First Week of Elimination Communication

I know I'm probably doing it wrong but I still consider our progress with Natural Infant Hygiene to be a success so far.

When baby wakes up I start nursing him right away. Hungry growing boy! I then take him to the bathroom and remove the diaper. I assess if he has soiled it or not. Most of the time there is some urine in it, we are still working on catching those. I figure at this stage I'm better off letting him squirm and go back to sleep in case I'm reading his signals wrong. He is tired and so am I. We are just starting so if we miss most of them it isn't a big deal.

Then I hold him over the sink while I nurse and watch for signals. I watch his face and body language to see if I notice anything different before he starts to go. Most of the time during a nursing session he will eliminate at least once. Usually it is around when we switch from one side to the other. 

Even as I'm holding him here I don't catch all the signals and am caught off guard most of the time. So I'm not going to try to brag that I catch it most of the time because I think it is mostly the fact that I spend a lot of time nursing in the bathroom. (This is starting to take its toll on my back and shoulders so we are going to figure something else out.) 

Still, as I'm nursing and give him a little sponge bath or get the new diaper ready or sing him a song he usually goes. We avoid the crying session of me having to take his old diaper off and put the new one on before he eats. I just take the old one off and clean him up if necessary all while he is nursing. Then I usually wait until he looks calm to put the new diaper on if we are not going to wait for him to eliminate (or if he already did at least once.) 

I guess at this point I figure, I know within about a 45 minute window when he is going to go, so if I can stay in a place where it is appropriate for him to go then it isn't any less convenient than having to change his diaper three times during a feeding session. 

This way, too, I can make the cue sound while he is actively eliminating and help to teach him what that means. Plus I can clean him immediately and let his delicate parts air out for awhile before putting the diaper on him. 

It isn't perfect, but we are learning every day! That's the fun part. Okay, the real fun part is spending time with my special little man.