EC and emotions

[Caterina]

I went to work yesterday for the second day in a row, on top of a busy weekend with houseguests and 2 days of work at the end of last week. This isn't a usual schedule for us at all....

My DD was home with her dad all day, no diaper all day (she didn't want one), no misses. When I got home she nursed big time, we cuddled, and then she had a quick nap. When she woke up I knew she needed to pee, but she didn't want to sit on the toilet (usually her favourite). She sat on the potty for 1 sec. and then climbed off, walked away, squatted and peed on the rug. I went into the bedroom to get a cloth to clean it up and she followed me in there and peed on the bedroom rug. I left her naked-bum, gave her some more attention and cuddles (I figured that's what it was about) and we had dinner. She peed on the highchair cushion without giving any signal either. I feel like she was punishing me for being away so much.

Anyone else had a similar experience? I felt so sad about it last night because I missed her too. We had a good day together today, but I had her in diapers most of the day. We generally follow her lead with EC, whether she wants a diaper on or not, and are pretty attuned to her signals. Some days she'll be in diapers all day, others she'll be in the same pair of training pants all day... so I haven't noticed such a direct connection between her emotional state and her ECing.

[catccc]

I wouldn't worry too much about it. DD is right around the same age (10/21/08), and she has good days and bad. I was home with her till about 14 months, and now she is home w/ DH, and I work. I can hardly correlate good EC days v. bad EC days with anything! Though I still try to, even though I know I should just let it go.

[hrsmom]

I always liked misses as a (possible!) window into what was going on with my LO. It's possible that you have insight here that she was a little upset that you might not have gotten otherwise. (Or she may have shown it in a different way if you weren't doing EC.) If she's with caregiver(s) that you trust and she likes, then you're doing great! Misses happen for a variety of reasons, or sometimes no discernable reason at all! If this was an indication that she needed extra TLC and reconnection with you, it sounds to me like you responded appropriately!