Nighttime with a squirmy babe resistant to diapers

[mum2sarah]

I can't even enumerate the number of systems I've attempted for nighttime and I'm getting a little frustrated and could use some fresh ideas.  We've never caught more than 2 pees per night and on those occasions I felt like a zombie the next day.  This may sound selfish, but I'm not willing to live perpetually sleep-deprived for the sake of nighttime ECing so when DS had his first cold and was miserable at night we went back to diapering at night and I have been hesitant to resume EC at night even though he's been better from his cold for a few weeks now.  However, he's also become resistant to going in his diaper at night.  He'll squirm and whine before finally going and then I have to change him or else it's not long before the wet diaper bothers him.  This is waking me up almost (but not quite) as much as pottying him.  But I was just dealing with it because it's only 2-3 times/night.

But then last night when he fussed even more than usual at peeing in his diaper and then the diaper leaked all over me anyway, I decided screw it, I'll just bunch some prefolds under him and surely when he he has to go again, it will be painfully obvious and I'll just potty him.  NOT the case!!  It seems if he's nakey bummed he feels free to let out a little pee here and a little pee there over and over again instead of "holding it" for his usual 2-3 pees per night.  If the prefolds had caught his little squirts that would've been annoying but ok.  However, DS is a squirmer at night!  Even though with DDs I could nurse either breast from the same side, DS seems to prefer to nurse on his side in the crook of my arm then periodically roll over my abdomen to the other side.  He also rolls from side to back a lot and usually rejects the "opposite side" breast if I try to lean it over for him.  All this makes it impossible to adequately form a puddle pad for him and instead I just get peed upon.  And since it's cold here we can't go nakey so our clothing and/or covers end up soaked.

How do you people who do so manage to just lay prefolds under your LO without a huge mess??  Do your babes just sleep pretty still on their backs??  Do they constantly squirt little pees throughout the night?

For those of you who diaper, did your LO resist going in the diaper at night at some point and if so, how did you deal with it?

If you potty at night, how do you get enough rest?  With DD I had a bucket beside the bed and just dangled her over it, but with DS I have to aim him and just grabbing the BEco potty from the foot of the bed and getting him positioned seems daunting to me and wakes me up a lot.  Do you diaper your LO even if you potty at night?  Do you find the frequency of pees increases if you don't diaper?

Finally, if anyone can help me brainstorm new strategies, your thoughts would be most appreciated!

[seraf]

I can tell you what we're doing at night.  It's not perfect by any measure but we are all sleeping.

First, I have a fleece blanket under the spot where we sleep.  It has been there since he was born (except when it's in the wash) because I leak milk and he spits up.  It covers about 3 quarters of the bed so I can roll him from side to side in the night to nurse both sides.  The first 2 kids were happy with whatever boob was in their face, little mister had latch troubles and gets rolled around.

He wears a diaper.  Elastic belt and flat tucked into it.  If it's wet I pull the wet one out and pop a new one back in while he nurses.  I can reach the dry diapers and the wet bucket without sitting up.  

He sleeps on his side or back in a long sleeve t-shirt right up against me.  Head on arm usually.  He pees 3 or 4 times at night.  If he wiggles and pees I just change him, if he wiggles enough to wake me, I offer the potty.

If he wants to pee desperately I sit up, untuck the diaper and hold him over a bucket.  I am using a bucket with the front cut out (it was my birth stool) so I just tip the bucket back and it gives a really long trough for the pee to find its way in.  I also sometimes just use the wetbucket tipped back with my thumb and index finger encircling is thighs and other 3 fingers resting on the front of the bucket, so the bucket is right behind his knees like a splashguard.  I'll try and get someone to take a pic of this, it's simple but I guess I'm not smart enough to explain it at the moment.  I also sometimes use a potty in my lap.  I have also used an empty wipes box and a mixing bowl at various times.  Now that he's not pooping at night, I might try a cup in the bed while he's nursing.  LOL, just one of those things I don't want to fail at.

Good luck.

[mum2sarah]

I had been thinking about tipping a bucket!  I might have to give that a try!  I do have a fleece blanket under us and that does help more than just the towel I started out with. Do you have a bedrail?  I know it's not "safe" not to have one but I feel like it might be less disruptive to have a bucket on the side rather than the foot of the bed.  And DS likes to stay in my arm--I don't think he's ever even gotten close to bumping the bedrail... so I'm tempted to get rid of it til he's more mobile...  and maybe by then he'll be able to only go once during the night?

[seraf]

We dropped our mattress down to the floor, so no bedrail.  I don't think falling 8 inches would hurt him.  I only had a bedrail for the middle kid because she fell off the bed into the wetbucket when she was about 4 months.  This guy doesn't get 3 inches from me yet, but he's quite a bit younger than your guy.  

[mum2sarah]

Wow I'm sure at the time the 4 month old falling into the bucket was scary! hmmm makes me think twice... I'll have to ponder the pros & cons some more...As for the diaper, I still feel inept at prefold belts even in the daytime LOL cuz I never had one with DD...I wonder if waterproof ecapants could work by stuffing it with a doubler & replacing the doubler as needed? I guess the inside of the ecapants might get damp but then I'd be putting a new doubler on top of the damp part... I only have a pair of non-waterproof ecapants currently though so I'm not sure it's worth buying a pair to experiment...  Just thought it might be easier than the prefold belt or fumbling with the snaps on his fitted dipes.... I've heard that MotherEaseSammys can be pulled on but I have so many diapers already; I hate to invest in more (should have maybe got MESammys to start with instead of the fitteds we have now).

[seraf]

It was funnier than scary.  She landed head down on a bunch of dirty diapers.  Little legs up in the air kicking while she yelled at me.  I had to get up in the middle of the night to clean all the pee and poo off her.  Not good for sleep and she was a little miffed.

I have never tried eca pants, I just looked them up.  I use the belt almost the same way, except nothing to unhook.  Just pull out the front and tuck it behind or pull the back out too.  Where are you having trouble with the belt?  It totally may not be a good system for you, but I'll help if I can.  

[mum2sarah]

I have trouble aligning it and getting it tucked in the back such that the leg"holes" aren't too wide...  I prefer natural fibers so if I can ever get the hang of the belt...

[seraf]

I'll shoot a video when the baby wakes up.  It's really pretty easy but I guess so are disposables and I can't use them, so there's a learning curve to everything.

[seraf]

If we're in bed, I usually roll him onto his belly to tuck in the back.  If we're anyplace else I will do one of these.

[mum2sarah]

hmm it's giving me an error when I try to play it--can only see the initial still frame...  OT, wow does your DS have a lot of hair!!  so cute!  Mine have all been pretty bald ;)

[seraf]

Random. Try this.

http://youtu.be/jc40MyEaXIM

[flyrabbitfly]

We never used a bedrail, just put the mattress on the floor when DS started rolling. When he learned to a lot off we put the box spring back. He has rolled off a couple of times and it woke him up but that was all.

What finally helped our nighttime EC was when he would go into a yogurt jar instead of me taking him to the tub. We used to use ECAs with two or three inserts during a long spell when he didn't want to potty at night. When pottying started to happen again it wasnt long before one or two potty times at night resulted in a dry dipe so we ditched them. We have a wool blanket under the sheet and DS sleeps in a tshirt...

[seraf]

I don't know if talking about it caused this, but my baby decided he couldn't pee in his diaper all night last night.

[mum2sarah]

Originally Posted by seraf 

I don't know if talking about it caused this, but my baby decided he couldn't pee in his diaper all night last night.

haha wow must be contagious ;).  After looking at your video I think my prefolds are too big and bulky & that could be part of my problem.  We were using smaller bummis ones and recently moved up a size but they are MUCH bigger than the previous size.  What kind do you use?

[seraf]

Mine are flats, homemade from flannel sheets, they don't hold more than one pee.  I don't like any more bulk than that.  I couldn't find any prefolds when I did the video, but those are pretty thin, too. Have you tried the smaller prefolds with the belt?  If they were outgrown for width instead of length that may work.  I just fold my prefolds in half or tuck the whole back into the belt and pull it into thirds for the front.  Might have to do another video, I guess it's harder to explain than I realized.

[hrsmom]

Night time EC was not at all fun.
When my dd was tiny, she did lay still on a pad, she slept nakey and most pees went in the potty (we got up out of bed) or if not, I just swapped a prefold.

And then.

At some point she didn't want to be potted at night. IIRC, she was fine peeing in the diaper but wanted it removed immediately. So I eventually just made sure I had a stash by the bed, did a quick changeroo and put the wet dipe on the floor. Most nights it was 3-4 diaper changes.

Don't know if this helps since your lo doesn't seem to want to pee in his dipe?

Sleep is far more important than night time EC.

[hrsmom]

PS she woke up typically 7-8 times a night, just only needed a new diaper 3-4 times.

I'm pretty sure if I had another baby I would not do nighttime EC.

[mum2sarah]

Now weirdly last night DS went an unprecedented 6 hrs with a dry diaper before he peed!  Still restless going in it though...Going to regroup this weekend and try a few ideas from this discussion and I'll report back on how it goes!

 

[hrsmom]

Originally Posted by mum2sarah 

Now weirdly last night DS went an unprecedented 6 hrs with a dry diaper before he peed!  Still restless going in it though...Going to regroup this weekend and try a few ideas from this discussion and I'll report back on how it goes!

 

Then there's always the method of posting about it on MDC and having the "problem" suddenly go away.  :) 

I know I wasn't the only one who used that approach from time to time!!! 

[seraf]

How did your weekend go?