Nighttime Potty Training

Yes, I have heard that the least wet sheets come for people who get their child up right before they go to bed themselves. Then, get in there AS SOON she she wakes up, or right before she usually does. We put a potty seat in my son's room so he can go any time he needs to.

my grandaughters pediatrican said do not take water away. It actually helps the kidneys and bladder to function right. He said when her bladder was ready she would quit wetting at night. She was 5 when she stopped at night. He told us nothing you do will make them stop until the bladder was ready. It was like a light bulb went on when it happened. No more wetting. (she was daytime potty trained at two)

Just Go For It!! As soon as my son kept his pull ups dry for nap I asked him if he would like to wear underpants to bed. We try to limit drinks before bed and always make him sit on the potty first. He still might have an accident every couple of weeks but he's doing great. They seem to know when they are ready...it will just "click" for them (the reason why I gave the option to not wear a pull up at night). My son is only 2 1/2 so I wouldn't go by age. I personally would never wake them during the night either. That seems like you're setting up a bad habit and I would be afraid of not getting them back to sleep easily.

Potty training was a lot harder than I ever expected. To tell the truth, you might be a bit overly optimistic in trying to get a 3 year old to be dry through the night.

Yes, start with nothing to drink an hour before bedtime.
Yes, wake them up in the middle of the night to go potty if you're going straight to big girl pants.

With our oldest, she was a lot closer to 4 or so before she was dry through the night and even still had the occasional accident if she was extra tired from so much activity a certain day. We ended up resorting to letting her "outgrow" the size of pull-ups she was in. She wanted to wear them so she didn't have to worry about having an accident. But then they started getting a little uncomfortable to wear at night, and she'd say they were a bit tight. I'd tell her she could wear her big girl pants, but she'd have to be sure to get up and go potty in the night. She said, "okay...but I want to use your potty" I don't care which potty she uses, as long as she doesn't potty in the bed! LOL Yeah, mine's further away than her bathroom, but that's okay. That was pretty much it too.

ONe thing I've noticed with her is that if she starts to get real fidgety in the middle of the night....if she's not too hot or too cold, then it means she has to go potty.

Just last night, (she's been a little sick lately so she's been in my bed, and DH has slept in her room with the 2 year old) she was real fidgety around 2-3 a.m. I asked if she needed to go potty, and she got up and went, came back, and went right back to sleep - no more fidgeting.

For what it's worth....and good luck!

Just stop putting them on her. I stopped at age 3 for my son and age 2 1/2 for my daughter. I would recommend that you go buy, if you haven't already, the long lap pads for her bed. This will eliminate you having to change sheets in the middle of the night. My sister n law gave them to me for my daughter and they are wonderful!! From what I have been told they can be found in the baby section at WalMart and at Babies R Us. GOOD LUCK!!

I do think in this country we have been inundated with the idea that we have to be constantly hydrated...everyone has water bottles EVERYWHERE, etc. yes- take away the sippy cup. I remember some of my friends weren't allowed anything to drink after dinner and that's awfully extreme.... But cut down on drinks after dinner and let what happens, happen. As long as she is wearing a pull-up, she is not going to "FEEL" the wet. She has to learn what it feels like when she has to go, enough that THAT FEELING will wake her up and make her go to the bathroom even in the night. Everyone has to go at night SOMETIMES but the regular routine for MOST people is to be able to make it through the night without having to go again. I would NOT start getting her up in the middle of the night- I think that would start a bad habit of her thinking she couldn't make it through the night, when in reality, a 2-1/2 year old ought to be able to hold it. Congratulations on getting her that far in the daytime already! When I thought my first was ready, I started putting her on the potty first thing in the morning, because she was DRY. Sometimes she sat there for an hour and would not go. We sang songs and talked, and ate breakfast (YES--even that!) and tried pouring water, etc. nothing worked. I would put on a diaper and she would immediately go and it would be soaked. So, I knew she had the control...she just didn't want to and I finally gave up. When another little girl in her Sunday School class started going potty and wearing panties- then she wanted to, too, and we put on the panties and she only had ONE accident ever after that. But it was what SHE wanted.

Getting a child to want it is the hard part, i think. :)

If she doesn't feel uncomfortable (i.e. because of the pull-up) how will she discover that she wants to stay dry?

J.,

When we went through this with our daughter, we just brought her to the potty right before we went to bed. I let her keep the water. I like water beside my bed too and I couldn't take it away from her. We did that for about a year and now she lasts the whole night and doesn't really drink her water unless she needs too. I think when they are younger they still like to have a little sip when they wake during the night. IT wasn't a big deal to 'sleep walk' her to the potty and back. She didn't even wake up! Hope that helps.

There are mattress protectors you can buy that just lay over the bed and do not tuck under. They cover the area the child lays on. I bought these when my twins were potty training, and they were great. I layed them on top of their sheets and then I didnt have to change the entire bed in the case of and accident. Just pull that off, place on another one, and possibly give them a new blanket as it never failed they were always twisted up in it when they did have an accident, but it was great. Once we gave up the pull-ups it wasn't very long until they quit having accidents. We bought ours at Toys R Us and they came 2 in a package. I wish I could tell you what they were called but I didn't keep the packaging. Just look where the mattress pads are. Of course, we also limited drinks at bedtime.

My girls turned three in February, and have been potty trained since last August. I asked the ped at their three yr check up about being potty trained at night, and she said there's nothing to worry about unless they are 5 or 6 and still wetting the bed. Thankfully, naptimes result in dry pull-ups and about two months ago they wake up with dry pull-ups nearly every morning and thankfully we can reuse the next night. The cost of pull-ups is expensive (try buying for double) but at the stage they are at now, I haven't had to buy pull-ups for about a month now. Also - regarding the drink, my daughters used to have a drink in their bed and right around potty training time, we took the cup from their bedroom and instead bought a dixie cup dispenser and neat designed dixie cups and they get a sip after they brush their teeth. Easy transition from the cup in the bedroom.

There really is no "training" you can do for nighttime. Going to the bathroom at night is actually a "brain triggered thing." And if you don't let them develop that it will take years!! Do not take away the water as long as she isn't drinking more than one small cup and definitely DO NOT wake her up at night. That is way more hurtful than doing good. It will mess up her sleep habit and not get her brain trained. They will do it when their bodies are ready. Goodluck