In my last post on infant potty training when my baby was 9 months old, I thought that the reason that my baby stopped signaling me that he needed to pee or poop was because he was distracted from just learning to crawl… but I was wrong!  Two things were happening– the first was that he had picked up a yeast infection type of diaper rash through breastfeeding when I became pregnant and I went through a hormonal change.  The second was that he was “telling”me when he needed to go, but I just didn’t recognize it.

So the thing with the diaper rash was that it was really uncomfortable for him and he was irritable and crying from being in pain.  His sounds for needing to pee and his sound for being uncomfortable were the same and I just thought it was all about the rash.  I didn’t want to force the potty training thing, so I let it go for a while and he just peed in his diaper and he would cry from the rash being even more uncomfortable when he was wet.

I hadn’t given up, but I just thought that maybe my baby was taking a break from the potty training and going through a phase.  Luckily my husband kept up his diligent routine of taking the baby to the potty whenever he complained.  I realized that he was catching his pees because he was listening and responding to the complaining.  He also found that my baby boy prefers to pee standing up and would often do that outside on command.  After seeing it work for my husband, I tried it and it worked.  I realized that I wasn’t giving my baby enough “pee opportunities”, but when I would give him the chance to try to pee, he often would.  It made sense to have him pee after waking up, before we went out, after arriving at a destination by car, or a little while after eating and drinking.  I think also what discouraged me from giving him consistent pee opportunities was the fact that he is getting heavy (about 27 lbs.) and it is hard for me (especially as a pregnant person) to hold him over a public toilet or over some bushes outside.  But now, if I can just have him stand and lean up against a tree, he and I are happier and it seems to work.

So the thing to remember is that it is about communication with your child and the way he or she communicates his or her need to go will change as they age.  It is our job to continue to listen and try to decipher the ever changing language.

I am thankful my husband has been dedicated to this practice and I still think it is the best thing for my baby to feel that he is being understood when he says “he needs to go”.

My baby is close to turning a year old soon and I don’t expect him to be out of diapers any time very soon, but again, that is really not my goal.  I feel that if he continues to communicate when he needs to go then he will continue to be aware of when he needs to go and then I’m hoping that maybe when he is able to walk, he’ll just walk over to the potty and pee on his own.

I’ll keep you posted….

Since this is my third pregnancy in three years, now I’ve got this nausea thing down to a science. I felt so so very sick in my first pregnancy, all I could do was try to get up out of bed, try to make food to eat (if I could even stomach it), do some laundry and I’d force myself to do a few yoga stretches. I ate carb-type foods because it temporarily made me feel better. I tried the conventional type things like eating ginger and crackers, but it didn’t really help. Someone told me to sip water with lemon or with a little bit of Ume plum vinegar in it and try not to get out of bed too fast. That didn’t help that much either.

Then my friend Lea loaned me her book called Wise Women Herbal by Susun Weed. It talked about how nausea during pregnancy has a lot to do with the rise and fall of your blood sugar levels. So when you eat a bunch of carbs, you may feel slightly better, but then when your blood sugar level crashes you’re right back in it and sometimes it even gets worse than before. So the thing to do is to eat protein every two hours to keep your blood sugar levels even. You can eat carbs too, but it’s important to get the protein every two hours.

So, yeah, I know what you’re thinking… it’s too hard to make a piece of chicken, fish or meat every two hours and most of the time it’s hard to get that kind of heavy food down especially that often. That’s the dilemma I ran into also. So here’s some protein sources that I came up with that didn’t make me gag when I thought of eating them:

•Almond Butter

It’s high in calcium (which we need a lot of) and you can spread it on apple wedges, toast, crackers, celery or anything else that appeals to you.

•Brewer’s Yeast

It’s high in B vitamins and you can sprinkle it over popcorn or on a tortilla with butter or cheese

•Hard Boiled Eggs

I usually make a bunch of eggs to have on hand so that when I need that protein boost, I can just grab it out of the refrigerator.

•Cheese

I like to do cheese with apple or on a corn tortilla (which has some calcium) rather than with crackers unless they are a whole grain. If you eat cheese with a white flour cracker, it’s better than eating just the cracker alone, but the white flour will add to your queasiness factor since it converts to sugar fast and goes right to your bloodstream.

You probably know that we’re only supposed to eat hard cheeses like cheddar when we’re pregnant to avoid bacteria like listeria that can be found in soft cheeses like brie.

•Rice

You may not know that there is actually some protein in rice. It’s not a complete protein though because it’s missing some amino acids, but it is definitely better to eat rice than white toast or crackers for nausea. Brown rice of course has more protein that the body can assimilate than white rice.

You can eat it plain of course or add some flavorings. Here’s a few combos I like:

Rice with olive oil and shaved parmesan cheese

Rice with olive oil or butter and sprinkled with brewer’s yeast

Rice with butter and salt and pepper

Rice with bragg’s amino acid liquid

Rice with soy sauce

Rice sprinkled with “Furtikake” which is a Japanese product made of shaved seaweed and other flavorful things like sesame seeds or dried fish flakes

Another really soothing thing to eat is rice soup or what the Chinese call Congee or Jook. You take a 1/2 cup of rice to 6 cups of either water or broth (chicken or turkey works well). Boil it and then let it simmer on low overnight. You can eat it plain if you’re feeling like bland food or you can add garnishes of green onion, minced ginger, chopped lettuce, soy sauce or sesame oil. You can also add other vegetables, meat or chicken that you’ve already cooked of you want.

•Quinoa

I’m not a huge fan of quinoa because I never feel really satisfied after eating it, but when you’re feeling queasy that may be a good thing. Quinoa is said to be high in protein and even touted as a complete protein.

A nice refreshing way to make quinoa is to add fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, mint leaves and toasted pinenuts to cooked quinoa and serve it cold. You can also add diced sauteed vegetables like red bell pepper, kombocha, acorn squash or whatever vegetable you like.

•Nuts

Nuts are an easy quick way to get a little protein in your body. I like almonds because they also contain calcium. I get a big bag from Costco and slow roast them in the oven (150 degrees) overnight and keep them in a jar so that I can just grab a handful any time. I also keep some in a ziplock bag in my purse just in case I need a quick protein fix.

•Yogurt

Yogurt is a great source of protein because there is nothing to prepare. You can add nuts or granola if you feel like you want more of something to chew on. You can also eat it with fruit or make a smoothie with it.

Those are just a few food strategies to keep the nausea at bay. You can also work with your mind to minimize nausea. I avoid thinking about things or hearing sounds that would make me feel sick. Whenever something like that comes to mind, I picture cleanest, freshest, prettiest blue ocean water and waves crashing on a beautiful beach. I imagine a fresh, cool breeze blowing over me and I breathe in that fresh air.

Since I’ve used these techniques, I’ve had very little nausea this time around.  Good luck in your efforts and let me know if it works for you and if you have any other techniques that have helped you.

Your Sensible Girlfriend,

Angeline Longshore