Bedtime potty request

lorist202 · August 2013

We're potty training, and it's going pretty well. DS stays dry all day, but still does not consistently poop in the potty. Of course, he is wearing a diaper/pull ups for bedtime and naps. Before I change him into the diaper and put him down, we use the potty, and he goes.

Then, about 20 min. later, when DS is still awake, he uses the potty excuse (among every other excuse) to get my attention. Only about half the time does he really need to use the potty.

On one hand, I never want to deny him use of the potty, especially while we're training. On the other, I don't want him to use the potty as a "cry wolf" scenario, just to put off going to bed. How should I handle this?

MNgirl326 · August 2013

I usually take him to the potty. I don't talk to him, let him try and then bring him back to bed. Once again I don't talk to him and give very little attention. The crying wolf has decreased since he knows that it really isn't going to get anywhere. So now 99 percent of the time he says he has to go, he really does.

sschwege · August 2013

That is a tough one, we really struggled with her just sitting on the potty to sit. So typically I set a timer for two minutes and if she hasn't gone by then it's back to bed. I figure if she really had to go it would take her less than two minutes to go.

sucredee · August 2013

DD PT'd at 26 months and was out of nighttime diapers 2 weeks after that (her request). I would alway go up and give in to her request because I wanted her to know that I would not ignore her. A lot of times nothing would happen and other times when I didn't expect it (because she just peed before bed) she would pee. But I have her little potty near her bed, I keep it dark and quiet and give her 3 minutes. If she pees great (and I dump it out when I go to bed) and if not she would go back to bed. Se is still nursing so a lot of the times it was also a ruse to get some more "milky". After a while (a few months) I finally told her that she should only tell me that she has to go potty if she actually had to go. I also told her that if she peed she could nurse briefly but if she didn't pee she would go straight to bed without nursing and I wouldn't lie down next to her (usually lie down next to her bed for 2 minutes before leaving). That really cut back on the pee request as soon as I left the room. A few months ago I was finally brave enough to ignore her pee request when I felt pretty certain that she really didn't need to pee. She fell asleep and she hasn't really done it again since. I think initially it is important not to blow them off just so they know that you will be there for them, even if they probably don't need to pee. Just keep it in the dark and quiet and uninteresting and matter of factly.