Rating: 
Summary: it actually worked!
Review: My daughter was over 39 months old, and for months we had been trying to get her to use the toilet with no success. As my wife was at her wits end, I decided to order this book. The three days we employed this method were difficult for us, and probably for our daughter as well. But since then, she has not had a single accident over the past month. She has adjusted perfectly to using the toilet, going by herself when she's at home, telling us when she has to go when we are away from home, and staying dry throughout the night until going to the toilet by herself in the morning.I will say that the methods listed will seem rather strict to some people, and borderline cruel to others. But through these methods, the child learns not just the act of going to the toilet, but the importance of doing so. Our daughter is now very proud and happy to be going like a big girl all by herself. So if you are generally a caring parent, I don't think you have to worry about your child's longterm development using this method. It does require a total commitment on the trainer's part though, so if you read this book and have any doubts or discomfort about trying this, don't do it. I will also say that we had success in modifying some of the specifics required. We did not have a doll that wets her pants, but we made do with a normal doll and an old toothpaste tube that I used to squirt water at the appropriate times. And we did this using an actual toilet, instead of using a potty chair and requiring the child to dispose his own waste in the toilet (I highly recommend this approach to anyone using this method on a child older than 3 years of age) Anyway, I am satisfied with this book, but as this was originally written in the 70's, I think the contents could do with a bit of a renewal, and should focus more on getting the child to use the toilet as opposed to the crutch of using a potty chair.
Rating:
Summary: Think of the Future
Review: I guess that as I pay a diaper service to wash my daughter's diapers, I have a somewhat different worry than those parents who are (correctly) afraid of their offspring's diapers contaminating landfill. I will say this: for some kids the intensive approach is great, because it makes the parents happy, and the child is happy when they delight the parents. I remember my potty training and (at 2-1/2) it wasn't overly traumitising (but I was eager because nothing is worse than wearing wet cloth diapers--I remember the feeling to this day, as my mom wasn't very religious about changing me often). Having said that, my 3-year old daughter has potty problems because she dislikes the attention thrown on her when put on the potty (she was more open to it 6 mos ago but she broke her leg and couldn't potty-train which set her back 4 months). My "bottom" line is that for the older kids, I question what kind of social impact this may make on their future (and if you are the kind of adult that can only "perform" in certain places and times, you'll know what I mean). But I am getting frustrated to the point that I might try it. (peer pressure might work, too). My comment to the other reviewer who states that other cultures potty-train earlier---well, it all depends on your definition of potty-training. Potty-training doesn't mean a child can sit on a potty and "go." (a friend of mine who runs a day-care of 75% foreign children tells me that the infants/toddlers are NOT capable of using the potty the way Westerners do. In the cultures she deals with, it means the child is held on the adults lap while the adult goes, and the child is taught to go with the adult, if possible).To ME, potty training means they can tell you (verbally or otherwise) and can hold it until they wish to go voluntarily. Having said that,I may try this author's method on my little girl, but my older sister considers it frightening. (she raised 4 children). Anyway, life in the US is high-pressure enough. Imagine a little boy who has potty troubles being subjected to THAT and then, when older, being bombarded by all those "enlarge your penis" spams. *shudder* But for those who can handle the high pressure method for their babies, GO for it!
Rating:
Summary: Successful with my 20 month old son!
Review: AMERICA IS THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT TOILET TRAINS AS LATE AS 3 AND 4 YEARS OLD. Children in other countries are trained to urinate in the proper areas of their villages or communities AS YOUNG AS 12 MONTHS OLD. Is 20 months old too young to toilet train an American child? After all, disposable diapers are so easy and convenient. WHY toilet train this early? HERE'S WHY: #1 Children will be much MORE RECEPTIVE AT THIS AGE than an older age. By age 2 or 3, they are content in their routine of deficating in their diapers. #2 CUT DOWN ON THE COST OF DIAPERS! #3 Children feel COMPETANT AND INDEPENDENT each time they are able to master their own body functions and each time we praise them for it. #4 One child who toilet trains at an earlier age will REDUCE LAND-FILL CONTENT by hundreds of diapers! What power we have as parents to make this kind of choice!
THE TECHNIQUES IN THIS BOOK ARE WORKING FOR MY 20 MONTH OLD SON. I strongly urge any parent, whether the child is a boy or girl, to give it a try. IF YOU DON'T FEEL EVERY SUGGESTION IN THE BOOK WOULD BE BEST FOR YOUR CHILD, MODIFY IT, THAT'S YOUR RIGHT AS A PARENT! I wasn't expecting a miracle with my son, and certainly it did not happen in less than a day, but we have already significantly cut down on the cost of diapers and we are avoiding the power strugle of toilet training at a later age! It took about 4 weeks before my son was consistently using the potty chair, but this is far less time than if we had attempted at a later age. Our family uses the toilet in front of my son to set the example. This was not an idea from the book and may not be for everyone, however children learn best by what they see their parents and siblings doing. The book recommends candy as incentive. I give my son gold fish crackers instead. Those are a big treat in our house. They work really well and I can reward him often. We have made this a very positive experience for my son with plenty of praise and gold fish crackers. The book recommends scolding, but we did without that part of it. When my son had accidents, I made sour faces and spoke of how it felt to have the mess in his pants. That was plenty. He didn't need to be scolded. This book is well worth the money, but can also be found at your LIBRARY. Most of it IS very useful, and whatever parts you may disagreed with, simply modify.
Rating: 
Summary: Only 2 Hours!!
Review: My daughter is 2 1/2 (31 months), and had no interest in the potty chair that we had out for the past several months. I learned about this book on our local news and heard from friends that it was presented on the Dr. Phil show. I picked a day to take off of work and do the training. My daughter really enjoyed teaching her dolly to use the potty. It was only two hours later that she used the potty by herself and she has never looked back. She is so proud of her accomplishment. The first night, I put a Pullup on her - she was crushed. I don't recommend ever using diapers or Pullups again after training. The only accidents she had occurred the first two days during nap time. There have been no accidents at night, and no accidents since those first two days. I was concerned about her going back to daycare. Would she remember everything she learned? She has been doing great. There have been no accidents at daycare yet. I think using all of the techniques together did it. The book and the doll that wets were well worth the investment.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible experience with this book.
Review: Great idea but really rigid and didn't work. I felt horrible and my daughter was miserable after trying this technique. We quit for a few months after this experience and then I used a sticker reward system which made us both feel good about the experience and she was trained in 3 days. I like learning to be fun and did not feel this was right for us.
Rating:
Summary: One size doesn't fit all
Review: I began toilet training my almost two year old, two weeks ago because he began showing alot of interest. After, a few days of success he began having alot of accidents and a friend recommended this book. I am happy I did not actually buy the book but checked it out of the library. Although, I could see this technique working with some very cooperative children I definately couldn't see it working with my "I do it my way" boy. I did try using a doll to demonstrate, however you have to hold the doll just right to keep it from "peeing" while it is drinking and then when I did get my son to see, he just looked, looked at me and picked up the bottle and squirted the water directly in the potty. If he could speak I am sure he would have made a comment about knowing a faster way Mom. I am continuing to train because everyday that he does poorly and I descide to back off for a few months he gets up the next day and goes with out a word. I really think he just rebells when he senses I am getting too involved and nagging. Back off Mom and let me do this.
Rating:
Summary: A Huge Help
Review: I found this book to be a huge help to me while potty training my children. It gives step-by-step instructions and does NOT use punishment or humiliation in any way. If you consider having your child clean up after themselves humiliation, then this book is not for you!!! Both my sons did well with this program and I will be using it with my daughter very soon (she's not quite two yet). As another reviewer stated - this is an EXHAUSTING day for the parent and child. It's sort of like a bandaid - pull it off quick and it hurts a lot for a second or do it slow and it's painful for a while. I prefer the quick method rather than drawing out potty training for weeks or months! Be ready for a day of boredom and frustration but it is so worth it. Both my kids had a huge sense of accomplishment and no negative feelings at all. This method is not for everyone but it certainly worked for me. I did not give the book 5/5 because it is a bit outdated (written in the 70s). Good luck to all of you!
Rating:
Summary: Limited success
Review: My toddler really disliked this method and went mulish. On the second day he was purposely wetting his pants and holding in when sitting on the potty. This method probably works for some children, but not all. If your child likes to follow directions and is delighted by praise, this method will probably work better for you. On the plus side, he has learned to put on and take off his underpants, and to put wet pants in the hamper.
Rating:
Summary: Read the reviews before you begin to train!
Review: I found reading all the reviews on this book to be very helpful on my training day. MY STORY: I intended to do this method from the beginning but waited until the timing was best for our family. My daughter showed readiness signs at 2 1/2 but it was best for us to wait until she was three as I was nursing the baby and we were moving. As the book warned, I never attempted any toilet training method with my daughter until the Big Training Day. My husband got everyone out of the house for the day, and after four hours of training she ran to the potty, pulled her pants down and peed in the potty all by herself! The rest of the day she continued to do so and she has not been in diapers since. I was petrified about going out in public, and took about six changes of clothes with me, but we have not had one accident in public. I take the potty seat that fits on top of a toilet with me and she tells me "Tee-Tee Potty!" when she needs to go. It is fantastic to have a child who INDEPENDENTLY toilets herself. I added hand-washing into the training as well. WARNINGS: I say the following just so you will be better prepared for what may be ahead for you: I did not realize how emotionally difficult the training would be for ME! She was fine during training, loving all the snacks and books I let her read. But I was about to pull my hair out sitting for four hours trying to "talk potty" and waiting. It was very, very hard to do! Also, I was not prepared for the several accidents that followed the next few days. There were four the first day after training and then three and and then two accidents the next few days. After the first week, we had about one accident per week for several weeks and then all accidents ended. The drills running back and forth and practicing definitely work and are worth doing, but I had no idea how emotionally difficult and physically exhausting it would be for me. She would laugh half the time and cry half the time and I would be near tears and in a sweat after each drill. Pooping in the potty took her several days to learn--she just held it and I ended up buying a few little dollar store presents and told her she would get to open them when she pooped in the potty. It worked! I believe it helps to know what things make your child happy and use it as a reward for a newly acquired skill. Staying dry at night and during naps was not a problem--just a rare accident--until we went on vacation. She never had an accident on vacation but seemed to relapse at night once we got home. It took a couple of weeks after we returned for her to stay dry while sleeping again. FINAL NOTES:
I loved this method and heartily recommend it to parents who agree with what are considered by many to be "tough" parenting methods. However, I would not suggest it to my friends who prefer child-centered parenting methods. It is not fun at first and requires strict observance to drills for a short time. But then the short-term hard work is over and you have a happy, independent kid who toilets herself without any assistance from you! This proved extremely helpful as I have a 2 year old, one year old, and another on the way! I intend to use this method with my son when he turns 2 1/2.
Rating:
Summary: Not for Every child
Review: When I read this book I thought it seemed too good to be true, and it was. This method may work for many children, but not all. I followed it to the letter, but my 33 month old son would not cooperate. He had very little interest in the doll, and while I filled him up with liquids easily, he would not go! Finally, he went a little and I went through all the steps of praising and rewarding. As soon as he had his training pants back on, he went in his pants. This happened three times. And there was no way to practice 10 times after accidents. He was crying for dry pants and would not cooperate with more than three repititions. After the third accident he broke down and sobbed - I called a halt to the whole thing. There is nothing in the book about what to do with a child who can hold their bladder at will and simply will not go on the potty. At least he learned to pull up his pants himself, empty the pot and flush the toilet (but I think I could have taught him that without this book!)
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