Noob questions

[lalemma]

We have a three-month-old boy. My husband is really into the idea of ECing with him, so I'm gathering information.

If I understand the very basics, I'd watch him until I started to pick up on signs that he needs to pee, and then the next time I noticed those signs, see if he'd like to potty?

Here's my first noob question about this: I totally can't pick up on my baby's gotta-go signals, so far. It seems like it would be optimal to let him lie around diaperless for a while so I could try to figure out his signs, but he doesn't like to be put down, and there's not much time during the day when he's lying around by himself. How would one tackle this with someone who needs to be in arms almost all the time? If I put him in a flannel fitted and just carry him around, it seems like by the time I notice that he's gone, I've missed his signals by a couple of minutes. I feel like I'm missing something really obvious.

Second noob question: I gather that people also offer the potty at specific times (upon waking, for instance). My guy tends to wake up and need some cuddles and nursing before we can move on. Would I wait to offer the potty until right after that?

Second noob question, part b: my boy doesn't have much of a schedule at this point. He's fed on cue, and tends to nap on whomever is holding him, whenever he's tired. Would it still, given his absence of schedule, be useful to offer the potty at certain times?

Third noob question: say I notice him peeing while I'm changing his diaper, but I know that by the time I got the potty he'd be done. What do you do? Do you just cue the behavior, even if it's not in the potty?

If it matters, I think that if we do this at all it'd be in a really relaxed, part-time way to start.

Thanks for your insight!

[hrsmom]

Lots of good questions! There is a list of common "signals" on the tribal baby website. One signal that I finally picked up on (before I knew of such a list) was popping on and off while nursing. My little one would stare at the nipple like she had no idea what it was for (when she definitely did) and then she'd pop on and off. I finally figured out that meant she had to pee. (Man, that was cute, but I didn't know what the heck was going on!)

You can definitely cue him if you seeing him peeing during a diaper change. I'd still put him on the potty anyway even if you think he'd be done by the time you got him on a potty. I eventually just changed my babe right near the potty.

A GREAT time to offer the potty is when you're taking him out of the wrap or sling. And if he wakes up on someone other than you, maybe offer the potty before nursing and cuddling? Not sure, just an idea. If he wakes up on you, you can just see what seems best. I know in the beginning sometimes the best thing is to nurse first (b/c that's what they want) and sometimes offer potty first. That changes over time, too!

You can do EC without any signals at all, I wouldn't try to learn his signals first. Just offering when waking up or shortly thereafter and when taking him out of a carrier is a good way to start. (That's how I did it!!!) Some people offer a certain interval after nursing as well. So timing is really relative to whatever's going on, and doesn't require a schedule. Also, you may have times when you just think about offering, that is a time to do it!

Part time is a great way to do EC!

[lalemma]

Thanks for the response! That's so helpful. I decided to start really small, with offering him the potty when he wakes up from a nap if he isn't too grumpy. We've had one entire catch so far,

[sapphire_chan]

Well then, success!

One catch=success, 1000 misses <> failure.

[tri31]

Hi, my ds always liked to nurse upon waking too. I would nurse him for a for a few minutes (maybe before offering the other breast) bring him in to potty (or sink or whatever). Then offer him a chance to go, he would then want to go right back to nursing. Another good time to try is 10 minutes or so later.