As is the case for many parents these days we weighed the environmental impact of cloth diapers versus disposables. In all of our research and reading we came across a number of references and some testimonials discussing another alternative to some of the inevitable and literal waste that comes with having a baby. Early start potty training, or elimination communication or "EC" as some people call it, is the simple idea of teaching your kid to use the potty from the day they are born.

We thought this made a lot of sense. Since the only way to reduce the use of any type of diaper is to have your kid use the potty, why not start earlier rather than later? We read a couple of books on the topic before starting on our adventure, but the method is really simple: Put your kid on the potty from the day they are born (or whenever you want to start), several times a day (or however often you want to or can). Honestly, that’s just about it.

The idea is that you anticipate when your baby is going to need to go (after nap or nursing, for example) and you provide the opportunity for them to go in the potty. In the beginning, sometimes he will go (we have two boys) and sometimes he won’t. But when he does, you give him positive feedback. Some people suggest that you give your baby an audible cue to associate with going to the bathroom and teach them a hand sign so that they can tell you early on when they need to go.

As you read this post, I can assure you that there are lots of different experiences out there with widely varying results and opinions. This is just our story. I should also note that we have had one parent at home with the kids since they were born. The books we read said that parents can have as much success even if they are only able to practice early start potty training outside of work hours, but I don’t have experience with that directly.

For those who are interested, my goal here is just to let you know what worked for us, what didn't and ultimately why we love early start potty training.

What worked

We were astonished to discover how quickly and easily both of our boys took to using the potty. For our first son, L. (now 3), we used a small Baby Bjorn Potty and later upgraded to a larger one, but to avoid the added step of cleaning the potty, we are putting our second boy, C. (now 9 months) right on the toilet (with a potty training seat).

First of all, elimination communication doesn't mean committing to having your child make big messes when you miss their cues - diapers make a great fail-safe. Here's how we do it: When C. wakes up in the morning, we put him on the potty. He either goes if he needs to or doesn't and then we put a diaper on him. Unless he makes any indication of needing to go, we wait until say, before nap time (about 2-3 hours later) and then put him on the potty again. He either goes or he doesn't and his diaper is either dry or it isn't. (But its never poopy.)

We saw results within days of beginning our early start potty training, even when our kids were only weeks old. At that age, babies are... productive, so sometimes our boys would go on the potty and sometimes in their diapers, but over time they used the potty more and more and their diapers less and less. I’d say that by the time they were 4 months old, they were using the potty about 90% of the time for poop (more on pee in a sec). And by 6 months for our first son and about 8 months for our second, we have never seen a poopy diaper again!

What didn’t work

We did not find using an audible cue to be particularly helpful in our experience. We found that the association with the potty was enough for them to know what they were supposed to do. Nor did we find using a hand sign to be particularly helpful in having our kids "communicate" to us about their potty needs. We taught our kids a hand sign, but neither of them has ever used it to let us know that they need to go. Our second son is now nine months old and mostly we just provide several opportunities a day for him to use the potty and this is enough to get the job done. But on occasion he has communicated his need to use the potty simply by being fussy. We have learned that when he’s fussy, we should check the usual suspects plus one more. Is he hungry? Is he tired? Or does he need to poop?

Having a poop-free-diaper existence has been reward enough for us to fully endorse early-start potty training. However, our expectations for actually having our kids truly potty trained at an earlier age have now been readjusted as our older son was no sooner pee-trained than his (non-early start) friends. Somewhat ironically, this may have had something to do with our use of early-start potty training. For example, we noticed that while his friends were all discovering the potty for the first time and showing excitement towards this “new” activity (that they sometimes got rewards for) - he just thought they were crazy because he had been using a potty all of his life. What was there to get excited about?

While he was fully capable of using a potty to pee in - and in fact did pee in a potty several times a day (when we took him to the potty) - this did not translate into him voluntarily telling us when he needed to go. This turned out to be more of a developmental step, requiring him to be OK with stopping whatever fun activity he was doing at the time to take a potty break. For us that came right around his third birthday.

We used lots of "naked time" with our first son, L., on the theory that it would help facilitate regular use of the potty (one kept close at hand). In our experience, this didn't really offer much benefit above and beyond our early start potty training habits, so we haven't emphasized that as much with C. and don't really see much difference.

Why we love it

Particularly because we chose to use cloth diapers with both of our boys, not having to deal with poopy diapers has been heavenly. No extra rinsing. No stinky diaper pails. Clean bums, no diaper rash. And our kids’ waste has gone where it’s supposed to – in the sewer system, not the trash can (as often happens with disposables).

Finally, some might view the time spent putting your kid on the potty as time they don’t have to add to their schedule, but we have really valued our potty time with the kids. We use that time to talk with them and read stories. We have a big bookshelf right next to the potty. It’s the first thing we do in the morning and the last thing before bed. It has actually come to be scheduled quality time that we all enjoy.

Ultimately, we have found that early start potty training is good for the environment (fewer diapers of any kind and waste in its place), good for our kids (quality time with their parents and always knowing what the potty is for), and great for us (for all of the reasons above).

Have any questions about how EC worked for our family? We're happy to field questions in the comments.

Need cloth diapers? ZRecs published a Cloth Diaper Showdown nearly two years ago that is still heavily referenced, and Kim Rosa's Dirty Diaper Laundry site features great video reviews of cloth diapers and follows current trends and designs in cloth diapering.

Feeling lucky? PRIZEY's Baby Gear category has frequent giveaway listings of cloth diapers and diapering supplies.

We committed early on to using cloth diapers with our daughter Z, who just turned five this week. But when we got ready to put her in daycare at the age of three months, we realized that the efficiencies of a daycare operation and cloth diapering don't always go hand in hand. Rather than simply giving up on cloth diapering in order to fit in with their existing approach, we did some strategizing and were able to negotiate with a daycare to support and participate in our cloth diapering. If you'd like to do the same, follow these steps to work with your current daycare or, if you're shopping for one, as one of your criteria for identifying a suitable daycare for your child.

1. Do your regulatory homework. Look up your state's daycare regulations for diapering, and print them out. Your daycare manager may be only vaguely familiar with these regulations, and having them on hand can be key to working out the details of an unusual arrangement. If you can show them that it's not specifically banned in your state for a daycare to use cloth diapers, you have a better case for working out a compromise. In Texas, state regulations only require that diapers be placed in "cover(ed) containers used for soiled diapers or [kept] in a sanitary manner, such as placing soiled diapers in individual sealed bags." We brought the appropriate section of the regulations as well as a sample of our all-in-one cloth diapers to the primary daycare when we were interviewing and asked if we could work something out that would enable us to have Z in cloth diapers. In the end, they agreed that if we provided them with a plastic garbage bag and a diaper pail with a cover (similar to the one they used to throw away the disposable diapers but smaller) they would use the cloth diapers for her. We bought them a diaper pail to keep at the daycare and a box of plastic liners for the pail. They'd toss the diapers in our special pail for us when they changed her and at the end of each day, they'd tie the liner shut and stick the bag in Z's cubby for us to take home. We'd take them home, wash them, and bring the diapers back in her diaper bag the next day.


2. Bring a sample diaper with you. Personnel may have misconceptions about cloth diapers, either because they have never used cloth diapers or because they have never used modern cloth diapers. The employees at our daycare had never used cloth diapers before. They were impressed with our all-in-one diaper and handling it, with us showing how simple it was to use, helped them understand that changing a cloth diaper would be just as quick and easy as changing a disposable diaper. (Time is important when you're changing the diapers of ten infants every hour or two.) They might not have been as willing if they'd thought that they'd have to fold and pin diapers.


3. Be flexible. We didn't use liners in our pails at home and we didn't love the idea of using them at daycare, but otherwise they wanted us to bring ziplock bags and have each diaper individually sealed after use. The expense of the pail and the liners and the environmental impact of using one pail liner each day was much less than using a plastic bag for each diaper. Had I known about wet bags (like the Wet! Happens bags) I might have suggested using several of those in place of the ziplocks, but the point is, the solution you achieve may not be your 100% green diapering dream, but still better than the alternative.


4. Be patient. You may have to check out a few daycare centers to find one that is willing to work with you, or the daycare may agree to work with you but then diaper incorrectly the first few times they use them. At Z's daycare they'd often forget to give us our diapers (and we'd forget to check for them) so we'd have stinky day-old diapers to wash the next day. Remember that they are new to this and are doing it for you, not because they have a strong preference of cloth over disposable.


5. Thank them. It is critical for those who will follow you that your daycare provider have a positive experience using your environmentally-friendly diapering option. This means you need to acknowledge the effort they have taken to work with you on the issue. Send a card, bring cookies, or do some other nice thing every once in a while to remind them that you appreciate what they have done.

As with many things in parenting, a little research and a little strategy, delivered with kindness and flexibility, can go a long way.

If you've had success using cloth diapers at your child's daycare, tell us how it came about. Do you have any added tips or tricks for making this a success?

This post is for the Green Moms Carnival on Green Schools hosted by OrganicMania on August 10th.

The invention of the baby shower gift registry has made gift-giving an easy but sometimes thoughtless process. Here are some ideas to bring a little more green to your gift-giving. I don’t advocate giving a green gift if it’s something they aren’t going to use or just for the sake of it being “green.” Sometimes it is best to stick to the registry, especially if you don’t know the person well. But if you have a bit of freedom, here are some gift ideas that you might consider.

Diapers are always an appreciated gift. They’re expensive and much needed. If the person you are shopping for is interested in or has decided to do cloth diapers, a great gift would be a gift certificate to a diaper service - it offers someone a way to ease into the world of cloth diapers. If the parents-to-be are planning on using disposables, purchase Seventh Generation diapers and wipes, one of the greenest options out there in the disposable diaper market.

Put together a green toiletries kit. Fill a basket with baby shampoo, soap and lotion from California Baby. Also include an organic wash cloth and towel. You can check the ZRecs Guide for other baby care products that are free of harmful chemicals.

If the mother-to-be has an interest in breastfeeding, create a breastfeeding support kit which could include items such as your favorite breastfeeding book, milk storage bags (if they are going to pump), lanolin cream, and a nursing shawl or Hooter Hider. Breastfeeding is the greenest way to feed your little one, it’s a local food source for your baby!

I know that one of the last things that seem to get done when you have a baby is housekeeping. When you are sleep-deprived, the little energy you do have goes towards your baby and just surviving day to day life. The house doesn’t have to be clean in order to survive, but it would sure make your day more pleasant and easier to deal with. Why not pay for some post-natal housekeeping by a service that uses non-toxic chemicals? Maid Brigade is one company that provides green housekeeping services. Another gift idea is to offer your own elbow grease. Bring green cleaning supplies if they don’t have them and when you have finished, leave the supplies there for them to use.

Buy local and handmade items. A great place to do this is at my favorite handmade site, Etsy, an online marketplace for crafters. You can find a great selection of baby items such as handmade bibs and blankets, wooden toys, and onesies. One of the many great features of this website is that you can search for sellers by location, enabling you to support local crafters.

If the baby shower is for someone who is not a first-time mom, they may already have enough stuff - the last thing they really want is more baby stuff taking up room in their home. There are a lot of great ideas, including the housekeeping gift that I mentioned above, that would be very appreciated but don’t contribute to the accumulation of unwanted stuff. It’s hard to find a women who wouldn’t be excited about a gift card to a spa for a pregnancy massage, or a post-pregnancy spa trip. How about offering to babysit their other kid(s) on several occasions? Make a gift certificate book that has coupons they can redeem for you to run errands for them such as grocery shopping, getting the oil changed on their car or picking up some more diapers and wipes.

Do you have any green baby shower gift ideas? Have you been given any green gifts that you have really appreciated?