Let's talk about nighttime EC

[Emerald Orchid]

Daytime EC is going pretty well for us, but I haven't had much success with nighttime. I've tried a few nights to leave Tea Leaf diaperless on a waterproof pad and prefold and to cover him with another prefold and blanket. But this kid pees SO MUCH at night, it's unbelievable. He soaks everything when he pees in his sleep - I know babies aren't really supposed to pee in their sleep, but if he doesn't pee while nursing, he goes back to sleep and wakes up all wet for the next nursing. And by the end of the night, I have this huge pile of soiled blankets and prefolds and towels!

I'd like to know what works for you. Do you get up to pee your baby? What works to protect your bed and sheets?

[EMama]

subbing

[passthemanna]

i got in the habit of holding DS over a bowl when he'd nurse at night. He's almost always pee then. He's been dry most nights since he was about 11-12 months. sometimes he wets w/out waking me up. Now it's gotten to where I can usually just sense something different about him just waking up to nurse or waking because he needs to pee.

[Kernigemom]

I really like nighttime EC. It has worked well for us, even when we had daytime “potty pauses”.

Here’s what works best for us (and some of what didn’t): I use an EC belt with a homemade bamboo receiving blanket tucked in and put him on a waterproof pad. The EC belt is just fabric covered elastic. Any soft absorbent material would do to tuck in, but the bamboo French terry blankets are my hands-down favorite because they are the only ones that will absorb a wet without leaking onto the pad, are wonderfully soft and are long enough not to slip out of the elastic. Second choice are cotton flannel receiving blankets, and hemp flatfolds in a pinch with cotton flatfolds as a last resort.

Dh thinks ds looks hilarious in his “sumo wrestler outfit”. I like it because all I have to do is pull the fabric to one side to pee him, and it’s very easy to change if we do have a miss. (Way easier and quieter than a diaper change.)

Our nights go something like this: he wakes me up 3-6 times to nurse, and I usually try to pee him first. I keep a Baby Bjorn regular potty insert by the bed, because it has a guard and I can clamp it between my legs. If he doesn’t go or is in a “carry me to the bathroom” phase, then that’s what I do. I sit sideways on the edge of the tub (biggest target) and hold his thighs in my hands. I almost always have to latch him on, which I used to think of as baby bribery:giggle, but now I think it helps him relax. Sometimes I have to wait for a full minute, which seems like an eternity when you’re sitting awkwardly on the edge of a cold tub in the dark at 3 am.

But I still marvel at how I can take my sleeping baby, carry him to the bathroom, pee him, readjust his sumo outfit, carry him back, put him to bed, lay down and we both fall asleep again.:D And it’s not that he’s particularly easy going, he’s actually more likely to wake up if I don’t pee him. Part of the reason I like nighttime EC is because he is such a heavy wetter: 300 ml and sometimes much more per night even before he was 6 months.

We do still have the occasional full bed change, but it’s more likely to happen with an afternoon nap if he rolls off the pad or if my aim on the potty insert isn’t great… I’m glad I have a wool puddle pad under everything.

[SweetMelissa]

I am still a newbie at this and trying to figure things out as well, but nighttime is actually going better for us than daytime, and has since the beginning. I think it's because I'm in constant contact with her and so aware of her every move, but I also think that it's just different for different babies. My dd, like pp said, will go right back to sleep after a potty and even a change, but will get more and more squirmy if I don't potty/change her. Sometimes, in my sleepiness, I will just try to latch her on without pottying her, but she will soon let me know that that is not what she needs by popping on and off, switching sides, and generally being restless. Now that I've become more aware of this with dd, I am realizing that I probably could have saved myself so many sleepless, constantly-nursing nights with my 2 boys, who were not EC'd by being more aware of their nighttime potty needs. :doh

We are cheaters in that we do use diapers at night, so that misses are not a huge deal, but they get changed as soon as I realize we have missed, and I potty her as often as I can. I do as the pp does, with the big potty insert, and it works perfectly for us. Thankfully, with a girl, there is much less chance of a mess. :phew

It is a very dynamic journey. Don't expect things to progress in a straight line! We have nights when she potties in her bucket every time and wakes up completely dry and we have nights when she pees in her diaper every time and the bucket stays completely dry. :shrug3

[BarefootBetsy]

My babies wear prefolds with covers at night and when they wake up I either change them and potty them if they're wet or just potty them if they're dry. I only used prefolds with my first and that worked too. I always have them lie on a waterproof pad in addition to the diaper/cover combo.

Very simple :) Using the diaper also lets me just sleep through (other than nursing :giggle) on those nights when I'm just exhausted. I keep a BBLP by the bed so I don't have to get up all the way.