Customer Reviews

Mommy! I Have to Go Potty!: A Parent's Guide to Toilet Training

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

As a first time mom, I really had no idea how to begin potty training my son. I knew I didn't want to use my parent's methods, so I tried a book my doctor had recommended called "Toilet Training in Less than a Day". What a nightmare! By the end of that day, My son was hiding in the closet to wet himself, I was in tears, and my husband was furious. (I have a further review of that book here at Amazon.) We stopped training for two months to let our son get over the experience, and in the meantime, I found Jan Faull's wonderful book, "Mommy! I Have To Go Potty!". It was a true godsend, a book that offers tips and suggestions, not a strict training "plan". The "Stories from the bathroom" that detail other parents experiences are terrific! Seeing how other folks in the same boat handle their situation helped immensely. And Ms. Faull's overall tone is one of guiding and teaching, not rigid "training". We just started trying our son out on the potty again last week and he's already making great strides; asking to go to the bathroom and even staying Msy for long periods of time. I think Ms. Faull's method of firm but gentle reminders and positive attitudes had made all the difference. If you're a new parent, looking for help with this subject, I highly recommend this book! Thank you Ms. Faull!

I recently bought this book after reading the reviews here (as well as reviews for other potty training books). This book is, and works, even better than I imagined!
I started looking for potty training books when my daughter was about 16 mths. I am a first time mom who doesn't know where to begin! I read "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" and decided that was the way to go. I purchased all the supplies but even though my daughter showed readiness signs around 18 mths, I could not bring myself to get started training! I think I was overwhelmed with remembering all the steps involved and afraid I'd make a mistake.
I pretty much forgot about trying to do any potty training whatsoever - not knowing how to proceed - until last week when I finally bought this book.
My daughter is now 26 mths. She showed some fear in sitting on her potty, though it has been part of our furnishings for 8 mths now. But after reading just the first 45 pages or so in the book, we have begun a routine of sitting on the potty for stories 2x a day clothed. Last night we have progressed to the next step, without a diaper. She doesn't think twice or give me any problems when I say "time to sit on your potty!" In fact, it's hard to get her off! I cannot wait to the next step: underpants for 2 hrs a day.
So anyhow, this book was very brief. Like I said, the bulk of the info falls in the first 1/4 of the book - the rest tackles other problems. It got us started very quickly. I guess it never occured to me to start a potty training "program" slowly and with little, progressing steps. This book gave me confidence as a first time potty trainer and more importantly, a place to start! Yes, I will recommend this book to many others in similar situations. The moms I know say to wait until the child is 3+, but I thought that was ridiculous! The book says between 2 and 3 is a good starting age. As long as they show readiness signs, even if they aren't interested, you can start slowly but confidently! Good luck!

I am a full time working mother and needed to start potty training my 2 year old so she could go to preschool. I have a 5 1/2 year old who was potty trained at her school so I had little hands on experience. I bought the book "Potty Training in Less than a Day" and tried it. Unfortunately, my daughter is a typical stubborn 2 year old and would not do as I asked. She did meet all the criteria for readiness set by the book. Then I read "Mommy, I have to go Potty" and it gave me so many new ideas on how to approach the subject. I realized that I had to figure out how to make it my daughter's idea to want to use the potty. I rewarded little steps instead of waiting for the big moment. I used alot of the techniques set out by the book. Because her current daycare situation was not helpful in helping me potty train, I started potty training on a part time basis, in the evenings and weekends. It took a little longer, but within 2-3 weeks of parttime training she was well on her way. This book is great because it gives ideas on what to do if your child doesn't response to your first method.

I found this book to be extremely helpful in teaching toilet training. I don't have a lot of time to spend reading long drawn out explanations, so it was with relief when I received this book as a gift. This neatly organized, concise book was entertaining and helpful. Every time I had a question, I found it answered within the next page or two. I also liked the stories. In fact one of them reminded me of my own experiences when I was toilet training my first child. I sure wish this book would have been available back then--it certainly would have saved me (and my son) a lot of struggling as well as a few crappy moments (pardon the pun)

I was so tired of reading the books that promised everyone success in a day! It seemed like I was the only one with a problem toilet training until I read this book. The stories made me laugh, made me cry, and most importantly, gave me the patience to keep at it because I'm not alone. This author had the answers to all my concerns, and wrote like a parent instead of a medical professional or psychologist. I have earmarked pages I read over and over when I feel like I'm losing my wits. Great book!

Don't even bother tying to force-train your child if you have a willful little one. It can only end in frustration. I could write two reviews of this book: 1 star and 5 stars:

1 star: We read the entire book and tried out most of the tricks to get our 28 month old to get going. After four months of trying everything, we just gave up. We played, we pretended, we got a doll, we cajoled, we rewarded. Nothing. Dry pants were, we now realize just a chance occurance. Give it up. Save your money now and just send them to college with diapers.

5 star: We picked up this book that was lying on the shelf and read it one weekend when we had a good three days to try all the tricks on our 33 month old. First day: 5 accidents (3 in 15 minutes, one I think was because she didn't want a particular pair of panties). Second Day: 3 accidents in the morning, none in the afternoon. Since then (two weeks now) we've had one BM accident. No wet accidents. Three days ago she told us she didn't want a pull-up at night, so we told her if she went three days with a dry pullup (over her panties) at night, we'd get her "special" sheets (platic protector) and she could get rid of the pullups. The last two nights have been totally dry! This book is just plain amazing - after we read it she practically trained herself in one day!!!!!

Yeah, you see the idea. Training in one day is possible, if they're ready. If they're not, you may as well hit yourself in the head with a 2x4 three times each morning - it will help just as much as any book out there.

Here are two tips I don't remember being in the book: If you can't get your child to sit on the potty regularly, try a "motivator". Ours was jelly-bellys - just two or three. Instead of the drudgery of "lets sit on the potty" it became "lets go get some jelly-bellys!". Also, never use the potty trip as an activity transition point. No matter how late you are, or how much you want him/her to be finished with play-doh/the pool/coloring/swingset, always tell them that you will come back and continue after the potty (or jelly-bellys, in our case), and FOLLOW THROUGH. Make sure there are no negatives associated with the potty.

The book is a good read for those contemplating dropping the diapers, but its no silver bullet - nor are any of the other books. If your child isn't ready, you're fighting a battle you can't win. And that's never a position you want to be in with your 2 year old.

First of all I have a three year old and I had been trying to potty train him for a month with basically no success. I bought this book and used some of the examples and he trained in less than a week. I can't say enough good things about this wonderful book. I HIGHLY recommend it if you are going to be toilet training a little one.

I am one happy Mom!! I decided to get this book after reading some of the reviews here. It was an easy, informative and helpful book! I followed the steps they suggested and my daughter was potty trained in 10 days! I could not believe it! My daughter is my first child and I was not sure where to begin. That was months ago and now my daughter wears underwear during the day and still has a diaper at night. It say's in the book it could take up to 6 months for them to be fully night trained! I am very pleased and would recommend picking up a copy! Good Luck! :)

At the time I started to potty train my 2 year 7 month old son, I read 3 books. Mommy! I Have To Go Potty! was one of them and was clearly the winner. I decided to follow the techniques in this book. I chose the "put them in underware all day, right away" technique. The book clearly says that if after one week you don't see ANY improvements, go back to diapers and wait. If you see the slightest improvement, which I did on the 7th day, then continue. It was a tough week, and it took my son 10 days to be potty trained, and by potty trained I mean he announced he had to go and was dry 90% of the time. By no means was he completely accident free, but to me it was more important that he was announcing. The book makes a good point that the "burden" of going to the potty must be the child's not the parent's. Those who "remind" their children every hour to go to the potty and have 100% accident free days, in my opinion, have NOT been successful in potty training.
When it was time to train my 2 year 3 month old daughter (with a completely different personality), I did the same thing. It took her 14 days.
I am very pleased with the results and I recommend it.

This is an excellent comprehensive resource for potty training. I purchased this book based upon the reviews on this site. I was definitely dreading the whole experience but reading the book changed my outlook. After reading it, I was reassured about the process with very few concerns. The results: my son has been very successful in his potty training with very few accidents. I've referred back to the book a few times for him as well as some of his friends (& their moms & dads) and have always found the information to be useful, insightful, and accurate. I highly recommend it.