Potty Training for New Parents: The Essential Guide

Amazon Customer: I liked the book but the author had some ideas that I didn’t use. Like letting the baby be naked for 3 days. You can still get good ideas though.

United States on Oct 04, 2023

Shantelle olson: Good read quick and easy to understand. It has helped with potty training my child so far

United States on Aug 16, 2023

Kisr: Oh crap versus first time parents guide to potty training.

I read both so you don’t have to!

TL;DR: First Time Parents Guide is the clear winner!

Both use the same basic so-called boot camp method: spend a soul-sucking weekend (ideally 3 day weekend), with your toddler completely bottomless, watch them like a hawk, prompt them to sit on the toilet with some sort of frequency (20-30 min) or if they’re showing any cues of peeing and pooping. The instructions for you as the caregiver progress from there.

Where Dr Jazmine’s book stands out is that the method utilizes the positive parenting approach which as a behavioral therapist myself I know is evidence based for getting outcomes in behavior change.

Oh Crap subtly shades positive parenting and also encourages the use of negative consequences for accidents once you feel your child has the hang of toilet training (please don’t do this. For starters it’s highly subjective when you think your kid knows their own cues to use the toilet and also research clearly shows positive reinforcement is the most successful way to get behavior change or to learn a new skill.)

Oh Crap suggests doing...

United States on Oct 21, 2021

Emily S.: I am on day 3 of potty training my daughter who is 2.5 years old. It has been a huge success so far and I have this book to thank for that! She has had 2 accidents….total! By mid morning the first day I would say my daughter was already getting it.

Jazmine McCoy lays out a simple plan in this book that really helped me out. I think the biggest take away I had from this book was focusing on the prep of potty training. I hyped up “the big day” a lot before hand, using ideas from this book. I think that was a big piece of the puzzle for us.

I attempted to potty train my daughter before I got this book, and it didn’t go well. We took a 6 month break from it. I realized, after reading this book, that part of the problem was my own anxiety about it. This book talks about making sure you are also prepared, so I focused a lot of making myself ready for potty training. I eased my anxiety about it, which allowed me to stay calm and cool during the process.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to potty train!!

United States on Jul 28, 2021

tina: Really good book, easy to read conversational style text I was able to read the entire book in 2 days. My toddler is diaper free a month before her second birthday and the process only took a few days. It works well as long as your child is ready for the potty!

Canada on Apr 06, 2021

Caroline Morgan: I bought this book as a guide to potty training my 2.5 year old. I debated between this one and the oh crap book, but ultimately picked this one for a few reasons. First, given that the author is a licensed psychologist, I knew her method would include an empathic approach that would align with my parenting style. Second, my husband and I are full time working parents and we had only a long weekend to begin potty training before our child was back at his daycare which requires that the children wear a diaper or underwear (they cannot go commando per state regulations). For this reason, I felt this book was a better fit than the oh crap method, which apparently requires weeks or months of the child going commando. This just wasn’t an option for us. Additionally, I heard that the oh crap method discourages the use to rewards, and I suspected my son would respond much better to earning rewards (I was right, he did). Overall, this was a great book that helped us get started on our potty training journey. I liked that the author included specific wording to use with the child. And she also included a list of questions to ask daycare, which I utilized. We are early in our potty...

United States on Feb 17, 2021

Jannine MacKinnon: Dr. Jazmine's Instagram is such an amazing resource and her potty training book proved to be invaluable. We've tried potty training my son on two or three different occassions. Each time we ended up having so many power struggles and would throw in the towel. We knew he was ready, but just couldn't for the life of us figure out how to make it work.
Then I found Dr Jazmine and saw her book. It was a serious game changer. Not only does she outline the readiness of your child, your must haves, and the basic process, but she also gives you so many tools for communication. Without these tips I don't think I couldv'e done it. I was able to learn how to phrase things and how to give my child the control he needed throughout the process. Now almost a month later I continue to use her communication tools and our boy has been doing great! I recommend this book to everyone considering potty training!

Canada on Oct 26, 2020

Vanessa: So grateful for you, your IG page, your YouTube, your potty training book!!!! After I finished reading a book I already had been given, PT was a disaster with my son for 5 days and I had so many questions after reading it. Once I bought yours and read it, I felt so much better and more confident. You worded things so well and gave reassurance at the right times and the next days to follow kept getting smoother! No more power struggles, no crying on either side 😂 it's been peaceful!

Canada on Oct 23, 2020

Marion Makwana: This book was written in a very simple and easy to read manner. Steps are easy to follow and I liked how organized the chapters are with a little summary at the end of each. Really recommend

United Kingdom on Aug 27, 2020

rebecca collier: Very easy to read. Well laid out & good tips. Made me more confident to start potty training with my little girl.

United Kingdom on Aug 23, 2020