How'd that work out for 'ya?

Nola is 30 months old. What? Nola is 2 1/2. That's better. Once I get past 18 months, I'm lost. Since Nola has recently come to a new level of independence with her potty needs (She is officially diaper free. Nights, nap times, everything.) I thought I should share how I feel about elimination communication after the fact.

I wish I'd never done it.

HAHAHAHA! Just kidding. Read on for the truth. :)

At the beginning of this process I told a friend, "If she's not potty trained earlier than most babies, this might not be worth it." Well... she wasn't. She was using the potty well before most babies her age, but she wasn't completely potty trained before the average time.

So...am I disappointed? Surprisingly no.

While it would have been nice to have a one year old who could hold her pee for two hours, elimination communication is most definitely one of those it's-the-journey-not-the-destination things. You do reap rewards in the process, though. I washed less diapers every day, little by little. From seven months old on, she rarely sat in her own poop. I'm pretty proud of that. And it was awesome to not have to wash poop out of her diapers for two years. Major motivation there. And it was just so satisfying to meet that basic need for Nola. The same way you feel all happy after your baby is nice and full from a bottle, I would feel all happy when I was able to get her to a toilet to do her business.

So...do I think this would work for everyone? Maybe.

I definitely think every mom and every baby is capable of this process. I'm not a baby potty whisperer. I just consistently offer my babies the potty, and it's like they know. And despite what my mother-in-law would say, I don't think it's because my girls are geniuses. However, having worked in daycare before, I don't know that it would be possible for your baby's caregiver to do this all day. But I do think you could try pottying only at home. With consistency, I think a baby could catch on to a routine of using a toilet at home and a diaper at daycare. Yes, I'm serious.

So, after all is said and done...I loved elimination communication so much that I'm doing it again with Sweet Baby Violet! Stay tuned for news on how that's going. I'll give you a hint: I've only washed one poopy diaper in the past six weeks. And, no, she's not crazily constipated.