Potty Training: Staying Dry Through the Night

joelsgirl

joelsgirl

Well-known member
How do you get your kid to do it?

Jack, who is four, still wears a diaper at night. Max, who is 2, is staying dry all day and I'd like to save hundreds of dollars in diapers by getting him completely trained now, too.

Any advice you can give me will be well received. :)
 
The only advice I can offer is limit drinks about two-three hours before bedtime. Make sure they go potty right before putting them to bed. The hardest part of potty training really is the overnight. I mean you could get them up a few hours after they go to bed to go but then you risk them waking all the way up and having a miserable kid the next day. Sorry Im not more of a help I think the overnight thing just happens at a different age for each kid. Mine were all done by four I think or shortly thereafter with daytime and nighttime accidents but my neice still wet the bed into her teens
 
The thing that really worked for us was limiting drinks after 6:30, about an hour and a half before Emma went to bed. I think some kids just take awhile to get it. My nephew will be 5 in 2 weeks and he just really got night trained a few weeks ago.
 
My nephew was 8 before he got out of pull-ups at night. Some kids just aren't ready...then again, some kids are just lazy. LOL I'd just take away the diapers and let him feel what it's like to lay in a wet bed, maybe then he'll start getting up to pee. My daughters were both dry through the night within a week of being potty trained (DD2 was in 3 days) so I'm not sure what you'd do. The last drink they have (besides a sip of water after brushing their teeth) is at suppertime. Maybe that helps?
 
I just told my son one day, no more diapers! Took them all away and he never had one accident! I put one of those hospital bed style pads on his bed (under the sheet so he didn't know it was there), in case he had an accident but he never did.

Good luck!
 
Camden was almost 4 before he was out of pullups at night even though he was potty trained right after he turned 2. Rory is just a machine and trained overnight immediately. LOL

Their bedtimes are 7:30 so they don't get drinks after supper (5:00) except one small drink right at bedtime. We don't do this with Camden anymore, but with Rory I take her potty right before I go to bed at 11:00. She usually sleeps right through it, but it helps her from getting up in the middle of the night.
 
We limeted drinks as well, after about 6 pm they only got sips now and then, and then always make them go before bed. I think it's one of those things where you just have to try - and be prepared to do a lot of washing;) Kaja was dry at about two and a half, and Sara at about two years 10 months (this summer - I am SO glad to be done with the nappies).

Neither of mine had many accidents, but I think it may have had something to do with the fact that like Jennifer, we stopped nappies in the night within a week of stopping during the day. I think if they get used to the fact that they are wearing a nappy at night, it might be harder? Neither of them used to have dry nappies in the morning when we started. Now we let them drink as much as they like, but with Sara we still make her go before bed. They both wake up if they need the toilet during the night.

We didn't actually plan to stop them in the night so soon with Sara, but I had been to the summer house with the kids on my own, came home late with two tired children and realised that we were out of nappies. I didn't want to drag them around the shops when they were so grumpy, so I thought I'd just give it a go, and she stayed dry all night. The night before her nappy had been soaking in the morning.

Good luck:)
 
I'm struggling with this one too Kellie. My 5 year old is still in a pull-up at night and it's something that we've been talking to the doctor about because he just cannot stay dry.

He is really reassuring us that it's something that all kids do at different ages, so that makes me feel a little better. I've done the limiting drinks, the potty before bed, etc. I feel like I am going to have to start waking him at night to go because he just does not wake up on his own.

I was hoping to have him done with diapers by the time we started Kindergarden this fall, but no such luck. I'm also trying not to put too much pressure on him, so that it doesn't becomes an issue that he is upset about. Hopefully time/age will help him. The doc has told me not to worry about it until he is much much older.

So, I'm not really any help to you, am I? LOL!
 
Curtis just turned 4 in September and is still in pull-ups overnight. The odd time they are dry, but most of the time they are wet in the morning. But then again, he drinks water right before bed, so probably once we stop that habit, he will be able to stay dry.
 
I wouldn't worry about it w/him being that young still, but I just wanted to say, that sometimes it's not that they're lazy or not ready. Like Jennifer mentioned the 8 year old. I'd start worrying when they're that old. Sometimes it can be a health issue. And, obviously, sometimes it is just laziness or whatever. I won't say how old I was when I stopped having night accidents, but definitely older than mentioned here so far. They never could diagnose me, but I had all kinds of tests run. They eventually put me on some kind of meds that helped eventually stop it!
So, I guess what I'm saying is, just be patient. B/C it could be more than just not getting it or not wanting to!
And, of course big ((((hugs)))) for the mama! ;)
 
My oldest dd was in pull-ups at night until she was 5 1/2. She has a tiny bladder and goes frequently during the day, so nighttime dryness was just not attainable for her until her bladder matured a bit. We started limiting liquids for her - basically nothing to drink after bed except a sip of water right before bed - and making sure she went potty right before she got into bed. She still has the occasional accident but it's usually at grandma's house when they don't heed the no drinks after dinner rule.

My second dd is going to be 5 in December and my next mission is to get her out of pull-ups. She's been daytime potty-trained since she turned 2 but still wakes up almost every morning wet. We already limit her drinks after dinner so I think her bladder just isn't ready. Both of my girls are heavy, heavy sleepers too, so I think that contributes to not staying dry. They just don't wake with their bodies' signals that they need to go. I can count on one hand the times my 7 year old has gotten up at night to potty.
 
Abby will be 4 in Jan and I am still having trouble with her pooping in the toliet:cursing: and even if you tell her she has to stay in her poopy underware, she's like "ok"....and I have noticed that if I limit her drinking then she is dry in the morning, but she is still in a diaper at night..my DS was about 4 by the time he was completely potty trained and he never had an accident after that...and he is th eonly kid that gets up in the middle of the night to pee!!!...I would say don't worry just yet:)
 
HeatherKS said:
My oldest dd was in pull-ups at night until she was 5 1/2. She has a tiny bladder and goes frequently during the day, so nighttime dryness was just not attainable for her until her bladder matured a bit.
My second dd is going to be 5 in December and my next mission is to get her out of pull-ups. She's been daytime potty-trained since she turned 2 but still wakes up almost every morning wet. We already limit her drinks after dinner so I think her bladder just isn't ready. Both of my girls are heavy, heavy sleepers too, so I think that contributes to not staying dry. They just don't wake with their bodies' signals that they need to go. I can count on one hand the times my 7 year old has gotten up at night to potty.
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Heather... I think that my son has the same issue. He goes frequently during the day and is an extremely deep sleeper. I'm hoping that as his body matures, he'll have more success!
 
limit drinks and it seemed with my girls - one night accident was all it took.

Do undies at night & the WORSE that could happen is that he wets the bed. Put down 2 pads (have any extrafrom baby days?) and just wing it.

Parenting skillz from Steph - Just WING it. ;)
 
what no one has mentioned, though...is that there is a hormone that your child's body will produce that SLOWS nighttime urine production...until your child's body is producing that hormone full-force, nighttime accidents are probable....and that age can vary from child to child. Don't stress! :)
 
rachaelsscraps said:
I just told my son one day, no more diapers! Took them all away and he never had one accident! I put one of those hospital bed style pads on his bed (under the sheet so he didn't know it was there), in case he had an accident but he never did.

Good luck!
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This is EXACTLY what I did with all 3 of mine. When they didn't have a diaper on, they just didn't do it!

Good luck!
 
No advice here. My 4 year old is still in pull-ups at night. We give him very little fluids after 6:00pm, he uses the toilet right before bed and we've tried nixing the diapers. He just ends up peeing in his bed and sleeping in it. We've chosen to just let him have the pull-ups. Our doctor says they don't even consider it a health/develop concern until 7-9 years of age.
 
Alright are all of you ready for this- an Malem Bedtime Wetting Alarm. When my son was 6 year old was such a deep sleeper I thought he would never be ready. I asked my peditrician and this is what he recommended. He told me the key is when it goes off, make sure you wake the child (he suggested splashing water on their face-I didn't do that). You wake them and say can you hear that, we need to get to the bathroom. You put them in underwear and clip this thing to the outside of their underwear. As soon as one drop of urine hits it, it goes off. My son had it go off 3 or 4 times and that was it. I think that is what finally made him realize not to drink. We tell them not to drink after 6 but that never worked. My other son is 4 1/2 and I'm still waiting to do it with him. He is the worst to deal with when you have to wake him up. These alarms are pricey. I lucked out and had a friend let me borrow it. Well worth the investment though!
 
If a mama gets her babies to potty train at night at the same time as she gets them trained during the day - that mama needs to count it as good fortune! Cause it is not by lack of parenting skill that my kids don't nighttime train early. ;)

What Lena said about the hormone. What somebody else said about deep sleepers. What Stephanie said about winging it.

My method: no drinks after dinner, pee right before bed and try without pull ups and see how it goes. Repeat every few weeks. Some kids take a long, long time. The magic age at our house seems to be 6 (bummer, I know). I'd consider putting them both in cloth pull ups at night if you want to save money on diapers.
 
LenaBrandenburg said:
what no one has mentioned, though...is that there is a hormone that your child's body will produce that SLOWS nighttime urine production...until your child's body is producing that hormone full-force, nighttime accidents are probable....and that age can vary from child to child. Don't stress! :)
Click to expand...

This is what our pediatrician said. She told me that if L.J. is still wetting by age 6 then she would prescribe a medication that helps with the urine production if I wanted it. I was a bed wetter until age 8 and only got away from it with the use of an alarm so right now with L.J. only 4 I'm not worried.

He actually wear pull-ups every night, but only wets in them about 1-2 nights a week so I know soon we should be good to go with the underwear.
 
Giulia turned 4 in August and was in pull-ups overnight until September. But she never peed her pull-ups. B/c of me she was scared to sleep without her Pull ups. Mea culpa, I was the lazy mom who was afraid of wet bed. :unsure:
So, we made a deal with her: no more pull-ups and a gift by her choice. We had 3 accidents until now but I'm positive it's b/c she drinks to much water/juice/coconut water before bedtime (here's too hot and I feel bad if I say "no" when she asks me for water :(). Now I take her to the bathroom when I go to bed (01:00). She just doesn't wake up to do it: she's this kind of deep sleeper. :blink:
I still don't know how to teach her to wake up by herself when she have the need to pee.
 
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I feel SO much better knowing that my 4 1/2 year old isn't the only one still in a diaper at night!

I'll try not giving him water after dinner, but he's always thirsty at night, so if he doesn't get it soon, I won't sweat it.

Thanks for the encouragement, girls!
 
DS is a deep sleeper too, we had a couple of accidents, so we started taking him to the bathroom just before we went to bed. We did that for a couple of months and then one night DH forgot and DS stayed dry :thumbup: We haven't had an accident since. But I have to say that we weren't worried, we knew it would happen when he was ready - sooner or later.
 
My kids all trained at night fairly close to the time they potty trained during the day (they were all three), however, my good friend had a son that was very athletic and busy and he wore pull-ups for quite a long time (into grade school). The doctor was not worried. He said that some kids that are very busy and athletic sometimes are so heavily asleep that they just don't wake up, and that it was a maturation thing. I think it depends on your child. I would do what you can on your end (limiting drinks and potty before bed) and then see what happens. Hugs!

Stephanie
 
Three of my boys were potty trained all at the same age 2 years and 10 months. Just the magic age with them. Within a week of being day trained, they didn't wet again at night. Just that easy for them. I limited liquids too, and we did sometimes get them up right before we went to bed and took them, but not always.

Now, one of my boys was still wet at night for years, and even had trouble controlling it during the day. When he said he had to pee....it was coming. We did a lot of testing, and when he was probaby 8 or 9, took him and had him allergy tested (because his urine wasn't concentrating like it should). When we took him off of the offending foods, he instantly was dry every other night, which was so much better than every night.

We never ever made a big deal about it. The boys were NEVER allowed to tease him. By the time he was about 12, he just started staying dry all night. Pull ups were getting really small for him, and we weren't sure what we were going to have to do. He has had some other issues, like he is bipolar and has learning difficulties, but I don't think it had anything to do with that. Poor guy though...he just got all the hard things.

He's still young Kellie. I wouldn't worry about it for another few years, and then maybe talk to the doctor. Being wet till he's 8 or 9 is actually quite common. He could have an allergy though that prevents his urine from becoming concentrated at night like it's supposed to, so you can keep that in the back of your head for future reference!!
 
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