One More Thing...

Alright, my last post about ECing brought forth some interesting discussion amongst my family and friends. I just wanted to do one more post on the topic. No, EC is certainly not easy all the time and I don't mean to make it sound like a fairytale..."My child is potty trained at 4 months, walking at 6 and talking at 8."-- HA! But back to the struggles in a minute...

The reasons I decided to try EC were more out of necessity than anything. Before Morris was born, I knew that he would have extremely sensitive skin. Both Roger and I do--- In addition to that, my mom told me that my brother and I were both allergic to disposable diapers as babies. So I did some research before the birth about my alternatives. The all natural, organic disposables run around $15-$17/week. That wasn't really in my budget. Cloth diapers seemed more doable cost wise, but the prospect of dealing with toddler poo, was not an exciting thought. (although now I realize poo isn't such a big deal and cloth diapering is easier than I expected...)

Rewind to high school: I saw an educational video about 3rd world countries and infant care. Most of the babies were not wearing diapers. Granted they probably didn't even have access to them, but still... I was curious how they handled their baby's hygiene.

Back to last August. Morris was born, and he was indeed allergic to disposables. I started with cloth as soon as I could and began looking into EC---mainly in order to cut down on laundry.

I did get frustrated and a little stressed at first when I would miss a potty opportunity. But the voice of reason (aka Roger) told me to have fun with it and make it a game. Every time I would "catch" his peeps, that was one less diaper I had to wash. Now that I could do. I had to focus not on perfectionism and the end result (being diaper free), but on simply trying to understand his communication better and making him more comfortable. It's working for me and I'm pleased to tell you I haven't washed a soiled diaper in almost a month--just wet ones (1 load/week)--And no diaper rash: )

Now--this is not to say that there aren't hard days. Especially the week Morris decided he no longer could sleep or nap with a wet diaper. He would wake up every time he had to go (4-5 times in the night). Now, his sphincter muscles are strong enough, he holds it. But for a few days there, it was interesting.

My whole point of this is coming, I swear.

I've decided that for me, this is all no different than potty training Morris as a toddler. Either way, I gotta spend the time right? And since keeping him dry in disposables isn't an option, this was best for us--Everyone who tries EC, does it for different reasons. I have found other benefits after starting it than I initially was looking for. So I plan to do it with all our kids even if they don't have skin issues. It might even be easier 2nd time around-- now that I know the signals and body language.

So that's all I gotta say on the issue. Anyway ya go, no ones' kids will be wearing a diaper or wetting the bed in college right? So the end result is all the same.