3 Year Old Wetting the Bed

We have several friends whose children (ages 5-6) still have nighttime accidents. It's for a variety of reasons, but they simply use pull-ups or something like that to help prevent the hassles of dealing with cleaning sheets daily, etc. In one case, the daughter is a heavy sleeper, and no matter what they do, she can't recognize when she needs to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Here's what the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/toddle...

Put the pullups on her. Is the baby starting to walk or crawl and get into her stuff? Something is going on and she may not have the words to express herself yet. She is still little. Maybe being put back into "diapers" will make her try a little harder to hold it at night.
She will get through it. I'm sure at 18 she will be dry at night and you will miss her 3 year old days, just not the bedwetting part. :o)

My daughter has been doing the same thing. My husband started taking her to the bathroom in the middle of the night for about a month. She was still having a few accidents. We just decided to go back to pull ups at night to help with the frustration for all of us. There in no "undoing" and we are all having better mornings. I thing sometimes kids bladders just can't hold everything in or they just start sleeping heavier and don't wake up in time.It's of no fault of the child. It's a phase and it will pass, just like all the other crazy things they do! :)

I'd use Pull Ups or Good Nights. Her bladder obviously isn't developed enough to hold it all night and she's not awakening with the "urge" to pee. Why torment yourself?

I went to a training in Ada Oklahoma one time for my Child Care Credential yearly requriements and attended a class for teachers of 2 and 3 yr. olds. The way they put development is "Windows open and close".

If you think about it sometimes there is just this time when their little brains are like sponges and they can't get enough opportunities to soak it in. When that is happening it seems like they sometimes lose abilities in other area. They haven't lost it it's just not the window that's currently open. As they develop the "wiring" in the brain it eventually connects and becomes more unified. They start being able to do more than one or two things at a time.

I would use the pull ups until she's able to stay dry again. If you don't want to do that then you might go to the local pet supply store and buy some "Piddle Pads" to put under her so the sheets will stay dry and you can just throw them away. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have a UA done to see if she has a slight infection.

My 3 year old still wears pullups at night but is fully potty trained in the daytime. My son wore pullups at night until he was 5 1/2, my other daughter did until she was 4 1/2. They both decided on their own when to stop wearing pullups to bed.

You don't mention if she still sleeps in a crib, or is in a toddler bed and can get up if she needed to...

I would put her back into some type of pull up in the night. We used Underjams. They are a bit more cloth like than pullups.

If you don't want to go back to pullups during the night, some other things you could try are:
1. place a training potty in her room, (on a plastic sheet!)
2. take the sheet off of her bed and replace it with 2 mattress covers. Then when she has an accident, you just have to remove the top mattress cover!

Btw. I've done both of these things and they helped.
M.

Did she stop napping lately? My son wakes in the middle of the night to go potty. When he skips his nap , he wakes up delirious and can't focus on getting to the potty. He's had a couple of accidents because of this . He's actually got up and then gone back into his bed without going potty. Later he woke up because of an accident. he hasn't ever had any accidents until he has missed the nap as of late. Good luck:)

Sometimes when kids grow their bladder doesn't grow with them. She is still really young and her bladder may just not have caught up after the last growth spurt. Putting pull ups on at night isn't going to "undo" all of the training, at least in my opinion. Another option is to wake her up half way through the night and take her potty and see if that helps. I know this is a frustrating situation. Good luck.

HI S.,
It could be jealousy over the baby and wanting attention, or it could be a medical condition. Please be patient and consider using Pull-Ups at night (better yet, use Seventh Generation organic diapers or cloth, as these don;t have the toxic chemicals on them)- I doubt that she will regress during the day if you do this. Empty the bladder before she goes to bed, of course. Some children sleep so soundly they don't wake up to urinate, or they may have a nutritional deficiency. Don't make a real battle over this yet, as it could turn into a power struggle, but do have a medical evaluation if this continues on as she approaches school age. Good Luck, M.

I also have the same problem with my son who will be four on the 28th of this month. I would totally recommend the pull-ups-only at night and taken off first thing in the morning. As a CNA who has worked in a nursing home for four years as well, I have been involved in many bowl and bladder training programs. As with anything, it may not work for your child, but I once advised a friend of mine to try something as simple as making sure that the last thing your child does before laying down each night is using the bathroom and the first thing every morning is doing the same. She told me about a week later that she was SO glad I'd given her that advice. I don't know about you, but that's the same thing I do myself every morning and night! =o) Good luck and try not to stress yourself (OR YOUR CHILD especially) out about it!
S. (Mother of 2: DS 4y/o & DD 2 y/o)

This is very normal. She is either learning something new that her body is focusing on or her sleep schedule or daily activity level has changed and she is sleeping harder at night. My daughter was dry at night from 3 years old until kindergarten started and then began having accidents at night. It's all normal and can go on for years (sorry to have to tell you that!). I don't think there is really a "right" way to deal with it - you just have to do whatever you think will work best for your family. Best wishes!

Is she still napping? If she is not, it could be that she is sleeping to hard to feel the urge. We never had problems with our three year old daughter until she gave up her nap. She will not leave pullups on so we go in at about 11pm every night wake her up and take her potty. Now we are accident free! :)

My daughter was trained at the same age but still also wets at night we do use a pull up my son it took him 10 months to not wet at night so honestly I the potty a couple times in My daughter was trained at the same age but still also wets at night we do use a pull up my son it took him 10 months to not wet at night so honestly I would not worry about it or get upset and also hold of her drinking at least an hour before bed and have her use the potty a couple times in that hour so she has the chance to emptythat hour so she has the chance to empty