Oh Crap! Potty Training- Book Review

By: Jamie Glowacki

Please refer to my post “Potty Training…Ugh” for more details regarding the selection of this book.

My review of the book:

Oh Crap! Potty Training is a very easy read, which is perfect for this topic. I really didn’t want to sit for weeks reading an overly detailed and complex book about potty training. Glowacki breaks down each stage of the potty training process and provides helpful tips if things go wrong. Many of the advice and steps she describes make a lot of sense, and I will absolutely follow her method when beginning this next stage of my daughter’s life. Also, although there are 20 chapters in this book, Glowacki advises all her readers not to read past Chapter 5 or 6 until potty training has begun.

Chapters 6-20 are written to help parents overcome any challenges they are having with potty training. These chapters are based on common questions/concerns she gets from her clients. For example, my daughter has always had issues with constipation or holding in her poop so I knew that I needed to skip to chapter 10 to read her section on poop. As well, my daughter is in daycare part time, so I read chapter 12 on how to approach daycare about potty training. Lastly, my daughter can be well… spirited… to put it lightly. She can be stubborn and has recently begun to have crying fits over the smallest thing (hoping this is phase). I know that this will become a more significant issue during potty training, so I also read Chapter 13 Behiavour vs Potty Training that speaks directly to my concerns. Everything she wrote was constructive and made me feel much more prepared for potty training.

There are also a few things that I didn’t really like about the book. Unfortunately, Glowacki repeats herself A LOT, and I mean A LOT. Sometimes I would be reading a paragraph, and it felt like I had already read that same paragraph in every other chapter (like the exact same paragraph). This happened numerous times so I felt that was a bit tedious. I also feel this book could have been summed up in far fewer pages. It seemed to become a bit redundant after a while. However, these minor annoyances did not take away from her potty training method, I am convinced she knows what she is talking about, and I will surely use this method.

Things I learned from this book:

I found the first six chapters really helped me understand how to prepare for potty training and how to make it a success for my daughter. Glowacki was veryspecific about what needs to happen in the house and how parents are to act throughout the first couple of days. I knew I would need to be home initially, but I didn’t realize how important it was until she laid out all the reasons why. I also learned it is important to begin talking about this upcoming change for my daughter before potty training actually begins. For example, saying things like, “We’re almost done your diapers, you will be using the potty soon.” This allows your toddler to begin to register what will be happening in a couple of days. I found her first six chapters to be very informative.

As I mentioned, pooping has been a bit of an issue for my daughter. This has been an issue since she was four months old. She has frequent constipation episodes, and sometimes we’ve had to use kid suppository’s to help her. So naturally, I am a bit concerned about how the poop in potty training will go. After reading Chapter 10 though, I do feel more prepared for what could go wrong and less anxious about how she will overcome this.

Chapter 12 was also beneficial because sometimes daycares are not interested in helping with the potty training process, especially before 3 years old. Glowacki goes over what to do in almost any daycare situation and how to handle this obstacle. She explains how to deal with daycares who are not willing to follow the potty training plan. Luckily, after speaking with my daughter’s daycare, it sounds like they are completely on board, fewf!

Chapter 13 went into some behavioural obstacles you may encounter, depending on your toddler’s attitude. I found this helpful because, as I mentioned, I am finding as my daughter gets older, she is becoming more stubborn, and despite my efforts, this doesn’t seem to be going away. This chapter helped ease my anxiety on how her behaivour would affect this process.

Final thoughts:

Overall I think this a great book for moms who are getting ready to potty train their toddlers. It is a quick and easy read that will help ease potty training anxiety. Her method is proven to be effective and successful. She has been doing this type of work for many many years, and I would definitely consider her an expert. She also offers courses through her website to help parents through this process.

Information about the Author:

http://www.ohcrappottytraining.com – Jamie Glowacki’s website

On this website you will find:
*Blog
*Potty Training Courses
*Certification to be a potty training consultant
*Podcast