Potty Training Book

Read "Toilet Training in Less Than A Day" I used it and loved the method.

Try "The Baby Whisperer solves all your problems" by Tracy Hogg. Great book!
And good luck.

A.

I saw this book on ivillage live- The diaper-free baby by Gross-loh.

I unfortunately didn't use a book. However, I got my first daughter potty trained at 15 months and my second one at 18 months. With both girls I used the same basic method. I got them a little potty (they each went with me to pick it out). I would sit them in the potty every few hours for about 15 to 30 minutes (we started with just 5 minutes... depending on how long they were able to last sitting down) and I would sit next to them and we would color, read, do lego and as soon as I heard them go I would get very excited. We would call my husband and I would give them a price. Sometimes I gave them a sticker, half a cookie or one little chocolate m&m (what ever they wanted). Also, once I started potty training them I kept them in underwears (never used the Pull-Ups). They both hated the feeling of being wet, so after a couple of wet undies they would stop themselves as soon as they felt their underwear wet and would tell me to take them to do pee pee. It took me about a week with my first daughter and about two weeks with my second daughter. However, I would take the potty with me everywhere while I was potty training them - I took the time off from work to potty train them and not get them confused.

Hope this helps... and good luck!

I too am old school and started my son very young by today's standards. I did not use a book at that age though. I just started by buying a little potty for him...very simple one, no frills, and every time I went to the bathroom or my husband did we took him in with us and told him what we were doing. At first he just thought it was "fun", but then it started to sink in. By 18 months he knew the words pee pee...poop, etc... we also knew his body language cues for having to go much better by then as well. I would say that by the time he was two he was pretty much potty trained with the occassional accident...pull ups at night until about three years old. Oh, I also switched him to pull ups from diapers at 18 months and I made a star chart for him when he would go potty so he could get a sticker to put up which he loved. Pooping was trickier for us so he was rewarded with a Hershey Kiss when he made poop. My son wll do anything for chocolate to this day. At two we went to regular big boy underwear that he got to pick out himself, accpet for at night he was in pull ups. This way when there were accidents, because there will be quite a few, he would be a mess...which is not fun for us to clean up, but it gets the point across quicker, and it feels reeally gross to them. We had some refusal around two and a half...but it had more to do with him wanting to be in contol...so when he had to start "helping" wash out his dirty underwear in the sink it seemed to nip it in the bud. He is now over four and only has an occasional night time accident. The thing with starting earlier is that it usually takes a little longer, but the way I see it is that it may not, and besides who wants to change three year olds diaper ( which I think we see a bit too often these days) when they may have already been potty trained at two if you had just given them the chance. I have a 5 1/2 month old now, and I think the only things I will do differently this time is wait until she knows the words for potty, pee, etc...and then model it for her if she is 15 months great if she's 18 months that is okay too, and I will not bother with the pull ups...I think we will go straight to training pants. Gerber makes some pretty good water proof ones. Hope this helps and good luck.

I had great success with my two using concepts from American Academy of Pediatrics Potty Training Book. They review readiness signs, ways to prepare the children for training, what to do with the typical problems, barriers, etc.

I am certainly not the potty training expert, but I can tell you my experiences. With my first, I tried potty training her at 18 months and got frustrated quickly, thinking it was too early. The same week I decided to wait, she began a new home daycare. The provider had a special child-friendly attitude I had never seen before. She had her potty trained in about two days, the first week she had started going there! I was amazed. I asked her how she did it, she said she just took her to the potty every couple of hours. My boys were a lot harder, but my sixth one is very sociable and cooperative. He potty training himself with no suggestions at all, he just announced he want to go to the potty. Each child is unique, but being around a new and potty friendly environment seems to do wonders. I am not a big advocate of spending lots of money on new gadgets for child rearing, probably because I have six children and a tiny budget, but I have heard if you get them a simple potty chair that is easier to reach and put their picture on the back of the seat, it gives them ownership and they love it.

I read some books, "What to Expect the toddler years", etc. I kept my daughter in panties during the day. I felt it would be too much for nighttime at the same time. I showed her and praised her when she did. I was beginning to freak out when she was going to be 3 in a couple of months without being potty trained. The best advice I got was from her pediatrician, also a father of 5. He said to, "lay off". Stop talking about it. I thought I had, I did stop pressuring her but I realized I would still say things to people on the phone. When I stopped saying anything to anyone, she was completely trained one week later. Best of luck!