn't reduce laundry, but advances the elimination communication so I take it!

[guitarmama]

Haha! I tried putting a prefold under him while nursing, but thr whole penis thing complicates things. I couldn't quite figure out exactly where the prefold needed to be so that it would catch the flying pee. Also, he pooped a little then got wiggly and got it on his leg. geez!

[Adasmommy]

Oh yeah, I have no experience with ECing boys and am rather intimidated at the prospect of doing so in future! Good luck!

[julie grace]

My DH made a pee catcher for our DS. It is a plastic bottle with the bottom cut off at an angle. The top part is longer as to stop those upward projectile pees, and I hold the bottle tilted slightly down so it all runs into the bottle (which is the top with the lid on). Has worked well so far (he's 7 weeks old now). It means I can bf and ec at the same time.