Night Time Potty Training for My 3 Year Old Boy

K.,
Sometimes it's harder to get boys potty trained than
it is girls, if it will make you feel better my 5 yr old almost 6 nephew still has trouble, so still wears pull ups
at night, for some reason boys just have a harder time. I don't know what else to tell you, but I think patiences would
be the key here.

K.

I remember potty training my 5yo was a nightmare; I hope my 2yo (who just starting using the toilet this week goes better). It is a common opinion that boys take longer (took about two years with my girl), so have faith b.c it will happen soon.
With my daughter I let her (encouraged would fit better) sleep in her sleeping bag on the floor at night. Then in the morning I would just strip her down and give her a bath and wash her bedding. I found that clean-up process so MUCH better than cleaning the sheets, blankets, and matress. We did this for months before she started to finally wake up dry. Now, I will admit that then we had trouble getting her to sleep in her bed b.c she wanted to sleep on the floor after that. It also corresponded with her crawling into bed with us and we had her sleep on the floor next to our bed.
Best of Luck

Just as another Mom expressed, I have a 5 year old boy who is still in Pull Ups at nite. He has been potty trained since 3, and is just a heavy sleeper.
I had tried stopping liquids 2hours before, and that did not work. I don't want to go to 3 hours before, bcs. that would mean dinner with no drink, and I think that is mean.
I have met several moms of 5 year olds (all boys) that are in the same situation, so you are in good company.
Now, my little girl potty trained herself at 23 months, and has been dry at night since 25 months - maybe once a week wakes me up to go to the potty with her.
Boys and girls are sooooooooooooo different!

I found out with my son that he wasn't completely emptying his bladder at night. I simply told him (as he was going) to get it all out, and he would release more fluid. Mind you he's just able to hold his bladder all night (provided no drinks 1.5 hours before bed) and he'll be 8 in Nov. Hope this helps.

Also, any doctor will tell you that his bed wetting is not considered an issue until around 10y.o. Of course the doctor isn't the one changing sheets everyday either...

Hi K.,
Wish I had an answer, but I was going to ask this same question abouta month ago! Our 3 y/o son was dry through the night for quite a while, as long as we woke him up before we went to bed (around midnight or so) and had him go potty. Then, all of a sudden he was wet even at that point, and hasn't been dry all night for a long time.
Blessings.

My son wet the bed until he was 10. He was just a deep sleeper, and didn't wake up. His father was the same way, according to my mother-in-law. It's frustrating, but there wasn't anything we could do about it. (And we tried lots of things.)
Of course ask the pediatrician if there could be something else going on, but this isn't something to traumatize yourself or him over. Leave him in Pull-ups/Goodnites until he outgrows it. Don't make a big deal about it, he can't help it. He WILL outgrow it, probably before he starts kindergarten, but certainly before he goes to college.

I agree with most of the others that you should just put him back in pull-ups for now and don't make a big deal out of it. Nighttime potty training is not the same as daytime. It's more related to how their bladders work and how deeply they sleep.

My older daughter wet the bed every night until she was almost 4 years old. Then, she told me that she didn't want to wear pull-ups to bed anymore, so we let her try just undies. I'd say that for several months, she still wet the bed at least 3-4 times per week. I did buy a mattress cover (goes over the sheet so that you don't have to change the whole bed), and that helped make me feel better. We tried not to make a big deal out of it, and she did eventually outgrow it. She's now 5 years old, and we have no problems with bedwetting.

My younger daughter day trained herself by age 2, and she started wearing undies to bed at age 2 1/2 (the same time as her sister -- they're 17 months apart in age). She actually wet the bed less often (although still once a week or so for a little while). She's now almost 4, and I can't remember the last time she wet the bed.

Kids are just so different, and my guess is that your boy isn't ready.

He is just not ready to last all night without emptying his bladder. Boys mature slower then girls, and that means physically as well as mentally. Put his pullups back on, and STOP WAKING HIM UP!! This is more harmful than you can imagine. You're doing it for you, not him. You don't want to have wet sheets to deal with. Put yourself in his position for a moment. Would you like to be wakened 4-5 times a night for something you have absolutely no control over? What's the point? He is establishing lifelong sleep patterns at this age. His body is saying loud and clear that he's not ready for dry nights, so let him get the sleep he needs, or you'll have a host of new problems created by a poor kid that can't get a decent night's sleep.

I would say he's probably not ready. My son was dry overnight for a year from age 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 and then suddenly began wetting again. I think boys are definitely slower to get this aspect, my son is still wearing pull-ups to bed. My daughter is 3 years younger, and has been dry overnight since her first day of potty training. I don't know why, but I just think girls are built better for this. I would put him back in pull-ups, perhaps continue your routine of waking him, but if he's wet anyway, at least you're saving yourself changing sheets twice in the middle of the night and eventually it will just start to make him feel bad. The pediatrician said they don't even start to consider it a problem until age 7 or 8 with boys. My doctor also recommended avoiding certain things as they can stimulate the bladder like chocolate, carbonation, and caffeine, also milk, since it is a more complex liquid, takes longer to digest and therefore longer to reach the bladder so you might want to cut back on that in the last hours of the day.

My daughter just turned four, and she still wets her pull-ups almost every night. Her doctor said this is normal for the age and that we should talk about it again if it is still happening at age five. They just need time to make the feeling of having to go "click" while they're sleeping. I think if you push it, both you and he will become very frustrated. I'd put him back in pull-ups and just give him some time.

My son did the same thing, he only lasted a week though. He's not 5 and still soaks through pull ups at night. The doctor told me to not wake him b/c sleep walking runs in my family (I and my sister both wet the bed growing up, but my two brothers would sleep walk and pee throughout the house!!!!! And I mean EVERYWHERE!) She told me waking him could induce sleep walking. I'd rather just deal with a wet bed verse a closet full of wet shoes, or a couch soaked with a kid sleeping on the basement floor. (Yes, odd things happen to sleep walkers).
My son does equally as well on days that he drinks up until bedtime as he does on days he does not drink. There's no ryhm or reason (although it gets worse with stress or when he has lots of things on his mind).
Let me know if you find something that works!

Your son is still very young. I'd just put him back in pullups and not worry about it. It may have worked early as it was a new thing. Now that he's not as worried about it, he may be sleeping more soundly. I'm sure it's annoying because your daughter is doing so well. Someone mentioned that boys and girls are so different -- but in my case my daughter is the hard one. My son was dry at night before 2.5 (though still has occasional accidents during a growth spurt). He's now 7.5. My daughter is almost 6 and is not even close to being dry at night. I'd rather not worry about pullups, but it's a minor annoyance compared to some others.

Hi K.,
Don't know if this will help, but my sister has a 4 year old who just recently stopped wearing pull-ups. Our doctor said there is a hormone that stops your body from making urine at night and this hormone develops faster in some kids than others. Maybe your daughter's hormone is developed already and your son's isn't. I believe this theory because my son at 3 was basically night potty trained before he was completely potty trained during the day. He would always wake up dry, so thankfully I had that part of potty training over with before being fully potty trained! Good luck.

Unfortunately, especially for boys, they can have problems at night for many years. It was not until my son turned 8 that he finally stopped having any problems. It is important to not make him feel bad or ashamed. That will actually make it worse. As my son got older, the problems were less frequent and we figured out that he would usually have the problems during a growth spirt. His bladder did not grow as fast as he did and thus allowed him to have accidents. If you don't want to have to change sheets as often, I would go ahead and let him wear the pull ups and not make him feel bad at all about having to do so. He could go as long as 10 before they will give him medication to control it. Don't force it and don't chastize him about it. He really probably has no control over the accidents. THere is a special thing that you could have him wear that sounds an alarm with one drop of urine, but I wouldn't recommend that yet. He is still pretty young.

I don't know that you can toilet train at night - that is the ultimate test of if their bodies and brains are ready for it. Perhaps his bladder is just smaller than your daughter's? Or maybe he's just a more sound sleeper? I'd use the pull ups, and definitely not feel defeat. Waking up dry takes a lot longer than during the day, I'm told. Hang in there, it'll happen soon enough!