Bedtime Pullups

My daughter will be 41/2 in December and also still wears pullups. In fact, I had to recently buy good nights because she was wetting through normal pullups. I would be interested if you have any helpful advice because I am too sick of pullups. We also have done the same routines before bedtime. Good luck!

unfortunately you might want to try having her go to bed with big kid underware and allow her to wet the bed. I had a crib mattress cover that was flat and vinyl that I put under her fitted sheet. when my daughter wet the bed...she "felt" wet and didn't like it at all. It wasn't fun for me to get up, clean her up, strip and change the bed linens and put new pjs on but this seemed to last 3 days. then that was that and she was potty trained. good luck

I had a child who 'wet the bed'(yes, we used pull-ups, we called them 'just in case pants') until around 6 y/o. At that age, I took him in to the Chiropractor. Between Chiropractic and taking cows milk out of his diet, he stopped wetting at night. Within a couple of weeks it went from wetting 100% of the time to 70%, then down from there. By 2-3 months he was rarely wetting at night.

My (almost) 4 year old granddaughter is a very deep sleeper, who's had some sleep problems (night terrors; waking in the middle of the night and coming into my room). I've heard from other parents that their deep-sleepers are the ones that are later not to wear pullups. She still wears pull-ups as well. We've limited the drinks in the late afternoon / early evening to one with dinner and a small one later, and sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't. She wants so badly to wear big girl panties to bed, so I've made a deal with her - when she can go 7 nights in a row with a dry pull up, then she can start wearing panties to bed. She's not made it past 2 in a row yet, but the dry nights are much more frequent now.

My son decided he didn't need pullups on his 4th birthday. However, he was still wetting the bed. What we did was cut drinks an hour before bedtime, take him to the bathroom before he went to bed and then once more before we went to sleep -- we would carry him in his sleep and he wouldn't even wake up. It was hard but something must have kicked in, and he stopped wetting the bed within a couple of months. I also made sure to make the bed, put a plastic cover and then an extra set of sheets in case I had to change the bed in the middle of the night. Good luck!

My son had the same problem. He was had very good sleep habits, but when he finally fell asleep he was OUT. He wore pull-ups until 1st grade! Then one day he woke up dry and never had a problem after that. I don't know whether it was the sleep issues or just maturity. I tried all kinds of things too....making him go to the bathroom just before he went to bed and waking him up in the middle of the night (he wouldn't wake up for me though). I never tried those alarms that they have. Maybe those would work for you.

Have you tried waking her up before you go to bed (presumably a few hours after she's fallen asleep) to go to the bathroom? It works really well for my daughter (2.5 yrs) and a few other friends of mine (4 yrs old).

Bad sleeping habits will take a while to break, but it's well worth the effort! My son was horrible at going to bed, but after being persistant (not always patient on my behalf, however!), after a few months, he now goes to bed without a peep (4 yrs). Yes, I said months. Keep at it. Good luck!!!

I read in a sleep related parenting book that sometimes when kids wake a lot during the night it's because they have to use the bathroom, but they don't quite recognize the sensation. You can try taking her to potty when she wakes during the night. Put a night light in the bathroom so you don't have to turn on the lights and fully wake her. Hopefully, that will help both your problems -- the bad sleeping and the pull-ups!

Hi S. ,

Potty training is so hard for any age . I have a 4yr old son who was potty trained by his 3rd b-day but bed time was a nightmare . So at 4 I decided to give up pull ups all together I believe it confuses them . I bought a mattress pad from one step ahead called Dri Nights Waterproof Mattress Protector ( it holds up to 6 cups of liguid )and went cold turkey , he went to bed in his under pants and if he had an accident he didnt like how his under pants felt wet , but his bed wasnt wet . I justed washed the liner every day . It took him about 2 weeks .
However my husband I made a chart for him ( stars and smiley faces he recieved a sticker for every night with out a accident )and when he went 10 days with out an accident in his bed he got to pick out a toy from the store . It took about 2 weeks and he pretty much accident free now . Every once in a while he might have a accident but I can deal with that . I hope this helps .

Hang in there it does get easier ,
K.

Our 4 year old is doing the same thing. I was told she will grow out of it. I understand the pampers thing it gets old. The Dr. told us that cutting drinks really will
not make a difference. The body will do what it will do. So good luck and someone out there is going through the same thing.

My daughter is 4 and she still wears a pull up at night. I started using the Goodnights underpants. They go by weight. It does work and they are a little bigger. The can leak still when there is a lot of liquid. I will use these until we have her night trained. Good luck!

M.

Shelia,

Try a bedwetting alarm. I have a son who is six and a deep sleeper still wetting. All I can say is that you have to be patient and that it isn't her fault. Sleep Enuresis is a condition that physicians only become worried about in later years. Mention it to your pediatrician but chances are they are going to say limit drinks, try waking you daughter up once a night to use the bathroom, and try to encourage her body to go during the day more. They are the ones who tend to hold it all day. The alarm also can condition them like a Pavlov experiment to wake when they wet. I am going to order one myself at the age of 7 so that we can try that before we have to consider medication.

I hope that helps.

K.
Mom to 3 in the Western Suburbs

I don't know about if they are related, but it's still really normal witht the pull up thing. We got our DD off of pull ups by waking her for a 10 pm pee trip.

I am a grandma (52 yrs old)now, but I had three children (1979-82) and used "nighttime diaper" for my first. There weren't pull-ups then, I would fold 2 cloth diapers together. She had a terrible time and was a bedwetter until about 7 yrs old. Because of that I never used nighttime diapers with my other two kids. Yes, they wet the bed a couple of times in the beginning but they learned quickly to make it thru to morning without wetting the bed. I also started potty training when they turned 2 yrs old and was consistent.

I am convinced that there is a direct connect between pull-ups and potty problems as well as sleep problems. I am just really against using them. I have a friend with a 5 yr old and a 6 yrs old and they are still in diapers and pull-ups. They don't want to go to the potty. There is no way around the fact that during potty-training there will be accidents, but there is one thing for sure with consistance on the parents part, this to shall pass. So that is my little 2 cents worth and I will leave you with this encouragement. THIS TO SHALL PASS. I will be praying for your ultimate success.

I would talk to your pediatrician about this. It's probably nothing, but I find it odd that you cut off juice and she still wakes up really wet. How long before bedtime do you cut juice off? I let my kids (3 and 5) have their last drink an hour before bedtime. It has worked for me. My daughter has never wet her bed, and my son only has one time. Every once in a while one of them will get up and go potty in the middle of the night, but not very often. I would explain the "bad sleeping habits" you're talking about to her doctor and just see what they say.

My nearly 5-year old is perfectly potty-trained by day, but totally dependent on pull-ups at night. I asked my pediatrician earlier this year if that was a problem and she said she wouldn't start being concerned about it until he's at least six. Ugghh! I need to invest in Pampers!

I only have time to write that my almost 5 yr old is still wearing pull ups at nite as well - along with most of her friends. She has great sleep habits! We have done a couple of stretches of "training" where none of us gets much sleep and they have been fruitless - we will try again soon. But based on the # of kids I know still in them I think it's pretty normal in our day and age of super absorbant diapers.

Try chiropractic care. Sometimes there is an issue with the vertebrae in the low back and pelvis that irritates the nervous system, affecting bladder function and sleep patterns. Go to icpa4kids.org for more info, research and for a referral to a chiro who has special training in pediatrics. I am a chiro with my pediatric diplomate and I have had many success stories in my office. Best of luck!

I am having the same issue!! I have twin girls who turn 4 next month. I have been told by friends that their bladders are not under their full control until 5 or 6 (don't know if that is true). I have also heard to just "bite the bullet" and see what happens. The best advice I have had so far was to have them go potty before they go to bed (7 pm) and before I go to bed (11pm). I will look forward to reading other people's suggestions. In the interim I have put a little potty in their room in hopes if they wake up they will use it. Thanks for asking about this!!

Hi S.,

My 4 year old son is the exact same way. If you find out anything worthwhile will you please share the info?? He has horrible sleeping habits, still wears a pull-up and it's just soaked every morning. I"m so tired of diapers and I agree my 1 year old has a much lighter diaper in the morning.

Good luck and keep me posted!!!

Regards,

N.

I have read that many kids continue to wet during the night long after being potty trained, mostly due to the bladder not developing as fast as other systems (which is totally normal). I have also read that technically you'd have to stop giving liquids at like 2 in the afternoon for that to affect anything. My son is the same, soaks his nighttime pull-up and often wakes a time or two in the night. I haven't been consistent with making him go to the bathroom yet, but that seems like the most logical solution. Gotta get the kid used to hitting the potty and training to wake up for the sensation of needing to go.

HI S.- I am also a SAHM of 4 and what I did with my 4 year old was to wake her up to use the bathroom before I went to bed. She was drowsy but would go I spoke softly "Let your peepee's in the potty." and she would go for me after a few seconds, it helped us both sleep better through the night. (My oldest was in pullups at night until 4 yrs but #2 was out of them by age three and #3 refused to wear them and never wet the bed,#4 is only 1 so we have a while on him!)
All kids are different so hang in there!
B.