As a lot of my friends are singing the potty-training blues right now, so I figured I’d share a little insight. Here are five potty-training books, written just for children, that I think every parent should invest in.
A word of warning: no matter how good the potty-training books are, you’re sure to hit some bumps in the road along the way. The best advice I can give you is to take it all in stride and keep going. There is no feeling like when your little one finally succeeds. There’s going to come a point when it all starts to make sense to them and they just “get it.” That’s the first sign that you’ve reached the last leg of your journey.
These are listed in no particular order:
Best Potty-Training Books
1. Everyone Poops
Everyone Poops is a classic. I can also say that truer words were never spoken. Everyone DOES poop. Even your toddler. The only thing separating us all is WHERE we do it! It’s a little more graphic than some books, but it was originally published in 1977. Maybe things were less PC back then. Remember to call it “Everyone” and not “Everybody” like I have been because you wind up replacing the lyrics on REM’s song “Everybody Hurts” and you’ll be singing it like that for days.
2. Daniel Goes to the Potty
It should be no surprise that even after his death, Fred Rogers continues to help teach children valuable lessons using a wide array of interesting characters. We happened to catch the Daniel Tiger episode where he reminds his viewers “If you have to go potty, STOP and go right away …”, and the book follows the television show pretty closely. The only benefit to the show -vs- the book, is that when it’s over you can watch something else. The book has a button that your child pushes that mimics a toilet flushing. It gets old after about the 42nd time.
3. Dinosaurs Love Underpants
Do you think you know your history? I bet you didn’t know that dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus Rex weren’t as vicious as we once thought. They didn’t want to eat people, they just wanted their underpants. I love the concept behind the book and the illustrations are really great. It gets children excited about wearing underpants – even a T-Rex wants to wear them!
4. Even Pirates Poop
Another of the potty-training books that uses something that appeals to little boys (pirates) as a tool to help break the going-to-the-bathroom stigma. While the main character did finally use the potty chair and do the job, I didn’t like that everyone was so nonchalant at the beginning about him putting anything (and everything) in the potty seat except for what belongs there. If I walked into the bathroom and found flags in the toilet I’d be less likely to recommend the book. The good news is that the idea didn’t rub off on the boys and it’s added to my list!
5. Elmo’s Potty Time
We bought this one as a video, but I know it’s available in book form. It was our first intro to potty training and a good place to start because it’s Elmo. I mean, what child doesn’t like Elmo? One of the advantages of the video is that it’s 45 minutes long, and captured their attention very well from the start. It also comes with a downloadable Potty Certificate.
With the help of these potty-training books, a good schedule, and a lot of patience, the toilet-training blues could be a thing of the past.
A version of this first appeared on Double Trouble Daddy.
Teaching your kids to use the potty can be a troubling task as it’s something that is completely new to them. I do like how there are many books out there to help them out. I’ll probably have to try one out as my kid does like books, and is to that age where he should be using the potty.