When and How did you start ECing at night?

[April 2007]

Noah's 6 months old and we have not done EC at night at all. Lately (for the past couple of weeks) Noah has been waking up at night crying. He's never done this before. usually he just wakes up a little and wants to nurse, but never cries. So I'm wondering if ECing at night is what he's asking for.

Anyway, I'd like to hear stories from you all about when you started at night, and how? did you start "cold turkey" with totally naked and potty beside the bed? or did your babe have diapers and only did it once throughout the night? etc., etc.

thanks!

[mrzmeg]

I started as soon as ds was getting pretty dependable during the daytime. Whenever he wakes up, I hold him in his pottying position over a prefold. He usually goes quickly, then falls back asleep (sometimes when I'm still holding him there ). I tried using the potty at night, but he hated it. The prefold works much better
We're not naked at night yet; Tristan pees too much in his sleep right now. But he always wakes up to poop, and sometimes to pee.

[ShannonCC]

I put Owen in a cloth dipe w/o cover at night. If he pees I take it off right away (his stirring wakes me) and he spends the rest of the night nakie with a prefold over him. I just can't get it together enuf to pee him at night. Funny thing tho, this week he went 4 days in a row w/o peeing at night.

[loon13]

I started almost right away, because we started ECing dd part-time after she would wake in the morning and from naps. It was her most predictable time.

Sometimes dd woke with a dry diaper in the morning, sometimes not. We co-sleep, and to find out exactly when she peed, I put some prefold diapers under us on the bed, and put a diaper on her without a cover. I found that when she woke and wanted to go back to sleep, she would nurse and fall asleep right away. But when she woke and squirmed around, even though she would eventually start nursing, that is when she would wet the diaper. I started putting her potty beside the bed, so that when she squirms awake like that, I can pee her and then nurse her back to sleep.

Most nights now she can go the whole night dry, but sometimes she’ll squirm awake at least once during the night and needs to pee. I do still use a backup diaper at night because there is still the every once in awhile miss, where I think even dd is too tired to get up and pee. (Haven’t we all felt like that sometimes? LOL!)

Loon

[April 2007]

o.k...well I've tried it twice at night and he HATES it. Iput him on the potty and he just cried and was mad and grumpy and tired. I think I'll try it again but instead of using the potty I'll just use the suggestion of letting him pee into the prefold.

thanks for the help ladies : )

[mamarosa]

After reading this thread I got the guts to try it. Only one accident in the morning because I left dd alone w/ her brother on the bed after we were all awake. She was just fine peeing in the potty in the middle of the night.
But then I got an ear infection and I'm too tired/ spaced out to bother, so back to diapes. Will try again when I'm feeling a little more alert.

Also, now that dh is trying the ec things too, We've been way better with daytime ec.
YAY!

[loon13]

Devin, peeing in the prefold is still ECing because you're responding to his need to pee. So that's a worthy idea.

Rose, that is wonderful progress for you! I am not up to 100% accuracy with EC, so I must say I am glad that I can resort to dipes when I can't give dd the attention to potty or when she is just plain busy. For example, my parents are visiting and no way does she want to miss playing with them!

Loon