Customer Reviews

Potty Training For Dummies

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a dad, I was really looking forward to a book on potty training to help me with my 2-year old. This book is lousy though. Why?

1. Stupid Writing. I got pretty sick of constantly reading all the sappy, "witty" remarks. "Dancing the Potty Mambo"? Give me a break!

2. Stupid Advice. This book keeps telling you to talk to your kid like he/she is an adult. I'm sorry, but a 2-year-old just cannot comprehend a long drawn-out explanation of why you want them or don't want them to do something. How about just saying, "Don't do that!" or "Hey, you want to try this?" That seems to work just fine for me. Why give your kid a doctoral dissertation every time you want them to do something? What's wrong with just telling your kid what to do (nicely), and expecting them to be obedient?

3. Repeating Content. This book kept repeating itself OVER and OVER. Okay, I got it already! I strongly feel that the author wanted to push this book over the 200-page mark when all that needed to be said could probably have been accomplished in about 50 pages (or less).

4. Too Many References. This book constantly refers to other chapters. I once counted 6 different references to other chapters on one page. I am not kidding! Huh? Is potty training really that freakin' complicated? All I want is some general ideas on how to go about it, how to get started, and a few good tips. I don't need all these detailed references. (Nor do I need the phrase "Potty Mambo" repeated to me ad infinitum.)

Here is all I wanted to know:
-How do I get started?
-What do I do?
-How often do I need to try it?
-Should I go for pullups or just keep him in diapers for the moment?

Maybe this book got to all of that, but I quit after page 60. I just couldn't take it anymore. After hearing the phrases "Stay Positive" and "Potty Mambo" repeated to me for the umpteenth time, I had to quit. I returned this book and got my money back.

If I were to say anything good about this book, I would say that it has a few good tips, surrounded by about 180 pages of filler.

Potty training still looms ahead. Will I be successful? Probably. But to this book I say, No Thanks.

My oldest daughter was a tough sell with potty training, so, desperate, I tried this book against my better judgement, having had little success with other books in the Dummy series. I still have no success with Dummy books. This book promoted doing potty training all at once in an intensive push. This might work for some kids, but it is by no means the best method for all kids. My pediatrician, father of six, says that kids will train when they're ready, no matter what you do, and forcing the issue will just take forever and frustrate all involved. I can't prove him wrong. Forcing a "potty mambo" on a kid who has decided that she prefers not to use the potty leads to a war you don't want to fight. (Note that the kid in question knew how to use the potty; she just didn't want to, as in "but Mommy, I don't want to use the potty", screamed at full blast in public restrooms everywhere.) My other complaint is that some of their "facts" made me fear that my daughter had major problems, when it turns out she was, in fact, totally normal. There have to be books out there with better ideas, or we'd all be better off waiting, as a friend did, until one day her 3-year-old said "Mommy, I want to wear underwear now." And within a week she was.

My daughter is only 17 months old, but her doctor said that at her 18 month check up we will begin to talk about potty training. Since she is my first, I like to become somewhat knowledgable about different milestones she will be accomplishing so I set out to read some potty training books. Now, even though I am a first time mom, I am not stupid. This book made me feel just that. I felt like the author was talking to my 17 month old rather than her 28 year old mom. I was never really sure what points the author was trying to make and the ideas that were used weren't in my opinion good. Not to mention, this book was a little longer than I would've liked which might have also attributed to my dislike of this book. I found that Mommy I Have to Go Potty by Jan Faull and Parenting Guide to Toilet Training by Anne Kruger were much easier, shorter and more helpful then this book.

I couldn't get past the effort at clever jokes, witty remarks, and cute made-up phrases in this book on every single page. Tidbits of information clutter every page is a truly random fashion. Not only that, the real information is hidden somewhere in between. Also, is is really a topic that warrants such a thick and complicated book?

Although I found this book to be helpful in giving tips and explaining some of the roadblocks, I found that it did not concentrate enough on the actual potty training.

They recommend that we tell the child to let us know when they want to use the potty, and if they have an "accident" to tell them in a nice way to use the potty next time. All this is fine, but when you're training a 2-year old or an older child who is more reticent; a more guided and direct system is needed. For example sitting them on the potty regularly. They also recommend sitting them on the potty at one hour intervals. This time frame is too long, and if you follow their advice you will need to be prepared for more accidents. I would recommend every 30 minutes, and always right away after meals.

So buy this book if you want some extra help in potty training but don't let it be your main guide.

I'm a fan of the Dummy books so this one was right up my alley. With the daunting task of trianing my son I looked to the easy to read, non technical way this book reads. I reccommend it as a resourse book for ideas that may work for your little one.

I was not able to finish reading this book due to the sweet, sappy words and references. I know that it is geared for "dummies", but I felt as if the language, such as "doing the potty mambo" was geared toward the 2 year old, not the parent reading the book. The information presented could be very useful if you can get through the book.

This book is just as useless as the Pull-Ups® Big Kid® Central: Potty Training Success DVD thatis given away for free. You can't teach logic to a young toddler who hasn't fully gained control of their bladder. Bottom line, terrible twos or trying threes...the child will pee or poop when he/she is ready.

We had the tearsheet on our fridge avidly awaiting each milestone our daughter reached in hopes of getting her there. Our greatest success came with a potty chair (against my own desire), a seat for the toilet, and potty books for her too read. She finally connected with a female character in one of the books and that sold her on the toilet. I assume that was it since shortly thereafter she used the potty on her own. She only called us over to brag about the achievement.

Stick with books for your kids, not for you.

This is the 3rd book we've read on the subject, and this is my favorite. I really appreciated the examples of how to respond to my child so that she would be encouraged and not pressured. It also helped me be less frustrated by accidents. The positiveness and enthusiasm is working really well for my daughter. After 1 month of potty training with other books she still didn't tell me when she wanted me to take her to the potty. After 2 days of this book, she told me she wanted me to take her to the potty. Hurray!

This book gave me a completely different outlook on something that seemed too frustrating to deal with. I won't give away any secrets but I can tell you this, it made me much more patient and willing to help my child through a tough time for both of us. This book helped me understand that I can't push my small child into doing anything, but with guidance and team work it can easily be done! I want to thank the authors for this wonderful potty-training coach. Without it I'd be lost!