A couple of weeks ago, when Oliver was about two weeks old, we started taking him to the potty. After a week of using timing to tell when it was time to take Oliver to the sink, I started trying to read his signals that it was time to go. During the day, we (I) did a much better job of “catching” when it was time, mostly because he is in my arms or my lap or by my side most of the day. But when Richard comes home, he is either playing with one of us, sitting in his rocker, or sleeping in his bed. Normally we would miss one at night, but not much more. We ordered several books on infant potty training that I devoured quickly (reading while he was feeding or sleeping), and I read blog after blog that detailed other mothers’ experiences with this rather radical approach to diapering a newborn. The books would talk about some signals to look for: going from movement after being still, going still after moving, squirming, making noises in sleep, face turning red, grunting, etc. As one book I read put it, “What would you look like if you tried to have a bowel movement lying down?”
We had the rather unique opportunity–a catalyst, really–to try something different. When Oliver was two weeks old, we went to Toys’R'Us to get some diaper liners because Oliver was peeing all over the place (mostly on Richard’s lap). It was just at the time when we were deciding to go for it with EC. We had just started taking him to the sink and were thinking of some other options, so Richard suggested we get a couple of small potties (though I was skeptical, knowing they were too big, as they’re designed for toilet training toddlers, not brand new newborns). We also got a toilet seat (a reducer to put on a standard toilet for little ones) that we thought we’d try to use when we were away from home.
It wasn’t until the following weekend that we decided to go to Richard’s office as a family that we decided–really out of necessity–to start holding him over the toilet. That was the first way I’d heard EC put to use. We were debating on how we would handle his potty needs when I suggested the toilet idea to him. Richard didn’t key into it immediately because he wasn’t visualizing it the way I had read about it, so when I described it more fully to him, he was excited at the prospect. At the office, the sink wouldn’t make as much sense: we certainly couldn’t use the kitchen sink in his actual office, and the automatic sinks in the public bathroom only spray cold water (for some nonsensical reason). Also, it seems like such a private thing–taking your kid to the bathroom–and I wouldn’t want to put that on display for whatever stranger walked into the bathroom.
When it was time for Oliver to go, I took him to the bathroom, and Richard waited outside, at the ready for my call if I needed help. Then he came in the stall to help me with a few things, like taking off his diaper, and helping me hold him so I could pull up my pants (though we soon learned we could on the toilet with him dressed). I put my hands under his thighs and leaned his back against my belly. And just as soon as I got him comfortable, he went! It was way more successful than the sink had been. We began this approach at home for a day or two, and then Richard thought we could use the toilet seat reducer, which would also keep his urine from going everywhere (before then we had pointed him down, but that’s not always so easy to do), as it has a shield for boys on it.
That’s been our process for the past couple of weeks. The most “misses” we’ve had a day has been one, and we’ve gone days without any at all. Though there was that fun night a couple of days ago when he peed on me and did the dirty on Richard’s lap. But overall, we live a life with a new infant that is dirty diaper-free.
