Potty Training Has Already Begun!!!

During my pregnancy, I read about "Elimination Communication." I thought we'd try to potty train our baby from Day 1. It didn't quite work out that way. First, I was in a lot of pain from the C-section - After the 1st day, I didn't take any pain meds. Second, although it seemed easy on Google, it wasn't so. We are first-time parents and are afraid of most everything. So we just figured that we'd change his diaper as soon as he soils it. That way, he won't get used to the feeling of wallowing in his urine or poop.

During his first few days, he wasn't soiling his diaper that much. My milk hadn't come in, so he was a bit dehydrated. But after my milk came in (around the second week or so) and he was feeding more, he went potty a lot more. So we were constantly changing diapers. Sometimes, we were changing his diaper several times an hour. Sometimes, his diaper needed changing about once an hour. We kept an eating/urinating/pooping chart. Today, January 26th, we're on the 35th page!

Anyway...

In the beginning (when he was about 3 weeks old), he would fuss and whine. We went through a list of what could be upsetting him. Was he hungry? I tried feeding him but he would only eat a little and still fuss. Was he too hot or too cold? Did he want to change positions? We held him different ways. Still fussy. Was he tired? We tried rocking him to sleep. Nope, still fussy. Did his diaper need changing? BTW, we were using Nature Babycare, Tushies, and Seventh Generation (all are supposed to be less toxic than the regular commercial diapers, plus better for the environment). And that's when we discovered that his diaper was dirty. We looked for clues beforehand but there were none - or at least we didn't recognize them at the time.

It took us several times before we realized that he had a different tone to his whine whenever he pottied. On December 19th, when he was just 47 days old, our baby urinated in the Baby Bjorn potty for the first time. He fussed and whined because he did not want to go in his diaper. So we put him on the potty (just to see) and he urinated. We were so happy and proud that our smart baby didn't want to go potty in his diaper! Below is a pic of our son at 47 days old pottying for the first time in the Baby Bjorn.



The next day, he went potty in the Baby Bjorn potty three times and one of those times he actually went poopy. What a bonus! He fussed and whined like he had a wet diaper but the diaper would be dry. It was frustrating for us because we couldn't figure out what was wrong. So, just for grins, we held him on the Baby Bjorn and made a 'psss' sound and he urinated right away! Then one time all of a sudden he pooped in the potty too. We were so proud. Not even seven weeks old and he was wanting to be potty trained.

The following day (49 days old), he continued on his trend to going potty in the Baby Bjorn potty. Of course there were potty accidents in the diapers, but that's only because we failed to get him to the potty in time.

Here is our son on the potty at only 59 days old.



Fast-forward to today, January 26th. Our son is 12w1d old, and he is almost 100% potty trained!! It's been a long time since he's used a disposable diaper. Instead, he's been using cloth diapers for a few weeks now. After much research, we decided to use:

1. Swaddlebees Organic Velour pocket diapers. We bought 5.
2. Swaddlebees One Size Organic Velour fitted diapers. We bought 8.
3. Little-to-Big Beetle Organic Velour diaper. We bought 5.
4. Little Beetle One Trim (organic velour) diaper. We bought 1.
5. Little Beetle Hemp Trim diaper. We bought 1.

We also have 10 Swaddlebees Hemp inserts, 10 Little Beetle Organic Velour leaf doublers, 10 Little Beetle Hemp leaf doublers, and 10 Better For Babies silk liners.

All of the cloth diapers require a diaper cover, so we bought 1 Little Beetle Organic Merino Wool diaper cover and 1 Little Beetle Organic Merino Wool soaker shorts. So far, we haven't used the diaper covers.

During his naps, I expected him to go potty in his cloth diaper. But nope! He is able to hold his urine for about 3 hours! So whenever he wakes, one of us would take him straight to the potty and then he'd go in it. And when he's awake, he would make a certain noise (we finally figured it out!) letting us know that he needs to go potty. And before he sleeps, we automatically take him to the potty. Sometimes, he would go potty, sometimes not. But we had to try anyway.

We are both so tired, but he is so worth it! We wake up several times during the night just to take him potty. Yes, he wakes us whenever he feels the urge to go. And I take that time to offer him the breast. However, he doesn't always feed. He just needed to go potty.

He's such a smart little baby!