We know that babies tend to pee and poo when the nappy is taken off, right? It frequently happens when baby is weighed at the baby clinic. Parent is embarrassed, mess has to be cleaned up?
Why not have a small pottry or even a yoghurt pot or ice-cream/margarine container and the health visitor could demonstrate how to catch a baby’s pee and/or poo?
Want to know more about catching? Most babies will let you ‘catch’ until around 6-9 months. For most success offer the pot at specific times when your baby is likely to have a poo or pee waiting. Your baby is an individual so watch and find out his/her pattern. As a rule it’s often after a feed and also on waking (the sensation of a poo or pee waiting may be what has woken your baby.) If you catch a poo and/or pee the next nappy stays clean and dry for longer. It saves you money too if you’re using disposable nappies.
Some people say babies who have had pees and poos caught in the early months are more relaxed about using the potty/toilet when pottry training happens. We need more research, but this is certainly what happens in parts of the world where nappies are not used. What’s important is to ensure parents know the difference between catching – a reflex, stimulated by fresh air from the nappy being off and being held vertically – and potty training, which is the child being given the opportunity to develop bladder and bowel control.
See Born Ready’s 30 sec cartoon on You Tube about catching here.
Read more here.