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

Wow! Not only is this a great method but I love the authors style. Practical, honest and it works. The only potty training guidance you’ll need.

My sister recommended this book to me, she used this method for both her boys under 2 years old successfully. I started my daughter on this at 20 months old, and six weeks later she is potty trained and uses the loo with a loo seat insert - always asks to go for a wee/poo now as she can't pull her knickers and trousers down by herself. Only once in a while now, no more than once a week, she pees in her pull-ups at night and this is usually first thing in the morning if I don't take her for a pee immediately on the loo (we get up for a pee at about 3am and that means she is dry and has no pees in the night). It was hard work and stressful for the first couple of weeks as you really do have to watch them like a hawk, Jamie reiterates that a lot at the beginning and she it is so true! My daughter goes to nursery 4 days a week so I had to get nursery staff on board but they were really great and we just took our potty to nursery so it was always available for her and that really helped massively. You need to give it your all for a few weeks but it is seriously worth the effort and the time! My daughter is so excited and pleased with herself for going to the loo now and I feel like it has really made her grow up a bit more too at the same time. It saves lots of money on nappies, we just use one pull up a day now at night time (put it on just before she goes to sleep after her last pee) and it is only for just in case, she still asks to pee/poo when she is wearing it which I was quite surprised about. So many people say they will just wait until their child is 2 or 3, or they say we don't want to push them too much, but now I have done it this way I would really recommend this method as quick and effective. A child of 20 months (in my experience) is totally capable of being potty trained, and it doesn't pressure the child at all, it just makes your intentions totally clear so they get is quickly and thoroughly.

This book is excellent at teaching the fundamentals of potty training however I really don’t like the way the author actually writes she’s got a weird attitude and she refers to girls genitalia as yonis?? What on earth

I can’t recommend Oh Crap! Potty Training enough! As a mom of a strong-willed 3-year-old who had zero interest in ditching the diapers, I was feeling overwhelmed and honestly kind of dreading the whole potty training process. This book was a total game-changer. Jamie’s approach is so practical, down-to-earth, and reassuring. She breaks everything down into manageable stages and helps you understand what your child is going through — emotionally and physically — during the transition. I appreciated the no-nonsense tone and the encouragement to trust my instincts while also sticking to a clear plan. We followed the method pretty closely, and within a few days, we were seeing real progress. It wasn’t magic (there were definitely a few messes and meltdowns), but this book gave me the confidence and tools I needed to stick with it and stay calm. Now, just a couple weeks in, my little one is proudly using the potty like a champ! If you're on the fence or feeling nervous, do yourself a favor and read this. It's supportive, smart, and actually kind of funny. Total lifesaver!

What a wonderful guide for parents. Informative and straightforward, clear and concise. Two months on and we have been accident free from day 5! It went way better than expected, thank you for writing this book.

I’m one of those people who likes to follow the rules, stick to a process and then it will be bound to succeed. Unfortunately for us, following this ‘3 block’ plan (masquerading as the 3 day plan that’s already cited everywhere) didn’t work at all. Day one got off to a good start, we had successful wees in potty, proud happy boy and impressed parents. But day two, when he realised this was for life and not just a day, and we had many many ‘accidents’ and tears. We tried everything the book recommended, putting him on the potty mid-wee (absolute disaster, he was inconsolable), backing off completely (also didn’t work he just weed on the floor and sobbed), and every other trick in the book. Literally. On the morning of day 4 after 3 days inside with no clothes on (him, not us, although maybe we should have been the amount of my own trousers I had to wash), we happily took his nighttime nappy off and pointed out the potty incase he should need it, casually leaving him to it. This resulted in him weeing all over the floor and sitting in it, sobbing and saying ‘sorry’. Absolutely awful moment for us. So we have given in and out his nappy back on (we asked him and he nodded sadly). We will give it a couple of weeks and try again but this book is definitely not for the faint hearted or for all children. It’s also very American, very patronising, positively offensive to dads (there’s a chapter at the back which consists of 2 pages of things dads can do to help mum because let’s face it, she’s going to be doing all the hard work) and doesn’t contain an ounce of ‘child-Led’ mentality which has worked for us very well up until now. I’ve given it 3 stars because some of the psychology and fundamentals are worth a read but take it with a pinch of salt and remember no one knows your child like you do!

I don’t usually write reviews but thought this was worth it in the hope it may help other parents. My son is 32 months. We had tried potty training earlier and did the no pants thing which he was great with but as soon as he had trousers on he just wet them and continued playing. No real acknowledgement of what he did. We therefore stopped and waited a month. In that time I was given this book to read. Yes there are some things I don’t agree with and also it seems to be the end of the world if the kid isn’t potty trained by 3, but actually it is a really good easy to follow book. And it is what gave me the motivation to try again. Jamie explains that your toddler is never going to say ok I’m ready to sit on a potty and it’s all about your determination and just continuing with it. And do you know what, our little guy smashed it. As we had been doing no pants time before bath for a while he was already used to going potty naked so day one was a breeze. On day 2 we went out and about with the potette. He did a poop outside our house but again aced it. We had 2 accidents. And on day three zero accidents. There were a couple of leaks where he hadn’t got to the toilet in time but he knew where he was going and what he wanted to do. I think there was a bit of poo withholding but again we just kept going and eventually he had no other option. He now loves to admire his poop and tell everyone about how big it is! We celebrate that. Our nursery were on board. Before we started we explained the book we would be following and also the commando time. They were happy to go along with it including saying to him that from Friday we are throwing away nappies and he knew it. We are two weeks in and all good. We were also planning to put off night training for another few months but he is already having dry nights and waking up to tell us he has to pee so after buying more mattress protectors we are persevering with that too. I’d say the book is good if you need motivation and also just to know that you can go back and start again. I think some stuff just needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. You know your child best and what they can achieve but there is a lot of sense in this book. I think the key is not to put too much pressure on yourself. Like I said we put it off for a month as it clearly wasn’t on his radar when he was peeing and not noticing. But when you do start then just keep going. They will get it. Good luck!

As a first time parents with an extremely stubborn child I have really struggled with following the potty training method of my parents & grandparents. I was also hesitant if he was ready. This book made me realise that my child is more than capable and made me more confident about the process. I knew exactly what I had to do. Yes it was hard, yes it took my child to go from block 1 to block to 12 DAYS. Yes, a lot more than estimated by the author, but again, I know my child and I knew it was gonna take much longer because he is pretty stubborn when it gets to us teaching him something because he likes to do things at his own pace. I simply followed the book and after 7 days I started to question if it really works, but still carried on. And BOOM all of the sudden on Day 12 it has clicked. He makes a pee in his potty and carries on doing so without any resistance or fuss like he used to. Of course we still have a lot of work to do but I am certain that we will make it. It was certainly worth the hassle, yes it was tough but it works!

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

Just Google rather, more info online.

Great read

Es una guía útil sobre cómo llevar el entrenamiento para dejar el pañal. He escuchado este “método” con varias mamás y pensé que al leer el libro me quedaría más claro, no lo hizo. Sin embargo, creo que para mamás como yo, perdidas en el tema está bien de inicio.

I was really nervous about toilet training my 2yr old. I just kept thinking that I'd never toilet trained anyone before, couldn't remember what it was like to be toilet trained and didn't have a clue where to start. So I did what I always do when I'm anxious about learning something new: I read a book on the subject. And I couldn't have read a better one. Jamie not only has years of experience, but she also has obvious intuition about toilet training and toddler discipline. Not to mention she is realistic. So does tell you that your kid will be toilet trained in 3 days flat (as some books claim) but rather talks about the blocks on the road to toilet training success. Complete the blocks / stepping stones, one by one at the child's pace and he or she will get the message and start showing initiative about all-things toilet! My husband and I followed the book with our daughter who was 27 months old when we started toilet training. We made mistakes but nothing too major, and we checked ourselves against the guidelines of the book. The first 3 days were intense and so exhausting that we felt tempted to give up. But on the 4th day our daughter turned a corner, moved on to block 2, and everything became steadily easier. Our goal was to have her fully toilet trained by 30 months as Jamie's book admits that things get a lot harder at that age. We started night training her around 29 months and she wet the bed about once a week for maybe two months. Now she initiates all her day and nighttime toilet visits. So it took our daughter about 2 months to stop having day accidents and about another 2 months to stop having night accidents. 4 months is great in comparison to a year or even 2 years of begging and pleading with a toddler to use the toilet. I am satisfied and never expected it to be a 3 day affair, especially since we started toilet training at a time when she really wanted to start testing the parental boundaries in a lot of areas. The book has lots of advice and solutions for parents who have already attempted toilet training and hit a stale-mate and also for the more difficult age groups like 3yrs+ I appreviated this book so much that I bought Jamie's other book "oh crap, I have a toddler" and loved it just as much!