The Diaper-Free Baby_ The Natural Toilet Training Alternative - Christine Gross-Loh [42]
—LARA, MOM TO RUBY, 12 MONTHS
We’ve done some form of nighttime EC since the beginning. I keep a potty, diapers, and wipes by the bed. If Neshama stirs during a nap or at night, she either wants to nurse, pee, or both. If she wakes up crying or tossing and turning, it’s most likely because she has to pee. I simply take off her diaper, sit her on the potty, offer her the chance to nurse, whisper our tinkle song and give the cue, and she pees. This usually happens just once a night. Sometimes if we’re less in sync, she’ll wake up only after having gone in her diaper. I’ll just quickly change her and we’re back to sleep.
—LAMELLE, MOM TO NESHAMA, 12 MONTHS
Whereas daytime EC’ing can be all over the place, nights have always been stable. We started right away in that we kept his diaper dry by changing it at every feed during the newborn stage, giving him a pee break at changes. In the middle infancy stage I could tell he needed to go because he would squirm or kick.
—CHARNDRA, MOM TO MAVEN, 11 MONTHS
At night I practice EC whenever he wakes up. Nights are easiest for us because there are no distractions. He’ll be sleeping soundly, then suddenly he’ll start grunting and moving. When I take his diaper off, he’ll smile; I’ll walk him right over to the bathroom and give him the cue sound.
—KEVIN, DAD TO KAYDEN, 3 MONTHS
Not EC’ing at Night
Other parents may be intent on preserving the longer stretches of sleep that they have become accustomed to and look at nighttime EC as something that would possibly disrupt this cycle. They may even worry that EC’ing at night would be teaching the baby to wake up at night. In reality, most newborns will stir, even if just slightly, to pee. Eventually, a newborn may learn to sleep through that sensation and pee in his diaper. If you are reluctant to rekindle his awareness, let things continue on as they are in the daytime. Eventually, perhaps in the next stage or two (discussed later in this book), your child will either wake with a clearly expressed need to go to the bathroom and ask for your assistance, as happens with conventionally trained children, or your child will develop the physical capacity to stay dry at night.
We didn’t do EC at night. He was diapered, and if he woke I would take him, but we didn’t make night EC the priority. Sleep was the priority.
—KATHRYN, MOM TO FOUR CHILDREN, INCLUDING T. C., 3
He sleeps twelve hours straight; so there’s no way I can take him to the potty then. After he wakes up with a wet diaper, I simply give him a few minutes and then take him to the potty.
—SABA, MOM TO KENAN, 7 MONTHS
We don’t EC at night. I’m usually an all-or-nothing person, but in this case I know it is more important for me and my family that I get a good night’s sleep. I am a much better mother when I am well rested.
—BETH, MOM TO ZEV, 9, ARAVA, 6, TEMIMA, 3, AND EDEN, 4 MONTHS
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Nighttime Setup
If you’re EC’ing at nighttime, here are some strategies. Keep in mind safe-sleeping guidelines and be careful not to allow loose material near your young baby’s face.
Put a protective waterproof sheet under the bedsheet
Use a large fleece or wool pad or a PULpad on top of the bedsheet
Put a diaper or training pant on baby that is easy to change in the nighttime. Some parents have their babies lie diaperless on a loose prefold that they can just change if baby wets it. Again, if doing this, please keep safe-sleeping guidelines in mind.
Keep a potty near the bed. Some people put a little diaper in the bottom to soak up any pee so you don’t have to get up and empty until morning
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Common Questions and Concerns Overheard at a DiaperFreeBaby Support Meeting
Q. “If my baby is going to the bathroom in different potties, toilets, sinks,