Done with Diapers?

It was only a matter of time until we had a potty training post! Besides getting children to sleep, it can be one of the most frustrating parts of parenting small children.
I have a cousin that is having a hard time potty training one of her kids, and I'm sure there are more of you going through this right now. What's hard about potty training is there are a thousand different opinions on the matter and everyone usually thinks their way is the best. Honestly, I think the best approach is probably a little different for each child.
That being said, here's what I think about potty training: (Please don't be offended if it is different than what you think. Its just my opinion and its just what worked for us.)
I am totally in the "earlier-the-better" camp. I think waiting and waiting until your child "shows interest" will just result in you wiping poopy behinds for much longer than is needed. (And all the diapers you can save from the landfill, the better!) From The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems, "In 1957, studies found that 92 percent of children were toilet trained by eighteen months." This tells me that it is possible to train early.
So let me now tell you how I potty trained both of my kids. (Tyson was fully trained by 2 1/2 and Eliza by 2. Both were pooping in the toilet by age 2). I got the basic idea from the Baby Whisperer. Just start talking to them about it at a very young age, 9 months to a year. When they poop say, "You are going poop. When you are older, you will go poop in the toilet just like mommy and daddy." Its as simple as letting them know what they are even doing. If you do this they will recognize it very early and learn to associate it with the toilet. When my kids got closer to age two, I would run and put them on the toilet whenever I thought they were going to poop. At first, we didn't make it in time very much and I would just change their diaper, but I would never just let them poop in their diaper without running to make it to the toilet first. Then whenever we did make it to the toilet in time, I praised them like I never had done before. I told them how proud I was and gave them a treat. It is a pain but they get it after a short while and then YOU DON"T HAVE TO CHANGE POOP ANYMORE! I think poop training should be done early because this is the age when they crave your praise. If you wait until they are older they don't care as much what you think and they can become very stubborn.
I gotta be honest though. Training them to pee in the toilet was not as easy and I don't feel like I am expert enough to offer much advice in that arena except just be patient and consistent and take them to the toilet pretty much all the time until they get it. Oh and get some training underwear (the kind that is super padded) and have them wear multiple pairs at first. That way, if there is an accident, most of it is absorbed by the unders.
Ok-that is my training regimen but what have you done???? I'd like to hear what has worked for you and see if we can help my cousin out. She has tried many things already so hopefully we have some new ideas for her.

To Be (potty trained) or Not To Be (potty trained)

For those of you changing toddlers diapers...
As crappy as it to change diapers let me just give you a few things to think about to maybe, possibly, help the chore not seem quite as bad.
My little Liza was recently potty trained pretty much on accident around the time she turned two. I really wasn't ready for what came with it, though. I don't want to seem like I'm complaining but I just wanted to let you know potty training early isn't all good.
Here are the pros of early potty training for us. 1-The actual headache of potty training is behind us. 2-I don't need to use huge amounts of diapers anymore (she still wears one at night) 3-No more toting stinky diapers to the outside garbage.
But...here are the cons. 1-Eliza now wakes up at all hours of the night to use the "toywet". 11:00pm, 2:30am, 5:00am. Sigh. She has a diaper on but wants to go on the toilet. I think she is pretty young to hold it all night. Maybe soon? Please? 2-Pretty much every place we go we have to use the bathroom. I'm not a huge fan of public bathrooms so I don't love this much. Especially with pudgy fingers trying to TOUCH everything in the stall. 3-She needs to use the toilet ALL the time! Mostly at the worst time-something is boiling on the stove, I'm in the shower, we're in the car, etc. And you can't just have her wait a few minutes until its more convenient. When she says she needs to go she needs to GO. 4-I am not off poop patrol yet. I still have to go to the bathroom with her and pretty much help her every step of the way, which, unfortunately includes wiping poop...still.
So there you have it. Pros and Cons of early potty training. Did I leave any out? What do you think? Better to potty train ASAP or wait until they are a bit older?