I caught my first pee!
Wow, that title seems odd.
While I’ve been witness to a few of Gil’s pees and have been able to make the cue sound (’pssssssss’), I’ve never purposefully caught one.
Until just now.
I’ve read everywhere about how you’re most likely to catch a pee just after a nap, since babies tend not to want to soil their sleeping area.
Makes sense to me - what other animals encourage their young to do so?
So as Gil was waking from his long afternoon nap (12-2:45PM today!), I removed his (dry!) diaper to nurse him and observe his cues. He nursed a long while on the first side with no sign of a pee and then pulled off, arched his back and straightened his legs. I held him in the basic under-thigh hold over our potty insert.
And he peed!
I made the cueing sound as he peed and aimed the stream a bit and he finished. I offered again after the second time, thinking he might have to poop, but he didn’t.
Yay for our first Natural Infant Hygiene success!
***UPDATE***
Just after I hit ‘post’, Gil came off the second side doing some fussing and leg stretching. So I figured, ‘what the heck!’ and took him over to the potty. Took off the (still dry!) diaper and held him over it in position - immediate pee! I was so taken aback I didn’t manage to cue him until pretty well after he finished. He was still a bit squirmy, so I said, “Do you need to poop?” and made a grunting sound, being sure to flex my abs. And my little man pooped! Wow. I can’t believe this crazy stuff works 
Rachel said,
March 2, 2010 @ 4:45 am
Congratulations! as a fellow ECer, I remember how exciting those first catches can be. Have fun with it.
kim said,
March 2, 2010 @ 4:48 am
Thanks, Rachel!
Shannon said,
March 2, 2010 @ 9:59 pm
that’s great! I wanted to do EC so badly, but just never got around to it
Kathryn said,
March 2, 2010 @ 10:59 pm
Just wondering, how messy are those catches? I can remember changing a few of Rhys’ first diapers and him peeing all over the place. I can’t imagine what a EBF poop is like.
Jen said,
March 4, 2010 @ 4:41 am
Good for you, Kim! I don’t know if I’d have the commitment to do EC but it’s such a neat idea I will definitely read more about it.
kim said,
March 4, 2010 @ 10:17 am
Kathryn, I have to aim his penis into the potty, and often there’s a little spray that I miss, but otherwise it’s been fine. You’re holding them over the pot, so the poops I’ve caught have just sat there like any poop! LOL
Jen, it’s a really neat process! We’re doing it really part-time and relaxed. Yesterday I caught 4 pees and a poop, today only two pees. I’m not stressing about it!
Tammy said,
March 6, 2010 @ 1:22 pm
Maybe I’m wrong, but to me it seems like it would be more work instead of less. ??
kim said,
March 7, 2010 @ 8:15 pm
LOL Tammy, fair enough! The idea is that if you get to know their rhythms and listen to them communicate about it, then it’s *not* any more work. Either way, you’re dealing with their elimination - one way, you’re changing a diaper after the fact (and if you’re using cloth, generally right away anyways!), the other way, you’re dealing with it in-the-moment. It’s more a shift in thinking about it. Taking off a diaper and holding baby over a potty to eliminate isn’t any more work, really, than changing a dirty diaper, it’s just more in-tune with his/her immediate needs.