I know it's been a while since this was posted but I thought I'd comment on what shannon and netix said about ec.

no, you do not have to sleep with them, and no, you do not have to be with them 24 hours a day. I take my dd to the toilet, have since 10 days old. I only co-slept for 15 days, just to get her used to the world, and I leave her with mum or DH, both of whom potty her almost as successfully as me. it only takes a day to tell the signals if you watch properly - then you can just tell everyone else what to look for if they are minding them. my baby is nappied almost all the time, but I let her have some nappy free time about 15-30 mins a day. I have never ever had a mess in teh house. I also don't let her pee in shrubs etc. Those who do let their babies do this probably find it more convenient, but I take my baby to the public toilet and she has learned to wait this long. I also take an ice cream container with a lid on it for a "porta potty" and I empty and clean it before I pack it up inside its plastic bag to take home. We have a container at mum's too, and I will use a laundry tub downstairs if I can't be bothered going upstairs to the potty. I figure I'm cleaning out pooey nappies in it anyway! I don't let her poo in that though- I can tell the difference. If I was stuck for a loo, of course I woudl let her use grass for a pee - people do that as adults sometimes! But a better solution if you want is to open up a disposable nappy and put it in a plastic bag or something. Let them pee in that then chuck it - better than doing it while the nappy is on and un-learning something.

I don't take her to potty too often (3 times in every wake period of about 1.5 hours, plus after a sleep and a car trip) and I often only have 3-4 wees in nappies a day. And our EC is quite successful at night too - sometimes completely dry all night. I will not take her during the night unless she's up for a feed which is rarely. She can hold it, or wet the nappy- her choice - but more and more she is dry in teh mornings. Without co-sleeping. Pottying is easy!