night time potty training

kris_kelsey

Please forgive me if this gets asked a lot as I haven't checked out this board before...

My 4 yr old has been potty trained through the day for a year-ish, but has been wearing a pull-up at night.  For the last 10 days or so we encouraged him to try to stay dry and get up to go potty, and if he stayed dry he got a treat in the morning.  So for 8 days or so he has stayed dry and last night I put him in underwear....yep supersoaked bed at 4:45AM.  Do you think it is better to continue the pull-ups for a bit (even though he is un-phased when he pees in them), or is it better to keep going with the underwear figuring the negative experience of a wet bed helps him to learn?  

Thanks for any advice!

C.squared

I see that you're also about to have another LO, so I think given that I'd probably wait so he doesn't have too many changes all at once.  That said, we waited until DD was dry overnight for about a week and then made the switch to underwear.  We used cloth diapers / trainers, though, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference compared to pull ups.  DD has only had one accident since we switched her and it was a royal PITA to change the bed (she's in a full size bed).  At first, I threw down a big crib pad over her sheets and that worked well.  I check on her when I go to bed (probably 2 hours after she does) and always ask her if she has to pee then - she'll usually go and is then fine till morning.  I have to carry her to the bathroom and she doesn't even really wake up.  I think they just have to be physically ready to stay dry overnight (or recognize that they have to get up and pee) and that you can't really force it.  GL!

Wally3

Kids are just ready to stay dry at night.  At 3 ds just said to me I don't want to wear diapers at night.  I said okay but yo have to stay dry.  In 5 months he has had maybe 3 accidents.  They just need to be ready.

rsd12

My boys are proof that the pp's are right ; ) my oldest asked when he just turned 4 yrs old to wear underwear and he was ready, my middle son is 4 yrs 3 months and wakes up rarely dry, but my youngest never wakes up wet and he is 2 and a half. He has been dry since potty training 2 and a half months ago ; )

Soter1

Wally3:

Kids are just ready to stay dry at night.  At 3 ds just said to me I don't want to wear diapers at night.  I said okay but yo have to stay dry.  In 5 months he has had maybe 3 accidents.  They just need to be ready.

This happened here too! We tired to do night time when we did the 3 day potty train thing but didn't bother after firstt night.  He wore a pull up until about 3 months ago, and would always wake up soaked.  But I think he was going in the morning after he was up versus while he was sleeping because if I woke him up  to go somewhere he would be dry.  All of a sudden he would NOT wear them, he was done, had about 3-4 incidents and that's it.  Pretty awesome! We didn't push it at all, it was ALL him.  With new baby, I would just wait till he is ready.  Good luck with the transition.  PS, really wanted the name Graham too but DH convinced me to go with Garrett instead

mabma80

You know, we tried night training our oldest.  It's just not going to happen with him.  He is such a hard sleeper that he can't feel when he has to go. And that's ok.  He wears GoodNights only at night cause he doesn't take naps anymore. He's 5.  SOme kids just take a while to train themselves at night.  Our second son, who's 3, is COMPELTELY potty trained. Day and night. He actually gets up at night, goes potty, and goes back to bed.  We still put him in Easy Ups at night, just incase, but he wakes completely dry.  When he starts preschool next fall, we'll probably stop with the Easy Ups all together.

As long as they can keep it together during the day, it really doesn't bother me at all.  We don't see it as "his fault".  he just can't feel like he has to go at night and we don't think we should punish him for it.  It would make him feel worse about it, especially if he's at a friends house for a sleep over.  His Pedi says it's normal.  He will learn on his own.

roxy_jj

My understanding is staying dry at night is not something you can train like you can during the day.  According to my pedi, some kids don't stay dry at night until they are 6.  It's basically something that just happens. 

DD started to stay dry about 9 months after she was potty trained.  It happened very suddenly, one day she got up and was soaked, the next day she was dry and never wet at night again.  DS is still wearing Pull-Ups at night - sometimes he stays dry and some nights he doesn't.  

Paigeo

My DD is almost 4 and still wears a pull-up at night.  She only occasionally wakes up with it dry.  I figure I will wait till she wakes up dry consistently for a month or two or asks not to wear it.

meldoo2002

I agree with the others that it just happens... not something you train.  Our boys PT'd about 8 months ago during the day.  One of them stopped wearing pull ups at night 2 months ago when he was dry every morning for a month.  The 2nd just stopped wearing pull ups at night a few weeks ago... same thing.. .was waking up dry on his own so we switched over.  He's had 1 accident.  BUT they also hold their pee for a long time during the day... and typically only go 3... max of 4 times/day so I'm not surprised they can hold it at night too.

byrne15

DS is 4 years and 2 months and only became day potty trained a little after 3.5 years old.  He still wears a diaper at night and it is completely soaked in the morning.  I just figure he isn't ready for night potty training until he starts reducing the amount he goes during the night and has a few dry days here and there.  The same goes for naps...(rare as they are).

jlw2505

You can't train someone to night train  - it will just happen when he is ready to either hold it all night or wake up when he has to go.  For me, I would have left my kids in pull-ups at night if that meant we all got good nights sleep and didn't have to change wet sheets in the middle of the night.  My older DD night trained before she day trained and I still had her sleep in pull-ups for a few months of dry nights.  DD #2 was a whole different issue and she night trained about a year later.  I had her sleeping in pull-ups, they would be dry about 90% of the time.  One morning a few months before her 4th birthday she told she was done with pull-ups at night and she has not had an accident since and she now wakes to go at night if she needs.  I would leave him in the pull-ups and let him be - get him in the habit of peeing right before bed and as soon as he wakes up and remind him that if he wakes at night and needs to go potty, that he can call you or just go and then leave him alone - rewards and other things that work for daytime do not work for nighttime (and dream peeing also does not work - just makes you tired from waking him up and doesn't teach him to wake on his own)