Want to save money on diapers? You could clip coupons. Or you could try "Elimination Communication." In a nutshell, it's having a close enough connection with your baby that you can read the signs she gives off when she's ready to, er, eliminate something. Then you take her to the nearest toilet and let her go. Wave buh-bye to those toddler toilet training battles -- because you can get started with this as early as right after birth!

In their new book, The Other Baby Book, moms Megan McGorory Massaro and Miriam J. Katz gently walk you through this practice. And they would know how -- they both got it to work for their babies.

Diapers are a necessary evil until your child is potty trained, which can be a whole other necessary evil in itself. Whether you go the cloth or the disposable route, there is still a stinky process to the whole bit. Sideth Ung, a father of three, had an idea, though ... something that could change the way we deal with diapers forever. Specifically diaper disposal. They are called DiaperPods and they could make diaper pails obsolete because they come with a hidden bag that can seal the stink up once your kid is ready to be changed.

Yes it's the opposite of the 100 percent compostable diapers we recently talked about, but for those who use 'sposies and are not into composting poop, DiaperPods may be just what you need in a diaper. Here is how it works:

Remember when you had your first baby and you were filled with the irrational fear that you’d take them home and break them immediately? They were perfect and you wanted them to stay that way. Ah, those were the days.

The second baby? Not so much. It's called second baby syndrome and it's real.

The first time you read every parenting book. You bought all the right toys, gadgets, and recommended baby products. Everything had to be perfect. The second time? Not so much.

If you've ever worked in an office, you've been in "that" meeting. You know, when one original fantastic idea gets so much input that it turns into a Franken-idea and winds up being a total nightmare. I think, perhaps, that's what happened with the Huggies campaign to highlight dads on the job with their new ad campaign.

Putting real dads to the test with Huggies seems cute. Let's put more dads in diaper ads, in fact. In house cleaning ads, in grocery shopping ads. This, I am all for. I think what went wrong with the Huggies situation -- and thus had parents everywhere rightly teed off -- is when Huggies decided to take a modern idea, and throw some 1950s values right in the middle. Oops.

I love pretty much everything Stephen Colbert does, so naturally I think the way he handled rumors about his 91-year-old mother's ill health on his return to The Colbert Report was right on the money. Balancing perfectly between funny late-night talk show host and heartwarming-ly devoted son, Colbert quipped:

"Evidently, having 11 children makes you tough as nails. Confidential to a lovely lady," then raised his hand in salute.

If you're like me, your first reaction was something along the lines of "Awww, that's so sweet," followed closely by "Wow, I didn't know Stephen Colbert was one of 11 children," followed even more closely by "OMG, how did that woman make it to the age of 91 after having 11 babies?!?!"

And I'm not even talking about going through the agony of labor and delivery 11 times. I'm talking about taking care of 11 babies. Do you realize what that means?

OMG, that picture of your baby is so cuuuuute! And that one! What a darling little outfit! Look at those cheeks! How can you stand it, I just want to eat him up right this minute! I think my ovaries are exploding! I just spontaneously lactated and, and—oh. Oh dear. Um, that photo ... not so much.

The truth is, not every single baby photo is a keeper. Or, more accurately, they're all keepers (who actually bothers to delete anything from their photo libraries, right?), but some are less share-worthy than others.

Here, presented with kindness and just a smidgen of tough love, are three types of baby photos that don't need to make their way to Facebook:

Have you seen the latest? A Qantas flight on its way from Darwin to Brisbane, Australia had to be grounded because one tiny baby decided it was an appropriate place to poop in his pants. Really, baby? You couldn't hold it for the duration of the pre-screening, boarding, flight, and de-boarding? I'm thinking your self-control should be analyzed by a professional. Maybe that baby whisperer lady in your neck of the woods could help you out.

You guys, people had to be fork-lifted off the flight when it made an emergency landing due to the "strange odor" passengers were complaining about. How would you like to be fork-lifted? Babies, you're the reason everyone hates to fly. Babies ruin everything.

Nose FridaSo, here's an irony for you: After posting last week about how I ain't afraid of no germs, my babies got a wee bit of a cold ... or they're teething ... or both. Regardless, their little noses are all mucousy and shnookly and I'm willing to do anything I can to make my little buddies all better.

Of course, those plastic bulb aspirators really do a whole lotta nothing, so I went ahead and bought a couple of those Nose Frida aspirators that allow you to suck, yes, suck the snot right out of your baby's nose (through a filter though, phew). When the pediatrician first mentioned it to me, I was like, "Oh, hells no!" But after a day of listening to them snarf, I knew I had to take serious action. A few days later, I'm sucking snot out several times a day and, I gotta say, it's pretty satisfying! Oh yeah, it's all kinds of nasty too, but hearing them breathe easy makes it all worth it. And, honestly, there are a lot of other gross things I'm doing, all in the name of love ...