Does EC eat up your entire day?

Continuing on with my project to tie up loose ends...

Since the first time I posted about Elimination Communication (EC), I've wondered about the amount of time and energy it takes to read your baby's need-to-go-potty signals and take care of them without the safety net of a diaper. When I read up on it, this is what I found.

The general consensus on the Mothering.com boards seems to be that it doesn't consume any more time than the other tasks that go along with the all-consuming office of motherhood - although some posters say it does require extra work/attention at the beginning when you and the baby are still getting used to it.

Free to EC (myth #2) says EC takes less time than changing diapers.

Tribal Baby says it's easier, too:

EC can help make things easier for you. I would certainly NEVER use nappies full time - too hard. Too much work, far too much expense, and the burden on the environment - I simply couldn't cope with that...

Also, as I mentioned briefly before, a lot of the parents who EC also use diapers part of the time. (And they use "EC" as a verb - like I did in the previous sentence - even though it stands for two words which are not.) For example, they might EC at home, but use diapers when they're out. Or use diapers for nighttime and nap time. Or they may even have diapers on their child most/all of the time and just occasionally (when they see a need or feel like it's a good time), offer them opportunities to go in the toilet instead of their diapers. That, to me, seems like the most workable of those options and a good way to have some of the benefits of EC without having to constantly think about it.

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Photos: 1) By santheo. Creative Commons License. 2) By 2fs. Creative Commons License.