On Becoming Pottywise for Toddlers: A Developmental Readiness Approach to Potty Training

I implemented this method with my 23.5 month old son after he had started using the potty on his own. He used it mostly for #2, but still urinated in his diaper most of the time and showed no initiative to go on his own. I thought it was time so I blocked 3 days where I planned to stay home. I knew he was familiar with the potty, comfortable with it and I felt he was ready (he had been using it here and there for about 3 weeks). We had shopped for underwear earlier in the week and I had snacks in hand. Saturday morning we got up and we made a big deal about the underwear and the "friend" he would train with (doll). I admit I wasn't sold on the idea of the doll but it was key because it removed so much pressure from my son. Day 1 we had a 50% success rate and I started to doubt the method, but I thought if I'm going to try it I will try it for at least 3 days. My son didn't seem to get the concept of "are you dry?" and he seemed annoyed at my constant questioning. He couldn't even be lured with treats. He would ignore me or say "no!" even though he actually was dry... Day 2 was a new day so with renewed motivation I did the same thing - doll, sippy, is your "friend" dry?, does your "friend" need to pee? etc... I offered incentives for being dry and offered incentives for actually going in the potty. By the end of day 2 he was showing initiative and asking to sit on the potty. He had a dry diaper at nap and only had one accident all day right before bedtime. Day 3 was it... Woke up, same routine again but now when I asked him why he got treats he would tell me it's because he was dry and he would "pat" himself to show me. The emphasis was no longer on actually going in the potty, but on staying dry in between (the why behind the how). He had only one accident that day when he first woke up in the morning but again had a dry diaper at naptime. The rest of the day was perfect and by day 4 he was accustomed to asking every time he had to go and we haven't looked back since. I believe night training will be soon too, since he's already waking up on his own to use the potty. I can't recommend this book enough but it does take discipline from the parents to stick with it for a few days in a row!!!

We started out with the Baby Wise book recommended by our pediatrician because our 8 month old was not sleeping through the night. We had great success using the information from the book and our daughter is now sleeping 10-12 hours without nursing or waking us up. So, I decided to buy the other books by this author. Potty Wise is helping me potty train my 3 year old that regressed when we brought our baby home from the hospital and Baby Wise II and PreToddler Wise are helping me not only with my growing baby but also with some things I missed along the journey with my 3 year old. These are great books for basic guidelines and applicable principals.

I liked that this book broke potty training down into steps and that it was positive. I would recommend it to my friends with toddlers.

Fast read for when you know it is time to start potty training. I think it will be easy to follow.

I am a long-time fan of these series. When it came time to potty train, I decided to rely on the guidance I had trusted to help me raise my child this far. I will say - there is not anything profoundly different about the methods outlined in this book as there are anywhere else you read potty training advice. The core principles are the same of wait for when your child is ready, crash-course over a weekend or 3-5 day stretch, and offer positive rewards. We have been taking a more gradual approach with my 2.5 year old boy who is not yet potty trained. I, myself, have not been feeling particularly motivated to fully tackle this hurdle just yet.

It’s a great book! I’m so happy that I bought it! It teaches you how to potty train your child AND how to structure your day with a toddler! It explains different morning, day, and night activities, boundaries, and people involved. You won’t find in online. This information is very precious for me.

An excellent resource for potty training, from start to finish. The idea of rewarding "dry and clean" was new to me, but it makes perfect sense. Who cares how much potty goes in the toilet if there are leaks that need to be cleaned up between each successful visit to the bathroom? My toddler responded very well to the idea of staying dry and clean, and he was daytime trained within just a few days. (He isn't ready for nighttime training just yet, but I'm planning to continue with these principles when his body is ready for staying dry and clean overnight!)

While I did find some of the methods in this book helpful - it is blatantly directed towards a very traditional family structure that includes a working father and a stay at home Mom, something which has become much much less common. I found it difficult to read this book without thinking that the author himself may have a distorted viewpoint of what the typical American family looks like now days. I wish the author would include a bit more advice towards parents that both work and have a toddler in daycare, but if you find a way to apply these concepts on your own and adapt them to your own scenario, it can still be helpful.

Not going to lie, I was dreading potty training. My little one is 3… super hyperactive, like, sitting for two minutes is dreadful and is torturous and if anyone walked up to our door and heard my little one having to sit still for a minute they would wonder what on earth was happening… like my child Scored high for ADHD when he got evaluated type of kid…we don’t do dyes, he still jumps from wall to wall, doesn’t have an off button, doesn’t slow down, on the go, go, go even if he walked 5 miles… so, I wasn’t sure how well this was going to go. I didn’t want to buy some potty training books as I didn’t want to be looked at as a lazy parent for waiting till my kid was 3 ~ ‘ready’…. I just needed some tools to know how to do this. I mostly cloth diaper, and having a 3 and a 1 year old I just got too overwhelmed washing everything. (And playing with poop is, well, it’s not exactly fun) I took the lighter approach… the first couple days we potty trained for an hour, then we did half the day for a week or two and then we did a full day. It’s been 2 months since we bit the bullet and he’s been pretty much clean and dry since we started. We sometimes will give him a diaper during nap time, but that’s usually because he is still figuring out the mechanics of going number 2 on the potty. He has gone #2 especially in the beginning but now its a bit of a process and I’ll have to go back read what else I can do. We’re just rewarding the behaviour we want and praising him when he tries. We made it exciting, made it fun… also if anyone else has a little person who has beans in his jeans, or ants on his pants and sitting still is torture…if you want some pointers… -Warm Water and bubbles help with a toy car, that helped him wee and ‘I spy’ books have been a hit to help him stay put a little longer. Also a visual timer to help him see how much time he had left helped a lot. He no longer needs a timer though, he just goes when he has to go. :) I love all the books I’ve read so far by these guys… I love that they have a lot of core values we have in our home as well… I’m excited to read more of their books. I bought used and I thought it was so neat to see someone else’s highlighted parts of the book… it somehow kind of made me feel like I wasn’t alone in this… and helped see that some parents worries or concerns weren’t my own either, it blessed my heart. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talks