In a word: well. In three words: Incredibly, surprisingly well. While I had lapsed for a week or so after I wrote the last post, diving into Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene by Ingrid Bauer proved to be just the inspiration I needed to get back into it. And while it took us a little while to get reattuned to Eden's signals, I'm happy to report that it's going really well now.
Per Bauer's book, we picked up a Baby Bjorn infant potty for less than $10 on Amazon and we LOVE it. While we occasionally still use the toilet or even a sink depending on what's handy, this sturdy, ergonomically-shaped little potty can travel room to room with us, and it's also good to give Eden a consistent place to go. However, we've even embraced wholeheartedly the idea of pottying her while out and about. Previously we'd only been EC'ing at home, but recently we've taken her to potty when it was convenient (the ladies' room at a restaurant, a friend's bathroom, the great outdoors while we were out for a walk) and it had gone so well that I wondered why we hadn't been doing it all along. After all, grownups go to the bathroom when they're out and about without resorting to crapping in their pants--why should it be any different for babies?
What I do is put Eden on the potty and cue her to go just before we leave the house. Then, if she's showing any signs of fussiness before or when we get to our first destination, I put her on her "travel bowl". I also put her on when we come out of a store or if I nurse her while we're out. While it might sound like a lot of trouble, pulling down her pants and putting her on a bowl is actually less trouble to me than listening to her fuss when she has to go, cry hysterically when she's wet, and attempt to change her wet or dirty diaper in her carseat while she's frantically wiggling--not to mention then taking care of the dirty diaper.
While she occasionally wears a diaper during her fussy time in the evenings or on a long outing, for the most part, she's wearing these 2T training pants (a little baggy, but comfy and absorbent). For clothing, dresses were an easy option in the summer, and her sleep sacks are nice at night (though she hasn't gone at night since she was about a month old, but they're good for those early-morning piddles), but pants are a good easy-up-and-down option too, especially now that the weather is cooler. Some sleepers have snaps that allow strategic access; some don't unsnap in a helpful location, and some have zippers (which require getting her totally undressed to go to the bathroom--fairly impractical). So pants and undies are what she wears most of the time. When we're outside on a walk or coming and going from somewhere, it's incredibly easy to squat down with her, slide her pants down a little, and pee her in the grass. Probably not an option during a cold midwestern winter, though!
So how do we know when she needs to go? Timing is one way: we always put her on the potty and make her "psssss" cueing noise when she first wakes up and right after she eats. I've found that if I have her in a carrier during a nap and pay attention to when she first starts to seem restless, I can often potty her without completely waking her up, and she'll return to sleep and sleep another 30 minutes or so. This wasn't the case with diapers, when she would wake up wet, angry, and have to be changed and wiped (and thus fully awakened). We also pay attention to when she seems distressed, wiggly, or even just distracted--she'll be playing with toys or breastfeeding and suddenly get a faraway look in her eyes, and generally it means she needs to go potty. Sometimes it's just been awhile and it seems like she might need to go. And every once in awhile, as I'd read but not quite believed in various accounts of EC--I just "know" she needs to go. Finally, in addition to the obvious timing of peeing when she wakes up or eats, she has her own patterns that I've come to know. She seems to have a few distinct "wringing out" periods during the day when she'll go as often as every 20 minutes. One occurs around 11am, another sometime between 2:30 and 5, and another shortly before she goes to bed. We try to be especially conscientious about watching her signals and just frequently putting her on the potty during those times. As a result, the rest of the day tends to be pretty predictably dry, so we often take her on walks or even short trips without needing a diaper bag!
At home, we average about 1-3 "misses" per day. These might be times when I don't get a clear signal from her, or times when I miss it because I'm distracted (I've gotten peed on a number of times while talking on the phone or watching a movie. Once, even, while writing this post). She's even pottied when friends of ours are watching her. There are also times when our signals are fine but we end up with a wet lap or bed because we spill the potty or don't get her on at the right angle. However--I'll take my accidents when her pee and poop are totally benign, versus when she's two or three and eating solid foods!
Per Bauer's book, we picked up a Baby Bjorn infant potty for less than $10 on Amazon and we LOVE it. While we occasionally still use the toilet or even a sink depending on what's handy, this sturdy, ergonomically-shaped little potty can travel room to room with us, and it's also good to give Eden a consistent place to go. However, we've even embraced wholeheartedly the idea of pottying her while out and about. Previously we'd only been EC'ing at home, but recently we've taken her to potty when it was convenient (the ladies' room at a restaurant, a friend's bathroom, the great outdoors while we were out for a walk) and it had gone so well that I wondered why we hadn't been doing it all along. After all, grownups go to the bathroom when they're out and about without resorting to crapping in their pants--why should it be any different for babies?
What I do is put Eden on the potty and cue her to go just before we leave the house. Then, if she's showing any signs of fussiness before or when we get to our first destination, I put her on her "travel bowl". I also put her on when we come out of a store or if I nurse her while we're out. While it might sound like a lot of trouble, pulling down her pants and putting her on a bowl is actually less trouble to me than listening to her fuss when she has to go, cry hysterically when she's wet, and attempt to change her wet or dirty diaper in her carseat while she's frantically wiggling--not to mention then taking care of the dirty diaper.
While she occasionally wears a diaper during her fussy time in the evenings or on a long outing, for the most part, she's wearing these 2T training pants (a little baggy, but comfy and absorbent). For clothing, dresses were an easy option in the summer, and her sleep sacks are nice at night (though she hasn't gone at night since she was about a month old, but they're good for those early-morning piddles), but pants are a good easy-up-and-down option too, especially now that the weather is cooler. Some sleepers have snaps that allow strategic access; some don't unsnap in a helpful location, and some have zippers (which require getting her totally undressed to go to the bathroom--fairly impractical). So pants and undies are what she wears most of the time. When we're outside on a walk or coming and going from somewhere, it's incredibly easy to squat down with her, slide her pants down a little, and pee her in the grass. Probably not an option during a cold midwestern winter, though!
So how do we know when she needs to go? Timing is one way: we always put her on the potty and make her "psssss" cueing noise when she first wakes up and right after she eats. I've found that if I have her in a carrier during a nap and pay attention to when she first starts to seem restless, I can often potty her without completely waking her up, and she'll return to sleep and sleep another 30 minutes or so. This wasn't the case with diapers, when she would wake up wet, angry, and have to be changed and wiped (and thus fully awakened). We also pay attention to when she seems distressed, wiggly, or even just distracted--she'll be playing with toys or breastfeeding and suddenly get a faraway look in her eyes, and generally it means she needs to go potty. Sometimes it's just been awhile and it seems like she might need to go. And every once in awhile, as I'd read but not quite believed in various accounts of EC--I just "know" she needs to go. Finally, in addition to the obvious timing of peeing when she wakes up or eats, she has her own patterns that I've come to know. She seems to have a few distinct "wringing out" periods during the day when she'll go as often as every 20 minutes. One occurs around 11am, another sometime between 2:30 and 5, and another shortly before she goes to bed. We try to be especially conscientious about watching her signals and just frequently putting her on the potty during those times. As a result, the rest of the day tends to be pretty predictably dry, so we often take her on walks or even short trips without needing a diaper bag!
At home, we average about 1-3 "misses" per day. These might be times when I don't get a clear signal from her, or times when I miss it because I'm distracted (I've gotten peed on a number of times while talking on the phone or watching a movie. Once, even, while writing this post). She's even pottied when friends of ours are watching her. There are also times when our signals are fine but we end up with a wet lap or bed because we spill the potty or don't get her on at the right angle. However--I'll take my accidents when her pee and poop are totally benign, versus when she's two or three and eating solid foods!
