Newborn nighttimes?

[Carlyle]

Anyone do nighttime ec with a newborn? I have a sleeper (YAY! My first was so NOT a sleeper, so I know what it CAN be like with a newborn...!), and I'm afraid to try to catch even the occasional nighttime pee/poop (unless she's already awake to nurse anyway) because I don't want her to start waking up more. Sleep is good. Thoughts?

[riboflavin]

Speaking as someone who had wakers every 1.5-2 hours for at least 2.5 years, I say Sleep is Good! We night time EC'd when it made sleep time easier; like when we knew DS would fidget until we peed him. Or we night EC'd when he would get a horrible rash if his skin was wet for even 5 minutes.

When he was in the habit of waking to pee, I yearned to be a mommy who had a baby who simply peed in a diaper at night! We got in the cycle of wake to pee, nurse back to sleep, wake to pee, nurse back to sleep. His small bladder kept us up all night for years. When he finally slept through the night I was so happy, despite waking with a wet trainer or diaper. My vote is for enjoying your sleep while you can!

[JMJ]

I think a lot of it has to do with the child. I wouldn't wake the baby, but if ECing at night or changing diapers at night helps her be more comfortable and sleep better, go for it! Our experience was not typical, but DD did not like getting up to pee as a newborn. Very early on, she just stopped peeing at night. When she started drinking water, she started peeing at night occasionally, but I could tell because she would wake up and not be able to get back to sleep until I took her potty.

[hrsmom]

Hi Carlyle! Yay, you had your baby!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!

I was just wondering about you not too long ago!!!!!!!!!!


Other than not wanting to talk to you anymore because your newborn sleeps (just kidding!) I'd say not to worry about night time unless already up, like you say!

Like Ms. Riboflavin, I also yearned to be a mama with a child who could just pee in a diaper at night. That would have made night time so much more pleasant for quite some time. I was changing her diaper like four times a night for way too long, even though she slept naked and was mostly dry from 3 ish months up to 7 months. Once she stopped pooping at night (at 7 months! Can you believe it!) she was done with night time pottying, but still wanted to be dry.

To answer your question, though, I did do EC with my newborn, primarily because she pooped a ton at night. So it was either EC or change poopy diapers. If I were to have a second child, I would totally not worry about night time pees when they were newborn, if at all!

[Carlyle]

Originally Posted by hrsmom

Hi Carlyle! Yay, you had your baby!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!

I was just wondering about you not too long ago!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks! We're pretty darned stoked--it's been a long time coming As much as it's not "fun" to be dealing with poopy diapers again, it's so interesting to be ecing from the start this time around (okay, and a little bit fun, I guess). With Nell, I only started ec at 3 months, and looking back on it now, I'm really wondering how much of her earlier fussiness was due to wanting to potty. I remember talking with dh and saying "how hard can this be--there are 3 things to check: nursing, burping, and the diaper...and yet we always forget the diaper." What I think was happening was that we checked the diaper and it was dry, then I'd try nursing, then I'd try burping and she'd still be fussy. Then I'd check the diaper again (finally), and it would be wet and we'd think "how come we always forget to check the diaper!?"

It's pretty neat that even at 2 weeks old it seems like Maggie is starting to hold it a bit until she has her diaper unbuckled (we're just peeing her on the diaper so far...not reducing the laundry load, but I figure it's way easier than holding her over the pot at this point, and it's good "training").

Originally Posted by hrsmom

Other than not wanting to talk to you anymore because your newborn sleeps (just kidding!) I'd say not to worry about night time unless already up, like you say!

I know, right? If it helps, Nell was still waking up many, many times a night to nurse at almost 2 years old...and we spent HOURS walking her around the house to try to get her to sleep as a newborn (like, up to a year). HOURS. If you average her with Maggie, maybe you'd have a "normal" child...whatever that is.

Originally Posted by hrsmom

To answer your question, though, I did do EC with my newborn, primarily because she pooped a ton at night. So it was either EC or change poopy diapers. If I were to have a second child, I would totally not worry about night time pees when they were newborn, if at all!

The hard thing right now is that I can't tell if she wants to pee/poop at night or not. She grunts a lot and fusses around a bit as she's going to sleep and I haven't been brave enough to go diaperless at night to find out if she's grunting b/c she's pooping or just for fun or what. If I do take the diaper off and try to pee her (if she's been grunting a long time), she doesn't usually pee, but I think she's still at that stage where she WANTS to pee, but can't release it on cue yet. I dunno. Not sure how to figure that one out. It may be that if she could just pee/poop, then she would stop grunting and fussing and fall asleep! NOT that I'm complaining, since she does eventually fall asleep without my having to leave the bed...

[heatherr30]

Wow, congrats! I have NO experience with a baby who sleeps, but I would tend to agree with the others. Let her sleep. She's only newborn.

Once she is older, and you feel that the daytime EC is under control...AND you don't have fears of messing up her nighttime sleep.... you could try ECing her at night and then seeing if she will go right back to sleep. I would wait till she's older though and hopefully by then only peeing once or twice a night anyway, so it wouldn't be much work for you.

The reason I make this suggestion is because I have a fully PT DD who is nearly 3 and still occasionally wets the bed, and I WISH I had started pottying her at night when she was younger (say 1 or even 2 yrs old), and when we were still co-sleeping, then maybe she wouldn't find it so difficult now to wake up when she has to pee. But like the others said I wouldn't do it at the expense of good sleep.