Rating: 
Summary: Staying dry is not worth it.
Review: This book probably does work for many children; however, I would not recommend this book to anyone due to the chance that their child will respond as mine did. My two year old daughter met all of the milestones outlined in the book. For a couple months, she would occasionally use the potty. Since she seemed ready and I had heard that this book worked, I decided to give it a try. I followed the instructions exactly. While the idea of using a doll was helpful and fun, the rest of the book was downright destructive. The book tells to reward a child for staying dry. As instructed, I gave her salty foods and several drinks. She stayed dry but "held it" for 5 or 6 hours -- until she was running around the house in pain. Months later, my daughter is still so focused on staying dry that she will hold it until it hurts. Staying dry is not worth it!
Rating: 
Summary: Helped us through the first hurdle
Review: I have to say, I have been dreading this process for a very long time, and finally at age 3 found that my son appeared to be ready to toilet train. I bought the book because, I was willing to do anything to make this a little easier. Our experience so far is this: we started one morning, and followed the directions (to keep focus strictly on the training, which means no tv, games or other distractions- and to use a doll to have the child "teach" to use the potty) My main problem was that I was not able to find a doll that wets in any of our local stores- so, instead, I used his favorite stuffed animal and put undies on it. This worked VERY well for us as he already had an emotional connection with that animal. He was able to be "proud" of the animal the same way I was praising him.
For four hours we worked on it without success. I felt frustrated and ready to give up- but, instead decided to take a break. We went out for lunch- with pull-ups on; and on the way home stopped at the store to buy a reward. He wanted a toy car- so I told him that he could choose any one he wanted (of the 99 cent variety)- but that Mommy would hold it for him until he used the potty. He was agreeable to this- and, naturally as soon as we got home he wanted his car. I told him, "no, remember, Mommy is holding it until you do potty- and then you can have it as a present for using the potty". He gave a loud "hmmph" and then marched right in there and pee'd in the potty. He got his car, and I jumped up and down cheering for him like crazy. He was VERY proud of himself. AND, he had remembered everything that was told to him during those first four hours of training.
Since then, we have had many more successes than accidents- and I agree with the book that a certain amount of disapproval should be shown at the accidents. Certainly most people know that disappointment can be shown without any sort of humiliation or degradation. Children want to please their Mothers, and so showing that you do not approve of the accident (especially when it is caused by laziness)- causes them to want to work harder to make you happy the next time. I definitely feel there should be much more praise and approval than disapproval- but in toilet training, they need to know that it is no longer "okay" to mess up their pants. This is how they become big boys and girls.
I think there are plenty of very good tips to be taken from the book - just keep in mind that it was originally written in 1974, so it doesn't always sound very modern. But, the main ideas are good, and you can adapt it to your own style of mothering.
I found it to be a great help- definitely worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: It does work!
Review: I used the method in this book to train my 27 month old daughter. I followed it pretty much to the letter the first day. According to the book's idea of being "trained", it took about 4 hours. But we we're about 50/50 on pottying and accidents for a few days. Within 1 week she was only having accidents at night. Right now it has been 2-1/2 weeks since the training day and she no longer tells me when she has to go potty, she just does it on her own (pee & poop), and she goes to the potty by herself during the night. We have now made it a whole week w/o 1 accident! Getting your child fully trained like this in 1 day is a little ambitious so don't get discouraged and give up on the method. I also never went back to diapers after the first day. I used pull-ups at night for the first 2 days until she called them "baby diapers" even though I told her they were panties too. So that was the end of pull-ups.
In 2 weeks I'm going to try the training method on her twin brother who is very stubborn and hyper. We'll see!
Rating:
Summary: Don't do this to your child!
Review: Every child develops at a different pace, and there is no one proven simplistic method for learning anything, let alone potty training. There were some good points made by the author,(ie: the doll that wets-if you can find one) but all in all what this book boiled down to was shaming and humiliating your child. As parents, we often feel inadequate if we can't teach our child a skill on our own. Potty training is a learning process for both parent and child. Trust your instincts and know your child. Be patient, not intimidating and openly disappointed. Your child wants to please you, and loves your praise. He or she will embrace the experience when they are ready. You can choose to psychologicaly torment them them into compliance in a 48 hour period, or practice patience and understanding. Which in the long run I'm sure will have better results. I found asking other parents about their experiences was more beneficial than this book was.
Rating:
Summary: Don't even try it without this book!
Review: I was certain this book wouldn't be the answer, and just wanted some guidelines. But, after reading it, I decided to follow it it exactly. My daughter is 38 months old. (The book recommends about 24 months old and showing signs of potty readiness.) She started using the potty right away, with 4 accidents that day, 2 the next, 1 on each of the next two days, and on the fifth day, she was self-initiated (goes without being told) with no more accidents! I still remind her when we are leaving the house, and I'm sure she'll have an accident on occasion, but it's been 2 weeks and she hasn't had another accident yet. I would recommend reading the book completely before beginning and scheduling a day with just one parent and the child for training. This book is exacting in the mind-set of a toddler and motivating that child to potty on their own. It instills such pride in the child that once the child is going on their own, the treats can disappear because the child is so proud of their accomplishment!
Rating:
Summary: not for all mothers
Review: This book is for organized and motivated mothers who want to potty train quickly. In a city apartment with no yard, no outdoor play space, and carpet everywhere except the bathroom and small kitchen, and having a low tolerance for mess, I felt I simply could not stand the "let them run around bare for a few weeks until they get it" method. So I tried this one. It took a couple of months to gather up all the supplies, but even so, the night before training day, as I was reviewing the method, I realized that the Doll-that-Wets did not have two pairs of underpants, as needed, so that she could change into dry ones - so I did some late night sewing. However all the preparation paid off. After 4 hours my 33-month old son (who had never sat on a potty before), could (and did) pull down his pants by himself, urinate, pull up his pants, dump the pot, flush, wash his hands, and dry his hands. He was having such a great time with pottying, that that evening he kept excusing himself every 5 minutes to run to the potty, and was sometimes mildly disappointed when no pee came out. After day three the novely wore off, and he is now (as of day 5) figuring out how long he can wait before going to the potty.
We have had one accident per day - but I think that this is because, after almost 3 years of disposable diapers, he is still learning how to recognize when he needs to go. A few comments if you plan to try the method yourself. 1) Azrin and Foxx do say that if you child has a problem with general stubborness ("he understands what you have said, but he refuses to carry out your instructions") then "until this general stubbornness is overcome, you should not attempt to toilet train." 2) Azrin and Foxx also say "You may consider your child to be trained when he walks to the potty chair for the first time without a reminder and completes the entire toileting experience without the need for instructions or guidance." And that your child should continue to wear oversized training pants until "he has remained dry for several days". So realistically, even when this method works as advertized, you need to plan for not only one day for intense training, but a few days of staying at home or only going places where your child's potty will be readily available and where accidents will not be hard to handle. (We have visited friends, but have taken the potty with us.) 3) My son loves novelty and loves the idea of being grown up, so as additional motivators I waited until Training Day to (a) get out the potty (b) get out the dolly (c) remove the baby gate from the bathroom door to allow him access to the bathroom and(d) ever let him wash his own hands by himself in the bathroom 4) Azrin and Foxx's method neglects handwashing. By putting a stool at the bathroom sink, I made it possible for my son to wash his hands independently, and added this to the potty routine, right after toilet flushing. 5) I allerted Grandparents and a few good friends in advance, so that when we called them on Training Day, they were ready with lavish praise. 6) When my son's interest flagged partly through training, and I was running out of more positive things to say about pottying, I pulled out a potty book he had never seen before (he loves books) to give him a little break, while not really venturing off the subject of pottying. 7) I waited until after my son had trained the doll to take him out of diapers and put him in training pants, so that he would not have any accidents before he knew what to do. 8) It was very hard to find a simple doll-that-wets. I ended up buying a Potty Dotty. First I clipped the wires to the speaker to get rid of the annoying chatter. Then I put a magnet inside her leg so that she would pee on my son's potty, and not just on her own. With those modifications a fancy electronic doll has been reduced to one that can be filled with water with the switch in the off position, then with the switch in the on position, pees approx 10 seconds after you poke her bottle in her mouth. HOWEVER: Don't feel you have to potty train this way if you don't want to. My sister-in-law took a look at the book, and her reaction can be summed up as "You gotta be kidding.". She has preferred a much more laid back gradualist approach that would have driven me bonkers. CAVEAT: I realize even if a method is "guarranteed to work for all children" there will still be some for which it doesn't work. (For us, the issue was sleeping through the night - nothing we tried worked for that - and our son did not sleep through the night until age two.) So if this does not work for you then you have my sympathy, but unfortunately no helpful advice.
Rating:
Summary: This book really does work!!!
Review: When I told my friends and family that I had ordered this book, they were skeptical. I was optimistic. I had tried before to train my almost 3 yr. old son, and he was having no part of it. His favorite line when I would ask him to sit on the potty was "No, I can't". I followed the book as closely as I could (I really should have taken notes when I read it). After a couple of hours, he was telling me that he had to go, and going. We were both so excited. At first I thought I didn't have much success with the accident training (and be prepared to sweat on this one), but it must have worked, cause he doesn't have accidents. After 2-3 days of staying home, we ventured out to take his Dad lunch at work, and get a haircut. He actually told me in the middle of his haircut that he had to go, and when I got the little potty for him, he went. By day 7, he held it the entire time we were gone to the pet store and to the mall. I was impressed. Now we don't even take the little potty with us. He will sit on the big one if I'm holding on to him (I think he's afraid he'll fall in). Don't waste days or weeks potty training. This book is worth the money and the time it takes to read it.
Rating:
Summary: Best Guide Ever
Review: This book is the only way to go!! I have two sons and my mother and sister said it would never work. Guess what - after only one day, neither boy wore diapers and no one had an accident. I don't know why everyone doesn't follow the suggestions. Why fool around for months when in a day you will be diaper free. Buy this book for yourself and any new mom. They'll love you forever.
Rating:
Summary: Why didn't I have this sooner?[.]
Review: This book was wonderful. We have been trying to train our 3 1/2 year old son for a year and a half. This method worked in one afternoon![.] He was so stubborn and had never even peed in the potty until I used this method. I modified it slightly since my son did not want to use the little potty. He only wanted to use the big one. He has had very few accidents and is doing great with it. I trained him on a Thursday and by Monday felt confident enough to send him to preschool in regular underwear! What a relief. We are still working on the BM's in the potty so we haven't got it totally licked but any leeway in this area is a complete relief. I highly recommend this book. I will use it on my 5 month old when he turns between 18 mos. and 2 yrs. Hopefully, we won't go through the frustration we went through with our first. I have high hopes of being out of diapers sooner than expected!
Rating:
Summary: It really does work--in less than a day!
Review: This book is wonderful. We found it by accident when we were getting ready to potty train our first child, and gave it a shot. We have potty trained 6 children using this methodology now, and have been successful every time. Each kid reacts and responds differently to the training, and so each took his or her own tinme in becoming "trained. The shortest was two hours and the longest was 1 1/2 days. The definition of "trained" in the book is that a kid will self-initiate when they have to go potty, will go potty on a potty chair, dump the potty in the toilet themselves, flush, and pull up their pants on their own. They are essencially self-sufficient. The methodology is very different from traditional methods, but works very well. The traditional method focuses on success of going potty, this method focuses on success on a child keeping his/her pants dry. The method is very affirming, very positive, and uses mainly positive reinforcement in the way of treats and drinks for dry pants, and mild negative reinforcement in the way of practicing for wet pants. I would strongly recommend this book, but only if a parent is prepared to follow the methodology closely. (we have friends who picked and chose what they would do from the book and it was a fiasco) Also, be prepared for a commitment to a solid block of time that all you do is check pants and talk potty. In that respect, it is a bit draining on the parent, but from our view, is much better than weeks of trial and error having the kid sit on the potty and get nowhere.
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