Clueless mommy...

[cristeen]

I really wanted to EC with this little guy, but I swear... he's almost 5 mo and I have yet to discern ANY cues he gives reliably. Case in point... I've had to change the sheets repeatedly the last few days because *between diapers* he's peed one day, pooped the next, and peed today. Even the supposed "stiffy" boys get... not reliable with him.

And timing it isn't going to work either... he has days where he goes 3 hours with a dry dipe, and others where he soaks 3 dipes in an hour.

Anybody have some brilliant ideas for me to try?

[hrsmom]

How about first thing after waking up? Just try that for a bit? If you wear him, a great time to offer would be when taking him out of the sling or whatever. You could offer during a diaper change, it sounds like, if I'm understanding your post correctly. Sometimes the cues just aren't obvious, or they are more obvious in retrospect!

[amberskyfire]

My daughter also had no cues at all at first. At least, not ones that I could tell. I had to learn to read her different cues.

At first I just took her to the potty once or twice an hour. Then I started noticing that she would want to nurse right before she went, but she wouldn't just nurse normally. She would pop on and off as if something about my boob just wasn't right.

Can you use cloth diapers as a backup at least just until things get going? It would help with the messes.

[zoebird]

hawk has been very hit or miss with it these days. it's just crazy. he'll signal like a pro, and then the next day (or several), nothing at all.

seriously, i cleaned up the carpet three times today, and i caught three times today, and i had a *very* wet trainer at one point.

it's crazy.

i have gone back to timing. even if he doesn't go when i hold him over, at least he ahs the option. i'm less likely to have a miss that way. it also keeps me disciplined and focused on his needs.

though right now, there is so much i need to do, it's hard to stay focused on his needs.

[sapphire_chan]

If you can find an offering pattern with frequent catches (e.g. every hour, or always 20 minutes after eating, or every hour in the morning and two hours after the first nap), then going with that for awhile may end up with you starting to get intuitive about other times he needs to go. And he may end up following that pattern more closely over time.

For instance, let's compare an actual full bladder to timing and how it might work out:
10:00AM you offer and his bladder isn't full but he can still pee
10:13AM when the wet diaper would've happened
11:00AM when you offer again and he refuses "you don't need to go? Okay"
12:00PM offer and he pees (~2 hours after the first pee)
12:27PM when the second wet diaper would have happened (2hours 14 mins after the first)

You see, you've offered 3 times to avoid 2 wet diapers.

And basically, if you get lots of refusals, make the time between offering longer. If you get lots of misses, make the time shorter. It's really common for babies to pee more in the morning so at that age I'd offer as often as every thirty minutes until her first nap then switch to once an hour.


And if you ever think "he couldn't possibly need to pee "? Take him.

[sapphire_chan]

Oh, and I love love love the Priva brand waterproof mats. They're made for using with incontinent adults and are soft and completely machine washable and dry fast and cost half as much as products sold for use with babies.

And they're HUGE 34"x36" for a medium size. I can keep Lina on the mat when we change sides for nursing in the night without making any adjustments.

[hrsmom]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Oh, and I love love love the Priva brand waterproof mats. They're made for using with incontinent adults and are soft and completely machine washable and dry fast and cost half as much as products sold for use with babies.

And they're HUGE 34"x36" for a medium size. I can keep Lina on the mat when we change sides for nursing in the night without making any adjustments.

Thank you for this recommendation!

[sapphire_chan]

And my new thing, since I only have two and only wash laundry once a week, is to hang a wet one over the shower rod in the morning and spritz down the wet spot with a water/vinegar solution. It's dry by afternoon and is okay to use after it's had a chance to sit loosely in their drawer.*

Ooo, 'nother tip, during naps your LO may squirm and start to wake up when he has to pee. So it can be worth using one nap to sit and read a book near him and observe rather than doing the 1000 things that need to get done while he sleeps (go ahead and grab a snack too. )

*there's another thing I went over, I had the pads at the foot of the bed for a long time and had to get up, with the baby, to change them. Hello??? She's already peed, she doesn't need to go to the bathroom now!

[hrsmom]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Ooo, 'nother tip, during naps your LO may squirm and start to wake up when he has to pee. So it can be worth using one nap to sit and read a book near him and observe rather than doing the 1000 things that need to get done while he sleeps (go ahead and grab a snack too. )

I used to really try to be there when she woke up from a nap in order to catch that pee. I remember one time she was waking up and I was talking to my dad, and said "Hannah's waking up, gotta go" and he thought that was weird. (She must have been tiny tiny tiny if I was talking on the phone during her nap!) But I wanted to catch that pee! Plus, I'd want to be there anyway if possible, even if I weren't trying to catch a pee.