I'll admit it. Day 1 wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I'd read lots of EC enthusiasts online and they encouraged me to, "just give it one day." If you are a parent who wants to try EC and are not super on the ball the first day, I'd have to encourage you to give it just one more than that…that’s what we needed to convince us anyway.
DAY 1, Sunday- Griff is home and we are both going to try to watch Fauna’s signs and put her on the potty.
I dunno, what am I looking for exactly? Random, adamant kicking seemed as good a sign as any, so when Fauna’s little stems started air-pedaling, I held her over the sink and made the sound cue a few times. She just stared back at herself in the mirror and laughed.
"This isn't going to work. How on earth would she know that I want her to pee right now?" I was Debbie Downer after just the first try.
Several hours later I felt that she needed to go. Can't explain it, but it's the same feeling I have when I peek in on her while she’s napping, sensing she is awake, and low and behold, she's just opening her eyes.
"I think she has to go." I told Griff. He took her diaper off and held her over the toilet.
"Sssshhhhhhh. Sssshhhhhhh." and then, "Mandy! She's going! "
I heard the tinkle in the toily as I popped my head into the bathroom. My ten week old had just peed on the potty! It must have been a fluke; no way could she have learned the sound cue that fast.
Griff was so excited that Fauna had chosen his turn to make things happen, that he watched her like a hawk for hours.
"How did you know she needed to go?" he asked.
"I just did."
"Well, that's not going to help us learn her signs."
"I know."
We did decide to set one thing in stone though-the sound cue. Griff had been using a, “sssshhhhh” sound and I was taking more of a “pssssspsssss” approach. I didn’t think this was a huge deal until I realized that “ssssshhhhh” is what I also use to comfort her when she’s having trouble sleeping. I have done absolutely no research on whether or not this matters even the teensiest bit. While the two sounds might be totally inconsequential, to me there is a huge difference between a voiceless postalveolar fricative (sh) and the combination of a voiceless bilabial plosive (p) with a voiceless alveolar fricative (s). DORKY, I know, but it annoyed me! You can take the girl from the classroom but you can’t take the classroom out of the girl. I needed to settle on our phonetic cue… “psssspssss” it was.
As the first day came to a close, I was still doubtful of everything except my ability to recall useless information like the names of phonemes.
I'd give it one more day.
DAY 2, Monday- I’m at home, Griff is at work.
The baby hadn't gone "big potty" at all during the first day. This is normal for an infant her age, but I've learned that when she skips a day, the following is usually a doosey. I'd read that a good way to start learning the baby's schedule is to just assume that they need to go when they wake up and a few minutes after they've completed eating/ drinking. Makes sense, that's when us big people usually need to go too. Indeed most babies have somewhat of a bowel schedule just like adults. So, on the second day as soon as she was awake and alert, I took her diaper off, knelt by the toilet and held her in a squat position.
"Pssssspssssss. Pssssssspssssssss. Go potty Baby. It's okay. Pssspsssssss. Psssssspsssss."
Holy literal crap!
She was pooing!!!
Little mustard-yellow tubes of breast milk poo were dropping into the toilet and floating to the bottom! I had never seen baby poo in this, its truest form. I'm so used to it being smashed all over the place or oozing out of a diaper that I was taken aback. Indeed in its original state, it is the shape of a baby's large intestine. My thoughts: "Go figure.” and “Duh, of course!" I was a little embarrassed in front of myself for being so shocked by the obvious.
Upon witnessing the gruntings of my daughter followed by her dainty golden poops, I became elated. My psssssssing got stronger and louder as I was cheering her on from behind and kissing her thinly-haired head from above.
"Good job Fauna Baby!!! You are doing so gooooood! (muah) Keep going!!! (muah, muah) You are so smart! That's it...anymore? Oh yes, there you go! (muah) You're doing great!" I had to be careful not to cheer too loudly in her little ear. She must have thought I was an idiot. "Um, Mom, I'm just pooping. Chill."
I wiped her practically royal butt as her head bobbled around, like it always does, completely unaware of what she had just done and how fricking ecstatic she had made her mother. Fauna was just doing the same ol’ same ol, sans diaper, but by allowing me to see what she was capable of I became inspired.(Sounds silly, like pooping is something unique and wonderful that my child is capable of!?)
Yes, sh*t happens, and when it does, it’s INSPIRING!
I called Griff at work to tell him the good news. It was clear by his voice that he was grinning from ear to ear. Grinning. Can you believe how a little poop can make a parent’s day?
So, for the rest of the day I watched her a little more closely. I “pottied” her when she woke from naps and before she went down for a nap, figuring that if she could get a little out, she’d have less to lie in while sleeping. I also pottied her after she ate or in the middle of a meal if she popped off and on the breast a lot. Sometimes she didn’t have to go, but almost all the time she did. I knew that this was all perfectly normal but I just kept on being shocked by every pee.
I didn’t take her diaper off between potty visits because I knew I wasn’t going to be super strict with rushing to the toilet and I still wanted to keep things tidy. Regardless of this, she used the toilet six times by the end of day two. I was hooked.
Even if we didn’t make it to the toilet every time she had to empty, even if we were still using diapers, this was a big deal. The thought of my daughter napping in a less-wet diaper or allowing her to have one less poo-sit made me happy. There are environmental benefits to using EC and I was having to wipe a peanut-butter-poop bottom waaaay less, which was convenient, but at the end of the day I was going to keep at this because it made me feel like a good mom. I am listening to my child, before she is capable of talking or even signing.
We started to get it. We weren’t reading all of Fauna’s signs yet, we were just sort of making it up as we went, but we started to understand what all the EC fuss was about.
DAY 1, Sunday- Griff is home and we are both going to try to watch Fauna’s signs and put her on the potty.
I dunno, what am I looking for exactly? Random, adamant kicking seemed as good a sign as any, so when Fauna’s little stems started air-pedaling, I held her over the sink and made the sound cue a few times. She just stared back at herself in the mirror and laughed.
"This isn't going to work. How on earth would she know that I want her to pee right now?" I was Debbie Downer after just the first try.
Several hours later I felt that she needed to go. Can't explain it, but it's the same feeling I have when I peek in on her while she’s napping, sensing she is awake, and low and behold, she's just opening her eyes.
"I think she has to go." I told Griff. He took her diaper off and held her over the toilet.
"Sssshhhhhhh. Sssshhhhhhh." and then, "Mandy! She's going! "
I heard the tinkle in the toily as I popped my head into the bathroom. My ten week old had just peed on the potty! It must have been a fluke; no way could she have learned the sound cue that fast.
Griff was so excited that Fauna had chosen his turn to make things happen, that he watched her like a hawk for hours.
"How did you know she needed to go?" he asked.
"I just did."
"Well, that's not going to help us learn her signs."
"I know."
We did decide to set one thing in stone though-the sound cue. Griff had been using a, “sssshhhhh” sound and I was taking more of a “pssssspsssss” approach. I didn’t think this was a huge deal until I realized that “ssssshhhhh” is what I also use to comfort her when she’s having trouble sleeping. I have done absolutely no research on whether or not this matters even the teensiest bit. While the two sounds might be totally inconsequential, to me there is a huge difference between a voiceless postalveolar fricative (sh) and the combination of a voiceless bilabial plosive (p) with a voiceless alveolar fricative (s). DORKY, I know, but it annoyed me! You can take the girl from the classroom but you can’t take the classroom out of the girl. I needed to settle on our phonetic cue… “psssspssss” it was.
As the first day came to a close, I was still doubtful of everything except my ability to recall useless information like the names of phonemes.
I'd give it one more day.
DAY 2, Monday- I’m at home, Griff is at work.
The baby hadn't gone "big potty" at all during the first day. This is normal for an infant her age, but I've learned that when she skips a day, the following is usually a doosey. I'd read that a good way to start learning the baby's schedule is to just assume that they need to go when they wake up and a few minutes after they've completed eating/ drinking. Makes sense, that's when us big people usually need to go too. Indeed most babies have somewhat of a bowel schedule just like adults. So, on the second day as soon as she was awake and alert, I took her diaper off, knelt by the toilet and held her in a squat position.
"Pssssspssssss. Pssssssspssssssss. Go potty Baby. It's okay. Pssspsssssss. Psssssspsssss."
Holy literal crap!
She was pooing!!!
Little mustard-yellow tubes of breast milk poo were dropping into the toilet and floating to the bottom! I had never seen baby poo in this, its truest form. I'm so used to it being smashed all over the place or oozing out of a diaper that I was taken aback. Indeed in its original state, it is the shape of a baby's large intestine. My thoughts: "Go figure.” and “Duh, of course!" I was a little embarrassed in front of myself for being so shocked by the obvious.
Upon witnessing the gruntings of my daughter followed by her dainty golden poops, I became elated. My psssssssing got stronger and louder as I was cheering her on from behind and kissing her thinly-haired head from above.
"Good job Fauna Baby!!! You are doing so gooooood! (muah) Keep going!!! (muah, muah) You are so smart! That's it...anymore? Oh yes, there you go! (muah) You're doing great!" I had to be careful not to cheer too loudly in her little ear. She must have thought I was an idiot. "Um, Mom, I'm just pooping. Chill."
I wiped her practically royal butt as her head bobbled around, like it always does, completely unaware of what she had just done and how fricking ecstatic she had made her mother. Fauna was just doing the same ol’ same ol, sans diaper, but by allowing me to see what she was capable of I became inspired.(Sounds silly, like pooping is something unique and wonderful that my child is capable of!?)
Yes, sh*t happens, and when it does, it’s INSPIRING!
I called Griff at work to tell him the good news. It was clear by his voice that he was grinning from ear to ear. Grinning. Can you believe how a little poop can make a parent’s day?
So, for the rest of the day I watched her a little more closely. I “pottied” her when she woke from naps and before she went down for a nap, figuring that if she could get a little out, she’d have less to lie in while sleeping. I also pottied her after she ate or in the middle of a meal if she popped off and on the breast a lot. Sometimes she didn’t have to go, but almost all the time she did. I knew that this was all perfectly normal but I just kept on being shocked by every pee.
I didn’t take her diaper off between potty visits because I knew I wasn’t going to be super strict with rushing to the toilet and I still wanted to keep things tidy. Regardless of this, she used the toilet six times by the end of day two. I was hooked.
Even if we didn’t make it to the toilet every time she had to empty, even if we were still using diapers, this was a big deal. The thought of my daughter napping in a less-wet diaper or allowing her to have one less poo-sit made me happy. There are environmental benefits to using EC and I was having to wipe a peanut-butter-poop bottom waaaay less, which was convenient, but at the end of the day I was going to keep at this because it made me feel like a good mom. I am listening to my child, before she is capable of talking or even signing.
We started to get it. We weren’t reading all of Fauna’s signs yet, we were just sort of making it up as we went, but we started to understand what all the EC fuss was about.
That's my niece! Go Fauna!
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