kim through
   the looking glass

I just got back from Little Bird’s Nest program (storytime for kids 0-3!) and after chatting with my good friend, the owner of Re•Diaper, I realized it’s high time I put up a review of the beautiful Little Beetle Organic Wool Underwear we bought for Gwen a few weeks ago.

When Gwen first began to make it through the day with taking herself to the potty when she needed to go, we decided it was high time to introduce the need to wear underwear, along with the concept that, unlike diapers, one should not urinate/defecate in them. Read the rest of this entry »

I figured it’s about time that I give a little potty update. After a great start to practicing natural infant hygiene and slowly getting better, I feel mostly like a NIH success story! I honestly didn’t believe this could work without a tonne of work.

And honestly?

After the first month or so, it feels like less work.

Although Gil doesn’t have a normal rhythm to his bladder/bowel habits - that I’ve consciously discerned, anyways! - we manage to catch quite a bit! He’s becoming good at signaling his needs and sometimes it’s very easy to tell that he needs to pee - he will often start fussing and otherwise show that he’s uncomfortable and if he’s nursng, he’ll pop on and off the breast. I continue to hold him over a potty (we have this one) during diaper changes as well a any time I intuitively feel he may have to go.

Some days I catch 10 or 12 pees and he goes hours without having a wet diaper. Other days I catch 1 or 2 and it seems like I’m always missing his cues. I probably miss 2 or 3 poops a week.

At night, Gil was soaking through both his (disposable!) diaper and sleeper nightly (sometimes several times per night) so I decided to abandon the disposable and go for cloth. When he starts stirring at night, I try to remind myself it’s either let him pee or change his diaper. Depending on how tired I’m feeling, I’ll potty him or change him if it’s too late. Often, he’ll settle right back down to sleep with no fuss if it was just the need to pee. If he’s hungry, he nurses pretty quickly and goes right back to sleep. I thought it was a bit impossible to think that babies don’t pee in their sleep, but now I know otherwise - Gil pees only when fully awake or when he’s stirring/fussing while in a very light sleep. In fact on a few separate occasions, he has slept 9:30 until between 3 and 5:30, waking to eat with a dry diaper! I’m amazed!!

Gwen is doing well too! We’re now at the point where she is ready to wear underwear at home and perhaps some wool underwear (like these) when we’re out of the house. Nights are a different story - she’s not waking up to tell us she needs to pee anymore - but that’s okay. It’ll come.

Gil pees a LOT. I remember reading some Natural Infant Hygiene (NIH) information that said some babies pee every 15 minutes. “Holycrap,” I remember thinking. “That’s impossible!”

It’s not impossible. I think Gil pees that often - at least for part of the day.

While I haven’t been completely consistent in pottying Gil, I have figured out over the past week or so that he’s likely to oblige me with a pee every time I hold him over the potty. So that I don’t have to bend quite so far, we’ve relegated an old stainless steel bowl to potty use. It stays under the change table and I can put in on the table to hold him over during diaper changes.

Today, for example, I’ve caught three pees and a poop and I’ve done nothing more than hold him over a bowl after I’ve got his diaper - which I’m changing because it’s wet - off. That’s four more diapers I don’t have to change

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