Books for Kids about Potty Training

Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Good potty books for 22-month-old daughter?

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

Potty training books for parents

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

Books to read with 21-month-old sons

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

What was your favorite potty training aid?

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.