how to potty at night

[anarchamom]

can i get some detailed descriptions of how anyone offers the potty at night. i know this question comes up pretty often, but i'm asking it again because I'm frustrated. my boy is having sleep issues-- waking up way too often at night and nursing like a mad man through out the night. there are several things going on here that i won't go into-- usual baby stuff. however, i pretty sure that if i can offer him the potty at night when he wakes up he would get back to sleep faster and more easily. (this has happened often enough that i know it's possible)

Problem is I can't find a way to potty him without him flipping out and screaming. I can't pick him up and take him to the bathroom. I can't sit him on a little potty. I've tried the potty bowl in my lap without success. Sometimes I will take him to the shower or sink and he will pee while screaming. Obviously this doesn't accomplish maintaining a calm night environment.

I had sort of resigned myself to not being able to do nighttime EC, but now that we're having sleep problems I really want to try again.

any suggestions welcome. if you can please describe exactly what you do to offer to potty, and if you have found a way to deal with this particular problem. thanks!

[Limabean1975]

I think we're having the same issue...at least it's one possible theory to explain our difficult nights lately.

So I'm bumping your thread.

[accountclosed3]

happened to us for a bit when our guy was tiny.

now at age 2, if he wakes at night, he asks his dad to take him.

[SustainablParentng]

How old is your LO? I had a harder time nighttime pottying my older DS (we didn't start until he was about 24mo - but we didn't ec with him) On the other hand, my DD has been ec'd since 4wks and will only struggle if she doesn't want/have to go. Also some of the time she seems too tired to pee, if that makes any sense, and she gets mad.

One thing that maybe you could try would be to potty before your LO wakes - a preemptive potty

For us with the nighttime pottying things got much better after I stopped needing to turn on a light. It also has helped when I would nurse and potty at the same time - using the bblp on our bed so there is minimal moving of the sleeping babe and no lights.

Sorry this is so scattered - its hard to focus while nursing one and chasing another

HTH!

[kdhfly]

I'm certainly no expert (only been ec'ing DD2 since she was 4 months, and now she's 6 months...), but here's what I do. Sometimes in the night I know she needs to pee, but she cries, just like you describe. The one thing that seems to help when she's crying on the potty is to let her nurse while still holding her over the potty. We keep a small potty by the bed, and I don't have to turn any lights on or anything. So I sit on the floor holding her as she nurses and kind of angle her so she'll (hopefully) pee in the potty and not on me. Sometimes, it turns out that she really does only want to nurse back to sleep. Sometimes, part way through nursing she pees. Either way, at least she's not crying a lot and waking up dh and dd1

[Lineymom]

Originally Posted by kdhfly

I'm certainly no expert (only been ec'ing DD2 since she was 4 months, and now she's 6 months...), but here's what I do. Sometimes in the night I know she needs to pee, but she cries, just like you describe. The one thing that seems to help when she's crying on the potty is to let her nurse while still holding her over the potty. We keep a small potty by the bed, and I don't have to turn any lights on or anything. So I sit on the floor holding her as she nurses and kind of angle her so she'll (hopefully) pee in the potty and not on me. Sometimes, it turns out that she really does only want to nurse back to sleep. Sometimes, part way through nursing she pees. Either way, at least she's not crying a lot and waking up dh and dd1

Yeah that. I've only done ec for 3 months and we started by nursing on the bblp by the bed in the dark. Now I know the time she needs to go (around 6am) and if she stirs b4 then I just nurse. At the peeing time, she does not object to peeing and sometimes doesn't even need nursed back to sleep, which is amazing for her!

[anarchamom]

i just can't imagine how to do this without major drama. i could use a video this time if there are any volunteers.

in order to nurse him while on the little potty it seems like i would have to sit on my knees on the floor or on the bed. and getting him to the little potty without him completely freaking out seems impossible too. he is a big boy. big enough that lifting him from waste level sitting down isn't easy.

i'm going to try the manuever while he is awake and in a good mood.

i let him sleep naked the other night, but i got peed on twice. one direct hit to the stomach and another time the peed flowed toward me off of the waterproof mat he was laying on. the prefold had shifted around and became useless.

thanks for the suggestions. I'll take any others that are out there.

[anarchamom]

One thing that maybe you could try would be to potty before your LO wakes - a preemptive potty

HTH![/QUOTE]

have you done this before?

[revolting]

I'm starting to wonder if it's a sex thing. With my daughter, I could EC her at night nursing on the potty. With my son, I can't. I wonder if it's because there's less "wiggle room" in how to position him so that he pees in the potty.

[mcoreen]

I always nursed my son first, then offered the potty. I would take the potty insert and place it between my knees & then sit him on it. Or nurse him while awkwardly holding the insert under him. For a long time he refused to sit on the potty or on it between my knees. But being a boy, you have options! I would let him continue lying down, and just put the potty insert under his penis & prompt him (like an adult male using a urinal in hospital). You just have to be careful of your aim when in bed in the dark! I didn't really plan to ec at night, but when he had trouble getting back to sleep I would just know it was due to full bladder.
Now he's 18 months & dry most nights.

[revolting]

Originally Posted by mcoreen

But being a boy, you have options! I would let him continue lying down, and just put the potty insert under his penis & prompt him (like an adult male using a urinal in hospital). You just have to be careful of your aim when in bed in the dark!

Them's some mad skillz! I can't imagine not getting pee all over the bed like that. What kind of insert do you use? I would like to try this.

[emmaegbert]

Originally Posted by SustainablParentng

For us with the nighttime pottying things got much better after I stopped needing to turn on a light. It also has helped when I would nurse and potty at the same time - using the bblp on our bed so there is minimal moving of the sleeping babe and no lights.

This is what I do. I am sort of cross-legged, bblp right in front of me, facing me, and I nurse DD while she sits on there. Usually doesn't take too long for her to potty, then without stopping nursing I pick her up and carefully move the bblp... that part is the hardest part to pull off in my opinion.

I do try the "preemptive potty" if I notice her getting restless in her sleep. Mostly I wait until she wakes up though.

DD is now 17mo and over 25lbs. So she's big but not gigantic. I don't have a hard time doing this with her. Then again, we've been doing it since she was tiny so to a certain extent she probably cooperates.

[Snapdragon]

We hold our 6 month old ds over the adult sized toilet to pee. Until he can sit on his own he is not comfy using the little potty we have ( and I am not sure how he will pee in the little potty anyway!)
But - let's see- even though he is EC'ed he is still in diapers most of the time (except when he gets diaper free time). cloth diapers- and he wakes up usually twice (sometimes once or occasionally thrice!) in the night to nurse. So usually I will nurse him first, and then either dh or I will change his diaper. When we are not too tired we simply hold him over the toilet and offer him a chance to pee. SOmetimes he stiffens his body and cries- but we have found that singing some of our favorite songs to him (we have one song in particular that seems to calm him down!) will help him relax. Sometimes he will still cry a little but if i make the pssss sound he pees anyway. then he settles right down.
So I guess my suggesiton is try singing to him or distracting him from crying- or just be okay with him crying for a minute while you do it, or just keep trying until he gets more used to it.
We do not let him go all night in one diaper anyway- we always change him at night. So some of the time we have the energy to potty him- otherwise we just change the diaper and forget about pottying!~

[anarchamom]

i did it! well, only three times so far. I brought out the potty bowl that i bought months ago and could never figure out how to use. with the potty bowl i'm able to nurse him in a regular position (close to my body) and hold him on the potty without major flip out. aiming is still a challenge though. i can imagine that a girl would be easier, but the grass is always greener.

i've tried to catch in a cup with him lying down but he wouldn't have it.

i have to admit that nursing while pottying weirded me out at first, but i've come around. it's not like it doesn't happen when the diaper is on anyways. better the toilet than the diaper.

thanks to everyone for the suggestions. they've been really helpful.
good luck to everyone else in the same boat.

if anyone is interested, this potty bowl is the one that i'm using.

[emmaegbert]

Originally Posted by anarchamom

i have to admit that nursing while pottying weirded me out at first, but i've come around. it's not like it doesn't happen when the diaper is on anyways. better the toilet than the diaper.

Well congrats!! (I guess )

I agree it seemed weird at first, but you make a very good point that I hadn't really thought of anyway.

FWIW my little one began to hold her pee very well at night at some point along the way... she is now 17m and has a wet diaper maybe once or twice a month at night. I generally potty her when she awakens around 9 or 10, and thats that until the morning. Her wet dipes are usually in conjunction with teething. I still have her in a cloth diaper at night just b/c it allows me to be more relaxed (i/e sleep better).

[anarchamom]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert

FWIW my little one began to hold her pee very well at night at some point along the way... she is now 17m and has a wet diaper maybe once or twice a month at night.

Do you think that this happened earlier in part b/c she is ECed? Just curious on thoughts and experiences.

[mcoreen]

Originally Posted by revolting

Them's some mad skillz! I can't imagine not getting pee all over the bed like that. What kind of insert do you use? I would like to try this.

I have a winnie the pooh potty with a removable insert to catch the pee. Any type of cup would do as long as it's large enough to hold your baby's pee. I honestly only use the insert as I find the potty is too big for DS to sit on comfortably. We use the ikea potty or the toilet.

It helped to keep a soaker pad under DS just in case or a flashlight nearby. Most of my misses was because I was trying to do it in the dark with no glasses on. You never know which direction it's going to come out in!

Another trick you can try - I did this on the weekend. DS was ok with me picking him & carrying him to the bathroom. My bladder was bursting & I knew he had to pee too. I sat on the toilet then held him on my knee straddling my legs facing me. I pointed his penis into the toilet between my legs. He fussed a little but once I hugged him he relaxed and we peed together. You have to make sure to aim him though or he will pee on you. DH thought this was beyond weird, but it worked & we both went back to bed relieved and able to sleep.

[emmaegbert]

Originally Posted by anarchamom

Do you think that this happened earlier in part b/c she is ECed? Just curious on thoughts and experiences.

I suspect so. Maybe she really can just hold pee longer from the practice? Also I suspect she fully empties her bladder when pottying in the way a fully diapered baby may not. But I think a sample size of two kids is not really enough. And I think there is just a lot of individual variation in this sort of thing. She also slept longer stretches at night from the get-go than her older brother ever did... even in the 2m before I started EC with her.

[anarchamom]

Originally Posted by mcoreen

I sat on the toilet then held him on my knee straddling my legs facing me. I pointed his penis into the toilet between my legs. He fussed a little but once I hugged him he relaxed and we peed together. You have to make sure to aim him though or he will pee on you. DH thought this was beyond weird, but it worked & we both went back to bed relieved and able to sleep.

this is hilarious! whatever works though. one night after offering the potty to my boy and him refusing (i.e. screaming) i sat myself down to pee and sure enough he peed all over me and the floor. i wish i could have mustered the brain cells to do what you did.

[hrsmom]

I love all your ideas and solutions for night time pottying! We ended up just using diapers and making sure there were plenty for changes. I remember there was a time when I HAD to have four dry diapers bedside as we went to sleep! And we used them all most nights, if I recall correctly. Not that I'm suggesting that, that's just what we ended up doing! My babe slept naked from about 3 months to about 7 ish months, and was mostly dry. Then she was done with night time pottying!