Underwear at Night?

Hi J.,
My suggestion is to put her to bed at her usual time and then wake her up later (like midnight or whatever time works for you) to go to the bathroom. My son is now 5 and was day potty trained at 2.5 yrs old. However, he got "hooked" on the pull-ups at night (who wouldn't, they make them so much fun to wear, Diego, Cars, you name it : ). Anyway, I decided finally about 6 mos ago that enough pullups. So we'd put him to bed w/ the pull up but then wake him up around 12am (I know this sounds rough but I think it works!) to pee. He'd do his thing and then most days wake up dry. So then we graduated to wearing undies to bed but continued to wake him at night. We did that for about 2 weeks and now he's been done w/ the pull-ups and we don't even need to wake him up anymore to go. I think we "trained" his bladder somehow!!! I hope this idea works for you. I have an 11 mos old also so I was usually up late at night tending to one of his needs....you know, we never get to sleep! Good luck and let me know how you make out! My only regret is that I did not try this method a year ago!!! I think the whole pull up industry is a scam and prolongs full potty training.
Take Care,
Becky

Buy more pull-ups, keep using them until she always wakes up dry. Kids bladders don't grow as fast as the rest of their little bodies, so she can't control it. It is so much easier to have her wear pull-ups instead of having to clean up an accident that she couldn't help. Plus she won't feel bad about wetting the bed. My oldest needed pull-ups until he was almost five, she will grow out of it don't worry.

I'm going to buck the trend and say stick with pull ups, until she's dry more like 75%-95% of the time. To wake up wet almost half the time is a lousy way to start the day, for both of you.

Boy, oh boy do I remember these days. In my opinion you're well on your way. I did the same thing you did with my son who is now 12, but when I switched to undies in the bed and he had a couple of accidents, I started waking him up when I woke up to make that middle of the night trek to the bathroom. After a while of me constant doing that, he caught on and was waking himself up to go. I was willing to deal with the occasional bet wetting incidents to get him fully trained. I also didn't let him drink anything after 9pm and that helped a lot. GOOD LUCK!

Children develop at different rates, and while yours is very mature in some ways (going on 14, you say!), she may not be physically ready to be dry at night - once they're asleep, it's not their decision to wake up and use the potty. It's whether or not the full bladder sends the signal to the brain, and the brain sends the signal to wake up!

My child was very late developing in this area, and the pediatrician said it was perfectly normal.

So it might make sense to keep her in a pull-up since she's only dry half the nights, maybe a little more. If you want to try the underwear then I would suggest making the bed with a mattress cover, a sheet, then a waterproof crib sheet (not fitted, just flat, the size of the crib) and another regular sheet. That's what we did. If she wets the bed, you can just quickly peel off the wet sheet and the crib sheet, and put her down on a dry sheet. The mattress protector is important - it is nearly impossible to get urine stains/odors out of a mattress, and you don't want to be dealing with this every couple of nights.

In short, I would say not to push her to do something she isn't physically capable of doing at 3.5, but it's okay to experiment with different techniques.

I would switch to full time underwear. We just did that a couple of months ago and no accidents yet. We made sure in the beginning to put a plastic sheet on the bed and every time she woke up in the morning with no accidents we made a huge, happy deal about it. Little happy dance and a big "we're so proud of you"
Best of luck.

Hey There,
Frankly, it doesn't sound like she's ready for underwear at bed. My pedi's rule of thumb is 7 mornings in a row with dry diapers. We actually went 14 days in a row to be sure and then switched my son to no diaper at night. He had a few accidents in the beginning, but adjusted really well. From what I understand, their bladders are really still not fully developed and it is very individual from child to child when they will be ready. I have a friend whose daughter potty-trained fully by 2 years 2 months old, but still (at 4.5) wears a diaper at night.

Good luck!

hey,

I would say switch her full time just be sure you're protecting the matress. The Dr. can prescribe a "potty alarm" it beeps when she pees the bed. sort of the "pavlovs dogs theory". We never used it but the Dr. gave me the prescription when I mentioned my son was having some accidents. :) good luck!

J., I have read that young children sleep very deeply and they often do not wake to the urge to use the bathroom even though they have been successfully potty trained during the day. My daughter was 3 years and 3 months when she was successfully potty trained and she wore night time pullups until she was at least five. Once she was able to consistently wake up when the urge hit her, we started trying underwear at night and she has been successful. My younger daughter (almost four and a half) was using pullups at night, too. Soon after she was potty trained she started racing to change for bed right after dinner and she would put her pullups on at the same time. If she was up for a while after getting ready for bed, she'd just pee in her pullups instead of using the bathroom. As soon as we noticed the pattern, we wouldn't let her put on her pullups until she had used the bathroom and was going to bed. Soon after that she stopped peeing in her pullups during the night so now she is wearing her undies all of the time.
Another tip would be to limit her drinks in the late afternoon and evening so that she won't have to go at night. I wish you luck - I'm sure that when her body is ready she will be able to sleep in undies every night!:)

Hi J.. I would recommend that you just make the switch to undies. It may mean that you have to change the sheets until she gets used to it, but once she does, it will be smooth sailing from there. I think the longer they go with wearing pull-ups the harder it is for them to learn to wake up to let you know they need to pee. I just make sure my daughter goes to the bathroom right before I put her in her bed and I don't give her anything to drink before bed either. Just try it and I think you wil see her starting to stay dry through the night! Good Luck! K.:)

I would go underwear all night with a mattress pad to protect her bed. Using the pullups just encourages her to wet by making it "ok" to go in bed. this way she will learn that if she does wet, its wet and not absorbed by the pullup.

Hi J.! I guess it would really depend on how much you want to be changing wet bed sheets. Some kids take longer to night train than others so it could be a while.

Hi J.,
I'd say stay with it. And buy a mattress pad or just put a trash bag under her sheets to save the mattress. We had a few wet nights (sometimes even a lot of wet nights) but it was worth it. The other posters are right; if she never feels wet, she won't know what wet feels like and won't have the incentive to go to the potty. It just takes practice, especially for their developing mind to recognize the need to go and to then wake her up. Our daughter woke up a few times during the night seemingly without reason; we learned after a few accidents to put her on the potty whenever she woke up. good luck! It's worth it, believe me.

My suggestion would be to go with the underwear. Of course a potty run before bed is best, but even if there is accidents, they will only last so long before her body gets the point. I went through this alot with my three year old. But she is completely trained and it was worth the few extra loads of laundry.

Although, I'm very new to potty training, I would say that if last night was your first night giving the underwear a shot, give a chance before you go back to pull-ups. Since you know what time she had the accident, I'm assuming she woke you up to let you know so it probably woke her up, which might not happen with pull-ups.
I think that after maybe a few nights, she'll learn to wake herself up before she has an accident. As long as you have a water-proof mattress pad, I think it's worth giving it a try. Plus, you'll save money by not buying the pull-ups.

I went through this with my daughter, now five, and put it up for discussion on Mamasource. I chose to ease the tension and stick with pull ups and I do not regret the choice. Every kid is different. My daughter is not physcially ready to handle a full night without wetting the bed. I did not want to wake her up when I went to bed and then again a few hours later. She will be ready when she's ready. She is fully trained during the day so I don't mind the pull ups at night. It has taken a lot of pressure off the three of us and nighttimes and mornings aren't so stressful. I truly feel it was starting to get to her confidence when she would wet and we would get upset. When it comes down to it it's a decision you have to make based on what you feel works best for you and your family. She is only three and some kids are not ready for a long time still. Trust your judgement and be happy with the decision you make. She won't be going to High School with pull ups.

I would switch to full time underwear. Wearing both pull ups and underwear tends to send mixed signals and is probably very confusing.
Another thing that may be helpful is when you head to bed yourself, wake her up and take her to the potty. It was about a week or two of this and then my daughter would wake up by herself and go to the bathroom unassisted. We still have the plastic sheet on her bed for those just in case nights, but she's been pretty good waking up dry. Good luck.

I would suggest either a waterproof pad that you put over the fitted sheet (this is what we did with our son until we were sure he wouldn't have any nighttime accidents), or put her in training underwear (they are a little padded) with a waterproof cover on the outside--this will allow her to feel the wetness and realize what is going on without "wetting the bed". If she wets on regular basis, you may want to stick with just a pull up until you notice she goes a week or so without any accidents. Some children just mature a little slower for the overnight pottying. Some 4 years old in my son's preschool still required pullups at night. Good luck.

We went through a similar struggle with our son when he turned three about what to do. We had JUST gotten him potty trained during the day (it had only been a couple of weeks) and planned on using pull-ups for night time, when our pediatrician suggested we ditch the pull-ups completely and go with undies all the time. I won't lie, he had occasional wet nights for about three months and we did do a lot of laundry, but we kept praising and encouraging him, NEVER made him feel badly about wetting the bed, and after that period of time was over with, we have had zero accidents, day or night. It was definitely a commitment, and sometimes a little exhausting, but if you can tough it out with them and keep a positive attitude, it can save you a lot of stress down the road. It also seems to have helped him feel more confident and independent. All of that said, you know your child best and you are the one only one who knows what she needs to succeed. Good luck!

Since she usually wakes up dry, I think it could be worth trying underwear - but if she keeps wetting the bed regularly go back to pull-ups for a while or be prepared to get her up in the middle of the night and to change a lot of sheets. Some kids just aren't physiologically ready to make it through the night at 3.5, and if your daughter is one of these pushing the issue can make things worse.

Hi J.
I have to say that I ran into the same situation a month ago. I did notice that when my son (who turned 3 in June)woke up with the pull up he would be dried. I started making sure that he would go pee right when he got up. But if I didn't he would just pee in the pull up. To him it was a diaper and didn't bother him. So when I ran out of pull ups I just made sure that he went before bed and when he got up. I would just stay with underwear. I feel that the pull up's gave them reason to pee in it and be lazy. Even know he waits until last second to go. I just make him and then no accidents happen. I hope that this helps. Best luck to you.
M.- Mother of two. 3yr boy 1 yr girl

It sounds like you already know what to do. The accidents will lessen in a coupe weeks (if that), and soon she will not want to feel wet at all - and will get up and go to the bathroom

My daughter was closer to four when she finally wore undies at night. It was kind of an accident that it happened. We were at a friends house late and she fell asleep in her underwear so, I just left her in them. I did start cutting back on drinks before bedtime. I would give her a cup of milk maybe 6 oz around 6:30 and nothing after that, not even water when she was brushing her teeth. I also always still make sure both my girls goes potty before bed even if they say they don't have to. She did at one time have a few accidents when I was attending school at night. I started waking her up and putting her on the potty before I went to bed, like around 11 pm. She was usually half asleep so, I was the one do all the work and she always went pee and would go back to sleep after I put her back in bed. Good luck.

my advice on potty training is related to the old days when we didn't have pull ups and night time diapers and the such. if she doesn't feel wet she won't know she's wet. it takes a bit more out of you because of the laundry issue and maybe even a little more upset 3 year old because of shame but try it and see if it works.

I think you should just be prepared to do alot of laundry. With my daughter, who was completely potty-trained at 2.5, we didn't want to confuse her by thinking it was okay to wet the bed at night but not during the day by wearing pull-ups. We just completely stopped using diapers and never used pull-ups and she's only had about 4 or 5 accidents since then (she's 5 now!). By the way, just think of all the money you'll save!!!