holding pee or getting dehydrated?

[emmaegbert]

My DD is 13mo, and we've been doing EC since 2 mo (part-time... not much when out, and she's with a babysitter 7hours a week who doesn't do it). She has occasional no-miss days but generally we have a few misses a day (1-4) and have for... well pretty much all along. Recently she has begun signing "potty" (to label the potty, not ask to use it). Yesterday I found her carrying her (empty) potties to the toilet several times (once she dropped the potty into the toilet lol). She is also recently interested in checking the potty after she uses it- looks at what she's done and we talk about it. So, I think the "communication" part is coming together for her.

SO, for my question: past 2 days, she spent a good chunk of time away from me- 4-5 hours. Both times she had used the potty just before going off with them, but then was not offered the potty that whole time. And then she was dry after many hours. Today when I picked her up it had been 4.5 hours since she'd used the potty... and then we ran errands (I offered her two potty chances but to no avail) and by the time we got home it had been 6 hours... and she was still dry. Then she did a biggish pee, and a half hour later, poo. (both in the potty).

She never goes 4 or 6 hours without peeing when she's with me! (of course, she nurses more). Its rare to go 2 hours without peeing.

Is she getting dehydrated or is it normal for a young 1yo to hold their pee that long? Or maybe some combo?

(Childcare scenario changes a lot starting next week, for 2 months both kids will be 28hours a week with nanny... who I will ask offer DD potty on timing. As well as offering drinks frequently.)

[lisavark]

That was not normal for my DD at that age, but she was never away from nursing for that long either. Are these stretches in the morning or afternoon, and how hot is it? Babies generally pee more frequently in the morning, so that would worry me a bit. But the main thing to look at is whether her pee is clear or yellow, does her pee smell more than usual, and does she look dehydrated in other ways--if you pinch her skin gently does it bounce right back, are her eyes bright, is her mouth dry, does she seem lethargic. Things like that.

I worry a lot about dehydration (just a personal "thing" of mine, probably because of my years of working with kids in camps!), so when my DD was about that age, I started her on juice just to ease the transition from getting all her liquid from nursing to accepting water as a source of liquid. I would put just a tiny bit (like a couple of tablespoons, maybe) of organic apple juice in her cup and then fill it the rest of the way with water. Made her much more willing to to drink it, and once she got used to it she was happy to drink pure water so I phased the juice out. You could also try adding a splash of lemon juice (not lemonade, just actual juice) to her water to give it a little flavor. She might not be interested in drinking water since she's used to getting only the best liquid nutrition!

[emmaegbert]

thanks, yeah, I think she might not be drinking enough when she's away from me. today is her last morning with this particular childcare provider so I am not going to push it, but starting this week maybe i'll try some iced teas. I think she's not drinking enough when away from me. we don't have a dishwasher so I am loath to put juice in any sippy or straw cups (so hard to get it clean).

in 2 weeks when she starts some longer childcare days (5 weeks while I teach a class, then a little less intense for 5 more weeks while I do research) I'm thinking we'll try a fruit-kefir smoothie in the early afternoon, and have some juice-yogurt pops, which aren't THAT full of liquid but might help (also seem like fun summer afternoon treats). And I'll have the nanny offer her the potty regularly, as I mentioned earlier.

[lisavark]

Try the splash of lemon juice in the water, too! Lemon juice actually works as a cleansing agent (I boil lemons in my tea kettle to clean it, for example), and of course there's no sugar or anything so you don't have to worry about not having a dishwasher. And it makes water much tastier.

Smoothies are a great idea too. I wish I had the motivation to make smoothies. They're so yummy. I don't know why they feel like so much work to me. I hate cleaning the blender!

[sapphire_chan]

Get a stick mixer. A lot easier to clean than a blender and you can drink out of the same container you do the mixing in.

[hrsmom]

My dd can hold it FOREVER and has been that way for a long time. I'm trying to remember back to 13 months. She might have gone that long without peeing. As long as you're making sure she is drinking enough, don't be surprised if there is a long span between pees. Oh, at that age she was on a potty strike. And she did go four or more hours without peeing, I remember now!!! She frequently peed her training pants or diaper, but there were long intervals between!