Rating: 
Summary: Catastrophe for my daughter
Review: I didn't have high hopes that this book's suggestions would train my 26 month old daughter in a day, but I thought its suggestions may help get us on the right track. Instead it seemed to traumatize my daughter. Like other reviewers who gave this book low ratings, my daughter ended up in tears. She enjoyed playing with the doll and willingly sat on the potty for almost a half hour at first. But when she couldn't hold her urine any more she started panicking and begging for her pants (pullups). She then got up, peed all over the floor and ran away from me. She ended up peeing on the floor two more times and kept running away and getting increasingly more upset when I tried to get her on the potty. She ended up in a crying fit and kept trying to hug me. I had to hold her a long time to calm her down. After that, every time she had to pee she would cry and run to me to hug her. I think the program was too much pressure for her and made her and me feel like a failure. I think maybe some of the ideas would work if you have a very easy going child who doesn't upset easily. Otherwise I think the program hurts more than it helps.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart but stubborn child- This IS the book for you...
Review: My daughter is gifted intellectually but has an incredible stubborn streak to go along with it. I tried and tried and tried with potty training but my husband and I were getting no where fast. I got this book, I read it cover to cover, made the recommended lists, got the recommended potty chair, doll, etc. and was on my way. I worked with my daughter for 4 hours (it is brutal but 4 hours of concentrated effort is so much better than months of failure). I was ready to give up because she wasn't going (but she hadn't had an accident either). I let her take a time out to have lunch and watch a video. Within 15 minutes of that break she told me she had to potty- she went to the potty chair, sat down, passed her water, took the bowl out of the potty chair and emptied it herself!! My husband and I were in shock. We were so proud- she was so proud- it was great. She quickly transitioned to the "big potty". Although this book can seem somewhat behind the times in the verbiage (I believe it was written in the 70's), I quickly got beyond that and could not be happier with the results. GET THIS BOOK.
Rating: 
Summary: Not for every child
Review: Well I have sat and read all these reviews again after trying the book. I read the book twice bought everything it told me too and did it word for word. And it failed! We began at 7 am with my 3 year old son and he drank at least 16 ounces of liquid within the first hour. BUT he didn't pe pe on the potty at all! We sat there ten minutes every fifteen minutes. We had dryness test every five minutes. We did it all! AND what happened. At 11AM he finally peed ALL IN THE FLOOR after having spent ten minutes on the potty. So I went through the routine and he cried and screamed the entire time. I tried to reassue him but he was so upset that he couldn't stop crying. We did it anyway with me all but carrying him through it. He cleaned it up himself and changed his underware just like he was suppose to. We continued....an hour and a half later he once again peed all in the floor after having set on the toilet ten minutes and saying he didn't have to. After having to take him through the motions of the routine while he cried I sat and cried alone in my room feeling like a failur because I couldn't make him even try to use the potty. The little Mickey kid in the book and Mrs James need a reality check is all I got to say. The writers need to take into consideration all children are not calm and they don't always do as told. I know my son understands and he is smart enough to grasp this but this book does not work for him. So don't buy it expecting a miracle if your little one is full of energy and gets his feelings hurt easily.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!!!!!!!!
Review: With the help of this book my 15 month old daughter was potty trained in 4 and a half hours!! I still can't believe it, it's been 4 days now and not having to change diapers has been wonderful!
Rating:
Summary: It truly worked!!!
Review: I used the advice in this book to train my almost-3-yr-old son (my second child). He was fully trained in 2.5 hours. I followed the advice almost to the letter and had great success. My son never wore a diaper (or even pull-ups) from then on, and had no accidents. I think the key is to not rush the decision to toilet train. There are certain criteria that must be followed in order to know that your child is really ready to make the transition. If s/he isn't ready, then *nothing* will work. But if your child is ready, this book is fantastic. I recommended the book to 3 friends whose kids were 2-1/2 to 3 years of age, and they'd tried in vain to train their kids, and the book worked for them. I got the props mentioned in the book ready at 9:00 a.m., sent everyone else in the house away, and by 11:30 my son was a "big boy"! :)
Rating:
Summary: Not for smart kids
Review: I liked this book in that it educated me to the fact that it is possible and desirable for a child to empty his/her own potty seat and pull his/her own pants up. Otherwise I did not find it very usefulWe followed the book directions with my 25 month old and it went fine for the first hour -- learning to raise and lower panties and empty the pot. She loved the juice and she understood what I was talking about when I said to use the potty. We had had a potty around before this and she'd routinely poop in it and on occasion pee in it when reminded. But since she knew what I was talking about and knew what a toilet was for-- reminding her every 15 minutes that a potty was to go potty in and she had to check her pants was an insult to her intelligence and she got bored very quickly. After 3 hours we'd had enough -- and she had developed a horrible case of diarrhea from all the juice the book had her drink. We have had much better luck just letting her run around the house naked. We haven't had a single accident. Perhaps if we'd done this program before she knew anything about potties it wouldn't have been so difficult -- around 15 or 18 months -- but after they hit 2, an intelligent child won't sit placidly allowing you to say the same thing over and over again for hours on end without becoming bored out of his/her mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Great for those of us who aren't sure where to start.
Review: When my oldest son starting showing interest in potty-training at 22 months, I was very surprized. I had thought that I would have at least another 8-12 months before he was even interested, and found that I had to educate myself quickly on potty-training methods or be faced with a child who was no longer interested and possibly resistant if I waited to start his training. So, I bought several potty-training books and videos, including this one.
Although the book is a little outdated as far as its illustrations and terminology, the information that is included within is really helpful in potty-training a child- especially if you've never had any experience with it (as was my dilemma). I really disagree that this method is harsh, as it is detailed over and over in the book that you must not get angry with your child for accidents, etc., but instead calmly explain that wet or dirty pants aren't desirable and consistently re-enforce that urination and/or bowel movements take place on the potty. It is stated several times that you do not "force" your child to do anything, but you do "manually guide" him or her with tasks if they don't respond to your instructions on their own. Manual guidance is NOT force, as one reviewer claims. As far as the "sensory deprivation" that the same reviewer claims your child will be subjected to during the hours you spend potty training, I think one should instead consider when the last time was that you spent 4-5 hours completely focused on your child? Most children would give up every one of their toys to be able to have their parent's undivided, positive attention for this length of time!
My son did also watch the "Once upon a potty" video and enjoyed sitting on his potty with or without diapers before we began this approach (although he never went in the potty till training). Although he only said a few words at the time he was trained, he did understand everything that was said to him.
You can probably expect a lot more accidents than they illustrate in the book, and there is a chance that your child may balk at this method. Tho I think most children will really enjoy the focused attention and delight in their new-found skill, all kids are different. I think that if your child is showing signs of interest in toilet training and is able to understand most of what you say to him or her, this method can work really well. If, however, your child is showing real distress during this training and seems to be developing a real aversion to toileting, then probably backing off and using a more traditional, gradual method of potty-training is your best bet.
My son was mostly trained by about 4 hours, and tho he isn't completely "accident proof" at 2 1/2, he does really well for a child so young. My son is occassionally headstrong and likes to do things his own way, but he responded well to this focused training and is very proud of his accomplishments. Tho not a magic bullet and probably not right for every child, I think it is a method worth trying.
Rating:
Summary: Practical approach, but didn't work for my 2.5 yr old boy
Review: Following the book methods, I potty trained my son over the w-end. It took a little longer than the book advertised. He was having about 90% success for several days. After about a week, he unexplainable refused to go potty anymore... so he's been back in diapers for several months now.
Rating:
Summary: It Worked for my little boy age 22 months!
Review: I bought this book and read it over the course of 2 days. I did make a few revisions, but the concept really works!... I followed the advice in this book...I am the only person I know with a child under the age of three, who is potty trained!...
Rating:
Summary: Didn't work for 3 year old boy
Review: I heard from several women that this worked for their girls so I tried it. It was a disaster for my son. He was too stressed by the focused attention, too focused on the treats and actually enjoyed the practice sessions that he was not suppose to enjoy. The four hours (the amount of time it was suppose to take him to learn) went like this: two hours of not peeing at all, one hour having two accidents and one hour of peeing (3 drops) every 30 seconds on the potty. After his nap, he never went again in the potty. He also would not poop for two days when he normally goes at least three times a day. The next day I put him back in diapers and he finally pooped in the evening and it obviously hurt him. The book makes it all too simple and doesn't address possible problems like stool witholding which happens to kids often. I read the book twice and know I did it right but it was not for us. We're on to the slower approach now. Good luck.
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