The Everything Potty Training Book: Professional, Reassuring Advice to Help You and Your Child Through This Challenging Time

by Linda Sonna

As most parents realize, potty training is one of the most stressful challenges of raising a child. From first introducing the potty seat to the child, to using incentives to encourage the child, to making the first diaperless trip outside the home, The Everything "RM" Potty Training Book provides practical, reassuring advice to help parents survive this difficult time.Linda Sonna, Ph.D., provides readers with insightful suggestions to help both parents and children face the challenges of potty training. Packed full of scenarios for all occasions inspired by real situations -- and presented in a handy and portable trim size -- The Everything "RM" Potty Training Book will have children mastering this important skill in no time.

The Everything "RM" Potty Training Book offers foolproof counsel for parents on:

-- Recognizing when a child is -- and isn't-ready

-- Being a potty coach

-- Developing readiness skills

-- Understanding bedwetting causes and cures

-- Training on the fast track

-- Handling night-time routines

-- Weaning off diapers and pull-ups

-- Preparing for extended trips

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Family

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Solveig Singleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked out this book when it was "time" to train the youngster ... and I had the little imp with me at the bookstore at the time, which usually leads me to make bad decisions, as he can be a bit distracting. I lucked out, I think this must be one of the best.

There are a lot of potty training books out there that are based on some person's theory, or personal experience... This one is research-based, with a good measure of the author's sound judgment to add value. It covers several different methods, including the early training methods, and troubleshooting tips. One has the freedom to learn about several methods and pick one that seems to be the best fit, or combine methods.

And it worked like a charm.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I learned a lot with this book, but do not have any concrete steps to take towards toilet training my son.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely better than other books I read, but seems a little out of date. As soon as I started reading it my daughter decided to potty train herself. So, it has some sort of magic.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a TON of info in this book. Not sure I agree with it all, but it certainly covers a lot of different aspects of this milestone.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

All over the place. Everything is a good name but not good for real direction.

[Sara Liebman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gave good overviews for different methods though more reading is necessary for more in depth strategies.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful quick overview of a lot of options!

[Alexandra Skokandic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why it took me 200 pages to realize this was a total waste of time.

[Leslie Maughan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros: Well-organized chapters so one could quickly find the method they were most interested in; lots of good tips; focus on positive relationship between child and parent was strong, and the author was very clear about methods that are abusive. I took lots of notes to refer back to.

Cons: Sometimes I found the author's tone somewhat judgmental--she clearly thinks that children should be trained as early as possible and had a hard time hiding that fact when presenting other methods for later training. Overall, although I got a lot of good tips, I was still unsure of what method to use and how exactly to go about training my daughter.

[Susanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked how the book covered multiple methods and the dozens of tips on preparing children for potty training. I also like the bits of history thrown in and it’s positive attitude that emphasizes children can learn, even at a very young age.

That said, some of the tips were confusing and contradictory.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author of this book certainly has her opinions. Although she tries to present each type of toilet training in a positive light, it's clear that she prefers early training - what some call "elimination communication" (or EC) - over training toddlers. Her disdain for some methods comes through loud and clear, and is almost comical.
I did learn quite a bit from this book. I'm a first-time mom who's never dealt with toilet training. I find that the "Everything" series is generally informative and well-written, and this book is both. The first half is useful if you don't know anything at all about toilet training. The rest is OK. I know "OK" - not very descriptive. But I thought that the author's opinions shining through were distracting. I don't agree with many of them, and I felt that she gave some ideas short shrift.
I would recommend this book to first timers who need to know where to start. But if you've already read one or two books, or trained one or two kids, then you probably don't need this book. It's an overview of methods, which is good for beginners.

[Jenifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Guess what we are getting ready to start at our house. These books drive me crazy. It is a 200 page book, but everything you need to know could be written in 5 pages. I don't need to be told 100 times that punishing my child for having an accident is wrong. Oh well, hopefully I will learn something from reading it.

[Leighanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really REALLY liked this book. Although it is the only potty training book I've read so far, I thought it was encouraging for first-time potty training parents. It gives you a few different ways to go about it, and if one method fails, I'm glad to know I have another one I can easily start up. It is also really positive and teaches how to give feedback and deal with difficult situations.

[Mary Yuhas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'm NOT actually trying to potty train my 19 month old son. I just like to brush up on upcoming stages in his life. So far we're in the "pretend play" phase of learning about the potty. He does get a kick out of all the books available these days with pictures of poop in them...

[Bonnie Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got some useful information but I'm still nervous about potty training. Although Audrey had her first pee in the toilet! We're going to do a "take it slow" approach, I believe the book calls it potty practice.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only really useful piece of info we pulled out of this book is to use an egg timer. There are a lot of ideas in here that just made all three of us scratch our heads. Perhaps someone else will get more use out of the book than we d

[Erin Ching · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book does present several methods of potty training, but it's clearly biased towards early and intensive potty training. So if you have a late potty trainer, or plan to use a more laid back approach, or your child has any kind of special needs - then i would find a different book.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the most popular training methods and practical advice on a variety of issues one might face. It didn't potty-train my daughter, but it helped me deal with set-backs.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a helpful book for both my husband and me, it gave us a broad knowledge of potty training before we started trying to PT our daughter.

[Isabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book to have when potty training! Has a lot of great advice and gives an overview of different potty training methods.