Just wondering, my daughter has had 3 UTIs and she’s just starting her third round of antibiotics. Is there ANY connection between EC and the infections? I really don’t think so, but I was wondering if anyone else has this problem, I am about to go to a urologist, and I’m afraid to tell him about it because I’m worried that he’ll blame it on that.
The doctor was telling me that when she pees probably what is happening is that her urine is being pushed back into her kidneys because the sphincter isn’t closing completely.
There is no cleanliness issues, I always wipe front to back, and sponge bathe her every day, and she is diaper free so she never sits in wet or dirty diapers.
Has anyone ever veen to a urologist with their baby? What will they do?
Let me know, thanks!
I had a similiar issues myself as a baby and small child. My urinary tract was too narrow so each time I unrinated some urine remained trapped resulting in infections. I had a couple of minor procedures at ages 6 and 8 which fixed it. A biodegradeable tube was inserted to widen the tract. Anyway I can’t see how EC could cause a lax sphincter muscle. If anything I would think that it should strengthen the sphincter muscle - like kegel exercises. I didn’t do EC with my kids because I didn’t know about it. I think it is great that you are doing it. It takes a lot of dedication. You are a great mom. It’s awful how we have to hide all of this stuff from our doctors. I haven’t mentioned my daughter’s reading to our doctor for fear that she would discourage me.
Anyway I’m sure you could not have caused this problem. If anything it sound like your daughter has the perfect environment for great urinary tract health, so it must just be a genetic or congenital issue.
Good Luck, Lori
There more chances for UTI with babies that sit in dirty diapers, ECing makes more difficult for child to get the ifection.
There can be other causes, but that would not be tipically linked to ECing.
We practice EC with #2, and everything I have read suggests a reduced incidence of UTI’s.
The following article also refers to this.
http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/raising-baby-nappy-free
I found a great article that had references from medical journals, but unfortunately it is lost in cyberspace this morning and I can’t find the link.
I wouldn’t be afraid to tell the urologist that you practice EC - they would be more likely to support your decision.
These posts have lead me to ask a slightly off topic question. HOW DID YOU DO EC?? I read the book before my baby was born and now he is a month and I still haven’t managed to go the EC route. I take a diaper off him about 10% of the time but since he sleeps all day, I hate for him to wet himself. Do you have any tips? Sometimes when I am not sleep deprived enough, I take off his diaper and simply place it under him while he sleeps on his stomach. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
my second baby is now 6 wks old and we have been practicing together since week 1. I didn’t know about it when I had my first son.
We keep him nappy free as often as possible, and hold him over the sink when he starts to squirm [poo], break wind [poo], cry for no reason [wee/wind], flare his nostrils [wee], or if he has a flared willie [wee]. We have about 60% success I would say, with more catches over night (he wears a nappy just in case) and plenty of accidents. Thankfully we have a wooden floor!
He gets angry and arches his back when he isn’t ready, so we usually have cuddles and try again in a few minutes when he is more relaxed. I discovered this week that he relaxes faster if I sing a particular song to him and make the sssss noise between verses. I also noticed today that he tried to lean over my arm - almost into his EC position - while he was fussing so I took him to the sink, cued, and he peed straight away.
I haven’t read the book, but have reserved it from the library and am ooking fwd to more tips.
My 20mth old now says wee and makes the sss noise when we are holding Fraser over the sink, so maybe he will catch on too!
We did EC with my daughter. She is 27 months and is about 90% potty trained. She probably would be completely trained but we moved her out of our room into a room with her brother at 15 months. I learned the most fom mothering dot commune. Check out this forum for some great advice http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=227
some other great sites i used were:
http://diaperfreebaby.org/
http://www.freewebs.com/freetoec/ecinaction.htm
http://www.timl.com/natec_1.htm
http://tribalbaby.org/ECindex.html
Remember EC is about communication and bonding. Don’t get frustrated by misses. We had many days when we had no catches at all. If you are worried about messes use diapers as a backup. The best time to get a catch is right when little one wakes from sleep. I didn’t EC my son but during potty training with him I learned little boys get an erection when they have to urinate. That should make it easier to learn your son’s patterns. somtimes I thought of it as training my self, not to make my lo go potty, but to watch for her signals that she needs to go. good luck.
Ronan is an EC grad. He has never had a UTI. I understand your concern, I thought about it when we started using EC, but I do not think they are related.