I use cloth diapers with Isaac, and lately the skin in his diaper area has just been irritated. I've always been intrigued by the idea of elimination communication; I actually saw it put into practice quite often while we were living in China. So today I did a little diaper-free trial run since I thought it would be really good for Isaac's little bottom if I tried to give it as much air as possible. When I'm carrying him with me I just hold a cloth diaper under his bottom, and when I lay him down I just keep one underneath him. And I'm surprised to say that I've known when he needed to go potty quite often today. He usually fusses just a little bit beforehand. And it doesn't take any longer to hold him over the potty than it does to change a diaper. It's really just a matter of attentiveness and timing.
Now, I've always said that elimination communication would be too difficult and that I know my limits and that it would just be too much. And I may still feel that way. Today my work load at home was light because Tom was here to help and we generally take it easy on Sundays. So I'm really not sure if I could keep Isaac diaper-free on days that are busy. But, it certainly doesn't hurt to try. If it works, that's great. And if not, then I'm happy to use cloth diapers, and I'll just need to trouble shoot the irritated-skin issue.
