Can anyone recommend a potty training book?

[wakeupaustralia]

Hi, DS is 2 years 5 months and I want to start potty training him asap, as I am home on maternity leave. I want to read a book on it before I start, to minimise mucking it up. Have delayed it a bit as I also have a 5 month old. Looking on Amazon, there are quite a few manuals to chose from. A friend had success with Gina Ford, but I'm not really a Gina-type person, especially since everything is a bit chaotic with the baby. But if other people think the Gina book is the best then I'll give it a go. Many thanks!

[hairtwiddler]

bumping as this is likely to happen soonish in our house and I'd like to know where the best advice is!

[WigWamBam]

My opinion is that you don't need a book to potty train.

If he's ready then he'll be there quickly, if he's not then it's not worth trying.

Is he showing any signs of readiness? Because IME it's not something you can do easily if they aren't ready.

[satine]

The Gina one is quite good, and nothing like That Other One. I used it with my first.

[notnowbernard]

Agree with Wigwambam

(And I have noticed she always gives good advice on such things!)

[wakeupaustralia]

have been getting mixed messages so far. he often announces when he is about to do a poo, but never a wee. tried putting him on the potty a few weeks ago and he just sat straining for ages then when was ready to poo he got agitated, stood up and did it on floor which totally freaked him out. another time he did a tiny amount of wee and i made a big fuss and he was quite happy with himself but we lost momentum as it's so busy with the baby who i am bfeeding. ds is due to attend nursery in april and ideally want him trained by then. should i wait a bit for more signs that he is ready?

[notnowbernard]

definitely wait.

I wouldn'tconsider him to be anywhere near ready... save yourself some serious hassle

[lennygrrl]

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[wakeupaustralia]

p.s. ta for the Gina tip Satine. i'm the (unadventurous) type who needs the added confidence of reading on something before i give it a go.

[wakeupaustralia]

love the sound of the everybody poos book. what a great idea, esp as he loves books. maybe i'll wait. I think I feel a bit pressured as i know a couple of people who have toddlers exactly same age and they were recently trained in a couple of days - v. annoying...

[lennygrrl]

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[notnowbernard]

Honestly,it really is best to wait!

A child that is effectively trained in a couple of days was obviously 'ready'

If your ds is not verbalising the need to wee, you will spend the majority of your day changing pants and trousers!

And if he is in any way freakedout by his poo, hold off. It might lead to problems further down the line.

The majority of small kids I know weren't trained effectively until about 3. (Including my own!)

[wakeupaustralia]

ok, yes, have decided i'm going to wait until he is definitely ready as i need it to go as smoothly as possible because with the baby i can't afford for it to be a total drama. many thanks for the helpful advice. lennygrrl, goodness me, you deserve a medal for putting up with that for 6 months! thanks everyone!

[notnowbernard]

Agree, too much hassle when BF. DD1 used to deliberately wee everywhere everytime I settled down to feed DD2 (and she was trained at that point, but regressed bigtime)

[lennygrrl]

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