My son just turned four. He has been potty trained during the day for about one year now. We are however, waiting until he is "physically" ready and able to hold his bladder the entire night until he is potty trained at night. Some weeks he is completely dry when he wakes and most recently however, he has been extremely wet when he wakes in the morning. We always put a diaper on him at night in case he has an accident during the night. I have also been placing a feminine hygience pad in his diaper because of the amount that will come out if he isn't able to hold it through the night. Lately, the pad in his diaper isn't able to hold the amount and it has been very time consuming changing a queen size bed every day. A few notes: he pees before he goes to sleep, the fluids are limited before bed time, and there is a waterproof mattress pad protector under his sheets (all of which I have to wash daily if there is a leak).
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts/feedback as to how I can prevent the leaks in the morning if they occur during the night.
Thank you in advance!!!
Really, you just can't "prevent" it. Layer pads & sheets for easier changes/clean up. Try a bigger kid oriented Good Nite, or UnderJams pullup pant--not a diaper.
My son was day trained at 3 1/2. He was 7 before he was night trained. He had to be dry in the morning for 2 weeks before we tried underwear at night. Some boys are 11 before they can manage it.
Besides pull ups, extra sheets/mattress protectors/ and or an absorbent pad beneath him at might might help get through it. As he gets older he should be able to clean up after himself. It's tough, but be patient. He won't go to college and still be wetting the bed.
PS: It's not a matter of will. They don't wet the bed deliberately. Little kids sleep very soundly. My son slept right through peeing at night. I never shamed my son over pull-ups and he was fine with using them as long as he needed to. For me it was better than dealing with pee soaked sheets/blankets/pajamas/stuffed animals/pillows/mattress protector every night.
.... Night-Time dryness....is not something that is BIOLOGICALLY attained... until even 7 years old. And this is per Pediatricians as well. And, boys are often later. ALL normal.
My son is 4. He is potty trained. He is still wet during the night AND wears night time diapers. No biggie. My daughter... was already 5 years old... and still wearing a night time diaper and wet at night too.
And my kids have pee accidents at night too. Normal. My eldest child, not so much anymore.
I ALWAYS use, a waterproof bed pad directly under my kids. I got 4-5 of them, from Amazon. SUPER easy. I just rotate them if one gets soiled, then put a new one under them.
ALSO though, I... DO change my son's diaper, once a night. Otherwise, it is pretty much predictable, that the diaper WILL be too full/big/over-flowing in the morning. My son, sleeps all night, for 11-12 hours. So... that is a LONG time.... to go without changing the diaper.
It does not matter about limiting fluids, making him go pee before bed. A body, pees. Frankly for myself, If I slept 11-12 hours, I would not last all night without peeing.
The thing is... my son wears diapers at night. Huggies. Whatever is on sale. I don't often have pee-leakage problems. Because I change my son, one time each night. This, circumvents... any leaking propensities.
AND... I always... put the waterproof bed pad....directly under my kids... NOT under the sheets or fitted sheets. It is useless, when under the bed sheet... because the bed will still get soiled. I always... put the waterproof bed pad RIGHT under my kids. It is not problem then, if they have an accident. I ONLY have to wash the bed pad itself. I like the 'quilted' type water proof bed pads... which I got from Amazon. They have many types.
all the best,
Susan
You might want to pick up a waterproof flat crib pad and lay it OVER the sheets. It will protect the sheets from getting wet - but not him. But at least that's 1/2 the battle.
Good luck!
Are you using cloth or disposables? Have you tried the Overnights disposables? For cloth I was using a prefold with two inserts, but my daughter was night dry by 3.5 and I'm guessing she peed less volume.
I would stop using the maxipad because I think that is blocking the diaper from absorbing as much as it would otherwise.
If he tosses and turns this might not work as well, but you could have him sleep on towels too.
I don't wash the waterproof protector; I spray it with Lysol w/bleach and wipe dry with paper towels. That's plenty. You are stuck with washing the sheets though.
You know, if he is soaking through the Overnights in his size, see if you can fit him in a larger size and cinch the diaper really small to fit him if you have to. If he soaks through those, try using a wool cloth diaper cover over the disposable. A wool cover can take a fair amount of moisture and wick it away and he'll stay dry underneath. Hemp diapers are very absorbent and you could probably fit two or three of those under a wool one and that might work too.
Good luck and I hope you find a solution.
Have you tried no diaper at night? Two of my 3 boys started staying dry through the night because I didn't have diapers to put on them. I ran out so we tried no diaper and that was when they started to wake up at night to pee. Since you are changing everything in the morning anyway, it couldn't hurt to try. Maybe if the feel of the diaper isn't there he will wake up or be able to hold it. I know that doesn't make any sense since he is sleeping but it worked for my boys.
I was a parent that did not do the diaper/pull up at night once my kids were potty trained. Were there accidents, sure was. But I think unless they learn from their mistakes they are just going to keep having them. I would take away all diapers at night. (Be prepared by buying the proper items for the bed as to not ruin the mattress) Then have a talk with your son about if he has to use the bathroom in the night, a nightlight is on for him to do so. It will take some time and there will be accidents but it can be done.
When we accidentally ran out of diapers I put my 2 1/2 yr old son to bed assuming I would just have to change sheets in the morning - he was dry! That is when I realized he had been peeing in his diaper in the morning because the diaper was there. When the diapers were gone, he got up to pee. We haven't had any problems since and he is 4 now.
You can also try waking your son to pee before you go to bed. Some kids are really heavy sleepers and they just have to outgrow bed wetting. Don't make a big deal out of it, have him help you change his bedding and go on with your day.
I left mine in underwear, used a protective pad (the ones they use for seniors or pregnant women) and simply wash/change it. This kind has a plastic sheath under it to prevent leaks. I placed it directly under him and covers, it worked fine. He will grow out of that stage soon.
I would agree with momof2princesses....
we are still working on day potty training as he is only 2 but I am finding that using just undies instead of pull ups is making even day training much quicker than our first which we used pull ups. yes there are accidents and it is a pain to constantly be washing but he has learned quicker that he gets wet if he doesnt stop to use the potty. The diapers give them an out and they know they can go in them and not have to worry about it. Try a few nights without the diaper and see how it goes.
An after thought....maybe even a few nights of you getting up every 2 hours to wake him and offer him the use of the potty. It will be rough but may help him get into a habit of knowing when he needs to go.
