A few days ago, a woman came to see an apartment I'm trying to rent out. My husband's transfer has finally come through, and so we're subletting the place and moving. But what did this stranger and I spend most of the time talking about? Potty training.
Her 3-and-a-half-year-old, it turned out, has been resisting it -- not surprising, since boys famously take longer than girls. My two-and-a-half year old is now fully potty trained -- thanks fully, I am convinced, to a book that came out this summer titled Potty Training Boys the Easy Way, by Caroline Fertleman & Simone Cave (Da Capo Books).
The book came in to my office about 8 months ago, when my son was just about 2 and nowhere near ready, but something about it caught my eye. It's a slim read, about 120 pages, and just seemed to make a lot of sense. Fertleman and Cave believe in a low-stress, no-negativity modular approach that doesn't require you to hand over your days to peepee and poopoo, so it's easy for even working moms to fit into their schedules. It also has a bunch of pre-potty training exercises you can do just to get your kid thinking along those lines, like encouraging him to pee in the tub. (The grandparents were a little grossed out, but hey, you can't argue with success.)
Long story short: Once the serious push came, Diego got potty-trained in a few days over Christmas break. (Keep in mind, this is a kid whose never been among the first to do anything; he was a late walker, late talker, etc.) He'd run off to the potty himself, then call us to demand his reward. Once, he even emptied out the potty himself before calling us.
The woman didn't take my apartment. But I bet you anything she went out and got the book.
