This is the Go Diaper Free Podcast with Andrea Olson, session 12 - time to go generic!
Welcome to the Go Diaper Free Podcast, where we're all about teaching you how to stop changing diapers, starting at birth. And now your host…she baby-wore her grumpy newborn for the first 5 months straight…Andrea Olson.
Yeah, and you know, thinking back, it really was a great way to shed all that baby weight I’d gained...I think it was like 45 pounds in 6 months. Crazy. My Moby Wrap was my best friend in those early, desperate months of fussypants little boy. I wrote about this in my Finding Balance with Attachment Parenting book...I think I was a little bit out of balance. 5 months straight is a little intense, especially given that I don’t have the best back!
Blah blah blah, I’m just rambling on now!
This is Andrea, and I’m 34 weeks pregnant this week, and this is session 12 of the Go Diaper Free podcast.
Today we’re going to continue forth with Part 3 of a 4 Part series on “When does baby need to pee?” As I’ve mentioned in past episodes, it is very, very important to have a full arsenal of knowledge in this area. I call them The 4 Roads to Potty Time and you can learn more about them, in-depth, in the Go Diaper Free learning tools at godiaperfree.com. To recap for ya, in session 8 we covered Part 1 - Baby’s Signals - and we found out that sometimes we can detect those signals, and sometimes they’re just too darn subtle. In session 10 we learned Part 2 - Baby’s Natural Timing - and we found out that, through naked diaperfree observation time, we could learn our babies’ natural rhythms and can offer pottytunities based on their unique timing.
Which brings us to today…Part 3. Today we’re covering what I call “Generic Timing.” In other words, common times that most babies either have to pee or might pee if given the opportunity. I’ll give specific examples towards the end of this show, so please sit back, relax, and have a listen!
Let’s dive in.
What is Generic Timing?
In addition to your baby’s unique Natural Timing (her own elimination patterns), there’s something called Generic Timing.
Generic Timing just means that the majority of babies have to go at certain times throughout the day. This usually occurs before or after an event during which baby naturally holds it (like being in a sling, a carseat, in your arms, or asleep).* It also could be a time when you find it convenient to potty your child (like when you get to a store, or prior to gymnastics playtime).
In EC lingo, Generic Timing is fondly known as a “Pottytunity.”
But, this beckons the question I often get from our community members: “Will my baby really hold it where he’s supposed to?”
As babies get older some will have a miss in the carseat or high chair because they are used to “sitting” on the potty, and after a few minutes sitting there, it feels like time to release. Many babies, however, will never miss in these places because they associate the carseat or high chair with a place that’s meant to stay unspoiled. It just depends on the baby.
Which always brings a 2nd question:
“Will my baby pee while she’s in my arms?”
If baby’s in your arms, the majority of the time she will not pee on you. That said, ECers (including tribal mamas) all over the world sometimes get peed on while holding a baby. It happens when the signal is missed or ignored…usually it’s just too subtle or we’re just too darn busy...or perhaps baby is so relaxed or entranced that she just doesn’t give one at all. She might even be experimenting….
If you do get peed on…what do you do?
Calmly move the baby to the other side of your body without negatively reacting. You could choose to reflect, matter-of-factly, “You just peed on me,” or say nothing. Remain calm, neutral, and unmoved. Making a big deal out of it will just upset the both of you. Learn what you can from what just happened. Offer a pottytunity after a miss if you think there might be more.
Get to know these common times to offer a pottytunity. If you try at one of the times listed below, you are likely to make a catch (especially first thing in the morning!).
So, now it’s time to share with you some examples of Generic Timing: Common Times that Babies Need to Go….
- upon waking from sleep
- during a diaper change
- before or after a bath
- after a miss, as baby’s bladder may not have fully emptied
- after taking baby out of anything she’s been in for a while (carseat, stroller, baby carrier/sling, jumper, sitting aid toy, or high chair)
- before putting baby into anything she’ll be in for a while (carseat, stroller, baby carrier/sling, jumper, sitting aid toy, or high chair)
And here are some other pottytunities of note...kind of a zoomed out picture of when to offer the potty when it’s convenient to your daily routine:
- offer potty before leaving anywhere
- offer potty upon arriving anywhere
I always like to potty the baby first thing when entering a store so we can relax and enjoy our shopping experience without being interrupted by a signal (or wet pants!).
I also make it a habit to potty the baby before leaving a friend’s house or leaving anywhere, really, if I know it’ll be a while past his usual natural timing before we get home and out of the car.
In fact, I like to potty myself at these generic times, too, especially since I’m pregnant and peeing all the time, because it makes for a more convenient day.
All this said, please note that as your baby gets older, he may not want to have the potty offered quite as often as all this suggests. You kind of have to blend your knowledge of his natural timing and rhythm WITH these generic opportunities and find a balance between them.
For instance, you arrive at a store and potty the baby first. You skip the pottytunity before getting into the car because you live 5 minutes away, it’s been 30 minutes since you offered the potty upon arrival, and your baby is known to hold it for up to an hour at a time, leaving you copious amounts of time to unload baby and car and make it to that next pottytunity...at home. If you tried now you might just be bothering him...plus you’ve now got a cart full of groceries...not super-convenient to potty in the grocery store bathroom with a full cart!
Anywho, that’s it for today’s topic. It’s pretty simple, really. Just remember to not become potty-centered or over-offer...this way of being actually causes about 95% of all potty pauses and EC resistance. We will cover these in a later episode, coming pretty soon.
If you have any other thoughts of what generic times work for you, please leave a comment over on the blog where you can also find the show notes: godiaperfree.com/12.
And, please leave me a review on iTunes at godiaperfree.com/ itunes - it seriously helps more people become aware of EC, the more reviews we’ve got. Just a little iTunes trivia for you - and the reviews so far have been inspiring and a delight to read! Thank you to those who’ve left them!
Now, next week we’re going to feature our first interview on this podcast - I’ll be chatting with my good friend Jamie Glowacki about potty training babies 18 months and older without coercion or silly gimmicks. If you want to get a jump start on what she has to offer, I do sell her book at godiaperfree.com/pottytraining - and it is seriously awesome - an average of 7 days to completion for 18 months and older. We will also be talking about how her knowledge of potty training has been influencing the way we learn EC over at godiaperfree.com.
Thanks for listening, have a great week, and I’ll see ya then!
The pdf link is broken.