EC at Night

[rmisley13]

In desperate need of help.  I started EC with my baby when she was 2 months old.  We always left it up to her whether or not she wanted to use her potty.  She did really well for the first 2-3 months and over the last month she has expressed very little interest in EC.  We never pushed her and let her do her own thing.  Over the last month, she has suddenly decided that she wants to use her potty at night, every 30 minutes to 2 hours, which means no sleep for her mom who works full time.  Any suggestions on how I can get my sleep back?

[emmaegbert]

well, here goes- a few ideas that you may or may not have tried...

loosen her diaper and cue her to go in there?  and/or put her in a disposable so she doesn't mind getting wet and just let her be "diaper-trained" at night so you can sleep (sorry other ECers if this is offending you! but I am a believer that mama's sleep is as important in the long run as many other things).

keep the potty in the bedroom and keep potty time very dull, and in the dark. Do you think she is wanting to use it as a way to connect with mama? you want to make sure that she is getting comforted, knows you are there, but doesn't use potty as a way to get you to get up with her all night long (both my kids have used potty as a way to get out of the carseats when they were sick of a drive).

offer her other things? (BFing, pacifier, etc) she might be awakening slightly uncomfy and thinks that potty will alleviate it.

think about if there are food intolerances etc that could be causing her to need to eliminate frequently?

[howeberry]

Originally Posted by emmaegbert 

loosen her diaper and cue her to go in there?  and/or put her in a disposable so she doesn't mind getting wet and just let her be "diaper-trained" at night so you can sleep (sorry other ECers if this is offending you! but I am a believer that mama's sleep is as important in the long run as many other things).

I second this. We PT EC and use cloth. Hate to admit it here, but at night I'll BF my LO all night long, but am always reluctant to wake fully to get out of bed to change or potty him. He's kept his diaper dry 5 hours before, and he'd probably pee for us several times between midnight and 7, but I enjoy my light sleep too much to interrupt it to potty him.