Logistics

This is her first time being on the potty! And she went right away!

 So I thought I would describe a little bit about how we do this whole potty training business in case anyone is interested in trying or just curious. For the first 4 days after she was born we would cue her with a "psst" sound every time we knew she was going potty. Since she was wearing a disposable diaper we didn't get to cue her very often but did when we could. Then when we first started actually giving her opportunities they were mostly based off of timing. Babies don't usually pee or poo in their sleep so they most often need to immediately after waking up...just like we do! So every time she woke up I would put her on her toilet. And almost every time (unless I was too late) she would pee or poop! It was amazing! Each time she went we would make our cue sound to establish the meaning of the sound. She learned very quickly what it meant. Once we began ECing we also began putting her in cloth diapers so we could tell when she was eliminating and could cue her quickly.

Daddy's first time holding her while she goes.

After a couple of days of watching her and pottying after her waking up I started to pick up on her own cues. Babies know when they need to potty contrary to what some doctors will tell you. They feel the urge to release just like we do and can even control the sphincter to hold it (just not as long as we can). Sammy gets grunty when she needs to go and will grunt almost every single time! There are only rare occasions where I don't hear her grunting but it could just be that I didn't hear. Another thing she does is when she is feeding if she is wet or needs to pee she will lick my nipple instead of eating. This was frustrating to me before I figured out why she does this but now that I know its an easy fix.

Currently this is our routine; During most days I keep her in a prefold with a snappi or just bare bum with a prefold under her. I also keep a fleece blanket under her at all time because it is mostly waterproof as long as she doesn't sit on it for a long time. We don't particularly like getting peed on so this keeps us dry. (Although there have been a few times where I felt daring and held her without it...then regretted that decision.) I try to pay attention to the noises she is making throughout the day to listen for her grunts but sometimes I miss them or don't have enough time to react but we catch most everyday. If I am busy and I know that I won't be able to hear her I will put a cover on.

Another interesting note is that most babies won't potty when they are being worn in a carrier or in a car seat. So when I wear her in my wrap I usually keep her in just a prefold without a cover unless I am going to keep her in the wrap for a long time. Then I put a cover on her and try to give her a break to potty.

When we go out in public that's when things get tricky. I have always put a cover on her when we go out because I really don't want pee to get on her car seat. I try to always give her the opportunity to potty before we leave the house. I have hear other moms do this and also when they take their babies out of the car seat since that's when the babies will usually go. But I either forget to do this or don't want to wake her if she is sleeping. Then there is the issue of public bathrooms. If a bathroom doesn't have a changing station I have to set up shop on the floor which is disgusting to me! But I have tried doing it in my arms and that's a disaster. I take off her diaper and cover and then hold her in my arms over the toilet. She does her thing and then I put the hopefully dry diaper back on. Or put on a clean one if necessary. We keep a wet bag in the diaper bag to bring dirty diapers home. If the bathroom is a one toilet room I will hold her over the sink which is much easier on my back. When we are out at someone's house I sit on their toilet backwards and hold her in my arms.

These shirts are perfect for ECing so that we don't have to keep unsnapping a onesie.

I do keep a Tupperware in the car to potty her in there if necessary but we don't use it very often because I don't like it. There is a type of travel size potty that's supposed to fit nicely between your legs that I want but can't get right now. If we are near some grass and not any nosy onlookers I will sometimes potty her over the grass.

Then for our nighttime routine that can differ as well. It really depends on when you ask me! Last week we were keeping her in just a prefold and placing a flannel blanket under her so that we don't have to change the sheets if we miss. But I kept not waking up in time and missing over and over again so I started putting her back in a cover again. Ironically now that I have been doing that I have been waking up and catching almost all the pees in the night! Oh well.

So there are the logistics to what we do.