Potty Training in 3 Days: The Step-by-Step Plan for a Clean Break from Dirty Diapers

Highly recommend this book even to experienced moms. Got it to help prepare for potty training after a 6yr break between kids. Learned some great tips to get us going and by the third day my kiddo was holding it longer and only had 1 accident in his undies. I didn’t follow it to a T but gained a lot of insights that I adapted to my kid. He is sooo energetic so we only stayed home/inside for the first 2 days and after that took short excursions around the neighborhood to get out some energy. Day 4 we went to the store no problem. By day 6, we went out and about like a normal day (errands, park, etc.) and stayed dry the entire time!

This book is perfect! It’s short (who has time to read if you’re about to potty train. You have a toddler. Reading time doesn’t exist) and straight to the point! I was able to skim through it when I needed tips and go back and do more in depth reading when I had time. It absolutely worked for my daughter, and there are so many helpful tips! 10/10 recommend. My daughter is 2 and 3 months and she was potty trained while going out in about by day 5!

This is overall a good book. Easy to read and has good tips.However... I'm only 2 days in and I can already tell this method isn't going to work 100% for us. Or at least, I'm not in a position to make it work at this time. So there is a factor of user error in this.Cons:I think the title is deceptive. It's really should be 3 to 10 days. The book says you need to commit at least 10 days before taking a break and trying again. That's over a week of: no going outside, no grocery shopping, no naps, no appointments, no visiting family or friends, no working, no tv, and lots and lots of washing soiled underpants and scrubbing messy floors. I'm sure my electricity bill has skyrocketed from the last two days of me using my washer and dryer constantly. Not everyone can just put their lives on hold for 10 days straight. I certainly can't.I think this method relies on kids being bothered by having wet or poopy underpants. My daughter does not care. She's aware when they are soiled (she has been saying, "Need diaper change?" for weeks now which tells me she is ready to potty train which is why I got this book). However, she isn't bothered enough to stop. Granted, this is how she has been pottying for over 2 years now so it was probably setting expectations too high to change in just 3 days.This method relies on you watching your kid like a hawk and the moment they are showing signs or actually peeing or pooping to sit them on the potty. I have done this for 2 days now. My daughter will STOP PEEING OR POOPING and hold it while she is on the toilet then wait until she is back in her underwear to go. It doesn't matter how long I make her sit. Her bottom has literally been red from me making her sit for long periods of time waiting for her to pee. Only for her to pee within minutes if not seconds of having her underwear on. In order for this method to work in three days, I should have been able to catch her pee or poop in the toilet on day one.By the end of both days, she was literally falling asleep on the toilet by 3 or 4 pm because she was so exhausted by this method and so was I.Another issue is: my daughter is so good at following directions. She is. The only direction she WILL NOT follow: when she is being told to say something. Until now, that has not been an issue. However, I'll tell her, "Tell me when you have to pee," and she'll just stare at me. She knows what I'm telling her; I recognize the look on her face. She's just straight up refusing. She will NOT tell me, even when I catch her on the verge of peeing. She will not say the words.So. Not sure how to navigate that.To be fair, I didn't pick the best time to commit to this method. I haven't had a free consecutive 10 days to. I'm also caring for an infant. It's hard to chuck my son into his bassinet mid nursing session to try to rush her to the toilet when I see she's showing signs of pottying. I also know for a fact she is waiting until I'm nursing to go to the bathroom. What am I supposed to do? Stop nursing my son for 10 days straight in order to commit to potty training?So. There's that.If I didn't run into those hiccups and challenges above, I think this method would probably work. And for some people, it's worked. It does have good tips, like not giving your kid a chance to say no and what language to use and to give them plenty of fluids so they keep going to the bathroom. And it's incredibly easy to read.But I think I'm just going to have to accept that it's going to take us longer than three days, and probably longer than 10. So we'll just keep practicing for the next couple weeks until a free consecutive 10 days comes up that we can try recommiting to. Or just apply the things that do work and not put pressure on us to get it done in a certain time frame.I would still recommend this book to potty training parents; just be ready to commit, yet keep expectations realistic for yourself and your kid.

Update of July 2023, it stuck. My granddaughter has since ( after I left florida) went to church and during Sunday school, daddy recieved no call from the nursery. ( win) upon his return to get her from nursery he was informed she went into the bathroom and used the potty all on her own. It’s so nice when places have the children’s toilets ( close to the floor) ….. I never thought I would need a book to tell me how to potty train. I’m in my 60s I potty trained mine ( when he was age 2 seems to be the twilight age) I’ve babysat and helped potty train many children. Again they were at the age of 1 1/2-2….. I honestly don’t know how my granddaughter would have become potty trained without this book popping up in my search for potty training supplies. I am so thankful, it made it happen. So if you missed the perfect window for it ( one and half to 2) or your child is just an early independent, get this book, follow it to a T. You may or may not find the 3 days easy, but it’s worth it in the end…….end of update. My daughter in law was waiting for my granddaughter to decide when she was ready for potty training, yes I laughed as well but there was no convincing her to do it at 2. Young mother. So then the child is almost 4 and the fight began. This child has now developed a mind of her own and learned the word no, and very stubborn about trying new things or anything she doesn’t want to. So I bought the mom this book. And it just laid there until I went to visit and daddy was screaming help( now mommy has left the picture full time) . I tried as I did when mine was age 2. She wasn’t having it. Sure she would humor me and hang out on the potty with me but nothing happened and she would still go hide in a corner and do her little poop dance in her training pants. I had to read this book. It works. But everyone in the household either needs to read the book and abide by the rules or stay out of the process. Consistency, staying on point, everyone on same page was a must. You must be willing to give up 3 whole days without your phone and any distractions. ( even mommy came over to observe and help). Have plenty of activities your child will enjoy. We mostly worked with alphabet letters, reading, she loves to learn to read. Play doh and little animal figures identifying the different animals and their sounds. You can never take your eyes off the child for a minute because she will use that minute to go in her pants I promise you. It’s only 3 days ( keep telling yourself) then no more spending money on diapers, keep thinking what you’re gonna do with all that extra money lol. Your child can’t go off and play or watch tv or anything without you or this won’t be a success in 3 days. At 60 years old this was not easy for me. We never left the house and I love my granddaughter endlessly but this child is quite the talker lol. But it was a win win. We not only never wore a diaper again ( she even stayed dry thru naps) and most nights. We have really bonded, ( I live 900 miles away) she now has a picture of the two of us and her every night routine (her daddy tells me) she has to check to make sure our picture is beside her unicorn night light before she says her prayers and goes to bed. So buy this read it I read it twice and did some highlighting. And plan a fun at home 3 days of undivided attention. If you have other kids if they’re old enough to help great if not maybe a weekend with the grandparents is due. This will work if you follow her directions. And it’s not a boring read, the author has jokes. Lol. Good luck

Such a great book! Came in great condition and her method worked so well with my toddler! The only thing that we changed was the getting to the toilet mid-accident, bec it spooked him, but everything else worked exactly as she promised it would. He got a really good foundation in toileting in 3 days and was fully toilet trained by the end of the week!!