Needing Bedtime Help

Sara said exactly what I was going to say about the sleeping, It took my oldest a year from the time he was completly potty trained to actually go through the night without wetting the bed. Get you a plastic liner for her bed and take the pull ups off. It stopped almost completly when I did that. About once a week he would still do it but I think he was still trying to get the control issue down. GOOD LUCK!!!

Bedwetting Solutions. When your child is a bedwetter, it may feel like you are the only ones in the world going through this, but Nocturnal Enuresis (the technical term for what we all know as bedwetting) affects many children. In fact, studies have shown that as many as 5 to 7 million children in America alone wet the bed on a regular basis. It is very common, and can affect children even into their teens

After your child has learned to stay dry during the day, you can start encouraging nighttime dryness. Bladder size and muscle strength are required before a child is physically able to remain dry throughout the night. So for some children, their bodies may not yet be mature enough to stay dry. For others, simple encouragement like talking and offering incentives for dry nights help motivate a child to work on this. Keep in mind 10% of all five year olds and 5% of all ten year olds continue to wet the bed. With boys more often than girls, and it is often an inherited trait. There is usually a physical component as well, like slow bladder growth, sound sleeping, physical abnormalities or a hormone deficiency.

Bedwetting. More important than wet sheets is your child’s self esteem. As children get older they will become more aware that this is not the norm and may feel ashamed. Stay positive about it and let the child know it is not their fault, their body is just not ready yet. Help the child decide how to handle sleepovers. Let the child help come up with his own solutions that you may simply assist in, like communicating the problem to the parent, or just supporting them by saying you don’t allow sleepovers right now.

Consult your doctor about possible physical problems or hormone-medications used to control urine production. Most people produce increased hormone during sleep which limits urine production, but children who wet the bed may not produce enough yet.

Try to make discussions about his bedwetting as private as possible, between you and your child. Make sure siblings don’t tease, and that this is a strictly private family matter not to be discussed with outsiders. Reassure your child that the problem will eventually correct itself, but until then ask him to help decide how to handle the nightly mess. Some choices may include using PODS Potty On Discreet Strips diapers or a pull-up, special incontinence underwear or disposable insert pads, washable or disposable mattress pads). This may help build his pride and independence in managing the problem himself.

Other medical factors that contribute to bed wetting include diabetes, constipation, allergies and bladder infections. Caffienated foods like chocolate or teas and colas will stimulate the bladder. Limit these. If your child wants to work on the night wetting problem, ask him what he thinks may help. For some children a reward chart with incentives for several dry nights helps motivate staying dry. After, say five stars are earned, the child gets a reward, like a toy or music CD. When using a chart, remember it is unfair to remove stars earned for an accident. Make the reward fairly soon in the future to begin with, and increase the goal reward over time until trained. After two weeks if you see no progress in the reward chart system, end it.

Bedwetting exercises to try:

Encourage child to wait as long as possible to urinate, to stretch bladder to increase muscle strength.
Ensure the child is not teased by others and educate those who may do so.
Allow your child to assume more responsibility for managing a wet bed.
Let child decide what protection to use at night (PODS Potty On Discreet strips, diaper, pull-up, protective underwear pants).
Ask if the child wishes to be awakened at night to urinate with an alarm clock or bed wetting alarm or by you (if that is something you are willing to do).
Bedwetting Developmental Skills. Bedwetting appears to be a strong family component to bed wetting: 77 percent of children whose parents both wet the bed as youngsters will do the same. Forty-three percent of children of one bedwetting parent will follow suit, and only 15 percent of children whose parents had no trouble staying dry at night will wet the bed.

Regardless of how you proceed, avoid putting pressure on your child and don't punish your child. Staying dry all night, whether your child sleeps through without wetting or gets up to use the bathroom, is a developmental skill that almost all children achieve in time. Until this age, a child's bladder may not be fully developed. Your child also may be unable to recognize the urge to go, wake up, and use the toilet. Children under stress may have difficulty mastering new skills and rely on the old way of doing things. While you're waiting for your child to outgrow bedwetting, make sure his mattress is adequately protected by a good cover, encourage him to wear absorbent garments such as cloth or disposable training pants or PODS Potty On Discreet Strips, and urge him to get up as soon as he realizes he's wet his bed. It is best to get your child and the bedding changed so their skin won't get irritated and to get used to sleeping in dry pajamas.

Typically, children who wet the bed more than once per night will start to outgrow it by beginning to wet fewer times each night. Then they move on to wetting fewer nights each week, with fluctuations back and forth, until they eventually outgrow bedwetting altogether. However, the entire process can take more than a couple years.

Your Pediatrician Can Help With Potty Training. If any concerns come up before, during, or after toilet training, talk with your pediatrician. Often the problem or problems are minor and can be resolved quickly, but sometimes physical or emotional causes will require treatment. Your pediatrician's help, advice, and encouragement can help make toilet training easier. Also, your pediatrician is trained to identify and manage problems that are more serious.

Confirm Potty Training Information With Other Sources and Your Doctor. You are encouraged to talk with your doctor with regard to information contained on or through this Web site. After reading articles or other Content from Potty Training Solutions, you are encouraged to review the information with your professional healthcare provider.

About the Sleeping at nite, I have the same problems with my daughter from time to time, All I know to tell you is to do is comfort her but be firm. When its bedtime, Make sure she knows its bedtime, Don't go back in there and say ok you can sleep with me. I know we all have done that. But you gotta show her you mean business. After about 3-7 days of putting her in her bed and not letting her go back in your bed she will understand and be able to sleep her own bed without throwing a fit to sleep with you. I wish you alot of Luck. God Bless!!

Watch super nanny or nanny 911 I tired there techniques and it works. As far as the wetting the ____@____.com one sleeps a full 8 hrs at nite not even adults, what I do is drink something @ nite so I would have to use the bathroom @ nite, which I usuallu do anyway,but it kind of brings on the urge to go to the bathroom earlier, and when I get up I take my 3 1/2 yr old too.

What I did with my daughter as far as sleeping went, is I did a slow transition into her own bed. By doing this method the child gains a sense of security. What you do is while she is awake you put her in her own bed. Stay right there by her until she falls asleep. Each night move a little farther away from her bed during bed time, until eventually you are at her bedroom door. Talk to her quietly during this and let her know you are right there with her. This gives the child a feeling of ease and allows them to be able to sleep on there own. As for the potty training at night. I had the same problem with my daughter. The doctor told me to let her do it when she was ready. That pushing a child not to do it could make the situation worse. So I let my daughter go at her own speed. She just turned 4 in September and she is now getting up in the middle of the night to go the restroom and wears underwear instead of pull ups with no accidents. I hope this has helped you.
A. Dornhagen
Busy College Mom

Hi, I am D., and I do not have the problem, I also have a 3 1/2 year old we adopted from Ukraine. She only sleeps in her bed unless she and I are traveling then she will sleep with me. So I do not have that problem..I would love for her to do so more. Anyway back to you, from all I read and hear...it is okay for them to sleep with you unless you just do not want her to, she will leave at some point and be fine, but if you are wanting her out, then you will have to hurt some like her. You will have to be firm and consistent in putting her to bed...make a routine...maybe little snack, bathtime, cuddling, read a couple of books the, place her in the bed...leave on a little light, and say prayers (if you do that) and tell and reassure her you are close and leave her there....she will cry, scream, make you feel like she is dying, but you have to let her begin this to help. Give her a litt time of crying go back or if she gets up place her back with love, and walk back out..this will take a few days to weeks. It will not be easy of either of you. Routine at this age is what a parent must do...for children do well at this age with the same things..Good luck...oh and let her keep one two or even three of her favorite dolls, animals or blankets whatever close. Good luck!

Oh forgot this too, the potty training mine was trained when she came from Ukraine at 2 1/2, but remember they have accidents...mine had one the other night at the same age as yours. She does not normally do it but try giving nothing past say 7 except a little water........not milk, coke, ice cream etc....they tend to use the bathroom more. She will get it soon, just keep helping her to remember how big she is and how proud you are each time she does it alone.

Don't know if this will help but.....my son has always had a hard time falling asleep. What I did was this: I put him in his bed and then I sit with him in this room (I just read a book while I am in there). He fussed at first, but I just told him to lay in bed, "read" a book an lay quietly and eventually he falls asleep. At the beginning it use to take me a hour till he fell asleep. After the first week, I would take short trips out of the room, then return real quickly, extending the time I spent out of the room each day. This way he would know that I was always going to come back. Eventually, I would stay away a long while, then when I would come back, he would be asleep already. It is time consuming for the parent, but worth it to eventually get some time alone.

for the potty question check out www.pottytrainingsolutions.com and their product called PODs, that may be just the thing to help her get completely potty trained. As for sleeping with you and not wanting to go to her own bed at her own bed time, you are going to have to show some tough love here. It is going to take a while and you need to be dedicated that you will not let her sleep in your bed with you at all. She has to break the habit. I suggest start with laying with her in her bed til she goes to sleep, once you can get her in her own bed, start by leaving after maybe 10 minutes, and then 5 and work your way to where you are sitting on the floor for a few minutes while she is going to sleep, and move yourself slower out the door. Each night move closer to the door and stay for a few minutes, and eventually you will get out the door, and then she will learn to sleep on her own and you can tuck her in and go about what you need to do. She needs to learn to sleep on her own and put her self back to sleep if she does wake up. If she comes into your room after you have put her to bed at all during the night, get up immediately and put her back to bed. you have to display constant consistency in order to get her in her own bed. Good luck

I would work on the going to bed problem and then when that's all done, work on the potty training at night. At 3 1/2, a lot of kids are still wearing pull-ups to bed.

It sounds like this is a newer problem, was your daughter sleeping on her own before the move? If so, then you need to get her back to that. I know a lot of people have said to stay with her until she goes to sleep, but I'm not sure that would be helpful. If she goes to sleep while you're there, it's likely she'll wake up and get upset because you're gone. She needs to learn to go to sleep on her own.

Since it's a new house, why not create a new bedtime routine? My kids love their nighttime rituals, and it helps transition to sleep time. Maybe let her pick out some new sheets, and help arrange her room the way she wants it. Help her get excited about her new room. Then have a definite bedtime, say "Now we're getting ready for bed" and have a bath, story, whatever you want. Get her into her bed and let her know that she needs to stay there. Stay with her a while,but leave before she goes to sleep. She'll probably cry, get up, etc. Just keep bringing her back, be calm, comfort her, but be firm. You will probably have a couple of really hard nights, it might take an hour or more to get her to go to sleep. (So you may want to start early!) She will probably cry and scream. But just be there, tell her it's okay, time for bed. Give this some time, don't give up on it!

Hope it goes well, good luck!

I had a hard time w/ my son sleeping with me and Dad...I ended up getting a "spiderman" fouton fold out and putting it on the floor in our room. When he would fall asleep (I mean OUT) I would transfer him to his room...they should wake up in their own room to see that they CAN sleep in their own room. The bedwetting...I got the "old" plastic pants--my son hated the elastic around his legs, but each child is different!

Hello! When our now 4 year old was 3 we had the same problem. I came up with the sleep fairy. Kinda like the tooth fairy, but she only comes and leaves a small toy, coin, or sticker ect. under the pillow when the child sleeps threw the night in their own bed. 10 days brakes a habit, so after a few weeks you can tell or leave a note telling her that the sleep fairy has to go and help another child sleep.

As for the wetting her pull-up threw the night only time will help. She just needs to glow a little more. My son was 4 before he started waking up dry, so only then did I put him in real undies to sleep in.

Hope this helps you and your little one! :)
~M.