Babies' Pee and Poop
Archived Q&A and Reviews
2 month old waits to pee until he wakes up?
Sept 2008
Hello, My 2 mo. old son is healthy and sleeps well. He breastfeeds, and eats well. He's in cloth diapers, and we've never had any diaper rash. Lately, (about 85% of the time) he does not urinate in his diaper until after he wakes up. I can't figure out if this is due to his heightened consciousness about his body, etc., or if it may be due to some kind of indiscernible discomfort or tension he may have. Has this ever happened to your baby? When he awakes, he will go through up to 4-5 diapers, just peeing (I change him every time he has peed once). He doesn't have any trouble with peeing or pooping--we go through at least 15 diapers a day, and all is normal. Any thoughts on this? Thanks! anon
My son was this way. Don't remember how early I first noticed it. But he would pee in his diaper upon waking. I don't think it's a problem. Indeed, I saw it as a big plus, as it make night-time potty training so much easier! Nevertheless, if you continue to be concerned, call the advice nurse at your pediatrician's office. anonoumous
Had to laugh at the memory you jogged via your post..... my husband thought that one would change diapers 3 times per day as follows: morning, noon, night. HA! You are lucky that your baby does not wet during the night. We used cloth as well, but often pampers at night because otherwise it meant mommy changing the sheets at 3am like a zombie, baby like ''woo hoo playtime!''
12 changes per day is realistic at that age, especially as it sounds like you are as I was - clean fresh cloth diaper after each ''incident.''
Don't worry as it does not last long (especially using cloth diapers, you will be out of them by age 2), and then it will be a funny memory like mine is now. Thanks for the smile, and Hang In There! Been There!
i am early-potty-training my 16-month-old daughter. what i found was that most babies don't pee while they sleep - they pee when they wake up, kind of like adults. if they do pee, it's probably because the baby woke up in the middle of the night then went back to sleep, the baby already peed before falling asleep, or the parent didn't get to the first 'morning' diaper early enough.
and babies pee very often! even though my daughter is on the toilet part-time, she still goes through nearly 10 diapers/day, which is a huge improvement from 15-20/day. already sleeping, eating, and peeing well at 2 months!! sounds like your son is a parent's dream! mom of a prolific pee-er
I had also used cloth diapers for my daughter. And after settleing in to the new baby routine, I started to notice that she cried when her diaper got wet. Then I noticed that she actually cried before her diaper got wet. So at 3 months, I started to take her to the potty and we often had her pee right into the potty. But the best thing of all is she did all her poop into the potty starting at 3 months. So we mainly only had to change pee diapers which was so much easier. As she got older, she also would not pee during the night, but hold everything for the morning. So we got into the habit of having her sit on the potty first thing in the morning and she'd often go in the potty, but then still wet a diaper soon after. But I don't think it's anything to worry about. crystal
There is nothing strange about this. You wake up and need to pee don't you? Children who pee in their diapers and sleep through it are trained to do so. My daughter never would. She would always wake then pee, cloth diapers or not.
You might want to consider trying to EC your baby (elimination communication, a great book is called Diaper Free Baby) since he seems amenable to it. I EC'ed my daughter since she was a month old. She was easily potty trained by 18 months and we didn't change a #2 diaper since she was 4 months. A true bonus to ECing, especially after they start solids.
Either way waiting to pee till he gets up is normal especially at 2 months. We are all animals with the innate desire from birth not to soil where we sleep. Your baby is just following his instincts. Don't worry, there is nothing wrong with your baby. ECing Momma
First I want to commend you for your observations and next say that your baby is completely normal. Babies, like adults do not generally pee when sleeping- need to wake to do it, and further babies are generally trained to then pee in diapers. However there's another way, and with your keen observation of your baby and quick changing of wet diapers you're nearly practicing it. By changing his diaper frequently you are helping him keep control over his bladder. This other way is called Elimination Communication, and through this method you help the baby maintain awareness of his elimination that he is born with. You simply watch for the signs and signals that the baby is about to pee or poop (like you're doing) and then hold him over the toilet, a small potty or even an open diaper and make a cue sound (such as psss for pee). In a few days, you will be able to notice when he needs to pee, usually just after waking and nursing among other times, place him over a potty bowl at those times and make the cue and he will go! This method is about listening and communicating with your baby and ultimately leads to the continued connection of the baby to their elimination and happily saves diapers and will likely lessen the time it takes to potty train them later on, since you are pottying them from an early age! I have practiced this with my daughter since she was 3 months old (now 9 months) and I've changed 2 poop diapers since April, and only use about 3 diapers a day as the rest of the pee goes in the potty. Between potty trips, I keep her in diapers (we use G's) and the method is something you can use part time, occasionally or full time depending on your preference. If you want to read further a good book is Diaper-free baby by Christine Gross-Loh and a good website is diaperfreebaby.org Good luck on your journey! mom to dry ec'er
This is normal, I think most/all babies do this, but we parents just aren't aware of it most of the time. Check out Elimination Communication. anon mom
Oh my gosh! What a dream! I would stop putting him in diapers in the a.m. and sit on the toilet with him and tell him to go ''pee-pee in the potty'' or whatever you choose to say. I am not that well-versed in Elimination Communication, the movement which favors early potty training, but you have a pretty amazing baby and I would get him going pee into the potty. You may have him out of diapers early! Wish my two had been like that. Nicole
My (11 mo/o) son did/does this, too. It doesn't bother me at all. I thought to myself, ''I don't pee until I wake up, so this makes sense.'' Maybe it means they won't be bed-wetters! anon
Hi there, My now 4 mo old son did exactly the same thing at exactly the same age. I thought it was odd, too. However, my husband and 4 year old daughter have HUGE bladders and usually will wake up and have their milk and coffee, get dressed, brush teeth, etc. before even thinking about peeing. Being as I usually pee 3 times throughout the night and as soon as I wake up, this is mind-boggling to me. But because of this I didn't worry much about my 2 month old not peeing at night. Now two months later, he wakes up with a full pee-pee diaper and all's well in the world. Good luck :) Laura
Our 5-month old baby did exactly the same thing when he was around 2 months old. I ended up calling my lactation consultant, because it seemed so odd. According to her it was completely normal - as long as he peed regular the rest of the day (which he did) and his weight gain was normal (which it was). Now he has stopped doing that. He wakes up with huge, wet diapers. joj
Your baby is being completely normal. My son would wake up dry and then the first hour he was up, he would urinate frequently. Your baby is the perfect candidate for going 'diaper free'.
Some believe that children naturally know how to be potty trained. I recommend getting a small baby bjorn potty (or use a bowl) and holding your infant over the potty after he wakes up. You'll be surprised how much he will pee! Check out things about Diaper Free Babies. Babies don't necessarily sleep through urinating, I was relieved to discover that the reason my child was waking up at night was that he needed to pee! My son has been peeing on the potty since 6 months old. I wish I had known about this sooner.
Diaper free before 3! is also a great book.
Your baby seems to be really in tune with communicating with you about their needs. It is so great that you are observant enough and present enough with your baby to have noticed this. Babies are like any other mammal in a lot of ways including the inclination not to soil their nest. If I where you I would take advantage of the communication that you two seem to have and look into Elimination Communication or Natural Infant Hygiene. The idea is that your baby will let you know in little ways that they need to go and you take them and hold them over something and give them a cue to know that it is time to go. You can find a lot of info online and there are a few good books aswell. There is a bay area diaper free yahoo group that you could also join. My son at 2 weeks started to pee and poo every time we go his diaper off so we started holding him over a bucket and making a ''psssss'' sound when he would go. Now we spend a lot of days with no diaper and only a miss here or there. I have friends that have started with a baby who is as aware as yours and by 5 months they don't pee all night and just go to the potty in the morning. It can really be amazing although it is important not to push for results and just take care of the need that your child is expressing to you. Look it up and see if it is something you are interested in trying, it seems like a lot of work and sometimes it is but always less work than diapering and much more rewarding. mother of another baby wanting the potty