Jen and Nif’s Five Books for Potty-Training

Toddler Micah's favorite thing besides trucks, animal noises, rhymes, and colorful pictures? Why, discussions of bodily functions, of course! Here are great books for anyone thinking about ever someday maybe possibly potty-training their toddler.

These first three kept Micah “on the pot” when we first introduced it, whether or not anything was happening:

Potty by Leslie Patricelli (Random House, $6.99)
The baby in the book is trying to figure out WHERE to go. (Micah loves the examination of what kitty and doggy do, since this harkens back to the memorable occasion when our neighbor's big Doberman pooped right in his vicinity.) Eventual success on the potty raises the glad cry, "Hooray! Undies!" -- a chant appropriate for many happy occasions.

Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi (Kane Miller, $13.99)
This examination of how and where various creatures poop is factual and funny without being overly cutesy. Pure genius if you aren't squeamish about the subject matter. Micah is endlessly fascinated.

Once Upon a Potty by Alona Frankel (Firefly, $7.95)
Comes in boy and girl versions. We edit our read to use the vocabulary our household uses. Micah reads it aloud to himself, "Hat? No. Milk bowl meow? No. Bird bath? No. Flower? No," and thinks this is hilarious (that's the bit where the kid tries to figure out what the potty is). We really like how it invokes the patience needed: "And sat and sat and sat and sat..." and that the inevitable misses are dealt with matter-of-factly.

And then:

Diaper-Free Before Three by Jill M. Lekovic (Three Rivers Press, $13.95)
Up until month 27, use of the potty was occasional and only rarely productive. Then Nif read this book, and suddenly we were off on a roller coaster ride of intensive potty training, with training pants and everything. And over the course of a month we’ve seen vast differences, both in Micah’s use of the potty itself and in his ability to control his bladder, even/particularly when sleeping!

Little Mouse Gets Ready by Jeff Smith (Random House, $4.99)
Not directly related to potty use but instrumental in helping to understand what to do afterward. Little Mouse hurries to get ready to go play and explains in detail how to put on each article of clothing... even pointing out that the tag goes in the back! Micah loves it when we coax him to get dressed using lines from the book, and he’s learning to do more and more of the dressing by himself!

The Jennifers Sheffield and Woodfin, June 2013