Back At It

After getting out of the habit and having house guests for a long time we are starting to get back in to the natural infant hygiene. I thought about just waiting until the potty chair that we ordered to come to start again but had a few opportunities so I went for it.

It has mostly just been cueing him to go when I'm already changing his diaper. Between the cold air and timing of the event I can usually get him to go about half the time on the changing table in to a wash cloth. (I did try to discretely cue him to urinate on his grandma when she was changing him but didn't have any luck. I thought it would be funny but I guess he wasn't in to my joke.)

Today he was squirming around and fussing a little when he seemed tired. He would wake up and suck on a pacifier and kick and then fall asleep for a couple minutes. He threw some minor crying in to the mix a couple times.



I started going through the list in my head... Hungry? No tried that. Need to burp? No, good there too. Tired? Seems like it, why won't he fall asleep? Oh! He needs to go to the bathroom!

Off we went to the bathroom. I put him on the changing area and took off his already quite wet diaper. There was only a little poop. I put the cloth over his spout and started cleaning him a little. He seemed much more relaxed on the table with his diaper off than on his bedding.

He almost immediately pooped. A lot. He kicked a little but was looking around smiling and seemed relaxed and content. He also wet the cloth. Great! I made the cue sound and told him that he pooped and wet so we can associate those words and sounds.

He pooped again! I was a little surprised because he seemed so relaxed about it. I am now wondering if I can avoid much of the squirming wake up / fall back asleep fussy process we can avoid just by letting him go in the bathroom rather than leaving him in his bed and diaper to just let him finish there.

After we cleaned up and got his clean diaper on I mentioned how good it felt to be clean. I never say "good boy" for going potty in the right place. I might say good job but mostly I just tell him that he wet or pooped, make the cue sound, tell him how it feels good to be clean and then carry on with life.

Then we tried this whole nap thing again. He hadn't slept for more than twenty minutes consecutively all day but has been asleep for over an hour now that he is all clean and has eliminated

Maybe I am exaggerating the importance of it but I really think being clean and going to the bathroom plays a much larger role in infant contentment than most people believe.

A Short Break from the Natural Infant Hygiene Method

Well maybe I made the wrong decision but I sort of took a break from nih for awhile after he recently got circumcised.

Part of the reason is because I didn't want to stress him out or bother him any more than he already was. 

Another reason is because I had family in town helping out so we were able to keep him changed and dry pretty easily by paying attention. I didn't want to ask them to try to do this when they were already willing to keep him clean in their own way. I've been exhausted so any help is appreciated and I don't think I could have kept it up anyway.

As expected, we have been able to pick up where we left off anyway. He still lets us know when he needs to go. In fact, my mom noted that he is bothered by soiled diapers more than any baby she has known. Atta boy!

I'm looking forward to getting a potty seat to see if that will help with positioning and such. What a fun adventure!

Poop is Either Annoying or Funny - You Choose

Of course, when dealing with human waste some funny things are bound to happen. The other day I was wiping his bottom with a wet wash cloth. I thought he was finished, but no! I'm lucky the cloth was in the way or that poop would have been everywhere, probably including my face since I was looking closely to make sure I got it all. Whew! 

That was a messy little (big) bowel movement and he urinated at the same time, so he got a bath. He loves baths! (Maybe he dirties himself all over so he can take more?) 

After he was all clean and dressed I noticed he was fussing so I went to change his diaper. I set him down and got his dirty diaper off and realized I had just tossed all the cloths I use to cover his penis during changing in the laundry. And, there were no diapers in the room. I ran to the other room to grab a diaper and came back to him whizzing all over the wall. He has some great range!

So much for that outfit, he got it wet. I think we went through four or five in a few hours. He had heard the rumor that I was almost caught up on laundry. 

The other day I read a sign that he needed to go. I was right! However, not about what he needed to do. I put him in a good position for bowels and he promptly urinated all over my face and then the rest of the bathroom. 

I thought about how interesting the whole cycle was. I eat food, make it into breast milk, feed it to him, he eliminates it and it ends up back in my mouth again. All I can do is laugh! (And brush my teeth.)

Sometimes he would cry when he wet (whether he was in a diaper or we caught it successfully) I feared that he was in pain somehow. But, after seeing him contentedly pee on the walls, my clothes and on my face I realized that he wasn't in pain-he was just disappointed about missing his target.

Part of communication is laughing together. We have had some fun, and that is a success to me whether it is ideal natural infant hygiene or not. 

Do you have any funny stories with elimination communication? Share with us in the comments below!

Successful Natural Infant Hygiene

Wow that was just about perfect!

Last night we went through more than seven poops and pees and only used one diaper.

We put little boy to bed in a diaper and he woke me up about two hours later squirming and whimpering some. I got out of bed and took him to the bathroom where he still had a clean diaper. He went in the sink (number one and number two) after signaling that he was going to go by squirming and pulling away from nursing.
I put him back in to bed after nursing but this time just wrapped him in a towel with no diaper. He's got a little rash so I wanted him to breathe some.

This time when he woke me up a couple hours later he had wet in the towel and there was a small amount of poop. Usually if he farts a little comes out. I took him to the bathroom where he released the full amount of both. It seemed clear that he had tried not to go in the bed.

As the night wore on I got less responsive. Shame on me. It is hard to wake up sometimes when I'm hoping he will just go back to sleep. I don't know why I hope for something that has never happened and shouldn't happen. If he has a wet or soiled diaper I want him to wake me up especially if he has a sore bottom already.

I was really excited that we caught the ones that we did and that of worked so perfectly. The temptation now is to expect it to work so well every time. Already today it is not going so well. Part of it is that I'm not as responsive because I've been busy trying to accomplish something ... Anything ... Around the house and he doesn't seem to want to sleep unless I'm holding him and we are sitting or laying down. Half a load of laundry, part of the dishwasher, lunch at 3:00... Maybe I need to just enjoy his company since I have no choice anyway. Although, I do feel pretty clever about writing this post on my phone while he is laying down nursing.

All in all, the experience last night has given me some renewed hope!

Ignoring a Squirmy Baby

Ignoring a Squirmy Baby

After just a couple weeks of practicing the natural infant hygiene method I can communicate with my infant enough to know quite often when he needs to go to the bathroom. You'd think this would mean I would take him every time and it would work out really well and we would be saving many diapers.

Well sometimes he communicates clearly and I ignore him. I feel so bad even thinking about it. But, sometimes in the night (or when I'm tired during the day) I see baby squirming and kicking his legs. He whimpers and struggles. I know this means he has to go but I ignore it. I try to justify it to myself by saying "oh maybe he will just go back to sleep" or "my back is too sore to hold him in position-it could be a couple minutes before he is ready".

But then of course he eventually just goes in his diaper even though he gave me ample time to catch it and take him to the bathroom. He doesn't want to go in his diaper. He prefers to be clean and dry just like adults but sometimes I'm just too lazy to give him that courtesy. It is shameful really. Especially considering the fact that much of the time I have the knowledge that he needs to go. Most parents don't notice so it is understandable but since I'm making the effort to notice I should be responsible enough to respond to his communication.

Granted, sometimes I don't notice or he goes in his sleep. I don't feel bad about it if I don't see any signs of communication or if we both just slept through it. These things happen. However, when we have successful communication we should successfully avoid making him wet his pants.

Two Weeks Old Update

Well, yesterday he was two weeks old and I intended to write a post about how things are going, but it turns out having a new baby keeps you kind of busy!

So far so good. Things are going better than expected in some ways, and are more troublesome in others. Right now my biggest enemies to Natural Infant Hygiene are:

• Lack of Sleep - It is hard to work up the motivation to get out of bed fast enough to catch it when he needs to go.
• Sore Muscles - It takes a little while for him to actually go when I'm holding him in position so my back gets sore, plus it takes even longer when I misread signs. 
• Positioning - We are getting better at aiming his urine spray, but it is still a challenge.
• Fussing - He sometimes fusses when he has to go, and that is heartbreaking. I'm not sure if he is in pain or if it is just a newborn thing. Doctors say it is fine, but I hope I'm not doing anything wrong.

The strongest motivators to continue Elimination Communication are: 

• Diaper Rash - I noticed a little bit of redness on his poor little bum. I'm sure leaving him in messy diapers is the cause and it sure isn't fair to do that to such a cute little guy.
• Supportive Husband - He doesn't participate in it, but sometimes he will read the signs and ask if I want to try to get him to go. That is way more than I expected, so that is encouraging.
• Small Victories - Every diaper saved, every sign read correctly, and every small success is a huge motivator to continue on. 
• Clunky Diapers Seem Uncomfortable - Whenever I put a diaper on him I think about how uncomfortable it must be on his soft delicate skin. He looks so much more comfortable when I let him lay down on some blankets in the buff.

After two weeks it doesn't seem like I can give it a fair assessment if Natural Infant Hygiene will work in the long term. Everything is new and changes so quickly in the beginning. It is certainly worth continuing to try though! 

Well! Duty calls! He's pooping and spitting up right now. Wish me luck!