Help! How You Potty Train at Night??

HI A.,
My first son was trained at 3 yrs old we did the pullup thing at night it took him from age 2 to 3 to get trained with my second son who will be 3 in may he was trained completely at 28mths did no pull ups he went right into undies he was ready every kid is different dont get me wrong we had a few accidents in the mid night and even day time but it is much better now i am glad i did not do the diapers or pull ups at night cause than they think it is ok to pee in them it kind of gives mixed messages i believe i would just explain to him no more diapers or pull ups at night now and try the undies he has to go to the potty prior to bed there may be a few nights w/ accidents but it will get better it has been 5mths now and he is doing great
good luck
D.

Our 3 year old is recently diaper-free, though has an occassional accident at night. We put a plastic matress cover on his bed. (Picked it up from Bed Bath & Beyond) We also cut off his beverages at least 1 hour before bed time.

Good luck! And be patient - he won't do it until his body is ready.

Hi A.,
I am happy to say that as of last week my 3 year old is in big boy underwear at night!!! No wet beds in 2 months now! Here's how we did it... 1st of all my son is pretty competitive so we made it sort of a game. We started by telling him how a friend of his sleeps all night with no diaper and stays dry. This got him interested and wanted to go to bed that night with no pull up!! I was smarter than that though!! We told him if he could go a week withput a wet pull up, then we'd move on from there. It took a while but we got our week. Then, I bought an all-in-one cloth diaper in toddler size (I actually bought 2 just in case). We told him these were like big boy undies but would keep his bed dry if he did have an accident. We told him once he could wake up dry for 3 weeks he could wear big boy undies to bed. This was good because he could feel them get wet and it would wake him up, he only peed in those twice since then and has been dry at night ever since. Lately he has been waking up around 5am to use the potty (he calls for us since I am not comfortable with him up by himself in the middle of the night). We promote NO DRINKING anything after dinner time!! This worked for us but I do believe it is because our son was ready. This really is developmental so all kids (especially boys) are different. My son was potty trained at 3 for day time but we just became dry at night over the last month and he will be 4 in March... so it took almost another year for that!!

Good Luck!

I stopped liquids an hour before bedtime & brought them to the bathroom at night. They didn't wake up fully, but they were able to go. I still have to take one of them night, & they've been trained for a year. Also get a waterproof pad or mattress cover. Good luck!!

Here is what we did, which worked for my son. He is a VERY sound sleeper. We waited until he was almost 4. Then we invested in several washable hospital-style incontinence pads for his bed. We put him to bed in only PJ's, no diaper, no pull up, nothing absorbant. Before going to bed and without trying to wake him up, one of us would scoop him up, carry him to the bathroom and put him on the toilet. (If we tried to wake him up he'd have a fit and not sit down) He would always pee. After a few weeks of us scooping him, he would start to wake up fussing, we would carry him in and he'd pee. This evolved into him running to his bedroom door and not knowing what to do, so we would lead him to the bathroom and he'd pee. After a couple months he started going into the bathroom by himself, and even remembering to wash his hands and flush. In conjunction with this, we did a sticker reward program for dry nights and he earned a couple Star Wars Lego sets over 6 months.

He had very few accidents, but if he had an accident we'd strip off the wet incontinence pad and put a new one down, change his PJ's and he'd be asleep again quickly.

He is 6 now and still gets up to go to the bathroom almost every night, sometimes twice. He has been accident free for over a year. So even if they're bladder can't go all night, it is possible to train even a sound sleeper to be dry at night.

As an aside, and I'm sure you already know this, but even if you were able to get him totally dry at night, don't be surprised if things change and he's no longer potty trained when baby #2 arrives and his world gets turned upside down!

Hi A.,
Training at night isnt' something you actually do, it's not about them waking to use the bathroom but for their bladder to grow and mature to the point that they don't need to pee at night. It is not unusual for a just turned 3 year old not to be at that point. Training during the day is not connected to nighttime, during the day is being aware of the need to go, and going in the right place. Taking the diapers away isn't going to make him not have to pee at night. Pullups are more expensive and if he is just using them as a diaper, I would just go back to the diapers, save money.
Good luck, it'll happen in its own good time.

I am going through the same thing. I am just waiting for him to know when its time. But I wanted to tell you, on his bed I have a Waterproof mattress protector, then a shower curtain and then a fitted sheet. If I had another fitted sheet I would add another layer. Its much easier to strip a bed then make it at 1am. My son wants so bad to wear underwear to bed, but I know his body isnt ready. Its all about patience. Good Luck.

A.,

Night time dryness with some children can take a while especially with boys. Is he a sound sleeper? My son was such a sound sleeper I could walk him to the bathroom in the middle of the night have him go, put him back to bed and he would never even wake up. I think that was a big part of the problem. There really is nothing you can do their body just has to mature to stay dry. My son wet the bed for many years and he was potty trained at 2 1/2. I tried everything limiting fluids, waking him in the middle of the night to go, nothing worked. Some days he would be dry and other nights he would wet through everything. I think you should try not to make a big deal out of it and just keep him in the pull-ups. When his body is ready he will grow out of it. I know pull-ups are expensive and it is a pain but just hang in there it will happen. Good luck!!!

Hi, my daughter was potty trained by the same age, but I left a pull up on her at night for about eight months longer. I think you really just need to wait until they either can hold it all night or get up to go in the middle of the night. I didn't mind leaving the pull ups on at at night, it saved on big messes in the morning and a small package of pull ups would last a month or more. The exepense was minimual. Good luck.

It was the same situation with my son. We learned he was urinating in his pull-up right when he woke up. I created a sticker chart. For every morning he came to me with dry pull-up, he would earn a sticker. For x number of stickers, he would get a prize (usually Play-Doh). It worked like a charm.

Hi A.! Good for you for having your son trained so early...especially before you have another little one. My kids were 2 and 10 months apart and I really wanted my big guy out of diapers, including pull ups at night before the second was born. Well, he was potty trained, but the pull ups lasted longer than I had hoped. :) It really is just a matter of them maturing, but you can do something to help him, just in the matter of fluid intake. Depending on what time your son goes to bed, limit what he is drinking after dinner. I've had people give me some flack on this...of course make sure your son is hydrated all day, and have a drink during dinner. But for me, after dinner my son got only a sip of water and then maybe 1/4 - 1/2 cup of milk before bed. Make sure he pees right before bed too. I noticed with my second that he would whine in his sleep sometimes during potty training. I would use that as a cue and get up and try to rouse him. He usually would have to go. I guess he was whining cause he knew it and was trying to wake himself up...to no avail, but with a little help he would do his business and get right back to bed. :)

Anyway, all the best. Don't rush him though, and don't get frustrated. You're doing a great job. I bet your anxious for your little one to arrive. Congrats! :)

my children were both potty trained at 2... but by 3 I was ready for night time training as well. I started just going into their rooms about 11... when I was ready for bed.. liften them up... brought them into bathroom.. placed them on toilet.. they usually went.. and they were still kind of asleep -- put them back in bed. I did this for 2 weeks staight.. and now I still hear them get up around 11 or 12 to go to the bathroom and they are 10 and 12 years old. It works.. good luck!!! Allie!!~~

I just read somewhere that you shouldn't expect them to be able to do this until at least 5. They have to kind of out grow this on their own. But you shouldn't really push the issue until about 5. I know your going to get responses that say...don't give liquids before bed, but that just doesn't work. As an ex-bed wetter, that just doesn't work. He has to outgrow it on his own. My son is 4 1/2, has been potty trained for a year and still sleeps with a night time pull-up.

Hi A.!
I would not try to potty train him during the night, it is wonderful that he is trained during the day, then the night will also be ok with some more time. Also, I would give him water for the moments when he is maybe thirsty during the night (my kids were/are always sleeping with water bottle in the corner of their bed). My younger daughter one day said that she is not a baby anymore and that she doesn't need a diaper during the night. From that moment on she was calling me once in the middle of the night to take her to the bathroom (and she was so proud!) Accidents did happen sometimes, of course, but I didn't make her feel bad about it ("You are learning, that is good, but it takes some time"). With some time it stopped. Every child is different, but with time it will be ok - some child a little bit before than other, but don't pressure him. And regressions are also normal, he will maybe learn and than for some time forget again, especialy with baby on the way it is normal for him to happen. Also, he might ask for his baby bottle or something like that, so you will have two babies, but it is also normal, don't pressure him with "big boy" talk, let him be a baby if that makes him happy at that moment. Better that than let him feel like the baby stole that from him, and you'll see, it will not last; he will WANT to be a big boy when he is not pressured into that role. Then he will say that he doesn't want to be a baby anymore and that will take care of the night potty problem.

I think all kids are just different my son was completely trained before 3 and before that he would stay dry through the night, so I don't have any advice because I didn't have to deal with this, but I do think that when he is ready he will. Now my son drinks more than the normal amt of fluid before bedtime he will wake at night and get up and go to the toilet.