EC'ers~WE DID IT!

[HeatherSanders]

Okay, amidst all this diaper talk, I was thinking . . . "What if I just tried for a day to EC?" I woke up this morning and forgot and then I was reminded after I changed a diaper around 11:15 or so. Kenny was hungry, so I fed him and then I remembered on another recent thread being told to wait about 10 minutes after a feeding and try to catch a pee.

So, after I fed him, I went ahead and stripped him and took him into the bathroom and closed the door (the girls were making him nervous running in and out and pointing at his 'weenie' : ).

Well, I grabbed him by the thighs and let his butt sink down a bit and just kept rocking back and forth and saying "Pssssssss" over and over. My girls were cracking up outside the bathroom door!

Then, I let the water run after about 4 minutes of nothing. I put him down next to the sink and dripped a bit of warm water on his penis. Two seconds later he started to trickle. I lifted him up really quick and made the "Pssssssss" sound while he PEED IN THE SINK!!!! Yea!!!!!! So, I marked it down - but the question is . . . when will he do it again??? It is going to be so hard to catch pee, because he didn't give any facial reaction, etc. . .

Okay, and I'm not certain about catching poop - do you hold them the same way?

Heather - soon to be a prefolds and wool cover gal if Kenny learns to EC!!! HA! Now wouldn't that be something.

[HeatherSanders]

So this thread is only interesting to me, eh?

Okay, WE DID IT AGAIN . . . it is only 15 minutes later and he is in the swing next to me diaperless here in the office and he starts grunting and moving around like he is uncomfortable.

So, I think - "Go with the flow, Heather." I take him out of his chair talking to him about needing to pee pee and take him to the sink. No water running, no warm water on the penis, nothing . . . I hold him over the sink . . .whisper "Pssssssst" and IMMEDIATELY he pees AGAIN!

And he toots.
So maybe a poop soon?

I know, my ongoing saga!

[BowenTherapist]

yaayyyy

heather that is awesome
you are also pretty much garenteed a pee just after he wakes up.
we hold her in the same position for poops, but i am lazy and get tired of holding her in position so what we do most of the time, especially before we got the baby bjorn potty, is ...
i sit on the edge of the bathtub and sit her between my knees and hold her feet in the squat position...

good luck it realy is very easy once you get the hang of it.
we are now going out in training pants... i'm pretty proud of that

[BowenTherapist]

jumping up and down
glad to hear you got two in a row....
you two are naturals

[serra42]

I put Emily on the big potty sometimes and just hold her. Sometimes we catch some most days recently though we have been busy and miss most. But we are just doing what we can.

[mrzmeg]

That's awesome!
The easiest time for catching pees for us is right after a nap. You have to be quick sometimes, though! Especially at first as Kenny is learning how to hold his pee and poop more.
As far as poop goes, just run as soon as you hear him grunt.
Do you think you'll keep it up? That's really fabulous!

[mrzmeg]

Oh, and don't stress about misses. Tristan has peed on the carpet once and on me once today already :

[velveeta]

Wow, Heather, that is great!

It sounds like you are getting the hang of it after only two pees!

Keep us posted on Kenny's progress. I am especially interested to hear when you catch a poop. From what I have heard, poops are even easier than pees to predict and catch!

Jean

[HeatherSanders]

Melanie,
I didn't think I'd understand the whole 'reading' him thing - so really, this was just a 'gimmick' day. I could never have realized how excited I would have been to catch 2 in a row! :LOL

However, Kenny is a big-time pee-pee King, so I'm sure I will miss a number of them, but today I'm trying to be a hawk-eye and see if we can't establish a routine. I have been trying to figure out his routine of pee/poop, etc. . . so I think this will help.

Heck yea, if I can get this figured out - he and me - I'll keep it up. He seemed 'happy' that I caught the second one. It was like he 'told' me and I answered him with a response. He was all grins.

The hard part - the grunting. He's a grunter. Some babies coo, but mine primarily grunts. So, I'm going to have to listen for the 'change' in his grunting. Maybe he'll kick his legs, adjust his body, furrow his brow or something too. I've taken him to the sink about 4 or 5 times in the last hour when he grunted and I can actually feel him pressing with his belly, but he might be trying to pee since that is what 'we' did before.

I'm thinking ahead to logistics. What do people do when they are in the car and their babies need to go and give them that 'sign?' I mean, does it frustrate the crud out of them when you aren't in a place to respond immediately? Does it discourage them in a sense?

I have Trickle Treat, but it is only a smidgeon of information . . . maybe I need to get that bigger book that is like 250 pages of EC wisdom.

[Mamaste]

Woohoo! Grats!

We have real good luck with voluntary pottying right before bath time at night. We were finding that DD was peeing in the tub as soon as she got in, usually before she sat down. It's relatively soon after dinner, usually, which helps move things along as well.

[ShannonCC]

Heather, cool! Congrats!

I read Diaper Free by Ingrid Bauer (Sp? ) and really liked it.

I just wanted to comment you hadn't gotten the signs down yet? Well, it took me a good MONTH of just relying on timing before I felt that I was getting some signals. Really! It's not something you can either do or you give up, it's something you learn and it takes time! We've been doing this 2 and a half months and tho I can now read a lot of signals I still rely heavily on timing. With my kid it's not 10 minutes after eating, he sometimes starts making a poop face DURING eating (solids). And it's not immediately after waking, but maybe a few minutes after.

Anyway, good luck and have fun with it

Oh, and if you miss, don't sweat it, just say "psssssss. You peed! Let's get a dry dipe on you" or something matter of fact like that. Even if you miss every single time one day, you can still foster communication by telling him what he's doing.

I've noticed for me that every single time I've had a 100% catch day, it's followed by a "miss almost every single time" day, lol! Maybe I get cocky?

[HeatherSanders]

Originally posted by ShannonCC
Oh, and if you miss, don't sweat it, just say "psssssss. You peed! Let's get a dry dipe on you" or something matter of fact like that. Even if you miss every single time one day, you can still foster communication by telling him what he's doing.

Okay, that's what I just did. We were sitting here and I felt warmth on my leg and I said, "Ooopsy, Kenny went pee pee" and whished him off to the sink and said "Psssssst" over and over a few times (this time with both of my daughters doing it with me). They are now EC'ing their teddy bears.

And who says that children don't imitate! HA!

[mrzmeg]

LOL, Heather!
When we're in the car and Tristan has to pee, if it's possible, we stop and I pee him into a clean diaper. But, we always go out as a family and DH drives. When we can't stop for whatever reason, Tristan just goes in his diaper. At this age, it doesn't bother him all that much. He'll fuss for a minute, go, then act like "ok, change me now!" So, I just get him into a clean diaper as soon as possible.
We EC at home and on trips, but I only go diaperless at home right now. We're not in sync enough to do that going out.
I also recommend _Diaper Free!_. It's really a great book and an interesting read.

[HeatherSanders]

I think I'll be on this board all day with this new thing we are doing! HA! I just fed him again and I'm sure he'll need to pee in a few. He hasn't pooped since around 10:30, so I'm curious when the next bm will come.

Thanks for the book review. I'll go through Powell's so MDC can get some $$$!

[HeatherSanders]

WE JUST PEED #3!!!!

I'm getting a bit too giddy about all of this! :LOL

[MammaMel]

That's great!! Isn't it the best feeling taking ds to the potty and him USING it?!
We have been doing EC for almost 2 months now and it definately gets easier. It's like I just "know" when ds needs to go and take him. Poor dh, never sems to catch much though.

[HeatherSanders]

Originally posted by MammaMel
That's great!! Isn't it the best feeling taking ds to the potty and him USING it?!

Well yes, actually, but we've been using the sink. I'm sure I'll not want to use the sink for BMs (but then, I disinfect it anyway, so why not?).
We had a poopy mishap and he never grunted . . . just went into the diaper I have him sitting on in his bouncy chair while I made the girls lunch.

I SOOOO wanted to catch the poop, but that was a loose wet one . . . would have splattered!

[MammaMel]

We started out using the sink too, but dh wasnt very happy about it lol.

[HeatherSanders]

I like to 'watch' for it though. Also helps me aim and Kenny seems to be calmer (maybe because I'm more comfortable).

He's napping now . . . so, I'll try to catch it again right when he wakes up.

[pamelamama]

Wow, Heather, I better finish your soaker before it becomes unneccesary!!

I want to try EC! I did the sound effects for a few days, well, maybe a day, when Eli was first born. As far as I'm concerned, communication is good. Maybe I'll try again a little bit.

Heather, you've inspired me.

Really, I think it's the laziness factor that keeps me from really committing to trying EC 100%. To be completely honest.