CalBearMama
10-20-2005, 08:32 PM
I don't post much, mostly a lurker, but I've had kind of an "a-ha" experience recently that I wanted to share with all of the tired mamas out there.
My 11.5 month old ds has been a "thrasher" at night since the very beginning and woke fairly frequently (although it wasn't affecting my sleep too badly, and he seemed rested and happy, so I hadn't been motivated to do much of anything about it except change his diaper if necessary and nurse him back to sleep). Anyway, I recently stumbled across information about EC (elimination communication), also called IPT (infant potty training). There's been a lot of mainstream coverage about it recently, there's a discussion board on mothering.com under the diapering forum, and there's a great website - www.diaperfreebaby.org. I wish I had known about this sooner (in fact, I'm kind of kicking myself for never questioning the necessity of diapers) - maybe some of you will feel the same.
Anyway, after reading about EC/IPT, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I realized that ds was not waking up to nurse (although nursing was effective to put him back to sleep). He was thrashing around because he had to pee and was uncomfortable, and he eventually got so worked up that he would wake up.
So, last night, DS went to sleep with me in our bed about 10 p.m. About 2:30 a.m., he was thrashing around so much that neither of us was getting any rest. I got up with him, sat cross-legged on the floor on a big waterproof pad, and nursed him while I removed his diaper, which was fairly wet. I then used an empty water bottle to catch his pee while he nursed (he very obviously had to go) - I don't know what I would do with a girl, but for a boy this ended up working very well and avoiding any mess or spillage. Because he is older and has effectively been "trained" to pee in a diaper, he did fuss a little bit when he realized he was peeing without a diaper on. But by that time, he seemed to be done, and I just put a clean diaper on him and we went back to bed and he nursed right back to sleep. Now for the best part - he slept so soundly for the rest of the night, woke up at 7:30 with a bone-dry diaper, and then peed three times in the toilet before we left the house at 8:15!
There are some things I'm going to try to keep him from getting upset when I help him pee in the middle of the night (like stay in bed so he's not as likely to wake up fully, and only undo his diaper enough to get the bottle in place so he doesn't feel like he's peeing "without a net"). But I definitely feel like last night was a success, and I just wanted to pass it on to those of you who are looking for solutions to night-waking and seemingly constant night nursing.
My 11.5 month old ds has been a "thrasher" at night since the very beginning and woke fairly frequently (although it wasn't affecting my sleep too badly, and he seemed rested and happy, so I hadn't been motivated to do much of anything about it except change his diaper if necessary and nurse him back to sleep). Anyway, I recently stumbled across information about EC (elimination communication), also called IPT (infant potty training). There's been a lot of mainstream coverage about it recently, there's a discussion board on mothering.com under the diapering forum, and there's a great website - www.diaperfreebaby.org. I wish I had known about this sooner (in fact, I'm kind of kicking myself for never questioning the necessity of diapers) - maybe some of you will feel the same.
Anyway, after reading about EC/IPT, it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I realized that ds was not waking up to nurse (although nursing was effective to put him back to sleep). He was thrashing around because he had to pee and was uncomfortable, and he eventually got so worked up that he would wake up.
So, last night, DS went to sleep with me in our bed about 10 p.m. About 2:30 a.m., he was thrashing around so much that neither of us was getting any rest. I got up with him, sat cross-legged on the floor on a big waterproof pad, and nursed him while I removed his diaper, which was fairly wet. I then used an empty water bottle to catch his pee while he nursed (he very obviously had to go) - I don't know what I would do with a girl, but for a boy this ended up working very well and avoiding any mess or spillage. Because he is older and has effectively been "trained" to pee in a diaper, he did fuss a little bit when he realized he was peeing without a diaper on. But by that time, he seemed to be done, and I just put a clean diaper on him and we went back to bed and he nursed right back to sleep. Now for the best part - he slept so soundly for the rest of the night, woke up at 7:30 with a bone-dry diaper, and then peed three times in the toilet before we left the house at 8:15!
There are some things I'm going to try to keep him from getting upset when I help him pee in the middle of the night (like stay in bed so he's not as likely to wake up fully, and only undo his diaper enough to get the bottle in place so he doesn't feel like he's peeing "without a net"). But I definitely feel like last night was a success, and I just wanted to pass it on to those of you who are looking for solutions to night-waking and seemingly constant night nursing.