The Single Parent Travel Handbook

The Single Parent Travel Handbook

Advice on how to make the most out of traveling with children in the United States and abroad…. recommended. — Library Journal

Helpful suggestions, from getting a letter of consent from the other parent to keeping kids busy during long trips. — San Jose Mercury News

Should be mandatory reading for every single parent planning a trip with [children]… It’s worth its weight in kids! — Where to Go Next

Well organized… helpful and complete, and it is interesting. We rated this book five hearts. — Heartland Reviews

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Warmhearted, “reader friendly”, and earnestly recommended
The Single Parent Travel Handbook by Brenda Elwell is an expressly practical travel guide for single parents and shows them how to plan ahead, pack, take care of documents and vaccinations, as well as providing them with suggestions for fun activities, anecdotes from single moms and single dads, and much, much more. The Single Parent Travel Handbook is a warmhearted, “reader friendly”, and earnestly recommended guidebook devoted to the special concerns and problems associated with single parent travel.

5 Stars Great recommendations for single parents and all travelers
Although I am not a single parent, the information about how to choose a location, budget and plan for a trip, as well as detailed information about travel overseas is very helpful for all travelers, especially those going with children.

The personal anecdotes from the author as well as other single parents also make the book entertaining as well as a “how to.”

5 Stars Great advice for a single parent
I am a single dad with a 5 year old daughter and this book is an excellent resource for all of our adventures!

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Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro toilet training

Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day Proven Secrets of the Potty Pro toilet training

“Desperate parents will want this book…”– Library Journal, May 15, 2006

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Potty Train Your child in just one day.
I took the survey in the book and found out my child is not ready for potty training yet. It was a big help.

5 Stars Worked GREAT for triplets
Potty training three children seemed like an overwhelming task for me, so I decided to do a great deal of research. I bought many books, and planned out my stratagy…. did I want to train them one at a time, or all at once? When I read Teri Crane’s book, I really liked the approach and the idea of a party. Some of the other approaches I had researched had some negative strategies, and I loved how positive this apporaoch is. Because I had to have three parties, I did not decorate as much as the book suggested, and my treats were not at all theme related, but I was still VERY successful.

My kids had shown no interest in going potty and after their third birthday I decided that enough was enough. I planned their parties for three differnt days, a couple days apart so I had enough time to reinforce. I loved the one on one bonding time I had with each child, and they LOVED the party aspect!!! All three of my children really LOVED teaching the doll, and celebrated each success!!!

My one daughter was trained before nap time. She turned to me during the doll training stage and said, “Mommy, I have to go potty.” From that point on she was trained. She has had a few accidents(maybe 3 or 4) since, and it has been a month. My son was trained in a day, just as the book states, and he is a very stubborn child. He was so proud of himself, and he also very rarely has an accident. My third child was in a power struggle with me over actually going potty, she would sit and “try” but not actually go on the potty. She held in her urine for over four hours despite me feeding her beverage after beverage. I emailed teri is exhaustion and desperation, and she immediately CALLED me at home. She made sure that she knew all of the facts of my struggle, and gave me STEP - BY - STEP instructions on how to get the power back from my daughter. She calmed my fears and gave great advice! My daughter was completely pee trained in a few days. The author was so helpful, I felt like she was a good friend who called to help me plan out my strategy. The author, Teri Crane, also called a few days later to see how the plan was working, and then called to check in on the day of the BIG reward. She is still helping me as now we are working on poop training my daughter, who has been having difficulty due to medical issues. I RAVE about this book and the author to everyone I meet. I HIGHLY recomend this book - the idea is great, the author really knows her stuff and is extremely HELPFUL! Potty traing multiples was simple when you use this book!

5 Stars Potty Training Success Story
Thank you Terri Crane.

Although I was a skeptic, I bought the book when my friend kept teling me about the success she had with her daughter. I must say, I, too, have had a wonderful experience with the book!

My friend mentioned that I could email the author and that she would call me before the party or the day of!!!!! I did just that, sent an email to Teri Crane telling her we were going to do our party. Not only did she call me, but she emailed me, too. Teri called me the day before and answered some of my questions–AND she called me after the party, too. She even called me most recently to see if I needed any follow up advice!!!! I think this in itself is a reason to buy the book. The author really knows her stuff, and has some other tips to help you succeed!!!! How fantastic!!!!!

As for the book…the technique worked great. It was a fun way to approach a frustrating milestone. A couple of things…if you want to save a few bucks, maybe opt not to buy the doll recomended. The boy version leaked and my son was disinterested in it as he has never liked dolls. I went with a “Potty Monkey” training doll instead and it did the trick. My son wanted a “prize” or a food “treat” every time he went to the potty for a while…I should have told him up front tha the prizes and treats were only for the party day…he was sad when we went and there were not goodies to reward him a couple days after. Also, save money by going to your local dollar store–I was able to get EVERYTHING I needed there for the lists Terri gave me (we did beach party!)

Instead of stickers we went with stamps for the chart…my son loved putting stamps on his chart…a tip not mentioned in the book is that I left our bathroom decorated for several weeks. Since my son was so sad that the “diaper birthday party” was over (that is what he called it), it was nice for him to see the bathroom still in theme and it was fun for him to have all of the books and toys there to keep him busy for his potty time.

My son went from pull-ups to “throwing his diapers away” and wearing underware. The money you may spend on the party is well worth the money you will save in diapers and pull-ups. And, even though the day at home is exhausting–it is nice to have mother-child bonding! The day at home not only potty trained my son, but it trained me to recognize his potty body language and schedule.

The week my son had few accidents here and there, but the book worked for us!!! A fun way to accomplish the task at hand–just dont go overboard…the kids will love the attention and planning you have done regardless!

1 Star Sorry, but this is totally overrated.
I bought this book after reading the first couple of chapters in the bookstore to make sure it sounded like something my little girl would do. She loves dolls, so I thought teaching her with a doll would be perfect. I also thought the party would be a great way to keep potty training positive for both of us. It’s just too bad it didn’t work. I ran into every problem imaginable, and I did three months worth of planning, research on different potty dolls, etc. First, I read the entire book. Then, I read the prerequisites and party day chapters several times, including the day before the party. The first time we took the readiness quiz, my daughter wasn’t ready. I waited two months, worked on the prerequisites, talked about the potty everyday, watched videos, read stories, etc. We took the quiz again and she met ALL the criteria. I was so excited. Believe me, I tried so hard to make this a success. Here are the issues I had:

1. Dolly: Teri Crane recommends the Emma doll who drinks and wets. I researched this doll and found that parents hated it. For starters, it looks like a baby and not a big girl. Isn’t that what we’re telling our children? We’re telling them they are big kids and not babies; meanwhile, we’re potty training them with dolls that look like babies? Plus, it’s not anatomically correct as promised. Most recently, they’ve been marketing a doll that goes with the book. Again, parents hate this doll. Both the Emma and the “official” potty party doll wet instantly. You would have to give them the drink while they’re on the toilet in order for them to have success. How realistic.

I purchased the Baby Alive Learns to Potty so I could have some control over when the doll had accidents and when the doll made a successful trip to the potty. However, BA did not work the way the instructions said. It was supposed to ask to go to the potty once, then twice, then three times, and on up to five. This never happened. There I was trying to coax my two-and-a-half year old to the bathroom with the doll. We NEVER made it on time. Instead of being fun, it just became a hassle. I turned the doll off and hid a cup behind the potty along with some chocolate covered raisins. I just staged my own successes for the doll. BA cost me about $50. Baby Emma costs about the same. I could have achieved the same results with a doll that cost $10 at Dollar General. What a huge waste of money!!!

2. The Party: Some aspects of the party made it fun, but overall, the party was totally unneccessary. One reviewer said she just put up a few balloons and gave her daughter a new doll. I wish I would have done something simple too. I would have decorated the bathroom A LITTLE, gotten an inexpensive and grown up looking doll, and had a simple reward system. The treats tray, for example, became a battling ground. My daughter wanted treats just for going INTO the bathroom. Ultimately, she won that battle b/c that was the only way I could get her in there! Fortunately, I purchased a CD called More Music from Bear in the Big Blue House, which has her favorite potty song, Toileteers. We played that when she or dolly went potty.

I agonized over every detail of the party, keeping it as close to the book as possible. I did all the decorations Crane suggested and everything. I even had a cake and invited her grandparents over at the end of the party. At lunchtime, I had them call to congratulate dolly just like the book suggests. I think the doll, the one-on-one attention and the encouragement were good. The decorations, however, were a hassle and a hideous waste of money!! Who has money to throw around these days?!

3. It’s the day after and I feel like I’m starting from scratch. My daughter went pee-pee in the potty three times during the party. She had four accidents b/c she doesn’t tell me she has to pee until RIGHT before. LOL. I thought that three times in the potty was a tremendous success and a good start was all I really expected. However, she hasn’t gone in the potty once today. She’s napping right now, so I’m hoping for a better afternoon. She’s wearing pull-ups instead of panties, so I wonder if she’s treating them like diapers (waiting for me to take her off the potty so she can go in the pull-ups). Hey, she’s just a kid and she’s learning. I am disappointed in the book though. I worked so hard and it just didn’t live up to it’s promises. One star, that’s all it gets.

5 Stars Happy Mom of a Big boy!!!
I saw Teri Crane speak about a year ago and was so inspired and motivated when I left, that I went straight to the store and bought everything right then and there. I didn’t spend a lot of money but bought a few books, potty videos, Thomas stickers, Thomas underwear, Thomas plates and napkins (can you guess my theme?)and of-course some Popsicles. A couple days later my potty party was ready. Dad was at work, the house was decorated and friends and family members were ready to call that evening to congratulate the new big boy on his accomplishment. I start off by giving my son a wrapped present with his new potty doll inside. Because he is a boy and my husband refused to let him own a doll, so I gave him a Bob the builder doll. No, Bob didn’t pee on his own but with the magic of mom my son didn’t know the difference. My son was so excited to help Bob pee and congratulate Bob for being a big boy. He really got into it. We started the party around 9am and by 5pm he was an official potting big boy. We ate dinner at McDonald’s play land and Dad, grandma and grandpa all came to join us. It was such a rewarding day and my son still talks about the day he became a big boy. Thanks so much Teri. I couldn’t have done it without you or your book.

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