Oh Crap! Potty Training: Everything Modern Parents Need to Know to Do It Once and Do It Right (Oh Crap Parenting Book 1)

100% This book is a must have for every parent!!!
I knew I wanted to potty train my little one as soon as possible. I was the last of my friends to have kids and had seen it go so terribly wrong when they waited too late as per what the internet suggested. My husband and I were both potty trained by two so I knew it was possible, but when we asked our respective moms, we just felt like we were missing some direction. I found this book during my research and it was perfect! I was 34 weeks pregnant with my second and my son was 22 months. We’d had a couple false starts before this book, so I was a little apprehensive, but after reading this cover to cover I felt like the missing pieces from what our parents had told us were filled in. We did what was suggested and went cold turkey on the diapers. We followed the book step by step and by the time I had my baby two weeks early I wasn’t worried about my son spending a few nights at his grandparents. Literally, in just a few weeks he went from clueless to trained day and night. If you’re looking to start, I cannot suggest this book enough (I literally tell every parent about it!) And I cannot stress enough that you should go all in and do day and night at the same time unless there’s a really good reason not too. Now we’re five months in and I barely think about it at all. Since starting he’s had a few accidents. We follow the book still and use these as learning experiences. At home, he’s had maybe five accidents tops since the first month and he’s had a couple at preschool, but overall, he’s trained. We make sure he goes before long car trips and take our folding potty seat in his knapsack wherever we go, we keep a potty in the livingroom (we don’t have a bathroom on the main floor), and we keep one by his bed so he can get up and go at night if he has to and it’s all just part of our routine. If he’s a lot to drink one of us will check on him during the night to see if he has to go, but we’re lucky that he’s aware of his needs and will call us to help him to the potty if he has to go in the middle of the night. We remind him every night to call us if he has to go and to hold it until we come for him. It’s just part of our goodnight’s now. He can hold his bladder all night most nights, I actually can’t remember the last time I had to get up, honestly. For parents who are wondering if they can or if they’ll ever stop obsessing over their kids bathroom needs, yes you can and yes you will. Like I said, we’re 5 months in and it’s just not something that we continue to obsess over. It’s just routine and easy now. I know not all parents will have this easy experience we had, but we didn’t go into this endeavour knowing it would be so successful, but following this book made it so. I cannot reccomend this book enough and really YOU CAN DO IT!!! Don’t be afraid, it’s not nearly as intimidating as you think, I promise!EDIT: First, in the book it’s reccomended to get a plain, no nonsense potty, my suggestion is to go to IKEA if you can, their potties are cheap, easy to clean and are a perfect size. Second, just this past Christmas, my son had his first flu since potty training. It resulted in an ear infection and he needed antibiotics. These caused the trots and while my poor kid seem quite betrayed, (should’ve seen his little face…), he still managed to get through the ordeal. This was one situation where I wasn’t sure how it would work out, but we got through it with no accidents. And lastly, when we first began potty training, my son was obsessed with visiting every bathroom every five minutes whenever we went out. This was super annoying because first I was very pregnant and then I was recovering from a csection and he always insisted I take him. We followed the book’s advice and kept the visits all business unless he went. That meant no paper, flushing, washing hands etc. He loved the novelty of going to public washrooms but when we wouldn’t let him have the fun without peeing he got tired of the game and after about a month or so he stopped and only asked when he actually had to go. This was probably the most trying part of the process for us, but it passed quickly (it didn’t feel like that at the time, though!). So if you’re going through this, it does eventually end!

It worked for us, but doesn’t need to be this long
The book worked for our 32-month toddler. We followed her steps or “blocks” over the Christmas holiday and by day 7 she was basically using the potty by herself fully-clothed, with little to no prompting from us. I agree with other reviewers that the book is far too long when it could be explained in a chart or maybe 20 pages. I can also see how the author’s tone would offend some parents. She says that kids over 30 months are difficult to train, but I actually think this approach might not work on far younger kids. I feel my daughter picked it up quickly because she’s verbal and self-aware— something that further develops with age. Overall I’m happy I bought it, but parents should feel free to amend the program to fit their needs.

We followed this book to a T with our 22 month and it worked amazingly! Love all the troubleshooting too. It’s very complete.

The potty training went smoothly with the instructions from this book. I just think the author could be more direct to the point, he might get repetitive at times. Great though

I purchased this book because I wanted to tr port training my son who turned 2 year old in July. In france a child has to be port trained by 3 years old i order to be able to attend school. I have 13 nieces and nephews and I have seen my sisters almost tear their hairs out when it came to potty training their 3+ year olds. I felt like starting school is stressful enough so why not try to have him gain this essential skill earlier on? I also worked from home and had no plans to is summer so I thought this was a great time to do this. I didn’t know the author at all. Never read her blog, but the reviews seemed positive so I gave it a try. He didn’t know his ABCs but he did seem really interested in the toilet and would fight me when I tried to put on a diaper on him after his bath. He also had a dry diaper after his nap like 90% of the time. Despite all of this I was scared, but I was determined and like all big new steps on a motherhood journey I had to trust myself and also my child. Day 2 almost broke me as I was doing it all myself, there was pee everywhere all the time. He would get up RIGHT WHEN IT WAS TIME TO PEE. But I persevered and most importantly I called REINFORCEMENTS. So I was not the only one on what I called pee watch. My mother in law came to help for 1 week and she was just as gentle and determined with him as I was. And exactly what she said by day 3 the signs became clearer, he would firsr cross his legs get an uh oh look and the pee would come. By day 5 I would put him on the potty and he would go. We did it all at once, night training, nap training and it was the right decision for us. I followed all her instructions, going commando, reducing water intake as the day went on and it was messy. I even cried a couple of times but now we are on week 3 and he is 25 months old, asks to use the potty and most importantly I have seen his confidence grow significantly. I am so proud of him and so happy I used this book to potty train my son.