Potty training one child is no easy task, let alone five children. Besides dealing with all the tears, bribes and dirty underwear involved, getting someone so young to be interested in doing their business in a toilet is just…hard.

That’s why Andrea Olson decided to eliminate the traditional method of potty training altogether. Instead, what she’s done—and succeeded at—is what’s referred to as “elimination communication,” or EC for short.

EC is essentially a no-diaper method of teaching kids how to use a potty. You start holding the baby over a toilet from birth and let them go naturally from your arms.

Olson first heard about EC even before she was even pregnant and thought it sounded like a great idea. “And 4 years later, when I discovered I was pregnant, I immediately bought a book that explained this phenomenon that could save me from All. The. Mess. It just felt right,” she said.

On the very first day her first child was born, the EC training began. “I was handed a small potty and held him over it as I’d seen it done in the book,” Olson said. “He did that first nasty tarry poop in the potty, and I can assure you that I never looked back from that day forward. This was the best thing ever!”

She really never looked back. She had four more kids after that, all of who she EC trained to use the potty. And the benefits, she says, are vast.

“We have saved an estimated $10,000 in diaper costs, kept literally TONS of diapers out of the landfill, and have raised our babies without the disgusting task (and smell) of endless poopy diapers and without ever buying a diaper genie,” Olson explains.

On top of that, she finds that EC is more comfortable for the baby, making them less fussy and colicky. “We completely avoid diaper rash, medical constipation, endless accidents, unnecessary tantrums, erratic behavior, and bedwetting,” she says.

You might be thinking of how time-consuming this all sounds. But don’t worry, Olson explains that EC is typically used on a part-time basis. So, no, it doesn’t need to be used for every single pee. “Part-time for you could mean only going for every other pee, only getting the poops (which are typically easier: instincts!), only doing the wake-up pees … stuff like that,” she says.

Additionally, diapers are used sometimes, as a backup. “Any time without a diaper is awesome, but do it responsibly using clothing or a diaper back-up if you’re not trying to learn baby’s timing during a naked sesh,” Olson explains.

Sounds pretty interesting, huh? If you’d like to learn more about EC from the expert herself, Olson actually wrote her own “easy start guide,” which you can check out here. You’ll learn everything you need to know about how to start your EC journey with your newborn—and go (nearly) diaper-free for a lifetime.

You can read more from Olson on EC here.

Have you heard of EC before? Would you ever consider trying this method over traditional potty training?