Reviews (301)

Good information
I used this book to train my 29 month old son just over 2 weeks ago.He was fully trained within a week, including staying dry at night.Actually, he started staying dry at night (day 2) before he stopped having accidents during the daytime.He had 7 accidents on day one.I was starting to lose hope when it suddenly clicked for him.He stayed dry for the second half of day one and had about 1 accident per day until day 6 (I had a little trouble convincing him to poo-poo in the potty).
It really works!
I am so thankful for this toilet training book!As a [once] working mom, a stay-at-home mom, and as a mother of a child with a disability, I recommend this book to everyone!!We all want to potty train our child as quickly as possible and this book tells you how.I don't think there is a quicker method available.Even if you don't get the child trained in "less than a day," your child will still be toilet trained quicker by using this method than other methods.I have trained 6 children, and it took my kids an average of 2-3 days to be potty trained.What other method can do that?
Positive Reinforcement
I liked the dicrete trial/positive reinforcement approach of the book. It can be very effective, and work quickly. My son didn't have it down in one day, but three days later, we were good to go. Give it a try! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. Parenting - Child Rearing    4. Toilet Training    5. Family & Relationships / Child Care    6. Pregnancy, birth & baby care   

Reviews (2)

Great Book
I bought this book just as i was starting to potty train my 2 1/2 year old son.I loved this book and the great advise.I think the kind and gentle ways to approach potty training helped keep stress levels at a minimum and reminded me that I should enjoy this process too.
Excellent Book For The Mom & DadPotty Trainers

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Subjects:  1. Child Development And Rearing    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Family/Marriage    5. Toilet Training    6. Family & Relationships / Toilet Training    7. Pregnancy, birth & baby care   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (16)

A difficult task made easier!
I am so thankful that I chose this book over others that deal with toilet training.I did not realize how teaching someone on the spectrum how to use the potty is very different in many ways, than someone who's not.This book deals with those issues.It brings to light some very important routines and activities to follow.Especially for someone who is new to the world of Autism, this is a book that I highly recommend that you include in your library.

great ideas!
If you ever thought that toilet training was no big deal, try training a child with special needs...a whole different story.This book gives some great tips on how to go about it when the odds are against you.Determining readiness, common problems and solutions and developing a routine, are just some of the topics covered in this book.It is a must have for special ed. teachers as well as parents of individuals with autism and related disorders.Great book!

Very Useful - explains what 's going on from your child's perspective
While we successfully opted to use a different training method to train our 4 year-old dughter- this book was very good at making sense out of our daughter's behavior.An autistic child can really be a challange to understand under normal curcumstances- the volume goes waaaaaay up when potty training.We would highly recommend this book to anyone getting ready to take on this very big job.Take what you can from this book and choose the method that feels most likely to work.Be committed.Chin up.You can do it.Good luck. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Children with Special Needs    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. Special Education - Mentally Handicapped    7. Toilet Training    8. Coping with disability    9. Education/Special Education - Mentally Handicapped    10. Family & Relationships / Children with Special Needs    11. Family & Relationships/Toilet Training   

Reviews (21)

amazing!
i have to say that i was skeptical when i first saw the book - but was so engrossed in it, i read half of it before leaving the bookstore.my son was to start preschool at the end of august 2006 and their criteria was that he had to be 3 and he had to be potty trained.i had known about this since march, but tried to train him (admittedly, half-heartedly) and then decided to wait with the idea that he would want to do it eventually on his own - eventually turned into *never* and by the time august rolled around, i was getting pretty desperate.my son turned 3 in august and i thought that he would wake up one day and just "be ready" to potty train. not so!i read the book, ordered the doll, bought truck-themed underwear, decorated the house with streamers and balloons, bought activity books, paints, crayons, etc., and prepared for a very long day!i got up earlier than he did, straightened my hair, put on makeup and a cute skirt, as if i was going to a party myself.we had the party on a thursday (five days before he was to start preschool) and he was fully trained by saturday.by monday, he was going both poop and pee in the adult toilet (though i did use the child's toilet during the training day - but eventually it was his decision to do it like the rest of us on the big toilet - hooray!).i am so happy that he is truly out of diapers - we do use pull-ups at night (or what we now call "disposable underwear" as teri crane suggests) and i would say that in the last two weeks, maybe two of them have been wet.the first thing he does in the morning is run and use the bathroom.this is such a milestone in a child's life that it's worth it to read the book and make it happen in a FUN, QUICK, POSITIVE way! it will save your sanity and you will not regret it!

We had a Buzz Lightyear party!What a blast.
Bought the book and loved it!We did the Cartoon Character Carnival and had a Buzz Lightyear party and our son had a blast.He did a great job.Loved all the games and activities in the book and has had only a few accidents.Yea!!

Big promise Big disappointment
This took a lot of planning but my son didn't read the book so he go along with it the way he was suppose to. The party idea was fun, but he was confused and frustrated and I think he felt a lot of pressure to proform a big task in such a short amount of time. The readiness methods have been around forever, probably because they are the right way to go. We're going to relax and not push the process. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Family/Marriage    5. Parenting - General    6. Toilet Training    7. Child care & upbringing    8. Family & Relationships / Toilet Training   

Reviews (9)

A basic book for training older children
This book might be most helpful if you have a 3 or 4 year old and you are just starting the process as it states that is the age when children are logical and goal oriented. It's not really a step-by-step guide as the back cover states.
not for the younger toddler
I started really urine training my daughter at 17 months (and had her doing BM on the toilet at a year).While this book had tons of information for the later trainer, there was not much at all for the younger child, other than the typical list of "readiness signs".I still give it four stars because if my daughter were maybe 3 or 4 years old, this book would be invaluable.There is lots of information on how to motivate an older child, how to deal with particular problems and temporary setbacks, etc.It does not give one definite "way" to train, but rather suggests many possible routes along the way and emphasizes that each child is different and will be more or less successful depending on the route.If you're starting at an earlier age, I'd look somewhere else.My child has all the readiness signs, but is not old enough to be motivated by "pretty panties" or "friends at preschool", nor is old enough to give me major temper tantrums or refusal to go.

very effective and simple strategies
This book outlines some simple and effective strategies for making toilet training easy. Most important it helped me set my expectatations. After I read the book, I had a plan. :) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child Development And Rearing    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Parenting - General    6. Toilet Training    7. Family & Relationships / Toilet Training   

Reviews (3)

Sales expert hits the potty market
I don't trust this author because of all the bad press over his other books. Picked this up in a bookstore and it looks like any other toilet training book. I'll go for an author with more experience in childrearing issues just to be safe.

POTTY TRAINED WITHIN DAYS!
Got this book along with Elmo Underwear from ebay, and trained within days!!!Also, Wiggles Underwear, Thomas the Tank Underwear, Buzz Underwear should work, too.Just as long as your child likes the character.Maybe, could have skipped this book, and went straight for the character underwear?
Potty Training 1-2-3
Book makes a lot of sense and I will be very happy if it works half as well as Ezzo's Babywise.We will be potty training next week using this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Parenting - General    5. Toilet Training   

Editorial Review

"Yeah, he wets the bed, but so did I. He'll grow out of it." Sure, he probably will. But in the meantime, a child who chronically wets may suffer from low self-esteem or feel restricted in his or her social life. Pediatricians and parents regularly respond to bedwetting by forbidding water after dinner, prescribing drugs or an alarm system, or even resorting to punishment, but attempts are often sporadic and not part of an organized plan. As a result, they're not always successful. Read more

Reviews (4)

Trials and Trickles
This is truly an excellent, in depth report of how and why children remain at the bedwetting stage in their lives. It is a commitment to a regimen that is necessary to get beyond the wetting stage. I have an 8 year-old male that is a very heavy sleeper. I sometimes think I've comitted more into this than he has. While the Kegel exercises work, and we made a rhyme of it...(we call it doing the Three Pee) it has controlled his over-wetting on most nights. So, our nights of getting up to change sheets are slowly becoming history. In my opinion, if the child is truly committed to being dry, this program WILL work! It's an excellent read for the biological minded. Share it with your twinkler. They'll enjoy understanding the science behind the wet bed!

An excellent book for the subject
This is the book for anybody having children who wet their beds.It provides a good introduction to the different causes for bed-wetting and guidance on how to address them. Comments from TRY for DRY
We are proud to see that "Getting to Dry" has consistantly been the best selling book on the topic of bedwetting here at Amazon.com and after the first year of publication, "Getting to Dry" is now in its second printing.Read more

Subjects:  1. Children    2. Enuresis    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Health and hygiene    5. Medical    6. Pediatrics    7. Popular works    8. Toilet Training    9. Advice on parenting    10. Family & Relationships / Child Care    11. Paediatric medicine   

Reviews (14)

Yup it works!
I tried this on my four-year-old daughter, although only half-heartedly because I did not want to pressure her. First, she stopped wetting during her naps. Then she would stay dry at night on and off. Then she said she wanted to stop doing the chart. ANd then she stayed dry night after night. That was six months ago and she doesn't even have accidents.
WOW!
I used to wet the bed, but after reading this, I stopped!! I thought that after 16 years of bed wetting, I was doomed to a life on wet lonliness, but no longer!! Thank you David Wilensky, you've saved my life, now I can share a bed with other people!!

This really, really works!!
My son who is almost 7 has always wet the bed. It was a non-issue in our house as we knew he couldn't help it. He wore Pull-ups nightly. But about a month ago, he came to me expressing his desire to stop. I researched the various methods which can help children become dry. I was intriqued by the reviews for this book that I read on here, so we decided to buy it. We also bought a Wet-Stop bedwetting alarm. My son loves this book and we happily reviewed it every day. Within days of using the alarm and this book, he started having a few dry nights. This is a child that had only one or two dry nights a YEAR before we started this. It is now almost a month since we started this program and he has had 14 totally dry nights in a row!! We are ready to stop the use of the alarm tonight and he is so, so excited and proud! We will look at his book together until he decides to stop (he likes it so much, I'm not sure when that will be!)Of course, since we used the two methods, it's not totally possible to say how this book would have worked for us by itself, but I have an inkling that the book helped the most. It is also very good for a child's self-esteem. We are so very happy with this wonderful book and want to thank the author, too! Because of a family history of bedwetting, we assumed that my son would probably go on bedwetting for years. What a wonderful surprise for us and especially for him. This book has helped turn this whole thing into a positive experience for my little boy. He feels confident and now feels that he has control over this part of his life.
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Subjects:  1. Bedwetting    2. Child Development    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Family/Marriage    6. Toilet Training    7. Family & Relationships / Child Development   

Reviews (7)

Helpful and Informative
Great book.Sonna gives helpful advice for introducing the potty to youngsters according to their age: 0-6 months, 6-18 months, 18-24 months, and 2+ years old.She suggests that "early" potty training can be done in a very healthy, positive way that is beneficial to the child.Her opinions do clearly come through, but her conclusions about "early" versus "late" potty training are well supported by good research.In the early 1900s the big debate over potty training was whether to start at age 2 months or wait until age 3 months; and in the 1940s, the big debate was whether or not to wait until the "late" age of 7-9 months.She also talks about the study that supposedly concludes that it's better to wait much later, until the child shows "readiness" signs.She reveals that this study was conducted by the paid spokesman of Pampers disposable diapers!
An eye-opening, practical, research-based read!
There are several really wonderful things about this book:
Realistic, practical & easy - if a little out of touch w/the CD world
Sonna's approach is simple and practical and she presents terrific approaches for starting potty training at any age from early infancy on up.I especially enjoy the way she presents pros and cons of starting at each age.
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Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child Development And Rearing    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Nursing - Pediatric & Neonatal    6. Parenting - General    7. Pediatric Nursing    8. Toilet Training    9. Advice on parenting    10. Family & Relationships / Parenting   

Reviews (15)

Thank Goodness I Found This Book!
I happened upon this book and it has changed my whole view of potty training. I started using her method when my son was 4 months old. He immediately took to using the potty and pees within seconds of being placed on it. He just turned 6 months and I have now gone from disposables to cloth diapers and am very happy with the switch. I especially like the satisfaction of being able to communicate with him and the pride in his smile after he pees in his potty. I admit it might work better for me as I co-sleep with my child and work from home and am therefore often with him when he needs to eliminate but I think every mom should give it a try even if only part-time.

Diaper Free
The book is very inspiring, it gives a hole new meaning to helping your child grow up. I am very excited to start training my daughter who is 3 weeks right now. I am watching her elimination times for a week than going to put the book to work. There is lots of very interesting information, that I am sure not many people know. Thank you very much.
Great book for Tree-Hugging Wackos
Hi,
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Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child Development And Rearing    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Life Stages - Infants & Toddlers/General    6. Life Stages - Infants & Toddlers/Infants    7. Parenting - General    8. Toilet Training    9. Family & Relationships / Infants & Toddlers   

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Parenting - General    5. Toilet Training   

Editorial Review

Beloved pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton offers hope and help for parents whose bathroom has become a battleground. With co-author Dr. Joshua Sparrow, Brazelton outlines a "waiting and watching" approach to toilet training. First, parents learn to recognize "touchpoints" (developmental signs of a child’s readiness to graduate from soggy diapers) including "potty talk and play," awareness of other’s toilet habits, and the ability to imitate behavior and understand directions. Readiness is further defined by the capacity for "object permanence," allowing a child to "say good bye to poop without feeling that apart of her will disappear." Next, parents should focus on a child’s temperament. Parents are encouraged to confront "the ghosts in the nursery", by exploring how memories of their own toilet training create anxiety, pressure or overreaction.Braze! lton and Sparrow use this child-centered model to resolve a broad range of problems including bedwetting, constipation, and preschool pressure. The authors’ clear and reassuring tone could be leavened with a bit more comic relief, but it is hard to imagine a more wise or well-detailed guide to this central milestone of toddlerhood. Read more

Reviews (6)

flawed logic in child centred approach
When I bought this book, intially I had an open mind about toilet training methods, but after reading this book I am sceptical about the child centred technique. The reasons outlined in the book have a circular logic which makes no sense to me. Also, some of the suggestions seemed just silly to me - for instance, the advice to change an active baby's dirty nappy in the bath while she pulls herself up and down!
Signs of Readiness
The part of this book that was most helpful was the list of 7 signs Brazelton says are the key to successful toileting.I had a late little guy...works at his own pace.This book, and specifically the list helped me to calm down and watch for ALL 7 signs before guiding my little guy to what he was ready for.My copy is totally worn thin from passing it around to friends.It helped me take myself out of the process and put it firmly where it belongs...on my kiddo!

just ok....
i bought this book because i love brazelton's other best sellers; but i feel that it isn't as strong as his other writings. too much of it is focused on infant and very early toddler details; the digestive system, etc. there isn't enough substantial information for me to really have insight and make good decisions about helping my child toilet learn. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Family & Relationships    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. Family/Marriage    4. Parenting - General    5. Toilet Training    6. Advice on parenting   

Reviews (21)

I wish more people would know about this book
I clearly remember potty training for my 8 years younger sister. My mom started her as soon as she was able to sit on the potty by herself (around 5-6 months). When she started walking, she was diaper free at the same time. I grew up in Eastern Europe, before Pampers, so my story is totally mainstream, all babies get early potty training. I just wish more people would know about this in USA so they can stop donating money to diaper industry for years.

Interesting Idea
If elimination communication is your choice of approach to toliet training your baby, Boucke's book is filled with all the information you need to get started.

Scary Title; Great Idea
When I first heard about this, my reflexive response was quite negative. But when I read a little more, it made perfect sense, just another way to help meet a baby's needs. We decided to give it a try when our little one was born, using diapers as backup. Virtually everything Boucke says has turned out to be true; most recently, as our son learned to crawl and started to pull up on the furniture and cruise, we went for a few weeks of never catching anything except right after a nap. But as he gets the hang of the new muscles, he's returned to his usual, communicative self.
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Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. Toilet Training   

Reviews (9)

Focus on infant potty training
The author clearly believes you should train an infant and not use diapers. But then there isn't a clear plan for training a baby. This is kind of a mix of lots of ideas without a committment to one specific plan. Kind of confusing, not too helpful.

Good beginning Overview
I think this was a good first book for parents about to tackle potty training. While as some have posted the author does clearly think infant training is best, other methods are also clearly presented and outlined. Use this book as a starting point. It outlines a few major methods. From this you should be able to decide which method you want to use and then focus your next book purchases.

Strength in many approaches
I found this book to be infinitely helpful in toilet training my daughter.Because the author presents four different methods of potty training, she isn't obligated to advocate her method and dismiss competing methods as "wrong".Acknowledging that there are many correct ways to toilet-train a child is something that few authors have the latitude or courage to admit. This book also presents practical, non-judgemental advice regarding which method may work best in different family situations.After reading about all the approaches, I was able to fashion anapproach that was consistent with my parenting style and worked well with my daugher's personality. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child Development And Rearing    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Toilet Training    6. Child care & upbringing    7. Pregnancy, birth & baby care   

Reviews (10)

re:Unique Approach to Potty Training!
My Potty Activity Book is a great way to make potty training fun. There are pictures to color in the front and you can discuss what is happening as you color just like you would point out pictures in a book you might read to your child. The book reduces pressure.Ilike having the option of coloring this with my child with light conversation during training vs always asking, "Do you want to go potty?".I also like that the pages are perforated so I can give one at a time to my child and have the option of posting them on the refrigerator or bathroom wall.In the back are many unique tips that are short and straight to the point so I could easily skim them and find some that really helped my son. The tips are great for busy moms who don't have time to read lengthy discussions.I would recommend this book as a supplement to anyone who wants to make potty training more fun or needs a few more easy tip ideas.
Underwhelmed
I bought this book after reading the glowing reviews, but I am so far unimpressed.Sure my son enjoys coloring the pictures, but I'm not sure that it is registering much.And the pictures are not terribly impressive either.There's black & white faces of babies, dogs, cats etc, but the rest of the picture (the parts you are supposed to color) are so rudimentary.It looks like someone traced over pictures of toilets or whatever, and not very cleanly either.If I had seen this product in the store, I would NOT have purchased it.

Not just a book, Not just for fun, It's all in one!
My Potty Activity Book, stickers and tips are a great addition to your potty training routine. Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Preschool    2. Family & Relationships / Infants & Toddlers    3. Family & Relationships / Toilet Training    4. General    5. Juvenile Nonfiction    6. Activity books    7. Family & Relationships    8. Infants & Toddlers    9. Potty Training    10. Toilet training   

Reviews (5)

Offensive and irresponsible
I found this book to be offensive.On page 2, the author acknowledges the language differences of the process (toilet training vs. toilet learning).As a reader, I understood her position and was comfortable to progress onto further pages.As I continued reading, I was content with the author's writing until I accessed Chapter 4, where she discusses the positions of experts and references some of their works.On page 47, she references the controversial book of "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day," by Nathan Azrin, Ph.D. and Richard Foxx, Ph.D. and that their "program was devised not for speed, but to help the retarded learn this difficult skill."I think the term "mentally challenged" or "developmentally challenged" would have been more appropriate.In spite of my shock that someone would write a book and refer to those with special needs as "retarded", I continued on until I accessed Chapter 6, "How Can I Train My Child Under Special Circumstances?"Under the section "Using Public Restrooms Alone", the author discusses what she considers "supervised" use of facilities.She states that a parent can stand outside the door while the child uses the facilities alone.She states that a parent can "ask an appropriate-looking man to take the boy into the restroom while you wait outside the door. (Same for situations with girls, Dad.)" and to "only let a child alone to one that is in shouting distance or in view."In a world where pedophiles are lurking in such areas and seize those moments when a child is alone to harm them, I find that advice to be completely irresponsible.At that point, I could no longer continue reading this book and take advice from someone who would make such irresponsible suggestions.I would rather have my child in diapers for the rest of her life!Over 275,000 copies sold -- I wonder how many of those were returned, as mine was.

it IS a releaf!
I got this book as a gift from somebody's grandma last christmas, and after the initial dismay of seeing the child on the cover happily squating on a toilet passed, I think I really learned alot about toilets and how they are used. I'm a 30 year old man, so you would probably figure I already know the ins and outs of using a toilet, right? What a Releaf!
Being a new mother, this book has been a big help!My husband and I have found Ms. Lansky's advice to be very sensible as well asbenificialto both us and our daughter. This book was recommed to me by a friend. and I would pass this information on to anyone I know with children. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Family & Relationships    3. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    4. Toilet Training   

Subjects:  1. Child Care/Parenting    2. Child Development    3. Family & Relationships    4. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    5. Life Stages - Infants & Toddlers/General    6. Toilet Training   

Reviews (12)

Timeless
Years later, still the best book out there.My daughter asks me to read it to her every night, and has started sitting on the potty, as she says, "like kids in book."

Multi-cultural
Wow! I'm so relieved to find a potty-training book with photos of boys AND girls, black & white & Asian. And no constraints about what you call voiding in the pot: that's left up to the parents. Great book for starting discussion about a new venture for toddlers.

Wonderful childhood classic book
Gentle, kind Mr. Roger's explains the basics of being a big boy or girl.Pictures show babies learning to do things for themselves as well as big boys and girls learning to use the potty.My son really liked the book.It gently told him that for big boys like himself, the potty was just one more thing they could learn to do for themself.
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Subjects:  1. Care and hygiene    2. Children    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Preschool    5. Juvenile literature    6. Toilet Training    7. Early learning / early learning concepts    8. Juvenile Fiction / Family / General   

Subjects:  1. Children: Kindergarten    2. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    3. Health & Daily Living - Toilet Training    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Toilet Training   

Reviews (6)

Great book!
My daughters daycare uses this book in the toddler room to help with potty training. I was at my wits end with all the other books and videos to include Once upon a potty. and the other standards in potty training. The daycare let me take this book home for a weekend and I had to buy my own copy on Monday. My daughter loved the pictures and I got a lot of useful information and tips from it too. By far the best potty book out there!

MY CHILD'S FAVORITE BOOK
This book immediately became my little boy's favorite book. "Look, Mommy," he said with a big smile. "It's about me!" After a few days of looking at the charming, colorful illustrations in Part 2 (thebook's children's section), designed by experts to help children learnabout their bodily functions, and of having the book's cute story read tohim, he let me know that he was ready to go to the bathroom "just likea grownup." I couldn't believe how soon he was using the toilet byhimself. The whole process was amazingly hassle-free. I found Part 1 of thebook (the section for parents, which contains complete information aboutthe psychology and physiology of "toilet learning") fascinating.In fact, the relaxed, patient attitude Part 1 recommends has carried overto every other area of my parenting. There's a banner that runs across theupper-right-hand corner of the book's front cover that reads, "Theclassic bestseller." I can certainly see why.

This book made me a better parent--and my child diaper free
My daughter loved this book.She asked for it every day and now she is diaper free.I found the parent section highly informative.IT MADE ME A BETTER PARENT.I cannot recommend this book highly enough. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Care and treatment    2. Child Development    3. Children    4. Family & Relationships    5. Family / Parenting / Childbirth    6. Family/Marriage    7. Toilet Training    8. Family & Relationships / Child Development