A journey through our trials and tribulations of Elimination Communication, plus a few other snippets from my life as a mom/dog trainer/wife/UX Consultant.
·Alright, so it was a week of project work for me, thus I had no time to keep up with blogging. The highlights as I remember them:
·We caught quite a few more after nap pees and first thing in the AM pees, but aside from that, I did not have the time (or energy) to observe and change diapers, so – we didn’t.
·The days the babysitter was here during the day (she has officially been downgraded from nanny-status to babysitter status since she didn’t do much of anything with E – aside from watch her while I was working – this is a whole other post, but she was frustrating to say the least!) – anyway, I watched the video monitor to see when E woke up from naps and went upstairs to pee her whenever the babysitter was over. Not great success rates during that time, but I know we got at least one because I asked babysitter if she heard her go in the toilet, and she said yes! Yay!
E sporting her Baby Legs - SO much easier than yanking pants off of her each time.
·Yesterday, the 29th, I caught a pee in the morning and also a poop! Catching poops is so exciting. It’s way less gross when it goes directly into the toilet than having to clean her up when she goes in the diaper.
·Also of note yesterday was that we went for a walk with Dad and the dogs and I had Eleanor in the Ergo. We went on the path that is wooded and E was fussing and pushing away from me in the Ergo, so I wondered if she had to pee. Sure enough, I de-pants’d her and she went! Unfortunately, her cloth diaper was already wet so we had to put that back on since we were out walking and she wasn’t a big fan of that, I don’t think.
·Today (the 30th) she woke up and went to the potty with Daddy. Success!
·I also caught a couple of pees today, namely one after her 3p nap. She went and went on the potty, we went to grab another cloth insert, I set her on my lap and checked something on my computer, and then I caught more pee all over my lap. I don’t know where it all came from, but… I just laughed and did the shii shii sound and then put the diaper on her and then changed my clothes!
·Later she was playing and I heard a couple of toots and some grunting, so I took her to the potty. She really lets us know exactly when she DOESN’T need to be on the potty, so when she sits she normally will do something, even if it’s just pushing some gas out.
Here you can see pee in the potty (sorry), but more that she is fighting me saying "I don't have to go anymore!"
·After reading an article about praise and what not, I decided to try to minimize the praise for successes and include praise for just sitting on the potty and pushing as well.
·We got more than just gas, we got poop! It’s amazing how great that feels!
·I know, I know – EC is not about potty training at this point, it’s about learning to respond to her cues and according to the books, it’s not about winning a parenting race either, but it sure does feel satisfying!
I normally don't pee her in the sink, but sometimes she will "sit" for me here as she watches herself in the mirror or plays with the soap dispenser or faucet.
·Baby slept awful last night, not sure if it’s because she was warm/cold or what, but she nursed a lot and slept very little.
·On a more positive note, even though she woke up at 7:00a for the day, Dad got up with her and she peed for him! Yay! And we even got a little poop in the toilet, too!
·We did not catch post morning nap pee (only a 30 min nap - little bugger!)
·Next up grocery shopping and when we got out of the car I thought I smelled poop, sure enough! Tried to put her on the potty and got nothing.
·Mid-afternoon nap, thankfully it was about 1.5 hours. I watched her on the monitor and went to after I knew she was waking. Held her for a bit, tried to pee her, but she protested. After a little more cuddling, I tried again and she went shii shii!
·This was followed by a trip to Babies R’ Us (BRU) and when we got home, I tried to pee her and got nothing, but another tiny bit of poop and pee in the diaper – what is it with pooping while in the car??
·Took a quick nap at 5:30ish – when Dad got home and woke her up (oops). Didn’t want to go on the potty as she kept arching her back and crying once she was on there.
·Set her on the kitchen floor while we made dinner, gave her a bib and some avocado, then when I went to go pick up her piece of avocado I noticed pee on the floor – wee, so fun to slip and slide around in says E! Clean up on Aisle 1, please!
·Now in the diaper and I’m sure she won’t pee now. :)
Day 19: August 14th, 2010
·Dad tried for the morning pee again when E woke up at 6:30a. I’m not so sure I like this trend of waking earlier and earlier each day! Especially on a Saturday! He wasn’t sure if he got pee or not, but she definitely had a full pee diaper!
·Last night we tried a cloth insert on top of a disposable/flushable diaper and we essentially made it through the night. No wetness on the outside, anyway.
·So far we have tried to catch a couple of times, but were unsuccessful.
·After breakfast, we tried to potty E and left the diaper off for a little bit. She had the diaper underneath her, but Dad had her standing up on the couch… and then got pee on his arm and the couch as a result (have I mentioned lately that I’m thankful for leather!?)
·E didn’t want to nap much today (it was hot!) and possibly as a result, she had less urine overall? When she finally did go down we did catch pee while on the phone with Grandma W! Yay!
·Though E had just gone, talking with my mom made me realize I need to remind family and friends that we don’t say her “cue” word when we are not on the potty. I told my Mom the story that the DFB (Diaper Free Baby) moderator told that her MIL didn’t believe that her daughter was “trained” and jokingly used the cue word and baby peed in her pants. MIL thought it was a coincidence, so the next day she tried it again… seriously?? Are you 5?!
·We’re doubling up with biodegradable disposable and cloth on top – seemed to work well last night, though I still feel bad about the pee being against her that much at night, so I’m not sure what the solution is here.
August 15th – 19th
·The babysitter has been coming during the day while I have been working on my project. Certainly there were a few caught pees here and there, but I have been so busy, I did not journal it. Have been going to bed after midnight and waking a few times at night to pee/feed E. Very tired!
·Of note, one time I do recall taking her to the bathroom and trying to sit her between my legs (squirming) and then resorting to holding her over the sink. As I was about to try the same squatted/facing outward position over the toilet she went, hitting most of the sink and part of the floor. Thankfully pee is sterile and for some reason baby pee is less gross than adult pee.
August 20th, 2010
·I caught the morning pee and came back to bed with E to nurse. After a few toots and what I was sure was a dirty diaper, Scott asked if he should take her to poop.
·He took her to the toilet and after a bit of protesting, I heard the most wonderful sound… *squirt*! Yay, toilet poop!
·We also caught an after nursing pee, after nap pee.
·Today I also started removing the plastic liner so I could tell when she peed.
·When I am done with my work project, I plan to do a bit more tracking and see if we can’t do a better job with timing.
·Since E went down early tonight (around 7, when her trend has been around 8) she, of course, woke up around 10p. She seemed ready to get up, so I went and got her and tried to pee her, she wasn’t having it. She snuggled me and we rocked/swayed to sleep.
·Since I had read in one of the EC books that some babies pee at night with a diaper on, but don’t with a diaper off (and since I knew I had to wash the sheets the next day anyway), I decided to try it out. Scott put down a waterproof pad/barrier that I was given to go home with after birth (I knew those things would come in handy at some point!) and a towel. I added two more hand towels, so that if she did pee, I could easily peel these layers off and not disturb her too much.
August 21st, 2010
·She woke up at 1:25a totally dry still. Yay! I
tried potty her, she really does not seem to like the nighttime pottying. I
have a little plastic bowl by the bed, but she didn’t want to face out from
me. Since that route wasn’t working for
either of us, I took her to the bathroom.
Tried to hold her over the sink (she cried), tried to sit her on the
toilet between my legs (squirmed and cried), so finally I figured she probably
didn’t have to go.
·So I went while holding her on my chest, legs
wrapped around me. As I finished, she
went. Lovely. I guess I can add “part-time toilet” to my
resume. LOL. I wiped myself and her off and decided that
since she peed, we would leave the diaper off.
·I can’t remember what time it was the next time
we woke up… maybe around 3am? She had
wiggled a bit and I recall feeling the towels.
Both hand towels, bath towel, and pad were wet. And so was the bed *sigh*. I worried about the mattress, but figured – it’ll
be incentive to get rid of this stupid pillowtop anyway! (Side note:
Very comfortable, doesn’t bounce when either of us get in/out of bed,
but because you can’t rotate it, Scott and I each have bed alleyways! DISLIKE!)
·After pulling all of the towels and such off the
bed, I placed a dry cloth diaper over the wet spot and diapered her for the
rest of the night. She nursed probably 3
times which explains why she was pretty wet when waking up at 6:30a! Really not in love with her waking up earlier
and earlier each day!
·Dad got up with her and when I got up at 8:00 he
said he had already caught 2 (and missed 2) pees. We’re more aware now since we have not been
using the plastic liner.
·Dad took her for most of the day, got a couple
more pees from her throughout the day. I
got nothing but squirms and protests. I
wonder if this is because I haven’t been spending quite as much time with her
since I have been focused on my work project as of late? Maybe not, but it was not a very successful
day for me.
·Did leave the diaper off a bit more today, I
specifically worked hard at giving more “pottytunities”. Around 2:30p she was acting tired, so I
rocked and swayed and rocked somemore – she was cranky/protesting sleep, so
finally I tried to potty her.
Nothing. Then we sat on the couch
while she sucked her thumb very tiredly and I read to her. I apparently missed any cues she may have given
because I suddenly felt a warm trickle… ugh!
I didn’t react to her, but handed her to Dad and went and changed my own
clothes. Mom = toilet x2!
·Tonight (with clean sheets on the bed) she is
again diapered with 2 cloth inserts and I plan to try for a pottytunity once
she wakes up and then probably not again until her morning pee. Last night was too disruptive to both of our
sleep cycles, I think!
I'm feeling better and better about this EC stuff. We are done with leaving a diaper off her and instead are going to focus on timing until we learn the cues better. At this point, I'm pretty confident she knows the "shii shii" sound. I'm not confident that she knows the poop sound - which is probably because we have been inconsistent (sometimes it' go potty, sometimes it's go poop, sometimes we grunt with her). Anytime we are on the potty I use the potty sign (it looks like when you play "I got your nose!")
Here's the journal entry for today:
Day 17: August 12th, 2010
·After a date night with Scott (A good friend babysat for us), we came home to a baby who was sleeping in her bed! Love it! I debated whether to change her into a disposable or let her sleep. The choice wasn’t that hard. I figured after my discussions with the EC people yesterday, I would try a night-time pee with her when she woke up.
·We tried at around 1AM when she woke up and she was NOT having it. I took the diaper off and held her over her potty and she hated that, so I tried to go to the big potty and have her sit there with me. That wasn’t any better. She just wanted to be held and comforted. So we put a disposable on her and that is what we did.
·At the second waking around 5AM, I did not attempt to pee her, I was tired and I’m pretty sure Eleanor and Scott were, too! So I just fed her and we went back to sleep.
·At around 7:15AM she woke up again and this has been around her normal waking time for the day, so I got both of us up. Her diaper was FULL of pee, but I took her into the bathroom anyway and cued and she went! Yay!
·Today we had another round of research at the Infant Speech and Hearing Lab and she had taken a short nap in the car before we had to get out and walk a couple of blocks to the building. We got in, checked in, then went for the restroom. She went, I went, success! J I was proud of her for holding her pee until we got to the potty (her cloth diaper was wet and I only had a disposable in the diaper bag, so I put that on her).
·After we got home and after another 30-40 min. nap in the car, I got her out of the car and she went in the potty again. This time, the disposable was still dry! Whoo hoo! We’ll save that one for tonight! I put her in a cloth diaper after this for the rest of the afternoon.
·She made a couple of toots, but still no poop (hmm, it’s been 2 full days now without poop – when is it coming!?). I tried to potty her, but she gave me nothing and kept arching her back, so I re-diapered and moved on.
·Wow, back from a walk with the puppies and there is the poop! Yes, these are getting stinkier everyday!! Thanks solid foods! So, we missed the cue on that poop and momma has a mess to clean up in the cloth diaper. Desperately need a diaper pail and liner and a sprayer for the potty!!
What the Hell is Elimination Communication you ask?! It's a way to communicate with your baby about pee and poop. It's really just observing your baby and using various tools (timing, cues, etc.) to figure out when they have to go. Yes, it's DIFFERENT than traditional potty training. Is it better? I guess I will never know, since I have never had the opportunity to try the "traditional" route.
After being 2 weeks in, I think it's pretty awesome that I can put E on the baby potty and she knows what to do. Yes, she can even tell me she doesn't have to go by squirming, arching her back, crying to get off! When she has to go, she will normally sit on the potty and when I make the sound, she goes! :)
I've been "Journaling" my experiences for the past 2 weeks... if you are new to this, take heart, it's not going to happen overnight!
Day 1: July 27th, 2010
·Starting to learn cues, just as the book said, she seems to pee not long after feedings and naps.
·Hope to track more exactly as the time goes on.
Day 2: July 28th, 2010
·More toots today while I was on my work call (around 8:30a). Sure enough, she pooped.
·Got home from some errands where little miss took a nap. Got out of the car, went into the bathroom right away. Nope, nothing. I figured I missed it, so I left her diaper-free for a little bit while I checked email. Yep, pee on my leg and all over my jeans.
·Tonight after her nap, from about 6:30 – 8:00. I got her up because I didn’t want her to wake up a ton during the night. Took her diaper off, went to the bathroom. Danced in front of the mirror, mom went potty, baby – nope!
·I got a diaper under her while we sat out in the living room. Sure enough, warmth not to long after I set her on my lap. Made the swish, swish, swish sound while she went (or probably just after).
Day 3: July 29th, 2010
·Didn’t do such a great job communicating today.
·I left her diaper off for a bit in the morning and then later after lunch/nap.
·I put her in her chair while I washed some dishes and got some dinner ready. The diaper underneath her didn’t catch it, so she peed on the chair. Oops. I was mostly bummed because I missed the opportunity to add a cue-ing sound.
Day 4: July 30th, 2010
·Left her diaper off again this morning after waking – I’m pretty sure I waited in bed, too long. I was tired! The whole time it was off, she did not pee. Then we went to a meetup group event (hiking classic nursery), so I put the diaper back on her.
·While playing on the ground, I kept the diaper underneath her, no accidents while she reached for the puppies.
·She took a short nap, after she woke, I took her to the bathroom and peed myself, then tried to pee her (held her between my legs). She didn’t seem to interested. I set her on the ground sans diaper and then noticed some pee when I picked her up. I made the shii shii shii sound – I think we’re going to go with that sound.
·After nap pee seems fairly consistent thus far, I’ll keep trying for that one – and keep washing stuff!
·YAY!!! After the accident on the rug in the bathroom today, she tooted a couple of times and I took her to the toilet and she POOPED! So stinkin’ excited I can’t stand it! We called Dad at work to let him know and my mom – who informed me that she told some people at work who were very skeptic. I love proving people wrong!!
·After walking down to dinner (diaper on), she fell asleep on Scott. I had him potty her when they got back and once she woke up from her nap. No pee.
·Nursed her, and kept a loose diaper underneath her and was able to catch her mid-pee and associate shii shii shii shii this time.
Day 5: July 31st, 2010
·Didn’t really practice today. We were out and about for errands from about 11:45a until 4:00, then home for a quick changing/feeding.
·After changing, I left the diaper off for a little bit, put her on the floor, oops… wet carpet and wet front of her dress. Oh well, that’s what a steam cleaner is for.
·Back out for a friend’s Birthday BBQ and then came home.
·We also didn’t offer any foods
Day 6: August 1st, 2010
·Still haven’t practiced the “morning pee”. I feel like she wakes up and probably goes while she is still half asleep, since she farts in the morning sometimes while her eyes are still closed.
·I haven’t actually tried to catch the morning pee, though – so perhaps she will go when I try.
·After her 11:00-11:45ish nap, I took her to the potty, sat behind her with her butt on the potty and she did a toot and I’m pretty sure a pee, too! Yay! I did the shii shii shii sound and told her good job, then she started to protest/cry a bit, so we got off and were done. It’s hard to actually hear the pee since it goes against the porcelain and not in the water (given where she sits). I did feel wetness on her vagina, so I’m pretty sure she peed, hooray!!
·I think for now, timing will be our key “indicator” for pee, since I can’t seem to read her cues for that yet.
Day 7: August 2nd, 2010
·Caught pee after the morning nap, afternoon nap (over 2 hours!), and after our nap on the walk in the evening as well!!
·After the morning nap, she peed in the toilet and then I put her on the floor with a disposable underneath her. She turned and wiggled and consequently got off the diaper and then I noticed the floor was wet. Not too much pee, so I just dabbed it up with paper towel.
Day 8-10: August 3rd – 5th, 2010
·I don’t even remember. We caught a couple pees for sure, but I didn’t write it down and it’s so hard for me to keep track!
Day 11: August 6th, 2010
·Caught pee after the morning nap.
·Went on a walk, tried for a pottytunity, nothing.
·Was lazy and didn’t go get a clean diaper, so ended up with pee on the floor. J
Day 12: August 7th, 2010
·Caught pee after a nap in the car! We were out running errands and I knew she had been in and out of sleep for a while, so I wasn’t sure that she hadn’t already gone.
· I was debating if I was going to try to take her outside to the bushes or what I was going to do. I should not be embarrassed or ashamed or I’m not sure what, but I feel weird having people see me “pee” her in public like that. Even though, it wouldn’t have been very many people! We had gone to Chipotle earlier and had gotten burrito bowls and there was empty cardboard/bowl. When I took the diaper off, I smelled immediately that she had pooped. Thankfully, I had the bowl underneath me so I could sort of set her in that while I got the wipes out. Scott came back to the car and I had him help me gather wipes and a diaper and then he said, “Oh, she’s peeing!” Yep, we caught it! Hooray!
·We caught another pee after an afternoon nap at home later in the day, too!
·Also, tonight, Scott rocked her and put her to bed around 7:30p and she stayed in bed until about 7:20am this morning. She still nursed 3-4 times, but it was nice that she slept for a couple of hours at night before we had to go to bed.
Day 13: August 8th, 2010
·Caught pee after a morning nap.
·Then, since the pattern was starting to seem like it was pee then poop, I tried to keep her over the potty. Nothing.
·I fed her some apple-butternut squash baby food and played on the floor for a bit, then we ate and I could tell she was still hungry/wanted milk. After her feeding, I had her on my lap and could hear a bit of the grunting.
·I told Dad to try her on the potty, he did and she cried (it looked sort of awkward), so I suggested he try on the big potty. After a little squirming, I heard the squirt! Yay!!!! Another poop on the potty!!
·I’m in the midst of washing cloth diapers (I’m on diaper wash #4 out of 6 that you have to do before she can wear them – supposedly to get the absorption up in the hemp fibers). I’m hoping the cloth against her will be better for her, will help her feel “wet” and be better for the environment.
Day 14: August 9th, 2010
·It’s the start of cloth diaper day! (Really, this picture isn't her hating the diapers, it's being overly tired!)
·So far not so great! J Overnight, I put her in a flushable/disposable g diaper insert and it did not contain all of her pee. Darn! I don’t might changing her once at night, so that might be what we have to do. That or just where awful for the earth disposables at night.
·Caught a tiny bit of pee after her AM nap. I think she had already done most of it in the diaper, but I think she is starting to know the “shii shii” cue as she went when I cued, even though it was only about a tablespoon!
·Went on errands, when I came back she was sleeping in her car seat, I let her sleep. Then I heard that she was awake and went to go get her. I smelled that she was poopy right away. The next test for cloth – not so great. I opened the diaper to find poop everywhere, mostly in the liner, but a little on the cover, too. However, once I got her out of it, I put her in the tub to spray her off and cued her to pee and she did it!!
·Today after her later afternoon nap (around 2:30) she woke up in bed, sort of cried, and then I got her up. Peed in the potty – dry diaper!
·After a little bit, she was playing on the floor. I heard the grunting, opened the diaper, I was a little late, but she finished her poop on the potty. It’s so great to see her learning all of this!
·After a little nap on my chest at 5:15p, she sat up, woke up, I tried to put her on the potty, she started crying. Tried again, more crying. So I held her for a bit, when she seemed relaxed, I put her over the potty again and she did the bear down glare and peed! J
·She’s been a little crankier than normal today. I’m not sure if she is adjusting to the new diapers, has teething pain, sleeping issues, etc.
Day 15: August 10th, 2010
·Only one catch of pee today, the rest were in the diaper.
·No poops at all today.
·We did try solids (apple butternut squash), but it seems she has been skipping one day of poop only to make up for it triple on the next day! So tomorrow could be a very poopy day!
·I’m taking a break from cloth and g diapers over night since our track record hasn’t been very good there. We’ll see what happens.
Day 16: August 11th, 2010
·Went to Grass Lawn Park in Redmond today (what a great park!) to meet up with some fellow EC folks. It was great to talk with the moderator/owner of the Seattle group and share experiences.
·As a result of this meeting, I plan to pick up another book on EC/Diaper Free. She recommended this one since it lends itself more to starting “part-time”.
·I also asked about night-time EC. One fellow momma said that when she started offering, baby sometimes would not go, but sometimes would and as a result, sometimes slept longer stretches. Something to consider. The owner of the group also said that you don’t have to get up everytime, but try getting up after the “longest sleep”. So we may try that for a few days and see how it goes. Right now, I really just would like to sleep for more than a few hours in a row!
·After the park, she was cranky/tired. She fell asleep almost immediately and I drove around and finally drove home and just waited for her to wake up. We went to the toilet, sat, she arched her back and wasn’t ready. So we went to the baby potty and made the shii shii sound and sure enough, she went! It’s still very exciting, even though we aren’t catching everything!
·It was also very encouraging to see that the owner of the DFB group missed 3-4 pees from her 3 month old baby. It’s normal!!!
·Baby is napping now and if I hear her stir/make noise before she wakes up, I BET I will catch this after nap pee, too!
