Elimination Communication -Week 5
It’s the 5th week already. So far, Darius is making good progress with EC.
From this week on, I shall be less detailed since it’s more or less established and only focus on reporting anything new or unusual.
Day 23- 14th Jan 09 Wed (making sounds while peeing and stopping when done)
Poo:
In the early morning, I potty him after his feed and he only peeed. I tried to make him poo but no success. Seemed that he’s still not sure of how to poop while in the potty. Will have to work on that and give him more opportunities.
After his 1330hrs feed however, he was pushing again on the rocker while I was halfway feeding him cereals and I immediately stopped him and brought him over to the potty. He successfully eliminated inside. Poo caught! And that was his only poo for the rest of the day.
Naps (3/4 dry):
He was dry for two naps in the morning and afternoon for 1hr 40mins.The morning one, got him to pee on cue in the sink. The afternoon one, I missed a pee and just let him slept after 20 mins but he managed to hold on until he woke up. Tried the bathroom sink but sometimes, he just couldn’t eliminate. So I have to switch places. I tried the potty then and he peeed on cue. However, he still peeed 20 mins after so he might not have finished emptying his bladder. Still in a blur state since he just woken up?
In the late afternoon, I tried pottying again before nap but he just didn’t want to. No choice, I let him sleep and then he woke up with a wet nappy this time. He didn’t call out to me for help this time.
The late evening one, he was dry for the nap though because I let him pee before bed.
In Summary:
He didn’t pee as frequent now and I can managed to catch half of them.
What I noticed:
- He has began to make some noises during his peeing. While I go ssshing, he will go ‘hur..hur..’ like, sighing a relief. Very funny. ^_^ I notice when he pees he will make the noise and upon finishing, he will stop so I know he is done somewhat. Read that this is his imitation of my ’ssshing’ in his own language.
What’s new:
- When he does not pee in one location, switch location as he might still be holding back until he is less distracted or likes the place. Have read that babies also get bored with the location they eliminate in.
Pees caught – 5/10 Average Stay Dry – 20mins Longest Stay Dry- 2hrs
Day 24- 15th Jan 09 Thu (More obvious crying sign and stayed dry in pants)
Today is the most promising day ever since I started this EC with Darius.
Poo:
He pooed in the early morning again in his diaper during his feed so I didn’t catch it this time. Seemed that the warm milk going down always tend to trigger him to push. He was changed out of diapers at 0800hrs.
Pees:
I caught a total of 10 pees today and only missed 3 of them! And out of the 3 missed pee, 2 were during feed which I couldn’t stop to potty him because he’s lying down. And one was a wet nap. It’s looking good!
I waited for him to make his call to me and he did. He will suddenly cry out to me while lying down or doing something. Today, he even cry out while he is in the walker which is very unusual. Usually, he will just pee in the walker.
The only times I didn’t let him control his timing was after his bath, before his nap and after a feed if he hasn’t gone for 30mins.
Was it because today I put him in pants? Usually, I will put him wearing nappy cloth during naps so I don’t wet the absorbent pad much. However, the same pant was worn from morning til late afternoon and he didn’t wet himself at all.
Naps (3/4 dry):
He was dry for 1hr 30mins in pants for two naps. Wetted himself for the late afternoon nap because he slept for almost 2 hrs.
In Summary:
My chart looks the best today with only 2 pink lines (my legend for missed pee)!
What’s new today:
-I put him in pants for the day instead of using the nappy cloth.
-I started signing the ASL sign for toilet to him, cueing at the same time while he’s on the potty and he looks at my hand with interest before peeing.
Pees caught – 10/13 Average Stay Dry – 20mins Longest Stay Dry- 1hr 40mins
Day 25- 16th Jan 09 Fri (caught one while in other people’s house)
Poo:
He pooped twice today. In the early morning, he didn’t pooped and I was lazy to offer him potty as I’m still not sure how to cue him for poops. Then, he had a miss in his nappy cloth and though I offered him potty immediately to catch any remaining ones, he didn’t wish to. That was not good however because he pooped in his pants again during the afternoon.
Pee:
I caught half of them today. Not so successful as yesterday because he didn’t signal properly to me again. Had to nag at him to ‘tell me’ if he wants to pee.
Something new today however because I brought him over to my mum’s place, and though he was diapered before leaving the house, his diaper was quite dry still on reaching. I then got him to pee in their bathroom after much cueing and holding him in position. He was very distracted by the new environment but finally eliminated properly. It was 1hr 40mins since his last pee. However, for the rest of the night, I couldn’t catch his signals because I had to eat and chat with my family members so I just let him pee into his diapers and change them.
Upon reaching home, his diaper was wet showing he has just peeed. I tried potty him but no success. So he was wiped and dressed for bed.
Night-time elimination:
After his feed at 2230hrs however, he suddenly cried out to me at 2310hrs and I got him on the potty where he quickly peeed while still asleep! I think from now onwards, I have to try to potty him at night after his dream feed too.
Naps:
He was wet during the afternoon nap but then I thought to just bring him to the bathroom and he peeed on cue! hmm… I should try to do that often. Before the nap in the late afternoon, I tried potty him also but he still woke up with a wet nappy and no pee after that.
What’s new:
- He successfully EC while outside of home in a stranger location.
- He signals for potty with a cry during sleep and eliminates on potty while still sleeping. Able to sleep back afterwards.
Pees caught – 6/12 Average Stay Dry – 30mins Longest Stay Dry- 1hr 30mins
Day 26- 17th Jan 09 Sat (reason for wet poops)
Today is his visit to the PD for 6-month assessment but in the end, he was diagnosed with diarrhoea after I told the PD about his wet poops lately after I started back the cereals feeding.
She immediately advised to take off cereals and stick to his stage 1 formula and even dilute a little to let his stomach rest. Gosh! We didn’t know he was having diarrhoea but I found that because I did EC with Darius and is recording his poos and pees, I’m able to pinpoint exactly when his poop changed and thus we could actually treat him by taking away the offending food for the moment.
Though I didn’t quite know until the PD told us that ‘a change in consistency of the poo (from runny or soft to watery) means he’s having diarrhoea, not the frequency’. That’s one advantage of EC! Will take care to look at his poo more closely from now on.
Poo:
He had an early morning wet poo just before we went out to the PD. Then, he pooed a second time at night after his dream feed which was unusual. Maybe he was clearing out his system with the medicine fed.
Pee:
Caught one pee before his nap at 0900hrs and one after in the bathroom. Then, later in the evening, after his nap before we went out again.
He was fed his medicine today and took milk only as his meals for the entire day.
Pees caught – 3/3
Day 27- 18th Jan 09 Sun
Poo:
After he had a late poop last night, he didn’t poop in the early morning. Then he didn’t for the whole day too. Hmm, is the medicine stopping his pooping? Was it really diarrhoea or is he now constipated. Not good not to have bowel movement once a day.
Pee:
Today was not so encouraging as I missed quite a few due to us being busy cleaning up the house. When we are busy, and he’s playing by himself, he seemed to want to communicate less. Managed to got him to pee before nap and after and before a feed though.
Naps:
He stayed dry for only one nap which lasted 50mins. The other naps he didn’t call out to me and I only found him awake when I went to check in on him.
What’s new:
- He didn’t cry out to me after a nap and was contented to play around lying in his wet nappy. Why is he regressing?
Pees caught – 6/14 Average Stay Dry – 20mins Longest Stay Dry- 50mins
Day 28- 19th Jan 09 Mon (New sign for potty/Caught poo with cue)
Great progress today as he again signal to me his need by suddenly going ‘hur hur hur’, like being breathless. Maybe this is his new sign as he used to just cry loud but now it’s more like suddenly becoming anxious while performing an activity or lying down, so it’s very clear.
Poo:
He didn’t poop yesterday and today during his milk feed, he seemed to be uncomfortable and didn’t want to finish. So I put him on the new little potty in bed and tried to cue him by going ‘Hmmm…Hmmm‘. I took a long time with it because I’m worried if he still did not poop today, he would be constipated.
Then, I got tired and moved him on the potty to my bed and sat behind him on the bed. After a while, he just kept looking up at me and and I gave up. When I took him out of it however, he has pooped a large mass! and even pee a little. I was elated and felt dumb to have waited so long. Darius didn’t show any sign of pushing at all. He must be thinking when he kept looking up at me, “Ma, I’m done lah.”, while I still stupidly kept going ‘hmm hmm’ at him. The little potty was totally covered by him so it was difficult to make out whether he has pooped.Think we need to get another one.
Today, his poop looks better. Just soft and no longer runny. Think the medicine treated him.
Pee:
I caught 12 pees today and only missed 7. Three were during naps, 1 in exersaucer, 1 in walker, 2 during feed. He actually signal to me during the feed in the afternoon with that urgent sound and I stopped mid-feed to potty him before finishing the rest. Seemed that he’s making progress with his controlling during feeds.
Naps(1/4 dry):
He took a long nap in the morning after his poop and woke up wet. Then, in the afternoon, I put him in a new training pants by Benbeni and he woke up crying very loudly because he wetted himself and didn’t like it. He then slept back after I changed him out of it and didn’t wet himself. He doesn’t cry this way if he’s in nappy though. The late afternoon nap, he was dry when he was in pants. Today is not a nap-dry day.
Going out:
I took him out in nappy cloth and diaper cover and he was dry for the entire 1hr til I peeed him when we came back just before his bath. That’s really good progress!
Night-Time EC:
I haven’t been recording much night time EC because I couldn’t quite remember. He has been waking up during the nights probably because of his uncomfortable stomach too and not due to peeing. Sometimes, we cue him, sometimes we bring him to potty. Sometimes, he has already gone in the diaper.
Until today, he cried out again after his dream feed very very loudly and I bought him to the toilet. He was very unhappy when he was on the potty and was still sleepy. After he peeed into the sink, he slept back again at peace.
He only cried out once during the night at which I changed his diapers because he has already gone. If he has not, I’ll cue him to go in the diaper.
What’s new:
- He pooped in the potty when I cue him to do so instead of in his diaper.
- New sign for potty, going breathless suddenly with some frowning, ‘hur hur hur’.
- He wakes up crying if he wetted himself during naps in pants.
- He stayed dry for 1 hr while out in diaper cover.
- He cries out for potty after the dream feed and sometimes during the night after he has eliminated.
Pees caught – 12/19 Average Stay Dry – 30mins Longest Stay Dry- 1hr 30mins
Day 29- 20th Jan 09 Tue (Stayed dry in pants and making more progress)
After yesterday’s clear signs, I decided to put him in pants today too.
Poo:
I tried pottying him after the early morning milk feed again but he didn’t want to poo, only peeed. After his morning feed at 10 plus, he suddenly farted a lot of times which is usually a clear sign for poo. I quickly put him on the potty and managed to catch it!
However, in the evening, he pooped wet again in his nappy while feeding. Seemed that he’s still having loose stools.
Pee:
He was still signalling with that breathless hur hur crying look today so I managed to catch most of the pees, only missing 5. After a nap where he wetted, I brought him to the bathroom and he still peeed a large amount into the sink. Hmm… doesn’t happen everytime though. I’ll bring him if I remember to do it.
I’m using the bathroom/toilet itself more and more as it’s actually easier to just pee him over the sink and washed up then pee him in the potty and still have to bring the potty to the bathroom to wash later. But only when clear signals though as holding him over the sink is very tiring for my hands and back.
Naps(2/3 dry):
He was dry for two naps and wetted once with probably an ‘on-top’ or ’signal pee’.
Going out:
He didn’t stayed dry when I brought him out today in nappy and diaper cover though yesterday was such a great progress.
Pees caught – 13/18 Average Stay Dry – 30mins Longest Stay Dry- 1hr 10mins
