As a father, Elimination Communication has been as much a boon to me as to my wife. I have taken seriously my responsibility to be involved in all aspects of our child's rearing, including changing diapers. So, the fewer diapers to change, the better as far as I am concerned! The joy of not having to change several poop-filled diapers every day is beyond description. In addition, EC has given me more opportunity to spend time with my son. He enjoys going to the bathroom with Dad, and he has already discovered the use of the urinal in public restrooms. He is happier, and I think generally healthier through our use of this method. (No diaper rash, for one!) It also enables me to be more connected to his needs, to tell why he is fussing, whether it's because he is hungry, tired, or has to pee. This has reinforced our connection, which allows me to give mom a break, to comfort him, rock him to sleep, and help cover "non-nutritional" things.

The Other Side Speaks
Knowing my husband like I do, I didn't expect him to jump right on the EC bus with me.  Instead, when he changed diapers, I said to him only once, "If you want to, hold him over the sink and see if you can get him to pee."  I left the option open to him to either try or not try.  I didn't want to force my son to EC, and I wanted to extend that same courtesy to my husband.  I simply taught by doing...I took the baby to pee whenever I changed him, and once I started trying to anticipate, rather than react after the fact, to his cues, I shared every success with my husband.  After about three weeks--enough time for him to realize that this wasn't a passing fad, I caught him in the bathroom with the baby, holding him over the sink, and saying, "psss, psss."  I couldn't have been prouder.

Now because Daddy works long hours and doesn't get to see the baby as often as we'd like, it's sometimes a challenge for Daddy to get him to settle down and pee.  But Daddy does try.

I asked him to tell me what he thought of EC.  He said this.  "Anything that means I don't have to change a poopy diaper, I'm all for!"  The beauty of a man's simple, direct, and down-to-earth logic is a wondrous thing indeed.

I have been into EC since we first heard about it at a picnic when my DW was still pregnant with our DS. It has been a brilliant experience and I can't understand how people can use nappies when such an easy and fantastic method of EC exists.