Early-Start Potty Training [Paperback]

Linda Sonna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 2005

The time-tested, gentle, and successful method that introduces children to potty training as early as six months

While parents around the world successfully potty train their children well before preschool age, in the United States, we've moved away from this early introduction. However, there's no evidence that later is better--in fact, there's even significant reason to believe that later can be detrimental.

Written by a respected child psychologist, Early-Start Potty Training shows why the early-start method is preferable to the commonly used readiness method. Waiting until children show signs of readiness can hold them back from preschool, cost a fortune in diapers, and lead to health problems. The early-start method avoids these concerns by starting the process of training as early as six months old.

This easy-to-follow program provides you with:

• Time-tested training tips for introducing toddlers--and even infants--to the potty
• Methods for combating common problems of training delay
• A troubleshooting plan for moving toddlers from diapers to potty independence
• Hints on how to overcome accidents and build confidence in children

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

“Dr. Sonna is giving parents and babies a wonderful opportunity to introduce the potty at an age when learning new skills is part of every day life.” --Barbara Gablehouse, MD.

Have your child completely potty-trained—by the age of two!

Drawing on methods used with success around the world, Early-Start Potty Training shows that potty training your baby at an early age is not only possible, it’s actually beneficial to your child’s health. Drawing on the latest scientific studies, Early-Start Potty Training debunks the myth that it is better to start teaching after age two and gives you a step-by-step plan to be finished with diapers before your child’s second birthday. Author of The Everything Potty Training Book, Dr. Linda Sonna explores the many drawbacks of the “readiness” method, including the emotional, financial, and health repercussions of waiting too long. Instead, she advocates loving, gentle, toilet “learning” methods, and proves that the earlier you introduce the potty, the better off your child will be.

Early-Start Potty Training is full of caring steps, tips, and techniques to help speed your child’s potty learning success, including:

• Expecting success without pressuring your child
• Why a potty chair is better than a potty seat
• The pitfalls of disposable diapers
• Preparing babies for potty independence
• How to overcome toddler resistance
• How to potty train—and prevent bedwetting—at any age

About the Author

Linda Sonna, M.Ed., Ph.D., is a professor of counseling psychology at Yorkville University with twenty years of experience working with parents and children. Dr. Sonna is the author of eight parenting books and is a public speaker.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (June 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 007145800X
• ISBN-13: 978-0071458009
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Medical Books > Nursing > Pediatrics

More About the Author

Before medicating your child for ADHD or depression, see the documentary at http://www.documentary-log.com/you-are-watching-the-drugging-of-our-children/. Then read my Parent's Guide to ADHD to find other ways to help your child.

I acquired a lot of technical knowledge about psychology while working on my doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, but my real education took place over the next thirty years.

The many young therapy patients I worked with were my real teachers. Most troubled children and adolescents, I learned, are acutely aware of their problems and needs. They helped me understand why they misbehaved, felt depressed and anxious, had trouble getting along at home, or weren't doing well in school. Once they were able to share their knowledge with the important people in their lives, the solutions for even the most difficult problems tended to be clear.

Living the exquisite joys and daunting challenges of being a foster mom also played an important part in my education. Helping to raise six children sensitized me to parents' struggles. It definitely made me more sympathetic to their dilemmas and need for concrete answers!

I began each new parenting book by reading all the self-help books and scientific studies I could find on the subject, and this research rounded out my education. I was amazed to find that often the self-help books and formal studies were at odds. For instance:

* Most potty training books say that children aren't ready to begin learning until age 2 to 2 1/2, while the research shows that most of the world's children are fully trained by age 2! In the early 1900s, most parents began working with infants on potty skills at age 2 months.

* While most self-help books recommend Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs as the only truly effective treatments for attention deficit disorder, the research shows that changes in diet and exercise can dramatically reduce or eliminate most children's symptoms!

* Research studies suggest that children with particular personalities respond differently to particular child-rearing methods, but most self-help books propose a single method for everyone.

Despite my many decades of study, I don't pretend to have all the answers about how to make the life better and happier for children. My ideas continue to change and evolve. I have many more books planned, and hope that this forum can be yet another method of educating myself. Let me know what you have learned, and I'll pass it on!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

116 of 121 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars interesting, but not comprehensive, July 19, 2005

By 

Erica L. Andersen "melvin990" (NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early-Start Potty Training (Paperback)

I am a stay-at-home mom of a 15-month-old. I am also a trained Montessori teacher. I have used cloth diapers with my son from the time he was one-month-old. I have seen many children toilet train before age 2.

So, I came to this book agreeing with some of what the author had to say. I think she makes a good case for changing our society's preconceptions about toilet training, but this book is short on extensive practical advice that parents (and teachers) need.

The author does not approve of any sort of diaper, particularly disposables. However, she recommends cloth diapers as a lesser of 2 evils sort of thing. Her advice on laundering diapers is laughably out-of-date (treated wet pail, wash 3 times(!), etc.). Washing machines are far more evolved than the author realizes, and I would not use cloth diapers if it were as much trouble as she describes. She even thinks you still have to pin prefolds.

Some of the ideas in this book are useful, but it will have to be supplemented with books that go into greater detail. It cannot be the only book you read for potty training info.

If you want to read a book written by someone with very strong opinions about early potty training and the problems with diapers, then you may like this book. If you want a more balanced approach, I would pass over this one.

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a find!, June 30, 2005

By 

Mark Brian, 39 and counting (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Early-Start Potty Training (Paperback)

Someone gave me this book. I'm not big on the self-help book craze, but I must admit that this author (she also wrote some other child development books) opened my eyes to the cultural differences in potty training, and does a great job of detailing why here in America our children take longer to potty train than anywhere else. This book isn't just a manual and a "how to" but it's also an expose on the diaper industry. I'm suprised this hasn't been picked up by the news agencies. This so called "self-help" book is actually a fabulous read. I HIGHLY recommend it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-opening and encouraging book w/ great practical info, November 20, 2005

By 

Mary A. Coffin (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Early-Start Potty Training (Paperback)

I thought this book was great. I'd been told that 18 months was early to introduce the potty to my daughter, but this book gave me the morale boost and the information that i needed. In less than a week my daughter has made great strides and we are well on our way to being diaper free.

I found the section on the history of potty training and the role of the disposable diaper industry in delaying toilet training very interesting. I used disposables, but did not feel at all rebuked by the author's tone. However I am seriously considering cloth now for my second baby. Regardless of the diaper debate, the instructions and advice were just as relevant for me as they would be for a dedicated cloth diaper mom.

Also, this book has specific advice for those starting potty training at any age level, but it's mostly for those interested in starting before age 2. pros and cons are given for starting at different ages, and i didn't feel that there was a pushy tone about starting training very young (although the arguements are persuasive for at least doing a little "elimination communication" during infancy).

For my 18 month old, I followed much of Sonna's advice while trusting my own insticts and following my daughter's cues. We moved a little more quickly than her timeline because that suited us. For our "potty sits" we ended up close together with me either behind her potty seat w/ a book in her lap or me on the step stool next to her reading picture books, and we didn't set a timer. The best thing that I did (on the book's advice) was to spend long mornings with my daughter running around pants-free and diaperless so that she could learn about elimination and she could see for herself why the potty chair is a good place to go - and so i could learn her patterns. Messy, but it really taught us a lot in a short period of time. Books and dolls were also a big help as well as serving as a potty role-model. These are basic concepts that I'd also seen in Sears' Baby Book, but Sonna goes into much more detail.

So, I would highly recommend this book as a good read and a positive, motivating force as well as for a source of practical advice. This was the only potty training book that I bought, and it has served me well so far.