We did elimination communication (from birth) too, and my son was completely out of diapers all day long before he turned 19 months. It’s really not anything like potty training for 2 years. It’s teaching your child from the beginning that we potty in the toilet, so you never have to re-teach a very confused toddler to stop using a diaper and go in a potty instead.

It honestly was not the kind of hassle you’re imagining. If you pay attention to your child’s cues and timing (waking up from naps, after eating, etc.), it’s a snap.

And it’s not an all-or-nothing deal, either. You don’t have to be a hippie with an always-diaperless baby to do EC. You can have them in disposables full-time and just try out EC once in a while. Just think, for each #1 or #2 that goes in the potty, you save money on diapers.

At least some of the time, you definitely know when your baby is going in his or her diaper, right? Just hold your little one over the toilet instead. It’s MUCH easier than cleaning up poopy diaper bottoms, especially when they start eating solid foods!

she seems nice and down to earth

Thanks for the explanation Kira. Even at 33 years old, I still learn something new every day. =)

Crunchy is a phrase used for natural hippy type moms. Crunchy like granola

OK, I am starting to get a little disturbed by some of these B,C, and D listers using their children to get their names in the spotlight again. You don’t see Angelina, Katie Holmes, etc. giving out all kinds personal family info just to get their names out there. In fact, they try to shelter their families from the spotlight. Then we have these people trying to get famous again that are using their children! Don’t even get me started on Trista who is not even D list. I shudder to think of what “Papa Joe” is going to try to do to pimp out the first Simpson grandchild. It’s the same people who show up at all of the Hollywood baby “events” to get free stuff. It’s always Melissa Joan, Tori Spelling, Stephanie from Full House, etc. I mean, you don’t see Britney or Christina at every single baby event in Hollywood. What are they going to do for a career when their kids are grown? Just something to think about.

My son trained himself before he was 2 so I know I got really lucky! That said, EC sounds like 2 years of potty training verses a few weeks? Always sounds interesting but like more of a guessing/get lucky game instead? Glad it works for some people though! Sorry Connor’s Aunt – can’t help you define Crunchy Mama either. My guess would be something environmentally friendly???

DiaperFree, what is a “crunchy mama” that you refer to? I have never heard that term before. Not really sure what to think about elimination communication but to each their own I guess.

My hubby and I practice elimination communication. I read a couple of articles on the net and started when my daughter was 1 month old.

When she was about seven months, I finally read the book: Diaper Free Baby. I highly recommend it for other crunchy mamas. Babies DO know when they have to eliminate. We TRAIN them to ignore it and then TRAIN them to start paying attention to it when we get tired of diapers at age 1, 2, 3, or beyond. To be honest, I looked into EC (elimination communication) because I saw what a pain conventional potty training CAN be–it was for my older sister!

I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to flush my daughter’s breast milk poop instead of cleaning it off her bum. She won’t even go in a kid potty-only the “real” potty! We “catch” MANY pees too. (She’s now 10 months, so she has 9 months of practice!) We find it to be fun! Who else can say that about offering their child the potty!

(We usually use cloth, but we *sometimes* put her in only underwear!)

I’ve found, through working at several daycares, that the Cool Alert pull-ups work INCREDIBLY well. Not only do they save you from having to change an entire outfit in the case of an accident, the kids cannot stand that cold feeling against their skin if they wet the pull up. I’ve had kids literally dancing around the room while I’ve been getting the changing station ready to change them in an effort to get away from the feeling.

I used to hate pull-ups before I started working in the toddler rooms and I still don’t like the regular ones because it’s true, the kids do treat it like a regular diaper. But the Cool Alerts really seem to work. At least, in my experience working with kids from the ages of 2 through 4 who are potty training, they have great results.

I found pull ups help since we are sloooowly potty training our son (he’s 2 1/2). Since he turned 2 we always put him on
the potty at certain key times during the day. He is a very shy boy and doesn’t like to ask to use the toilet, but if you ask him to go he will go.
We don’t think he’s ready (and honestly we aren’t ready to dedicate the time it needs) to go straight to underwear and pulling down a pullup is much easier than taking off a diaper.
I agree that it’s a waste of money though!!!