Dear Moms,
My daughter is going to be turning 4 years old soon. She has been consistently going pee and poo in the toilet for a long time. She has not had any accidents while she is awake in so long I cannot remember when that was. She has never had an accident at school. However, we have tried to transition her to regular underwear at night and she pees and wakes up. She still takes a nap in the afternoon for about 2 hours and although she goes pee right before her nap she has about one accident a month...during her nap. When she pees during her nap it usually wakes her up and sometimes she can still pee more in the toilet. Help...what suggestions to you have to help this process. R.'
Thank you for your advice I really appreciate it. I will continue to put her in pullups and she how she does over the next year.
My pediatrician said some kids are not physically ready to be night trained until close to age 5. Their bodies just can't do it. I wouldn't push it....just keep having her go potty right before bed and nap but keep her in a diaper or pullups. Good luck!
Night time training can prove to be frustrating for the parent because this process is mostly led by the child, unfortunately. The best advice I can offer, because I have 3 children and due with my 4th in 3 weeks is to limit her drinks before bed time. If for example her bed time is 8 P.M. then no drinks after 7 P.M. You must encourage her to urinate just before climbing into bed, even if she whines that she doesn't have to go, make her go because there are always, what I call, "pee--pee dribbles." IF you stay up a little later, you can always wake her just before you turn in for the night to pee one last time. This is the technique that worked very well for me with all 3 of my children. Please remember that every child is different and she just may be a very heavy sleeper and is unable to wake herself when the urge to urinate comes about. It's not her fault but night time training can take a bit longer, depending on the child and I do not believe it has anything to do with age because mine were night trained before 4 years old. Don't beat yourself up....just try to be patient with her. Good luck.
My daughter is 4 and has been daytime trained since she was about 2.5. She still wears a Pull Up at night. Most of the time she still wakes up wet. We tried the underwear thinking it would help her. All it did was add a lot of stress to our lives. She felt like she was in trouble, I was waking up to change sheets and give her a bath, we both had a hard time falling back asleep. I spoke to her pediatrician about it and the doctor said that it's perfectly normal for kids to not be night trained until they're 6 or 7. If you're cutting out liquids 2 hours before bed and she's going potty right before bed and she's still peeing, then her bladder just isn't ready yet. It's nothing to really be concerned about. When she's ready, she'll stop peeing at night. If it's still going on when she's 6, then it might be cause for concern. In the meantime, just let it be.
my 5 and 6 yr old girls wear pull-ups at night. My 5 yr old is finally starting to wake up dry 3-4 mornings a weeks. My 6 yr old is wet every morning (she's a very sound sleeper).
No big deal in our house
Their dad and cousins on dad's side of the family were bed-wetters til 7 or 8. You just have to wait until their bladder can hold it all night or they are able to wake up to go the bathroom.
I don't think you're expecting too much. My 3 year old was in pull ups for over a year, until finally we decided to go cold turkey and put him in underwear. He did well, but he still has accidents during the night 1 or 2 times a week. As long as you don't punish a child for having an accident, it's just an opportunity for them to learn from their mistake. Waking up wet and cold is unpleasant enough! One thing that helped was to encourage my son to get up to pee as soon as he thought of it, instead of laying there and falling back asleep. Sometimes a kid will dream that they got up to go to the bathroom, and so when they pee, they think they are going in the toilet. It can be very confusing!
my dd was the same way. Daytime was fine but she was in pullups over a year (and till past age 4) at night. No biggie, other than cost. get a plastic mattress cover if you don't already have one, ditch the pullups, limit her drinking at night and make sure she goes before bed, and just take it a day at a time. She really won't still be wetting the bed in highschool, I promise.
R.,
You are being too strict!! Your daughter is only 4 years old! That is awesome that she pees and poops and hardly has accidents! It can take years for her to wake up in the morning completely dry. Your expectations are way too high. My 7 y/o son still wears a pull up at night. Every child is different! Definately put pull ups on your daughter at night. She will wake up dry when she is good and ready (give it at least 2 years). There is nothing you can do. This is out of your control. Let it go. This is not a problem!
Sometimes it will take longer than with others for the nervous system to mature enough to allow the 'full and need to void' stimulus to awaken a deeply sleeping child in enough time to actually make it to the toilet.
My almost 6 y/o has overnight issues too. Sometimes she can be dry for 5 days, or wet for 5 days. My pediatrician said it's not considered a possible problem until AFTER 8 years old.
