Saturday, August 11, 2012

EC and our 7 month old!

  Well it has been a little while since I have updated about how the natural infant hygiene is going. I have been busy planning Ceaghans 3rd Birthday party and coordinating our local Improving Birth Rally For Change. Cesilee is now 7 months old. She can sit up on her own and even propels herself up from sitting on the potty to standing. She is not crawling yet though, she hasn't mastered both the arm and leg movements and ends up doing this very cute inch worm thing. She has been doing so amazing with giving us signs that she needs to eliminate. She urgently babbles, pops on a off the breast while nursing and even cries if its urgent. She is still dry during naps and goes upon waking and then around 15-20 minutes after that sometimes. Something that shocked me was that I randomly put her in her Grovia  diapers going out for a few days in a row and she did better in them than she ever did in trainers! I dont understand why but she would hold it longer and be more persistent about expressing her need. I dont really love having her in diapers, they are bulky and more work to get on and off. I was almost about to just only use them though if she had more success in them. But we started putting her in her trainers again and she is now expressing the need just as much in them!
  Chris is having more success as well. He would often miss her signs and end up with a lap full of pee before. But now she is getting his attention. I think the introduction of the tiny potty has helped as well. I purchased a Baby Bjorn smart potty, a clear tiny potty, and a pottete plus travel potty. I first bought the bjorn and she really was loving being able to sit on it on her own (she could even before being able to actually sit unassisted) and I realized that we were having more success using it. Before the potties I was walking her to the bathroom and holding her over the sink or the toilet to go. This was successful until she started reaching and grabbing things and becoming very distracted. On the little potty she can have a teether or toy to keep her hands busy. I keep the baby bjorn potty in the living room and the tiny clear potty on  the end corner of my bed. The pottete plus travel potty is great for keeping in your bag/vehicle. It has disposable liners but you can just put it on top of prefolds and then throw the soiled ones in a wet bag. I bought it because she had gotten so comfortable with going on the tiny potty at home that she didn't want to go being held over and sink or toilet while we were out. Also it is very convenient when we are at an outdoor location like a park that doesn't have a restroom.  I continue to get surprised how well EC goes while we are out. She will sleep on the way somewhere, wake up going in the carrier, eat, sleep some more and then wake up and get back to the car before going. Its amazing how much control babies have. She really does want to wait until her potty opportunity to go. Just from that you can see that this isn't something parents/caregivers force onto babies, it is what babies prefer and the parents/caregivers learn to help facilitate.
    We are still trying to figure out nighttime. I make an effort but it isn't going amazing. She isn't a loud demanding baby, she fusses lightly and even finds her own way to nurse while I am sleeping if she needs it. I think the issue is that I am not waking up when she is fussing the tiny bit she does before peeing. She can hold it for a while and then when she gets to an uncomfortable point she will fuss and release it all at once. This happens half way through the night and in the morning. I have tried waking up at 1am and sitting her on the potty, but she screams and cries and protests against it. She will not go and I think mostly she just is not awake enough. I am not sure what to do about this. We could try investing in layers of wool for the bed and keeping her nude with prefolds under her. I think that will be our next attempt for night. We will have random nights where I can get her to pee while nursing/still asleep and when she wakes up dry in the morning she releases a large amount in the potty. I wish every night could be like that. I'm sure in time it will get easier.

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