Good Potty Books & Videos
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Good Potty Books & Videos
April 2006
I want to get some children's books for my 22 month old
daughter to introduce her (more formally) to the concept of
using the toilet. I've looked on the old postings for potty
books and there's nothing more recent than 2001. Anyone have
any recommendations for good potty books for kids?
The potty books that have worked really well in our family are:
My Potty Book for Girls (or there's one for boys). This one is
great as there are photos of actual kids, not drawings. And the
other is Once upon a Potty (there's also a video version).
anon
There is a section in the Albany library Children's section
especially for parents, containing books about pottying, new
babies, divorce, death, moving, step-families, and lots of other
''issues.'' I'd check in your local library's equivalent section
for classics and new books.
There is also a ''body/potty'' section in the Children's section of
Cody's on 4th St (it's against the wall, to the right as you are
facing the bathrooms in the far right-hand corner of the store).
Browsing there might also give you some options.
Good Luck
Donna
My new favorite is called Where's the Poop by Julie Markes...lift
the flap book...funny and entertaining!
Signed,
done with the potty books!
My toddler loved Annie's potty, and she still likes to look at
it sometimes. She also liked ''the princess and the potty,'' which
was a little less to the point but funny. there was another
that I found on Amazon that comes in a girl's version and a
boys's version that she liked. For all of them, you'll want to
substitute your own words-for example I liked Annie's potty a
lot, but found it really dumb to say ''pee-pee and B.M.'' so I
just changed it to poop. We also had a grover book ''I have to
go!'' My girl became obsessed with the toilet after reading
potty books. I will say that the one thing that drove me nuts
about all of them is that they don't adequately convey that
these kids can sit on the toilet for weeks or months before
anything comes out. It sounds dumb, but mine seemed to feel
inadequate about that, so I changed that around too. (''one, day,
after trying and trying, ...'') And boy was she excited the first
time she figured it out! Enjoy!
I just got ''Big Girls Use the Potty'' and ''The Potty Book for Girls'' on
Amazon. My
daughter loves them and within a few days of reading them got over her fear of
going
potty. I also got her a doll that pees in a potty that helped quite a bit. I
think it's called
a Little Mommy Doll. Good luck.
potty training mama
My daughter really likes the book ''The Princess and the Potty''.
It's fun and imaginitive and gets the point across in a much
more playful way than all of the more ''literal'' potty books we
have.
Kris
There's a reason why there aren't many newer recs for potty
books. Once Opon a Potty by Alona Frankel is about the best book
out there.
My daughter sat and sat and sat and sat....too
June 2004
I have seen the recommendations for books about potty training
for kids, but I am looking for a book (section of a book?) to
help us get in gear for assisting our daughter with potty
training. Has anyone found any books helpful?
Potty Trainer
Do an Amazon.com search for these:
''Potty Training for Dummies''
''Toilet Training in Less Than a Day''
''Parents Book of Toilet Teaching''
''Toilet Training: A Practical Guide to Daytime and Nighttime
Training''
I'm sure there are more...
Hope it helps
-------------------------------------------
Found the best book was mom. Just took her advice and its
worked like a charm. I talked about the toilet and going on it
for months in advance, and our 2 year old even was interested
and peed by himself before bath time (naked and already in the
bathroom). Talked about underwear and showed him mine for a few
days, then one day, voila, just took off the diapers and
presented him with his own pair of underwear. Let him run naked
outside as much as possible, always with a portable toilet
somewhere within arms reach, and when inside, put him on the
toilet every 2 hrs or so. We had a few pees in the pants, but
he really didn't like it, and within a week he always pees on
the toilet, and 3 poop in the underwear, and now he says kaka
when he has to go. The entire process took 2-3 weeks, and was
really fun for him, to be able to do something by himself.
Also, after reading a NYT article a few weeks ago, we decided
to 'reward' him with one treat for peeing, three for pooping
and peeing. I'm sure you could use whatever treat you wanted.
Since our son doesn't get sweets usually, this was really fun
and special for him. After 3 weeks now, he rarely asks for a
treat after peeing by himself, but still is proud and asks for
3 when he poops. From what I've read, after a few weeks they
just take it as normal and forget that a treat is a reward,
they are happy and proud of themselves for going. Forgo reading
a potty training book, enjoy the NTY or a good juicy book
instead! Good luck!
anon
July 2001
I'm looking for children's books to read with my two 21 month old sons
about potty training. I've already seen the recommendation on the UCB
website, " Everyone Poops", but am looking for more. Any other
recommendations? Thanks.
Dayna
I'm sure I will be one of many recommending Once Upon a Potty. Get the
video (it is gender specific, which is nice) and watch it often. We only
had the video, not the book, but found it to be a real help. And the song
will stick with you forever.
Ann
I have a few but my 2 yr old really likes "The Potty Book; for boys" by
Alyssa Capucilli. We read it everyday while he sits on the potty. It's
about a little boy named Henry & his teddy bear who learns about the potty
and even picks out his own underwear at the end. It's short and sweet.
(There's also a girls version that's the same book but they put a pony tail
on Henry and named her Harriet or something).
MWishbone
My son responded very well to "Teach Me About: Potty
Training" by Joy Berry. It talks about the fears a
little boy feels about potty training and what made
him feel better. He also liked one we picked up at
the library, put out by Mr. Rogers. (I can't remember
the title) It has real pictures of real kids in it.
We also have "My Big Boy Potty" (there is a big girl
version) by Joanna Cole, and "On Your Potty!" by
Virginia Miller. I'd also try a couple videos. My
son usually agrees to use the toilet after he watches
one.
Michelle
Once Upon a Potty by Alona Frankel is wonderful. I
found it at Cody's on Fourth St. Good luck!
Shirley
"Once Upon a Potty" is both hilarious, and useful.
Ryan
We're having some luck with a little board book called "It's Potty Time"
from Smart Kids Publishing. The isbn is 1-891100-60-2. (I assume there is
another version for girls.) A button on the book makes a flushing sound --
a gimic which my son just eats up. The last page is a chart for stickers.
Pretty cute.
Loralee
The only potty training item we used was the book "One upon a Potty" and my
son loved it! (He also loved "Everyone Poops" but I didn't think of it as a
potty-training book.) We read "Once Upon a Potty" for about a year. I
think kids and families vary in their approach, timing and readiness, but
we introduced the book and potty at about the age your sons are with a
completely low/no/pressure attitude. At 2 years 10 months he decided, on
his own, that he wanted to wear underwear all the time. After the first
weekend he got the hang of it and wears underwear day and night and rarely
has "accidents."
Lisa
2000
This is a question for those parents who have successfully helped
their children through potty training: What was your favorite potty
training aid (book, story, video???) and why?
I'm looking for things for a boy around age three, who has shown
absolutley zero interest so far, but I suppose responses not specific
to that description might be helpful to others on the list. Thanks!
There were a couple of books I read with both kids. "No More Diapers"
was written by a pediatrician and is probably the best. I also bribed
both kids with fancy underwear(per the above book). My daughter
wanted flowers on hers(as in the book) and I ended up buying white
ones and drawing the flowers with fabric paint, because I couldn't
find flowered trainers anywyere.
We used the video "Once Upon a Potty". They have a girl and boy
version. It's really upbeat and kinda "cutesy" in a Barney-like
way. We actually had the most success with a sticker incentive program
where my little one received stickers on his hand for each successful
deposit along with a lot of hugs and hand-clapping. We used thick
cloth underwear and cloth diapers and I really believed this helped
speed things up by allowing him to sense the certain discomfort of
wetness that is not ordinarily felt with the wicking action of
disposables and pull-ups.
Good Luck!
Wouldn't say that either of these, in and of themselves, was what had my
daughter be successful at potty training. But we watched both these
videos, and found them helpful:
Once Upon A Potty (this matches the famous book)
Potty Time With Bear (the video of the Bear in the Big Blue house episode
mentioned on the website)
Bear in the Big Blue House-Potty Time With Bear worked great for us. It
covers many of the topics related to using the potty in a fun way that kids can enjoy. It worked well as a means to relate their experiences with the characters and talk about various topics. I bought it online. Good luck.
There may be help for you and all budding potty-trainers in an episode of "Bear in the Big Blue House" that
will be replayed on the Disney channel on 3/10 at 10AM and 3/15 at 1PM. The article my mother sent me said
that they couldn't imagine a better aid to potty training than this half hour. It went on and on about the
gentleness, humor and respect shown for every issue of potty training. Might be a good one to tape for all of us
with kids in diapers.
(1999)
From: Dianna
Re: Pooping and toilet training. I remember a book when my son was
that age entitled "Everybody Poops," or maybe "Everyone Poops." I
don't remember much text, but it shows lots of different animals
(including fish) pooping, and ends with a small child of indeterminate
gender pooping. This of course caused lots of snickering among my
son and his classmates, but it may have eased a few minds, also.
Good luck.
From: Greg
I want to second the recommendation of Dianna for "Everyone
Poops." It was written by the Japanese author Taro Gomi in the 70's,
and finally translated into English a few years ago. The text and
illustrations are straightforward and humorous, and very
child-appealing. Of all the books we got to help with toilet training,
this was far and away my daughter's favorite. For a long time,
whenever she felt the urge to poop, she would make sure this book
accompanied her on the toilet.
From: Regan
I've just discovered a children's (girl's) book on using the "potty" that I
have to recommend, even though no one has asked. It's called
_The_Princess_and _the_Potty_ by Wendy Cheyette Lewison. It's a darling
story with nice illustrations. My daughter (2 1/2) and I both enjoy it and
it gently and humorously reinforces our potty efforts.
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