Nighttime Potty Training Issues

MrsMandaK

Well, we're not having an issue really....she just won't do it!  Lily's been potty trained for over a year now, but still wears night pants to bed and wakes up wet every morning.  I feel bad for her because she doesn't want to do it, she just sleeps so soundly that she doesn't wake up to go.  We've tried cutting off her fluids after dinner and making her go right before bed, but she still has accidents every time she wears underwear to bed. 

Anyone have any suggestions?

HarrietNJMommy

It's not something that can be "taught". It's physiological. She needs to grow into it. There are a few factors that come into play.

Peds don't worry about it until they are 6-7 years old.

neverblushed

I have 2 children, as you will note from my tickers below.  One became night dry about 3 months after being fully potty trained during the day and has never wet the bed, even a single time.  The other continued to need pull-ups for a LONG time, and still occasionally wets the bed.

According to my pediatrician, there are just some kids whose neural connections don't send a strong enough "wake up - you gotta go!" signal until they're quite a bit older than the preschool years.  I have been told there are 2 ways to deal with it:

1. Assure the child that it's no big deal, and that he/she will gradually grow out of it.  Continue wearing pull ups or good nights until the child grows older and the problem fades away.

2. Try to deal with it by waking the child up to pee when you go to bed, and by practicing this routine: 

     --have the child go through the whole bedtime routine, except for peeing.

     --have the child get into bed and lay down under the covers. 

     --say, out loud with the child "I am in bed, but my bladder is full!  I need to wake up and go to the bathroom." 

     --go into the bathroom and wash hands, but don't actually pee

     --return to bed and repeat this 3 times before actually peeing.  Do this every night for a week and see if it helps.

My child was wet pretty much every night up until about age 5 1/2.  It got dramatically better at that point and he decided to switch to underwear at that time.  We practiced the "training" routine when he made the decision to switch to underwear.  But I was unable to use the "wake him up to pee when you go to bed" method because he sleeps SO soundly that I was unable to wake him enough to make him understand that he needed to pee!

However, my son is allowed to read books in bed for a while after we tuck him in.  He decided that he would try getting up after reading and going to the bathroom one more time before falling asleep, and this worked really well for him -- but not 100%.  I just keep a waterproof pad on the mattress, and don't worry too much about it at this point.  I'm sure he'll grow out of it!

Sharon&Paul

It is a physiological process that she just needs to develop a little more. There is nothing you can do (well besides meds, which is not given at this young of a age)

There is a gland in your brain called the pituitary gland that releases a hormone in our sleep called anti-duiretic hormone. This hormone signals the kidneys to stop producing urine while we sleep. However, in the very young the pituitary gland is immature and not producing enough anti-diuretic hormone. So they continue to produce urine all night and their bladder can not hold it all.

In an older child they have pills and nasal sprays of an artificial form of the anti-duiretic hormone to treat bedwetting issues.

Bed wetting is normal until about age 5. At that point the pituitary gland should be fully developed. 

jlw2505

As has already been said, there is nothing you can do - you can't train someone to wake up when they have to go potty and waking them to go will not help them learn this faster.  It takes time and some kids takes years to get this mastered as their bodies need to mature to this level.  My 6 year old niece still has accidents at night sometimes and she has been day trained for years.  She still sleeps in UnderJams. 

Angela814

HarrietNJMommy:

It's not something that can be "taught". It's physiological. She needs to grow into it. There are a few factors that come into play.

Peds don't worry about it until they are 6-7 years old.

Exactly.