Am I starting this off right?

[Greenlea]

I'm trying to start EC with my 3mth old.  So far I am just bringing him to the sink after nursing, and he does go.  I haven't really "caught" anything I don't think because I'm just bringing him to pee after eating.  But is that the first step?  Like will he eventually signal me if he has to go at another time?  Yesterday seemed to be good cuz in between feedings he was staying dry.  I think thats good right? 

I tried leaving him in his cloth diaper the other day, w/ no cover, to try to catch earlier.  I brought him once after nursing, but then he went FOUR times w/ in a half hour in the cloth diaper, none of wich I caught.  I think maybe when he does go in the sink, he isn't letting all of it go, but only a little bit.  Does that sound right?  And if so, how do I get him to let go of it all?

Also, how do I deal with EC while co-sleeping?  My DS just nurses right back to sleep if he wakes up.  Should I bring him to the sink before letting him nurse, cuz then he might not go back to sleep.

[HappyMonkey]

For the first 4 months I didn't try to catch.. just cued when I saw her pee or poo on an open prefold (we kept her diaper free as much as possible). At night she just went on an open prefold.. I'd lift her bum and change it each time. Sorry gotta run.. will try to come back later and post more.

[nstewart]

Sounds like you are doing great! I started DS at 2.5 mos so hopefully what we do will be useful to you!

Based on what you were saying, I would say "yes, those are catches".  My DS doesn't signal for pees at all, just for BMs, and so all my pee catches are based on timing and intuition.  Some babies signal, others don't.  So if you want to see if DS is signaling already, try giving him some diaper free time each day for a few days (at different times of the day if possible) to try and observe if your baby signals before peeing, etc. and how often baby is going.  Also this frequency will change with time, and DS will likely go longer between pees.  Some common signals might be grabbing for the groin, going still during activity, making a certain noise or a certain face, doing something particular with the hands, etc.  For poops listen for baby to stat tooting (although BF babies do this a lot anyway!), wriggling alot, grimacing, making "groaning" noises, etc.

Sounds like he might just be letting a bit go. Try just giving him more time in front of the sink.  Like 30 seconds at least unless he has a really big pee right away.  Sometimes it takes a bit for them to relax their bladder.  With DS if it's been quite a while and I'm pretty sure he has to go I give up to 60 seconds while signaling, unless he signals that he doesn't want/need to go by arching his back or crying.  Early on I wasn't giving him long enough and as soon as I started giving a bit more time for him to go I started getting probably 25% more catches immedietly. 

We only "sort of" EC at night.  DS also co-sleeps and nurses right back to sleep.  If he is really squirmy or not settling in his sleep or awake and obviously needing to go, I get out of bed and take him (usually this is because he needs to poop but sometimes a big pee is the culprit!).  But if he isn't really waking up, just sort of rolling over to nurse I don't get him out of his PJs to take him potty.  Lots of people do so hopefully someone else will have good advice on this for you.  We tried a few nights but it's really cold in our room at night right now and DS was having a hard time getting back to sleep after getting out of bed, jamies, etc. and going potty.  

Good luck! 

[heatherr30]

I normally do a potty trip after feeing my DS too and again before sleep.  So at least every hour.  He is a month old so his diaper usually gets wet between potty trips but I am catching most of the BMs.  I'm pretty sure he understands as he is getting better at going on cue.    Sometimes I take the diaper cover off and just observe how often he is peeing and how he cues.  Without trying to catch anything, just observing.  I think you can stress yourself and LO out by too many potty trips when you are just guessing.  So I think observing is really, really important.  As PP mentioned you can make the cue sound to reinforce if you catch LO going in diaper.  I always think if I learn 1 thing per day about DS's pottying that I have made progress.  

As for night time I am 2 weeks into ECing and already finding night time easier than day time... my DS generally sleeps dry and needs to pee when he wakes up.  If he seems desperate to nurse I just nurse first and then change the diaper afterwards if it needs changed ( he will pee while nursing).   If he doesn't seem hungry I pee him then nurse.  (this happens about once per night usually in the early morning.)  If the diaper is wet but not soaked and he seems drowsy I just leave it and get him back to sleep quickly.