We've been doing EC now for 3+ days with my 6 mo old son. So far, it's been really fun and going quite well considering how short of a time it's been! I had been noticing some of his signals when he was still in diapers, so in that way it was an easy transition. We caught a pee on the very first try and have caught probably half of his pees and all of his poops since -- even when on errands in town yesterday! He peed five times in different potties around town! When he does go, he seems so happy about! 
... of course, we still miss lots of pees too, but that's to be expected.
Some questions:
1. What's a "normal" range for number of pees in a day for a 6 mo old? I swear he pees all the time, especially in the morning. Seriously, like every 10 or 15 minutes in the first hour or so after waking. We catch some of these, but my son gets really frustrated being put on the pot every 10 minutes, so we're using prefolds without covers as a back-up and he's definitely peeing in them. I'm trying to figure out how to get through the morning without us all getting too frustrated.
2. Now that he's not in diapers a lot of the time, my son LOVES to handle his penis and testicles. Some of it is just fun, but some of it might be because he is still recovering from a yucky itchy diaper rash. Either way, it definitely makes it harder to know when he needs to pee. Pulling hard on his penis is often a signal, but other times he's just sort of messing around with it and I get confused. I hate putting him on the potty when he really doesn't need to go, because he gets cranky. Do you think he'll stop playing with it as much if we keep going with the diaper free thing? Or will it always be somewhat confusing?
3. Like I said, there have been a ton of great catches so far. However, there have also been plenty of times when we KNOW he needs to pee. He's pulling on his penis hard; he's fussing; it's been awhile ... we put him on the pot and he just says "NO!" with his body and crying. But he still needs to pee. We try again over a bowl. "NO!" We wait awhile and try again over the toilet. "NO!" Eventually, after some holding and waiting, we can sometimes find the position he wants to be in (going outside is a good one), but I find it frustrating to know he needs relief and not be able to help him. Sometimes he just ends up peeing where he is or I'll put a diaper on him and he'll pee there. I guess I don't really have a clear question on this one, it's just sort of a frustrating thing ...
I guess we're all still new at this, and I'm definitely focusing on the many successes we've had. My husband and I are pretty excited about how it's going so far. Yesterday we ran into a bunch of friends with babies, and my husband told them all about it. I'm sure we'll keep learning lots -- all of us!
... of course, we still miss lots of pees too, but that's to be expected.
Some questions:
1. What's a "normal" range for number of pees in a day for a 6 mo old? I swear he pees all the time, especially in the morning. Seriously, like every 10 or 15 minutes in the first hour or so after waking. We catch some of these, but my son gets really frustrated being put on the pot every 10 minutes, so we're using prefolds without covers as a back-up and he's definitely peeing in them. I'm trying to figure out how to get through the morning without us all getting too frustrated.
2. Now that he's not in diapers a lot of the time, my son LOVES to handle his penis and testicles. Some of it is just fun, but some of it might be because he is still recovering from a yucky itchy diaper rash. Either way, it definitely makes it harder to know when he needs to pee. Pulling hard on his penis is often a signal, but other times he's just sort of messing around with it and I get confused. I hate putting him on the potty when he really doesn't need to go, because he gets cranky. Do you think he'll stop playing with it as much if we keep going with the diaper free thing? Or will it always be somewhat confusing?
3. Like I said, there have been a ton of great catches so far. However, there have also been plenty of times when we KNOW he needs to pee. He's pulling on his penis hard; he's fussing; it's been awhile ... we put him on the pot and he just says "NO!" with his body and crying. But he still needs to pee. We try again over a bowl. "NO!" We wait awhile and try again over the toilet. "NO!" Eventually, after some holding and waiting, we can sometimes find the position he wants to be in (going outside is a good one), but I find it frustrating to know he needs relief and not be able to help him. Sometimes he just ends up peeing where he is or I'll put a diaper on him and he'll pee there. I guess I don't really have a clear question on this one, it's just sort of a frustrating thing ...
I guess we're all still new at this, and I'm definitely focusing on the many successes we've had. My husband and I are pretty excited about how it's going so far. Yesterday we ran into a bunch of friends with babies, and my husband told them all about it. I'm sure we'll keep learning lots -- all of us!
