Moms on Call – Toddlers: 15 Months-4 Years

by Laura Hunter, Jennifer Walker

The highly sought after baby and toddler care experts strike again with this easy-to-read guide to everything moms and dads need to know about toddlerhood (complete with cheat sheets!).

Learn why kids misbehave and why you think that what you are doing now is not "working." Discover the three household rules your toddler can understand and how to implement them. Enjoy learning actual things to say to your children that will motivate them to want to behave. Want to know how to handle discipline, sleep issues, tantrums, going out to eat, potty training, feeding issues and much more? Then, you will certainly enjoy our cheat sheets. From humorous explanations to the short and sweet version, this book has it all!

From two pediatric nurse moms with eight children between them comes the real story on toddler behavior and discipline.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2012

Reviews

[Sarah Werner]

Disagreed with some of the discipline techniques in this book like sending your child to their room when they cry or whine or have an emotion you don’t like. Gives children the message that you only want to be around them when they are happy and that they should only have positive emotions around you or they are punished. Children need to be encouraged to express their emotions like anger, sadness and frustration and we need to teach them that we won’t leave them when they have these feelings. They need the opposite. They need connection and help working through those feelings.

[Claire]

I will be re-reading this book continually! The best parenting advice there is, in my opinion. Wish they had books for every age!!

[Michelle Haggard]

Highly, highly recommend! ♥️

[Kirsten Weaks]

I found a lot of great info in the first 2 mom on call books for babies that I knew I wanted to pick up the toddler book. This book is FULL of information that I found to be so insightful. I love that they plainly state from their experience as moms and pediatric nurses what’s worked, but they always stress that you are the parent. You at the end of the day in your gut will know what’s right for your kid. As always, every parenting book you take what you like, leave what you don’t, but I definitely will be taking most of these points to incorporate into my parenting as we enter the toddler years.

[Allie Foster]

I find MOC helpful for schedules and sleep tips but the discipline advice just wasn’t that helpful. You could probably skip this one! Unlike their newborn book which saved my life as a FTM.

[Kate Hacker]

Absolutely fantastic. I'd give it five stars for how helpful it was to me, but to be fair I feel like I need to dock it a point for poor copyediting (one solid run through by an editor would've been all it needed). In terms of philosophy I find it really well balanced and so encouraging/empowering in terms of making the tough decisions that raising a toddler requires. I particularly enjoyed the emphasis on parenting from truth rather than fear, and operating on common sense and not just the lowest common denominator (if there is one) of all the instances of "studies show" that parents have encountered. Would highly recommend!

[kimberly]

yeaaaaa, not much into this one.

discipline involves keeping vinegar soaked cotton balls in one's purse in order to force your child to behave.

hilariously, when my son smells vinegar, his immediate response is, "MMMM!"

[Krystal]

I'm a Moms on Call enthusiast, I have followed their advice since the newborn phase! Very helpful advice, especially to a newbie like me!

[Justiine]

loved the first two books, this one made me feel weird.
tantrum’s shouldn’t be ignored. and the cotton ball thing was disturbing.

[Macy]

Super helpful with my 18 month old. We started doing the simmer time 3 days ago and there’s already been improvements in her behavior (less blatant disobedience and smiling as she does it).
This is the second toddler discipline book I’ve read and it’s way better - instead of generically talking about toddler’s brains and motivations and letting you interpret that as you will, this book has specific talk-tracks for you for specific situations.

This is not “gentle parenting” - that did not work for us. I have been telling my daughter “no” to stop eating the cat food for 10 months straight - ever since she was crawling at 8 months. We then started trying time-outs in a chair in the center of the room for 1 minute because she was only 1 year old and that’s what mainstream parenting advice says. After her minute was up there was 50% chance she’d run straight back to the cat food.

This method is super effective. After she’s had her simmer time in her room for around 5 mins, I go into her room and give her a hug and give positive affirmations that I know she will obey and be good for mama and not eat cat food.

Highly recommend!

[Christina Lear]

Covers all the big hits of toddler topics: sleep, eating, potty training and discipline through the lens of family values, positive framing, and confidence/consistency. They even have schedules that tell you how to structure a day for feeding and naps with a toddler and baby! Super practical and helpful.

[Sarah]

4.5⭐️ I appreciate the straight-forward suggestions on a range of topics relevant to parenting toddlers. My husband will be reading, too. This was what we needed as we’ve felt a bit aimless when it comes to misbehavior, how to execute appropriate consequences etc. I’ll be recommending this to friends who are looking for some toddler guidance. 🙂

[Chelsea Frye]

Moms on Call is my favorite mommy resource!!

[Amanna Nawshin]

3.5 actually!

I don't like the sleep training method. It won't work for me. I have to make my own manual for that. I am going to apply other methods though. Let's see how it works.

[Brynna King]

As always, these books are so helpful. Clear, easy to read and empowering. I love that they always instill confidence that you can do this and your child can do this! Will be referencing often.

[Julianne Carmack]

Just loosely use their daily schedules. Their sleep tips are questionable at best. 🥴

[Chelsea Walpole]

Not full of fluff and straight to the point. Helps me to feel not stressed out about parenting and reminds me that there is no perfect parent. I am the parent and I can do this! I definitely recommend 👍🏻

[Alison Grzeskowicz]

Great advice

For anyone who says there isn't a book on how to be a parent you are wrong . This is the best book ever!!

[Lars Anderson]

Wonderful educational book for parents of toddlers. I haven't read the infants Moms on Call, but my wife did, and keeping up with the schedule outlined in that book has been instrumental in my daughter's development, so when my wife picked up this next edition I wanted to read it also.

This book is an extraordinarily quick read, and no section feels long winded. The methods outlined are simple and they're all related. Upon finishing I feel much more empowered on how to strategize around many different developmental topics including eating, sleeping, whining, tantrums, and potty training, which we're planning to start to tackle in the next couple of months. The strategies outlined connect in an easy to follow template of what to do in the moment, how to go over what we're working on at bedtime, triangulation, which is pumping your kids up as they develop with friends and family, and how to handle obstacles along the way. More than specificity though, the authors do a great job of teaching and instilling an an overall attitude of how to interact with your toddler(s) to manage their behavior and help them develop in each area appropriately.

Very worth the read for any parent. 4 stars.

[Aggis]

Similar to book 1 there are definitely good pieces here and the schedule and tips “cheat sheets” section at the end of the book is really where the value lies.

I do find the forwards and early chapters (just like book 1) to be more faith based and authoritarian style than I personally align with. However I will say that the overall vibe is love your toddler and understand that toddlers misbehave and that is normal which I appreciated.

I think my biggest take aways were

-parent with confidence. Believe your child can do it before they can; totally agree! & believe in yourself

-avoid turning non-negotiable situations into questions. That is confusing and frustrating for all.

-use the time before bed to help restate positive family values or shout out your toddler for a excellent behavior (even if they aren’t doing it yet). This will be a for sure add to our bedtime routine.

-no is not enough. We need to teach our toddler what to do.

Outside of the above and the schedules I think I am still very much figuring out the rest.

If you are going to be having 2 kids I think get the book for the schedules alone - super helpful. Just be prepared that there is still some old school stuff mixed in.

[Mane Shahinyan]

I picked up Moms on Call after hearing so many recommendations and genuinely thought it would be life-changing. Unfortunately, it was the opposite for me.

I disagreed with the book on many levels. The parenting approach often felt like a “good cop, bad cop” routine: warn, punish, then comfort with a hug. That isn’t the kind of relationship I want to build with my child.

The sleep advice, in particular, felt like a version of the “cry it out” method, even if it’s presented differently. I know these techniques work for some families, but they don’t align with me, and I found them unnecessarily rigid and lacking empathy for babies’ emotional needs.

And don’t even get me started on the suggestion to use a cotton pad soaked in vinegar 🤦🏻‍♀️

I can see why some parents appreciate the structure and routines this book provides, but for me, it relied too heavily on compliance over connection. It simply wasn’t a parenting guide I could trust or follow.

[Lauren Pollon]

"We are Walkers, and Walkers are good people."

This book sets you up for success with simple, easy to follow, clear direction. I love that Moms on Call is passionate about helping moms parent out of truth NOT fear. I followed their first book, 0-6 months like my life depended on it! I can say that their advice and schedules helped our family function!! I was so eager to dive into this toddler book. Our daughter just turned one, and she is beginning to show interest in free-will. My husband and I wanted to have a plan to address these naughty behaviors that will emerge. IN COMES MOMS ON CALL! I love that their books are always a quick read. I also love how easy it is to refer back to when I need to re-read.

I highly recommend all of their books to any new mama!

[Helen Nichole]

I’m convinced that without the “Moms On Call” series my life would be 100x’s more chaotic and I’d be a frustrated parent. All three books were incredibly helpful- especially the “typical days” schedule. This book in particular I read on the earlier side of its intended audience (I have a 16 month old). Most of the recommendations it makes pertains to older toddlers but I still think I was able to take a lot from the book now and utilize it at this point in time. I also now have an outline of what kind of behaviors I’d like to keep an eye out for as my little one gets older and know how to address those negative behaviors proactively. Would highly recommend.

[Kara Bryant]

The Moms on Call system has helped us lay a solid foundation for our family to thrive physically and emotionally. While the two previous baby books primarily helped with establishing solid sleep habits, this book has helped me adjust our schedule as our toddler grows, develop a clear plan for discipline, and prepare for things like transitioning to a toddler bed and potty training. As always, I LOVE the sample schedules included in each book, but the cheat sheets for addressing particular behavior issues in this book are right up there with them! The authors are full of grace, humor and make you feel like you’re getting advice from your kind but candid Southern aunts.

[Cara]

I've enjoyed the MOC series. We started with the 0-6 month book and I think that really helped us to establish a healthy sleep schedule with our daughter. I skipped the 6-12 month book because we took a baby-led-weaning approach to feeding and I feel like that was a really good decision for our family. Once my daughter started entering the toddler stage and I noticed her saying "no" a lot more and starting to push boundaries, I purcheased the toddler book. It has been an excellent resource for our family! In just a few short weeks I am seeing the fruit of repeating our family rules daily before bed and implementing simmer time as a consequence.

[Kasey]

Straight forward guide to toddler behavior. Although I probably won’t do everything that this book recommends 100%. I love how this wasn’t a bunch of “ideals” but rather straight forward advice and “how to” for parents! I think this is an excellent read even if you don’t plan to follow it all. It is more in line with traditional parenting style rather than the newer “gentle parenting” so that might affect whether it is for you or not!

[Kelsey]

I love the moms on call schedules, the idea of supporting your kids to do what you know they can do, and the way the whole family is kept in mind. I don’t agree with some of the discipline strategies, though. My kid stops tantrums, whining, and troublesome behavior with connection, repetition, and following through with what I say the first time, not time outs away from me. Those always worsened the behavior.

[Bailey Viguet]

Start this book before your toddler is in full blown toddlerhood. And then read it over and over again during toddlerhood.

Laura & Jenn must have had a looking glass in on what goes on in my house with two toddlers.

Great information on discipline, sleep training, potty training, tantrums ETC.

The best part? Filled with “cheat sheets” at the end of the book for all different kinds of scenarios.

[Maria Moonis]

This book is SO HELPFUL. It’s clear, concise, and easy to follow. The practicality of it is immediate - I started to apply what I learned to help make changes to our household right away. It gives you the encouragement to fight through uncomfortable stages/steps in order to have the best sleep, fun and family routine! I am going to recommend to all my mom friends.

[Sarah]

Some excellent points and helpful reminders on the challenges of raising a toddler. The editing is horrendous though. Perhaps I had an earlier edition, but wow, incomplete words? It must be a Georgia thing; our local paper is equally as diabolical.