Thursday, October 28, 2010

How My Youngest Runner Saved 2520 Diapers!


My Youngest Runner showing off his flexiblity and his cute underpants

The "Greenest" Diapering System of All!

We are all about green living and conservationism at our house, especially my youngest runner. He, by merely communicating his needs, has saved an estimated 2520 diapers (from washing or landfill) in his short 17 month life. I'll explain the math shortly, but the journey is definitely as important as the data.

When I first heard about Elimination Communication, I seriously thought it was only for hippies and people with far too much time on their hands. Until, that is, my oldest son demanded we research this issue at 13 months of age. Now, I was a slow learner but with a very patient but energetic son, I learned his cues. Then enter, youngest runner child #3. We began to understand our little bear's not unresonable request to be taken to the restroom around 2 weeks of age. He would clear his throat like a little gentleman and wait patiently until correctly positioned over the Baby Bjorn potty. Now, like all of us, if his request was not responded to, he would squawk at least once to get a little more attention. He quickly decided he liked being clean and dry, crazy, I know! Approximately 5-15 times per day, I would help him to the bathroom. Please understand, we still had tons of "misses" where I would wash 15-20 diapers per 24 hours in the newborn stage. Sounds like a lot, but really it wasn't bad because he always told me and I got pretty quick at pants changes, 4 seconds flat! Can you tell I like numbers?

Now, he is 17 months and except for the first two weeks and occasional "sick" times, has been using the restroom with help every day. He wears cloth diapers and big kid underpants everday, and is dry through the night consistently. Figuring 5 potty-tunities per day, which is a low estimate,  we have saved 2520 diapers from being washed or going in the landfill. Elimination Communication is truly about listening to a child's cues and attempts at even pre-verbal communication. Then, we simply respond as best we can. The added bonus of less work for me and less wasted energy makes Elimination Communication the "greenest" way to care of a baby's elimination needs. The only needed element is water to wash away the waste to our lovely, local water treatment plant. Ahh, the water cycle is such a fun homeschool lesson for the older children!

Stay tuned for the next post getting started in Elimination Communication or check out the links listed...

1 comment:

  1. This is definitely so intriguing to me, and something I want to try if we are blessed with another baby.

    When I first heard of it - I thought it sounded absolutely crazy, but now I realize that it is absolutely the most green and frugal "diapering" option out there! Especially when you follow the "If it's yellow, let it mellow..." mantra like we do at our house.

    I'm excited to read your next posts about this! My little guy, at 16 months, just decided this week, that he really wants to sit on, and use, the potty. I would love to potty train him sooner, rather than later, but I have no idea how to go about it at this point. So any tips you have for starting this with an older baby would be much appreciated! :)

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