My son has been potty trained for about a year. However, at night he still wears a diaper. He is 3 1/2 and I think its time he be able to wear underwear to bed at night. My fear is that if he is in a diaper at night too long, he'll have a harder time transitioning down the road.
All day yesterday we talked about him wearing underwear to bed, and the fact that he wont be wearing any more diapers. I told him, if he needs to use the potty to come and get mommy or daddy. He was fine with it, and rather excited.
At bedtime, he protested a little. But, didnt give me much grief about the underwear.
This morning, he woke up before I did. When I went in to get him, he was already up, playing with his toys. His bed, and his clothes were soaked.
Tonight, he wants to wear a diaper to bed.
I'm not sure what to do. I think consistency is key. (It has certainly paid off in other areas of parenting) But, I dont want him to feel ashamed or uncomfortable.
Normally, when he gets up in the morning, his diaper is soaked. But its unclear if he pees throughout the night or just in the morning when he gets up.
I've thought about pull-ups. But, my daughter is potty training, and I havent been that impressed with them. They seem like more expensive diapers. The cool alert feature does nothing for her.
How do you know when your toddler is ready to go all night in underwear?? Are there any tricks??
HELP! :)
I'm sort of at the same junction as you; most mornings my 3 yr old is dry so I feel like testing out the waters (no pun intended). My ideas were to get some wool "longies" and, copy a friend who sewed some extra padding into regular underwear. Wool longies are very absorbent, they can double as diaper covers or pajama pants... that's the way people used to do diaper covers before plastic came around. The properties in wool react with the acids in urine and "saponify" or make soap. Thus, they absorb a lot and don't get all gross very quickly. I tend to think that kiddos will be more likely to focus on controlling their bladder when they have a bit of reinforcement that peeing equals uncomfortable wetness.
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A.P.
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Glens Falls
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I happen to be a firm believer in the thought that it'll happen when it happens. I have twins who are almost four. One of them has been wearing undies to bed for six months. I noticed that she was staying dry at night for days at a time so I just took her pull ups away and she's literally never had an accident. My other daughter is soaked nearly every morning and I don't make a big deal out of it. We celebrate when she's dry but don't make a big deal out of it when she isn't.
So, I would say don't rush it. Limit drinks at night and keep a diaper on him so you don't have to deal with the mess. It'll happen when he's ready. There are 7 and 8 year olds who just don't have the bladder control to stay dry at night, so at 3, you have plenty of time before you have to worry.
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D.
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New York
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He's not ready for night time potty training. Lots of kids aren't until about 5. Your expecting to much to early. 8 to 10 hours of holding it is way to much on a 3 yr old. And they don't have the mental capability to wake up and go during the night. Keep the diapers, unless you want to change his bed every morning, until he starts to wake during the night on his own.
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L.V.
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New York
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My oldest is 9 now and he didnt stop wearing pullups to bed until about 4'ish....before kindergarten started definately.
My youngest will be 4 in June and he still wears a pull up at night. Sometimes he is completely dry, alot of times he does wake up to go potty but alot of times he does wet himself at night.
Try pull ups at bed instead of diapers. They will hold and he wont leak thru and still give him the option of getting up and going to the bathroom rather easy at night. I will probably wait until later in the year to try him at night without the pull up......I think he is still too young...he has accidents when he sleeps at school or my moms in his underwear and that is just because he just cant help it...although the accidents are very few and far between so we will see.
