Rating: 
Summary: Grateful parent and child
Review: This book was recommended to my husband by a coworker. My son was ready to potty train at 2 1/2 years. And I was ready to stop spending so much money on pull-ups / diapers. It also helped that my son has a big brother that was using the toilet proficiently. That being said, this book required some homework. I read it cover to cover first, then planned a time that I would have my son alone for a day or so. The book worked! It was one exhausting day, but my son went potty on his own the first day and was fully self-reliant within a few days. I charted his progress faithfully for a two week period. This teaching method may not be for everyone, but I highly recommend it. It was a lot of work, but well worth it, since he successfully started using the toilet, and got his big boy underwear!
Rating: 
Summary: One day to freedom!
Review: My child's pediatrician told me about this book at her two-year check-up when I told him I was planning on potty training. She had already expressed some interest - or at least no fear of - the potty and was showing other "readiness signs" like being able to follow simple instructions and things like that. I was afraid of stretching out the potty training process into weeks or months because we lead a very active lifestyle, and she's in different places every day. I didn't want to have to be switching back and forth to diapers to accommodate that over a course of time, and didn't want to use Pull-Ups since they're basically just a diaper. I read this book and it sounded pretty solid - using many different teaching techniques to get through to your child quickly. It very much focused on postive reinforcement for being dry - not negative reinforcement for being wet. In fact, the process specifically sets the child's expectations as to what should happen when they have an accident during the training so there's no 'hard feelings' or embarassment. And it emphasizes that you should tell the child that you love them, but don't like wet pants. Over the course of the training we had 2 accidents, so only twice throughout the day did I have to present any negative reinforcement. Instead, most of the day was spent telling her how proud Daddy, Elmo, Grandpa, and Grandma... would be that she was such a big girl with dry pants! She ate far more than any child's fair share of cookies and soda throughout the day, sure, but by the end of the day, she was using the potty by herself. So, here we are not yet 2 weeks past her 2nd birthday, and with the exception of a few wet accidents - not one "messy" accident! - in the past couple of days, (and of course at night since she's still just 24 months), we are diaper free! The only reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 is that it does read a little like stereo installation instructions - or worse - a dog training manual. It's quite antiquated, and spends a lot of time focusing on why you, as the parent, should hate diapers and be motivated to get your child out of them. Skip along to the good stuff: "How to train"
Rating:
Summary: This is a SANITY SAVER and great for the chlid!!!
Review: How many horror stories have you heard of parents "battling" it out with their kids over toilet training? This book eliminates those difficult, frustrating weeks and months of "accidents" and battles for control (not just bladder control, but over WHO is in control!). This method is EASY and FUN for the child, and it really works in one day or less. I did it with both my boys (and one is learning disabled). They were so PROUD of themselves and it was a positive experience for them. I've read the other reviews on Amazon.com, and I can only say that the negative ones were probably written by parents who have excessive issues wrapped up in their kids. Every mother I know who's tried this method is THANKFUL for it!! It is NOT based on shaming or humiliating the child. It teaches him/her in easy steps that the child can master and feel good about. It is more like a parent/child party with toys, snacks and treats. When the child succeeds, you phone the grandparents, friends, etc., and everyone praises the child and makes a big deal out of it. It's a blast! This is the best investment you can make for your toddler...AND yourself as a parent!!
Rating:
Summary: For all parenting styles
Review: I heard about this book many years before having children, but I didn't admire the parenting style of the people using it so I dismissed it. My first child (a boy) was very late to be trained, and in fact was years before being consistent! It was strenuous because the advice from others is constant if your child isn't trained early. The doctors all say that when they're ready they'll do it, but that's not a training method - it's just philosophy! To avoid this again with my second child (a highly-independent girl), I succumbed to buying this book. I read it thoroughly, bought the necessary items (a cheap doll that 'drinks' and 'pees', loose-fitting underpants, a potty that is easy for a child to empty), and followed it's recommendations exactly. My daughter was 3 years old, which is older than the book recommends, and she was self-initiating within the day (which means she doesn't have to be told to go, or helped with her pants). She had two accidents the second day, one accident the next two days, and then was dry and accident-free by the fourth day, and since then. It took several more weeks for her to be self-initiated with bowel movements. There are treats and juices pushed on the child for the first several hours but, after that, the child's pride kicks in. My daughter never asked for rewards once she was trained. Her reward was her accomplishment. I can highly recommend this book, because it does exactly what it says it will do, and claims to work as well with children of learning disabilities. If a child can communicate and amble to and from the toilet, I believe this method to be the best possible solution to the trials of toilet training.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Unrealistic
Review: Don't get your hopes up about this one. It seems like the amazing results the authors saw in testing must have been distorted by their desire to have this work. For example, they tell you to be sure your child drinks lots of fluids during training. Cup after cup. How many cups will your child drink in 4 hours? My child, who is normally very cooperative, drank a little but was frustrated when I kept encouraging her to drink more. The authors tell you to gently guide your child through trial run after trial run. Now my toddler was really getting ticked off. She didn't want to do it over & over. The authors don't really say a whole lot about any certain steps failing. They just say, after you do this, do this. That's how they get it all to work in 4 hours. They do say that if one step fails, start that step over, but the flaw is in the step - doing it over won't help. I just resorted to spending a couple days at home w/the baby only wearing a top. After a while, we advanced to panties. It was a long weekend, but it was less frustrating than this book's method.
Rating:
Summary: Good traning
Review: This book was recommended to me by a friend. She used it with her 3 year old son. He trained in 2 days. I found the book helpful in training my 2 1/2 year old daughter. At first she was resistent. She didn't train in a day. She trained in a week. There was no humiliation or punishment. She received training and instruction. I am pleased to say that she has not, as of this writing, wet at night. She is very proud of herself.
Rating:
Summary: Mother Knows Best
Review: I haven't yet actually *read* the book, but my Mom did and used the book sucessfully when I was 15 months old. According to her, I was trained in exactly one day. Mayhap she exagerates, but if it worked for her I'm certainly going to try it!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Very Realistic
Review: I read this book before potty training my 2 1/2 year old boy, and decided Azrin's approach just wouldn't work with my son. Forcing a toddler to stay focused on the potty for an entire day is much easier said than done. And when a toddler doesn't want to drink liquids, he's not going to drink liquids. My son is inquisitive and pretty strong-willed, so I knew this boot camp approach would be frustrating for both of us. I also read Lois Kleint's book Potty Train in Three Days, and decided to use that training method instead. My son was potty trained by the second day, and he's been accident free for four months now. Kleint's approach is much more realistic than Azrin's, given a toddler's short attention span and tendency toward stubbornness. If you're about to potty train your child, do yourself a favor and check out Potty Train in Three Days. I can't recommend that book enough!
Rating:
Summary: Simply didn't work...
Review: In the first day of training my daughter, who is 2 years, 8 months old, had five accidents and only once successfully used the potty. The "punishment" for accidents was not effective at all. She easily learned how to use the potty, but had three accidents before she first used the potty during a prompted potty trial. She sat there for several minutes and then began to urinate. As soon as she finished, she pulled up her pants, emptied her potty in the toilet, flushed it and put the potty back in the chair without a word from me. She then had two more accidents, even though I was constantly asking her if she needed to potty and constantly checking her pants with her. After the fourth accident, we did the ten practice runs again. But she had a fifth accident after dinner, even though she had been promted to go both before and after dinner. I chucked the book right after. The punishment for accidents with this method is the reason it did not work. My daughter thought it was fun to run around teh house and then pull her pants down. I gues my parenting methods just don't jibe with this type of training. I will begin looking for another method.
Rating:
Summary: It works!
Review: We just used this book with our 3-year old daughter and I have to say, I am amazed. Now, granted, she is a girl, so it goes easier than with most boys - but it really did work. We bought the doll the book suggests (i.e. the kid teaches the doll to go and ends up teaching themselves) but never really used it. What really did it was my wife spending all day pumping drinks into her. Before you start, find something that she will drink a lot of - our initial assumption, apple juice, didn't work - she likes it but would only drink so much. We went through many different kinds of juices, finally finding some kind of blend (mango-papaya or something) that she'd actually drink reasonably large amounts of. Then, it was just a matter of following her around, asking constantly, and putting her on the potty every ten minutes. Result: By the end of the first day, she had gone several times (when you do it every 10 minutes it's hard to avoid :-), with only a couple of small accidents. Second day, she was telling us before she had to go. By a few days later, she was telling us when "number 2" time came around. Now, two weeks into it, she has no accidents and goes by herself. It's amazing - totally in diapers 2 weeks ago, and now she just walks off, puts the little potty seat adapter on the big toilet, climbs up and goes, and washes her hands, and all you hear is the flush. Amazing! I should caveat all this by saying that she was showing us she was ready by telling us after she went in the diaper. If your kid doesn't even recognize that he/she has gone, maybe you should change to (ugh) cloth diapers - they say that they can feel it better that way, and the soiled diaper makes them uncomfortable. The only discomfort they get with Pampers is a little bit of "crystal butt." :-) BTW, if you're using the book, you may be distressed that they have very little about "number 2," saying it'll just happen naturally. In our case, at least, it really did - but remember that she knew when number 2 was coming. With a kid who doesn't know what's happening, you probably won't have the same success we had.
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