How to Know When to Start Potty Training? This Book Will Help

Need guidance? This book will help you know when to start potty training.

Each new adventure you embark on as a parent lets you know in a hurry how clueless you are and how much you’re really learning on the job as you raise your kids. There is no manual for raising kids, but there are manuals for many steps along the way. And just like Elizabeth Pantley’s No-Cry Sleep Solution saved my sleep and my sanity, I have a feeling her similarly titled book on potty training will do the same.

My now 2-year-old daughter started giving us clear signals about impending “movements” all the way back in December. But with a baby on the way and a clear lack of interest after a few potty successes, we opted to hold off on any sort of formal potty training until now. (Formal potty training. She wears a prom dress!) We had started putting her on the potty before baths and had some success, but what was the next step? Where on earth do we start this process? I turned to The No-Cry Potty Training Solution for guidance.

The author lays out potty training in an easy-to-follow format. Like her other books, she gives parents options, so you can pick and choose what works for your family; there is no one-size-fits-all method. The quick guide chapter is a great crash course in all things potty training, but the whole book was such a quick and easy read that I flew through the whole thing really quickly.

With my 2-year-old, my main concern was starting the process too early. That’s what the Readiness Quiz is for. Take the quiz and gauge how ready your child is for the adventure. Also important? The readiness of the parent. It sounds funny because what parent wouldn’t want to graduate from the diaper stage? But after a few days of constant trips to the potty, you realize how much energy and time it takes to potty train—diapers start to look quick and easy!

The book definitely made me feel more laid back about the whole experience. With tons of tips and strategies plus troubleshooting and answers to common questions parents have, this book really helped me out. The author reminds you that kids don’t learn any skill all at once and that there are bound to be accidents and setbacks. Plus, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing approach, so we’re easing into it fairly slowly with regular trips to the bathroom but plenty of patience, pull-ups and a sense of poop humor.

How did you embark on the potty training process? Did you do some research or fly by the seat of your pants? —Erin