The objective is to catch pees consistently.
Method: same as usual, but this time we need to commit: the baby needs us to be consistent, so both parents have to do the same: undress-take off the diaper-put him on the potta- make the “pssssss” signal and the “gh gh gh gh” signal.
If you are consistent enough, eventually the baby will pee even before you manage to put him on the potta! Which is half a win, i.e. you do not make him pee because you signaled it to him (yet), but he definitely knows he is supposed to. I have the impression that he knows I want him to pee, even if by reading the books about this, it seems like he doesn´t associate stuff so much yet.
Tip: write down statistics on pees, to assess “why” you catch them when you do. We are both scientists, so we love to write down everything. I guess that helps! If you don’t like to write details, maybe just write down if the caught pee was before food, after food, before nap, after nap… Any information that seems relevant. I write down all the feeding times, to see if he sleeps better when I feed him more times, or if he doesn’t matter… In addition, we write down if we catch the pee (usually, we go to the potta after feeding, a few minutes).
Help each other: the mother has the advantage of knowing feeding timings, so she can anticipate a bit more easily, or see the patterns before the father. But once the real food will come, this knowledge needs to be there for both mum and dad in order to have winning potties!
See here an example of an entertaining potty experience...
On our statistics:
Best effectivity so far: potta after nap - almost 100% of times, we manage to get pee in the potta. Sometimes we try too early, when he is still a bit sleepy, and that makes him upset, he does not like to be on the potta.
We can now catch about 3 pees per day. On a bad day, we still make it to the one count, and call that good.
Toward the end of the 4th month, we are able to catch cacca if he “happens to be on the potta” when the cacca is coming, which in our case, unfortunately, is once every 7 to 9 days. Poor boo!
Best day: 6 pees and one cacca! On the day before his 5th month!
On a side note: reusable diapers make for one hell of a terrace display, if you live in an apartment. I still wonder what exactly our neighbors think of us!
