Week 3 to week 8

From the third week I started to put Leviah over a small potty and she responded very well. It was incredible to see how well it worked. I started to really observe the way she tried to communicate that she wanted to go. It was quite obvious. She would lie so still and then all of a sudden she would become uncomfortable. A key-phrase when she was in other people's arms was: "what's wrong? She looks so uncomfortable all of a sudden." Then I knew that I could take her to the potty. I never had to run. I could be very relaxed in taking her. I saw at this stage that infants do have a measure of control and that the use of disposables actually eliminates this control completely. My husband was a great encouragement to me whenever I felt down about the whole thing. He praised my efforts and kept on reminding me that whether it is now or later I will have to train her. Later it will only be much more difficult, because then I would only have to untrain a habit. Another thing that kept me focused was something that Debi Pearl's daughter wrote. She said that if we train our children to go in a nappy they will have to unlearn a life-long habit and how difficult is it for us to unlearn a life-long habit. I still used disposables, because I had received many for my baby shower, so I wasn't paying a cent yet. It helped a lot. One funny thing tat happened was when my mother-in-law came to visit and exactly at a moment that Leviah was without a nappy and while I was explaining the whole concept to her, Leviah did nr. 1 on her lap. I felt like a real dud, but fortunately my mother-in-law is a very gracious woman, who knows how to see the funny side of situations.
The problem with using disposables, however, is hat you can only guess whether you have missed a wee or not. This frustrated me a bit.
Seeing that it was still winter. I put Leviah in leggings when she did not have a nappy so that I could observe when she went and how she communicated it.
Another thing I noticed was that possibly all those times that a baby cries and you don't know why because you have already met his/her every need, is because they want to wee, but your not understanding them. I found that Leviah was such a content baby because I met all her needs.
I soon realised as well, that Leviah actually woke up during the day to make a wee and she still does it. I would let her go and then just tell her to go back to sleep, which she often did. The problem was that in the evening when she went to sleep after her last feed, she was very restless for almost two hours. I realised it was because she wanted to wee, so I started feeding her at 5 o'clock, an hour before her bedtime, so that she could empty her bladder as much as possible before her night sleep began.
She also sometimes woke up during the night to go to the loo. This was sometimes frustrating for me and I tried to ignore it - she made grunting noises, but never cried - but soon understood that I would get back to sleep sooner if I took her. Now, at three months she doesn't wake up any more to wee.

Practical advice:
1. In order not to become frustrated, you must understand that this is a long term goal and you need patience, more with yourself that with your baby. You mustn't aim for a 100% success rate. You will probably only be using 4 disposable nappies at this stage and that in itself is already an achievement. So congratulate yourself on what you have already achieved.
2. Have a husband who fully supports you and who will encourage you when you are feeling down or have days that you do not get a wee in the potty at all.
3.Have a sheet of paper ready where you note for a couple of days from after the second week how your baby tries to communicate that she needs to go. Note when she drinks, what time she goes, how she communicated and when she sleeps.
4. As a rule always take your baby when she wakes up. I am convinced that this is the reason why they actually wake up, they want to wee! If it has been a while since she has fed then she might not have a wee.
5. Order her routine so that she is fed just after she wakes up and before she has awake-time. this will help her to sleep better.
6. I noticed when baby is feeding and she starts going on and off the breast, that if it is not a wind, then it is because she needs to go. Try it, you will be surprised:)
7. Resolve never to rush to the potty, they really can keep it in. Resolve also never to pressure your baby. always let her know that it is not about performance.
8. Do not be afraid to share with your family and actually to encourage them to look out for her signs. All my in-laws could see when she wanted to go and that was a huge encouragement to me.
9. Resolve to keep your resolution of not getting involved too quickly in too many activities.