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Newborn Summary: Week 7

isn't this funny! I took this of her this week
This is for the week Brinley was 6 weeks old--so her 7th week but while she is 6 weeks old.

NURSING
Nursing is still going great!

POOPING
This week, Brinley suddenly stopped pooping 4-5 times per day. My other girls were always the type to poop several times a day. Brayden, however, was always a "once every few days" sort. So I knew this could be normal for a baby. They can poop multiple times a day or once every week (or longer). I have to wonder if the timing is with wonder week 5. The book  The Wonder Weeks  says baby's digestive system will be more mature after that week.

WITCHING HOUR
So far, Brinley rarely has witching hour times, but McKenna didn't start until she was older so I wouldn't say we are free and clear. We decided to set up her swing this week. We hadn't used it at all yet, but I thought it might come in handy sometimes and I wanted to know if she would like it since McKenna hated it.

She had one night of witching hour this week, and for that we put her in the swing and she took a nap in it! Always remember, if your baby has witching hour, don't be afraid to do what it takes to keep baby happy and get a nap in. 

Also, if your baby has reflux and needs to sleep in the swing often, don't worry about it. Kaitlyn took a lot of naps in her swing as a baby, and she is a great sleeper today. It didn't negatively impact her at all. Sleep comes first.

OUTINGS
The big outing for us this week was my doctor visit. I wasn't worried at all about how Brinley would do. My other girls did great (Brayden, however, did not. He was crying so much my OB had one of his nurses take him out so he could talk to me. That was before we started with Babywise, though). 

Brinley started to cry as soon as my OB entered the room. Before that, she was fine. But I was thinking how funny it is to have a woman with a 6 week old stripped down and ready for a pelvic exam. It doesn't really put you in a position to help your baby. My OB did my exam and then I picked Brinley up and soothed her. Neither of us were stressed; she has four kids, now I have four kids...I guess we are used to it all. My OB commented, "At least her cry isn't annoying." It's true! Her cry isn't annoying at all. I assumed I just thought that because she is mine. Oh, and you might have noticed the pronoun genders changing with my OB; my first OB moved across the country after Kaitlyn was born so I have a different one now. Anyway, we survived just fine.

DREAMFEED
For her dreamfeed, she pretty much went back to eating from only one side. She sleeps the same with one or two sides, so I don't stress it out. I try to get two sides, but if she will only take one, I put her in bed and don't worry about it.

WAKETME ACTIVITIES
These are the things we do during waketime. If there is a certain time of day we try to do something, I have noted it.
  • Bath (I always do this after her first feeding of the day)
  • Get held by siblings/parents (this happens a whole lot)
  • Tummy time (this varies based on mood--I like to do tummy time when she is happy and alert)
  • Gym play (I do this after her 10:30 AM feeding. I treat it like an independent play, though I am in the room with her while she does it)
  • Read stories (we do this before bed--after her 7:00 PM feeding)
  • "Play" on blanket
  • Lay there and have me take a million pictures of her
  • Walks 

AS FOR ME
I had no insomnia this week! Hurray!

I had my six week visit this week with my OBGYN. Everything is great with me and I was cleared for exercise, so I decided to start out with simple pilates. With pilates, I don't get sweaty, so I am cool with doing them at any point in the day and not having to get up early to do them before I get ready. I figure I will do pilates for a couple of weeks and then try something more vigorous. Pilates will also be good because my abs really need some strength! They are definitely the weak spot in my body right now. 

If your back is really sore, work your abs. Often times back pain is caused by a weak "core"--including your abs. I am sure the extra weight from your breastfeeding breasts doesn't help, either. I have seen a big improvement just after three times of doing pilates. I did Winsor Pilates

SCHEDULE
This is our daily schedule that we shoot for. Our first feeding varies the most. It typically ranges between 6:30 and 7:30 AM. She is now old enough to do 2.5 to 3.5 hour intervals between feedings, so if she is sleeping when the time comes up, I let her go up to 30 minutes longer. She will eat better if she wakes on her own, and if not, those extra thirty minutes can often be enough to get her interested in eating.

7:30--feed
8:20--nap
10:30--feed
11:20--nap
1:30--feed
2:20--nap
4:30--feed
5:20--nap
7-7:30 (time varies here)--feed, then bedtime
10:00--dreamfeed

then night feed(s). Typically, this happens between 2:30-3:30 AM.

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Potty/Poop Training Tip: Give Fair Warning


We are now having success with pooping in the potty for Kaitlyn (2.5). The thing that ended up working is really what worked with Brayden, too, so I thought I had better post about it!

Brayden and Kaitlyn are two different people, and I learned quickly after Kaitlyn was born that they are often opposites in every way. They get along really well, but what worked for one doesn't usually work for the other. Therefore, I hadn't tried this tip with Kaitlyn even though it worked well with Brayden. Since it worked for both of them, my guess is it would be useful for almost any child.

Ready for this super secret? It is really simple. It goes something like this:

Mom: You are getting to be a big boy/girl now. It is time for you to stop pooping in a diaper and start pooping in a potty.
Child: Oh (or some other response that makes you sure the child isn't really grasping what you are saying)
Mom: In ____weeks (whatever time you want. I would do 2-4 weeks), you are going to start wearing underwear for _____ (naps, day, night...whatever you are shooting for). That will be after _____(insert event here. With Brayden, I used his birthday. With Kaitlyn, I used Valentines Day).

Over the next couple of weeks, remind your child often of the upcoming event.

When the day comes, follow through. Put on the underwear.

There you have it. That is my amazing tip.

IT WORKS?
It did for my children. My best guess currently is that it worked because it gave them time to think about it.

"Okay. I am not going to poop in diapers. I am going to poop in the potty." They then have time to think about the process when they poop/pee. How does it work? What are the cues?

Of course, your child must be old enough to understand what is going on. Brayden was three and Kaitlyn is 2.5. Keep that in mind.

OUR STORY
With Brayden, I was changing his diaper one day in early May and just decided I was done with diapers. I told him when he was three he wasn't going to wear them anymore. The morning of his birthday, he woke up, went over to his drawer, and pulled out some underwear. I was nervous because his birthday party was that day and I didn't want lots of accidents, but I had laid down the law and he was complying so we ran with it. He had a couple accidents in the morning, but then never looked back so far as pee goes. After a couple of weeks, he had pooping down, too.

Kaitlyn is a bit different, of course. She went to pee trained around 18 months old. She has always been great with it, but has had a hard time pooping in the potty. She asks me to teach her how, and try as I may, it just isn't something you can teach :). Each day, we put her in a diaper for naps and that is where she pooped.

After trying lots of things, I decided to give the fair warning like I did with Brayden. I gave her two weeks warning. Valentines Day came and no more diapers for nap. She did awesome! No accidents and she pooped in the potty! She still did it at nap time. I put her little potty in her room and she called me after she pooped. By the next Saturday, she went to the bathroom to poop all on her own.

I don't want to completely rejoice yet. I think there is a great chance we will have set backs in the future. It seems to happen. Who knows. But we are on the right path for sure and I am so excited about it!

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Pooping on the Potty II

Brayden had a hard time learning to poop on the potty at first. Once we got it figured out, I created a post with pooping tips (see Pooping in the Potty : http://babywisemom.blogspot.com/2008/07/pooping-in-potty.html). Now, several months later, I have more thoughts on the topic.

We easily moved away from rewards for pooping and peeing. It wasn't something we had to systematically work at, it just sort of happened without protest from Brayden. While we trained him on a small potty chair his size (he did much better with that; I think it was because it was less intimidating and he could relax on it rather than try to keep his balance), he soon wanted to go on the big potty. He often, however, still pooped on his small potty.

As I am really queasy right now, I didn't love dumping poop out of the small potty and cleaning it up each day. It is better than changing a poopy diaper, but still a bit too much for me. I decided to encourage him to poop on the big potty instead of the little potty. I told him it was okay to poop in the little potty if he wanted or needed to, but if he pooped in the big potty he would get treats for it.

Since that day, he has always pooped in the big potty and not his little one. However, some days he goes every other day between pooping. He usually goes every day. As he is getting used to something new with the potty, he reverts back to pooping other day. Then, as he becomes more comfortable with the situation, he gets on a consistent and regular schedule.

If your child has (or had) difficulty pooping on the potty, be prepared for similar set backs when you change things up. When you travel, see what you can do to keep things consistent for him. If he always goes in a potty chair, take it along if you can. If/when you change a situation at home, expect some set backs but he should bounce back faster than he got there in the first place.

See these posts for our potty training journey:
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How to Help Your Child Get Past Pooping in the Potty Issues

How to Help Your Child Get Past Pooping in the Potty Issues and start pooping in the potty. Potty training helps and tips.

How to Help Your Child Get Past Pooping in the Potty Issues and start pooping in the potty. Potty training helps and tips.

When we did our first attempt at potty training, Brayden did well with the peeing and struggled with the pooping. He has always been a private pooper. He has always been the kid to poop during solo playtime. If he didn't have solo playtime, there was no pooping that day. I am one who also needs consistency and isolation to be able to be regular, so I totally get that. If I were to travel to a country where you had to go to the bathroom somewhere other than the toilets I am used to, it would take me along time to be able to do it.

The first time we tried potty training this past January, the lack pooping was such a problem for us that it started to interfere with his peeing and his eating. When you are backed up, you will stop eating, and often times vomit. For those reasons (and others), I decided he just wasn't ready yet. We gave it a few months and tried again, this time with success.

Our second go around, he still had pooping difficulty. He still took days between pooping. His accidents were few, but if it had been days without pooping, I would put a diaper on him and let him poop in it. I didn't want him getting uncomfortably backed up or constipated. I knew I had to give it some time. I learned I had to leave him alone in the room while he pooped, even if he said he wanted me there. If I left the room, he usually had success. If I stayed, he didn't. He only had success with me in the room one time.

Now Brayden poops without problem. He wears underwear 100% of the time and I can't even remember the last time he had an accident. He is getting better about pooping when we aren't home. He still has room for improvement; he only poops every other day right now (I am sure one day he is going to be mortified that I shared this information :) ). But things are good. He is quickly learning.

Tips for helping your child poop on the potty


Here are some tips on helping your child past pooping problems:
  • Figure out what works for him. Does he need to be alone? Does he need to read a book? Books did not work for Brayden. You can observe what he did while pooping in the diaper. For Brayden, he would drive a car. That often helped him when he struggled. Most of the time, though, he needed zero distractions. Figure out what works for your child.
  • A comfort item to help him relax. This might be a book. This might be a favorite stuffed animal or toy. I would try to not let that be you for long-term, but if he needs you at first, be there for him.
  • Patience. He needs to figure this out. He needs to learn how to get it out. Give him time.
  • Don't let him get too blocked up. They can get sick and/or constipated. This will not help him work toward success. That is why I put a diaper on Brayden every so often so he could get it out. Do gauge your child. I saw improvement over time and needed the diaper less. If you try it and things don't improve, it might not be the right option for you.
  • Evaluate. Be sure this is a skill your child can accomplish right now. If not, back off.
  • Patience again. Pottywise says that learning to pee and learning to poop are two different skills. If pooping is really hard for your child, focus on the pee for now. Don't be discouraged by the lack of pooping success. Move on to poop once you think he is ready.
  • Be really excited. When your child does have success, be so very excited.
  • Proper rewards. Offer different rewards for pooping that give more motivation. For Brayden at this point, he only gets rewards for pooping. Everything else is just what he does.
  • Remove your negative emotions. Don't show your disappointment when there are accidents, and better yet, remove disappointment. You have to discipline yourself and remove your emotional investment from the situation. Don't let whether or not he poops be the make or break for whether or not you are a good parent.
  • Don't pressure. Telling someone who has a hard time pooping to hurry or to just do it does not make it any better for them. They need space, time, and patience.
Good luck! This is not an easy difficulty to fix, it mostly just takes time and experience from your child. It will come.

See these posts for more on our potty training experiences:
How to Help Your Child Get Past Pooping in the Potty Issues and start pooping in the potty. Potty training helps and tips.

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