Night Time Bed Wetting

Hi M.,

I also went through this exact same phase. I transitioned my daughter to big girl underwear at bedtime instead of her pull up. What worked for me was to take her potty right before she laid down at bedtime. It became part of her routine. She started out telling me she didn't have to go, but when I would have her sit on the potty, she would go. It worked every time without fail. I know all kids are different, but I hope this will work for you.

Hi M.,
Yes, you do need to be patient and stick it out :-) It is very common for kids to be potty trained and then seemingly revert back to wetting...just part of the process. My son is 3.5 now and it happened to us also. We bought a platic mattress cover to put under the sheet...and bought extra sets of sheets. LOL! This too shall pass.

i found that it helps to take/send my two yr old to the bathroom twice in the hour before bed. it's not foolproof, but it has reduced the night wetting.

Since she was doing great for awhile then had a complete shift, it sounds like it could be a food sensitivity. Has there been a change in her diet? I was trying to figure out where I read something but I can't find it. I read that some food inhibits urine concentrating at night. But just in general food sensitivities can make pee hard to control.

Another thought about "readiness": We started EC (elimination communication) when my daughter was 5 mos and then at nighttime we started at 7 mos. (She's now 8 mos.) Most nights, I only take her potty each time she wakes up after several hours of sleeping. She does stay dry (unless she happens to ate watermelon the night before or I'm too tired to wake up in time). It's a very new idea that diapers are needed for years. (The person who came up the readiness idea was also involved in diaper marketing.) The time for toilet training keeps getting later and later because kids are so out of touch with their eliminations (they learn to ignore them because of diapers).

Patience, patience, patience...
My 7yo still has nighttime problems; at that age we have actually used an alarm.
Here's a few things to consider/try:
1. It is hereditary. Either you or your husband must have had some sort of problems as a kid. So that means, no punishment. Daytime potty is something they can control, nighttime is harder.
2. Limit drinks before bed.
3. No caffeine or sugars at least an hour before bed.
4. Make sure she is getting to bed at a decent time, and she should still have a nap. When kids are overtired, they sleep too deep to realize they are wetting the bed. If it is a late night for us, then I know someone will wet the bed.
5. I bought waterproof mattress pads, and a sheet protector that feels like a real sheet (you lay it over the sheet) but holds up to 6 cups of liquid. That should cut down on the laundry.
Personally, at that age, I still did pull-ups. I only stopped when they were much older and it was embarrassing to wear a "diaper" to bed. If it gets to be an embarrassment for them, then they are old enough to really work on it.
I tried rewards, but it really wasn't the same as daytime, so the rewards were pointless. I made a huge deal this morning because my boys stayed dry (my girl still wears pull-ups at night). Hang in there; it will happen one day!

It is great that she is daytime potty-trained! Although I know she did well the first 2 weeks, I think the novelty has worn off and the truth is, at 2.5 she really is not ready. My pediatrician has told me that at 5 to 6 kids are truly physically mature enough to be night-trained and that before that their bodies just are not physically ready. Although my son was totally trained by 3.5, he is 5 now and having some setbacks. I have a niece who is 5.5 and just now starting to wake up dry. Both of these behaviors are totally normal. I would not worry about it, just stick her in night-time a pull-up for now and wait a while before you try again. Maybe by 3 she can give it a go. Just think, you are already ahead of the curve! Good luck.

please allow her to wear pull- ups at night again. 2.5 years is so very young vs. Our expectations.

well what we did was to make sure there was no liguid intake about an hour before bed.Then right before we went to bed we would get our doughter up have her use the potty. sometimes it was hard to get her back to sleep but usually she was not awake enough to have any problems.

I have five girls and I will tell you what I have done. It sounds like what I went through and what you are going through is very close. After washing everyday. I began to wake my daughters before I went to bed, and had them use the potty. Also, do not let her drink any water 30min to an hour before bed this will help reduce accidents, and have her go potty before going to bed herself. Within a few days things should be back to normal.

Sleeping so soundly she doesn't wake up to go to the bathroom IS an issue of readiness. She's only 2 1/2, so I would say let her use the night-time pull-ups and wait. She probably will have periods of staying dry followed by periods of bedwetting for a while. It's easier on everyone (her included) to use the pull-up: less stress, less pressure, less embarassment. She will grow out of it.
And YAY that she's day-time potty trained at 2 1/2!!

I cannot wait to see some of the responses because I am in the same boat!!
However, I found these wonderful, soft, waterproof big "pads" that tuck under the mattress. They totally save me from having to wash the whole bed. My 3 yr old daughter wets the bed 1-2 night s and week and, of course, it usually seems to happen after I wash her bed at the "normal" weekly time! I got the pads from the One Step Ahead catalog and they really work.

I was just determined to not go back to pull-ups. I am encouraging and loving to her and she seems to be frustrated when she wets the bed. She potty trained easily right at 2 yrs old and was anxious to leave the pull-ups behind but.....

Here's to hoping we get some good answers!

I'd wait a while and keep her in pull-ups. Her bladder may not be ready to go eight to ten or so hours without wetting.

Hi M.,
I've had 3 daughters and they all were potty trained by age two - two and a half yrs old. When we started putting regular panties on at night, right before I went to bed (between 10-11 pm) I would get my daughter up and take her to the potty. She would go every time even though she was completely asleep. If she wouldn't go right away, I would rub lightly on her back and then she would go peepee. She was dry every morning. Another tip, only give water after 6 pm. You can give her as much juice, drinks as you want during the day, but at night just water. Good Luck.
Anita P.

My 4 year old daughter sleeps so soundly she doesn't wake up when she wets the bed either. She was dry most mornings and when she turned 4 we let her sleep in big girl pants. Then the wetting started and I can't put her back in pull-ups. What I do is have her use the potty at bedtime (7:30) and then I take her to the bathroom when I go to bed at (10:00). She barely stirs but is dry in the morning and that's all that matters! (In my opinion.) Good luck.

M.,
We are in the same boat as you - day time potty trained as of a few months ago, but night time is out of the question. I agree with most people that night time is a whole other ball game. However, if it is upsetting to you or you are totally ready to take this on, my brother did something for his daughter.
My niece, at 6 started wetting the bed again. She slept so hard, she was not waking up. Their doctor recommended an alarm that hooks to her panties, and to the top of her nightgown. When ANY amount of moisture is detected, the alarm goes off and wakes her up. It is helping her, but then again, she is 6.
Good luck!
J.

yep, agree here with other moms. My first was dry in one week and no turning back. My second was dry and now back in a pull up. He is nearly three and trained day time 6 mnths ago or so. I decided it was not worth the stress and shame he feels. sometimes his pull up is dry and sometimes it is so ful it leaks. We work hard to monitor last drink two hours efore bed and going to the potty about four times from start of bed time to getting in bed for lights out. still never know. I am told it is just an under developed bladder and it happens mostly when I know he is growing.

On the alarm previously mentioned, my nephew is now 10 and still wets. they did try the alarm and it worked some what but this was when he was at least eight. He can't take a medication like Ditrapan ntil like 12 or so. and they are still hopefull his body will catch up.

so yours is so little. I would just relax and go with the flow in a regular, daytime (smaller and less bulky) pull up. Talk often with her though so she knows this is temperary and get very ecited when it is dry. Teach her to go right when she gets up. Mine is either wet at 12 am for some reason or went on accident trying to get up to go potty in the morning. He has preschool and eveything else to worry about; he doesn't need to worry about that too.

Hi M.. When our daughter was that age I used the Gerber training pants and then used the Gerber plastic pants over top (the ones that go over cloth diapers). (Not the ones that have the pants and plastic together.) It was still underwear, just more cloth to absorb urine, and the pants usually kept the sheets dry. We called them our nighttime underwear.

Training a bladder at that young takes time during the night.
I would suggest doing pullups every night as a just in case. Saves you the stress of her being all wet and changing sheets daily. I would wake my son or daughter during training when I went to bed to go potty, they had been asleep about three hours at that time and then would go the rest of the night dry. It takes time. With both of mine I left pullups on a good few months after the day training as back up. Both did fine but I still liked the protection. If they are really worn out it is very hard to wake up out of deep sleep to go to the bathroom. Even as kids get older if they are deep sleepers it is hard..
Do the pullups, save your sanity and remind yourself she is really young still. It will happen when her bladder, brain and body figure it out.

It can take even a couple of years for some kids to be dry at night. They really do just sleep too soundly sometimes! You may need to consider going back to pull-ups until she starts waking up dry most mornings. Hopefully it won't take too long. None of my kids were dry at night for quite a while after they were potty trained. If you just expect this may take a while and go with it, it may help lessen your frustration. I hope this helps!

My pediatrician said this is completely normal until age 7, when their brain actually develops to be able to wake up at night. Until then I'd suggest GoodNights diapers at WalMart for bedtime. They work great and if she doesn't go you can just re-use it the next night.

Weather changes, especially when it gets cold at night can contribute to bed wetting. My kids go more often in the winter. But I wouldn't make a big deal of it. You could try limiting liquids in the evening, but only if you think they're getting enough during the day.

Hi M.--

When my son was 2 1/2 he was actually getting up and going to the bathroom. Now that he is 3 we are totally entrenched in pullups. I have no idea how to get him back to waking up. Nothing has worked so far. My latest vision is cloth pullups, which will be waterproof but not quite as wicking, I don't think, so he should feel it and maybe wake up (they haven't gotten here yet--any day). I special ordered them from RumpyCushions.com--the owner, Talisha, is really nice and easy to work with. Besides, then I'm not landfilling pullups, or paying for them all the time. :) Though I will have to wash the pee out, but still....
My pediatrician agrees with you that readiness is all about them and when they have a mature enough body to make it do what they want. So I guess just hang in there! Good luck.

My daughter who is now 4 1/2 has the same problem. Look up enuresis on the internet.