Sesame Street - Elmo's Potty Time (DVD, 2006)

It's too bad that DVDs can't be flipped over like phonograph records, because Toilet Training is a subject just naturally seems to be most easily discussed in a #1/#2 format.

Please remember that as a parent, you are going (so to speak) to have to watch this, er, crap until your eyeballs turn yellow and brown. So your Number One AND Number Two criteria for selecting any multimedia toilet-training material(s) is how effectively your kid's water-closet curriculum also serves to amuse and/or distract (or distract and/or amuse) the average adult.

How will you know when your little darling is ready to make the move(ment) up to big-boy pants/big-girl panties? When you no longer find anything even remotely funny about the Diaper Genie, then it's time for Junior/Juniorette to begin learning to mind their P's and...poos. Because by now, YOU certainly do.

If you have sadly outgrown your capacity to laugh at 3rd-grade bathroom humour, then Elmo and his overanimated posse of Sesame Street puppets will help you -- as well as your child[ren] -- to sing and dance, wipe-flush-and-wash your way through this psychologically fraught phase of life.

For those of us with a more gleefully perverse turn of mind, it's kind of creepy (if not downright disturbing) to watch these ambiguously gendered characters of various unspecified species obsess over "having to GO."

Speaking as a Baby Boomer whose Mommy had to toilet-train us kiddies the old-school, low-tech way -- i.e., 5 miles to and from the bathroom, uphill in the snow both ways -- Elmo's Potty Time (2006, DVD) would be only my number-two choice.

Butt if urine the mood to brush up on your personal-hygiene habits, then it's your potty. OK? Go!

*[p.s.\Please Note: This Review is written with tongue-in-cheek as a light-hearted "Public Service Announcement" for stressed-out parents...so please ReaD and RaTe it in the spirit of CoMiC ReLieF with which it was written. LBNL, don't forget to wipe, flush and wash~{{;>}~Thank you!!!]

This DVD is a perfect example of what Sesame Street does best -- educate by entertaining. Elmo and the Sesame Street cast of characters teaches little ones about going potty for the first time -- with skits, songs, and even a musical field trip to the toilet paper factory. There is also a song that has the sound of the toilet lid closing, the soap dispenser swishing, etc., with the combination of these bathroom sounds used as the percussion part of a song. Honestly, as an adult, I thought this DVD was absoultely hilarious -- and my little granddaughter, Emma, just loves it!

I bought this for my daughter who LOVES Elmo and is currently learning to use her potty. I had purchased one for my niece over a year ago for the same reasons, and she STILL loves to watch it, even though she is fully potty-trained now!
There are several fun songs, and they deal with a variety of potty-related issues; such as how people use different words to describe the actions/results (poop, doodoo, pee, tinkle, etc.) the entire potty ritual (potty, wipe, flush, wash hands;) learning to read and respond to your body's "signals;" getting to wear training pants and underwear; and more. This is a DVD my daughter will request by name, rather than just asking to watch an Elmo show.
My one 'complaint' is that they don't really deal with accidents, and just gloss over the time it can take to learn. They show flashbacks of Elmo and Prairie Dawn, and have Curly Bear currently potty training, but they don't have a skit where someone tries and nothing comes out, someone wets their pants, someone tries again, and again, SUCCESS! and more trying. There is an "Accidents Happen" song, but I would have liked them to show someone struggling to learn, rather than Elmo succeeding his first try then telling us it took a while and he had accidents along the way. Still, anything she's willing to watch/read/do to promote potty awareness/training/success is a big PLUS in my book! :)

I bought this DVD because my 3yr old does not have any intrest in the potty, but loves Elmo. He watches it over and over, but still nothing. He will pretend he's going so thats improvement. I do like it because they use words that kids understand, potty, pee pee, poop, with all the Sesame Street characters I am definetly glad I bought it, and would rcommend it to anyone trying to potty train.

Elmo and his Sesame Street friends (puppet and human) learn about moving from being in diapers to using the potty independently. Accidents are handled gently and honestly. The kids will love the songs and interaction with their favorite Sesame Street characters. I really liked that they used the different names for going potty from peepee/poopoo to urinate/deficate and everything in between.

This video works well with the Elmo Potty Training book. I happened to find the books at a local dollar store before i saw the video. The book includes poster, chart, stickers and coloring pages.

Both the video and the book include learning how to go potty, the feeling you get when you need to go potty, wiping, and washing your hands. Most books and videos i have seen focus on using the potty seat rather than the whole process. This set goes a long way in teaching the children proper personal hygiene.

I use this video with the kids in my childcare from those who are learning to use the potty seat down to the youngest who is a newborn. They all watch it and enjoy it. Learning can never start too early. Let the kids watch this video as soon as they know any of the Sesame Street characters to prepare them for the process of moving out of diapers.

My recommendation - GET THIS VIDEO!