Teri Crane - Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day: Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro

To my parents, Tom and Pat, for encouraging me
to never settle for less than my dreams.

You can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink. The same idea applies to toilet training. Children need a worthwhile reason to be trained, since theyre giving up the convenience of going anytime, anywhere, and the personal attention garnered by having Mom or Dad change their wet or soiled diapers.

There are a number of ways to motivate and teach toddlers, but one of the most effective is fun! Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day is based on proven toilet-training methods, cleverly incorporated into a theme party complete with treats, rewards, praise, encouragement, excitement, laughter, and lots of love, hugs, and kisses.

If you follow a few basic principles, temper tantrums, soiled clothes, and fears will quickly become a thing of the past. Rather than dwelling on what children do wrong, the potty party focuses on what they do right. The process is completed with lots of fanfare, very little stress, no tears, and preservation of both your and your childs self-esteem.

Modern marriages, dual careers, and time-sensitive schedules require new methods to achieve success. Loyal followers of Teri Crane, aptly naming her the the Potty Pro, attest to her creative methods in achieving dry underwear. Many parents will agree this is no small achievement, but as Teri demonstrates, with proper preparation success is attainable in just one day. A student of psychology by training, a mother by experience, and an expert in potty training through necessity, Teri has great ideas and the right credentials.

Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day is motivational, stimulating, and a lot of funwith bits of humor throughout. I highly recommend this book.

Let the party begin!

Philip Caravella, M.D., F.A.A.F.P.

Department of Family Medicine,

The Cleveland Clinic Foundation

I d completely lost my bearings trying to follow potty-training instructions from a psychiatric expert. I was stuck on step one, which stated without an atom of irony: Before you begin, remove all stubbornness from the child.... I knew it only could have been written by someone whose suit coat was still spotless at the end of the day, not someone who had any hands-on experience with an actual two-year-old.

MARY KAY BLAKELY, journalist, mother, and
author of American Mom: Motherhood, Politics, and Humble Pie

Raising children brings countless rich and rewarding experiences into our lives. Potty training is typically not one of them.

If youre reading this book, its probably not because you have an idle curiosity about toilet training or because youre planning ahead for the day when your own child will bid farewell to diapers. Its much more likely that you are a mom in potty-training hell, frantically searching for answers to ease the miserable time you and your child are having with this seemingly insurmountable hurdle.

If its any consolation, you are not alone! In fact, youre in pretty good company. For many parents and children, toilet training is a power struggle filled with frustration, anxiety, and tears. Im not proud to admit it, but thats exactly what happened when my son had to be toilet trained in order to be enrolled in preschool. In the heat of desperation, I bought a slew of potty-training books and read every one. Every book I read was too complicated, technical, or boring (sometimes all three). None of the books made toilet training easy, fun, or fast.

I tried every reasonable idea I read or heard, and some that were not reasonablebut nothing seemed to work. My inner critic mocked my every move, taunting me for losing yet another battle in what was fast becoming a potty-training war. Regardless of what I did, my son Spencer was completely content to continue wearing diapers and had absolutely no interest in using the toilet. I wondered if we would ever manage to cross this threshold. I had visions of Spencer going off to college, his backpack laden with books, calculator, pens, papers... and Pampers. Then again, if I couldnt get him potty-trained for preschool, hed never make it to college!

As I pondered my dilemma, it occurred to me that Spencer didnt want to learn to use the potty because he had no real incentive to do so. The secret, I realized, was to make him an offer that he couldnt refuse. My bribe contained three simple, but magical wordsChuck E. Cheese! Basically, I told my son that we were going to have a potty-training party. If he potty trained the new doll I bought him and then used the potty himself, I would take him to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.

It worked! In just one day my son learned to use the toilet. And the best part was that we both enjoyed our time together that day. There were no angry words, no temper tantrums, and no tears!

Since that time, I have developed and refined the One-Day Potty-Training Party and taught this highly effective method to hundreds of other moms and dads in my Potty-Training Boot Camp. I also do potty-training interventions when parents run into unexpected problems or encounter overwhelming resistance.

The One-Day Potty-Training Party is based on sound advice from experts, but I think it works so well because its fun, easy, and rewarding for moms and kids. This fast, playful method raises childrens self-esteem and leaves them bubbling with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Moms who are fighting potty battles need straight answers fast, so Ive made sure that Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day is a quick, easy read. Its divided into chapters that dont always go deep, but do go widewell cover many topics and youll get the information, guidance, charts, tips, checklists, and even the shopping lists youll need to succeed.

For comic relief, the book is peppered with potty-training quotes and anecdotes from celebrities and everyday moms who have waged and won the potty war. You will also find creative tips from Grandma, valuable insights from experts, and some fun potty facts and trivia. (Have you ever wondered how ancient Egyptian moms potty trained their kids?)

To make this process exciting and fun, I include a dozen detailed potty party themes, complete with suggestions for decorations, food and drinks, games, books, music, prizes, and presents. While all of these are fun, they are also critical in creating your own one-day potty-training event. To help you decide which theme party your child will find the most motivational and fun, I offer recommendations based on personality, preferences, and the concerns and fears your child has about using the potty.

Although the One-Day Potty-Training Party is endorsed by many physicians, its still a good idea to discuss your plan of action with your childs pediatrician before you begin.

As you embark on this journey, be sure to listen to your own exquisitely sensitive parental intuition and pay close attention to what your child is feeling and saying about using the toilet. If he or she is truly not ready to be toilet trained, then nothing you .)

If your child is ready to be toilet trained, the One-Day Potty-Training Party is guaranteed to be simple, fun, rewarding, and very successful!

TERI CRANE, The Potty Pro