Is there hope? (nighttime potty training)

AggieCouple · April 2010

ML turns 4 tomorrow. She has been daytime PT'd for over a year and a half, with very rare accidents, and all of those happening because we simply couldn't find a bathroom in time. So she can definitely control herself when awake.

Nighttime, however, has never been conquered. We tried undies but got so tired of changing her in the middle of the night so kept her in pull-ups. We finally decided to bite the bullet a week ago and do it again.

Here's what happened last night, which is typical:

6:30 pm - her last drink

8 pm - she pees, goes to bed

10 pm - I put her on the potty, she pees

midnight - I wake her up again, she pees

3 AM - She comes into my bedroom, dry. I put her on the potty, she pees

3:45 AM - She comes in again, and has wet herself

???? How can she wet herself 45 minutes after peeing??? And how can she pee sooooo many times at night? And how can we possibly get her full trained if she has to pee so much and so often?

Is this something we just have to wait until her body is physically able to hold and release more at one time? Has anyone gone through a similar experience and their child eventually adapts? Despite putting her on the potty several times a night for the past week, she has only gone 1 night completely dry.

Thanks for any insight.

GinandTonic · April 2010

My 4 1/2 year DS is not potty-trained at night at all. The doctor says that some kids just take longer for their bladders to mature. He's a deep sleeper and he sleeps right through it (and sigh, sometimes even soaks out of his pullup). He barely ever wakes up dry.

I can't help you with the peeing 45 minutes after she goes. Are you sure she doesn't have an infection?

xbrooklyngrl · April 2010

That seems like a lot. I'd say she probably just isn't physically ready. Does she always go this much?

B nightime trained herself, I had no intention of even trying but for the months following her being PT'd, she was dry every morning so we just decided to stop putting her into pullups.

I'd say to just give it a little more time.

lsufan · April 2010

Evan turned 4 in December, and he's been wearing underwear during the day for almost 2 years. We've tried waking him to pee, but he just freaks out. His pull up is soaked every morning. Our pediatrician isn't concerned and said her oldest didn't nighttime train until he was 5.

I keep hoping it will just happen...

AggieCouple · April 2010

We had her checked for an infection and the doctor said no just from observation (but did no tests).

She goes pretty normally during the day. Maybe once every 1.5-2 hours. I try to have her drink a lot during the day since we've started cutting her off early.

KrisBriMcBunny · April 2010

some kids just arent ready for nighttime PTing at 4-5 yrs old. I had no trouble with my oldest but my 3rd child had a very hard time & wore pullups until she was about 7-8 yrs old & even then would have an occasional accident. She wasnt completely accident free until she was about 12 yrs old.

joseysbride · April 2010

I wouldn't be too worried that she is still wetting at night because I think it can take some kids a long time to get that down. But, that seems like a ton of peeing to me, which may worry me. Does she pee a lot during the day? Maybe she is saving it all up?

Since being trained, my dd has only wet at night maybe one or two times. She doesn't wake up at night to pee and she doesn't usually even go right when she wakes up in the morning, but she goes pretty frequently during the day.

Dcubed · April 2010

I don't know how old your DD is but we didn't put DS in underwear at night until his 4th bday. It's been 6mths now and he hasn't had but a couple accidents. At first I would have him pee when he came in our room at 12 or 1. Now he goes all night without needing to pee or if he does he says something himself when he comes to our room (a couple of times I hear him peeing by himself before he comes to our room ) I think like pp said everyone is different at different times. DH is already asking about underwear for DD and I told him I am not pushing it and don't mind waiting until she's 4 or whatever. IMO going to the bathroom so many times in a night is not what I want to do (interrupted sleep or me and child) and like I said we just took DS one time a night and that was only for a few weeks.

I would use your moms intuition and if you don't think she is ready then use the pull ups a little while longer or maybe push back the 3 o'clock pee a little later??

Mominator · April 2010

You can't nighttime potty train. It is purely a physical milestone and will happen in it's own time. My DD started staying dry at night about 4mths after being day trained, with DS it was more like 4 years until he stayed completely dry every night. Every child is different and it really needs to happen on its own.

KKMMex · April 2010

xbrooklyngrl:

That seems like a lot. I'd say she probably just isn't physically ready. Does she always go this much?

B nightime trained herself, I had no intention of even trying but for the months following her being PT'd, she was dry every morning so we just decided to stop putting her into pullups.

I'd say to just give it a little more time.

This was our daughter too. She kept waking up in dry pull-ups so we just put her in panties and it's been several months now with no nighttime accidents. She'll be 4 in June.

Funny thing is, she won't stop playing during the day to go to the bathroom so we are constantly battling with and nagging her to take a potty break. It's maddening actually! She always holds it too long and then her panties get wet. I think with her, it's definitely a control issue.

I would maybe ask the doc about it at her next appointment.

Heather&Scott · April 2010

Mominator:
You can't nighttime potty train. It is purely a physical milestone and will happen in it's own time. My DD started staying dry at night about 4mths after being day trained, with DS it was more like 4 years until he stayed completely dry every night. Every child is different and it really needs to happen on its own.

This. I kept both my kids in pull-ups until they were dry all night long -- and it happened on its own without any help from me. IMO, waking a child up at various intervals during the night is just an exercise in frustration and futility. It'll happen when it happens -- and based on my experience and the experiences of the moms in my playgroup, it doesn't happen at the same age for every kid.

Angela814 · April 2010

I think you have to just wait. We started doing sticker rewards for DD. She gets 1 sticker for going to sleep in her own bed and 1 sticker for waking up in her own bed in the morning. So far she's only been able to do the 2nd part twice in about a month. ;-)

Then I had the bright idea to start giving her 1 sticker every morning she wakes up with a dry pull up. Sometimes it happens by luck I think. She wants the extra sticker, she just sleeps so deeply that she doesn't wake up when she needs to go. The last time she woke up with a wet diaper, she was actually pretty upset, but she just doesn't know at night. She's been potty trained since 2 1/2 years so she knows the sensation when she's awake. She's been dry for naps since about 3 years too.

Oh, and she gets a prize when she collects 10 stickers. She wants more stickers so she can get more prizes.

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