Not Dry at Night, but Fighting the Pull Up

You simple tell him that he has to wake dry three-five nights in a row and then he can wear underpants.

Throw out the pull-ups. I make my kids wear cloth diapers until they are dry. Pull ups give you the sense of being big. I like to keep them in diapers until they are actual big, i.e. able to wear pull on trainers or undies.

As to the bedding. I had double layers...So a waterproof mattress pad and a set of sheets, and then another mattress pad and a set of sheets. I never had to stripe the bed with my son, and only once with my daughter --but she was really sick.

i double up the sheets on the crib too, so it isn't an issue if there is an issue (throwing up, etc.)

Layer waterproof pad/sheet/waterproof pad/sheet for easy changes.
Training pants--Gerber--quilter & absorbent.

Now, if he's NEVER BEEN dry overnight? Why agree to this at all?
Tell him when his pull up is dry for 3 nights, he can sleep in undies.

SImply tell him that he can stop wearing the pullup AFTER he is not going potty in his sleep. When he wakes up he needs to go straight to the potty before anything else. Encourage him to do so.

GoodNights brand makes a big bed pad that you just peel and stick on. Child has a potty accident? Peel it off and toss it out. Used them years ago with our daughter when she was mastering nighttime in her panties and they worked great!

https://www.goodnites.com/our-products/goodnites-bedmats/...

Hi Mom. Here's what my ped told me. Kids who are day trained cannot be expected to night train until they are physically ready. He said that it could be as long as 4 years old. Mine were around 3 1/2.

He told me NOT to use pull ups at night. My first child wore underwear during the day. The doctor told me to let him wear underwear to bed, but when he did wet the bed, that's when I was supposed to sit down with him in the morning as soon as I took off his wet sheets and say in a very sweet voice "Aww honey, I know you wanted to have a dry night. It's okay, but we have to put a diaper on you until you can have a dry night 4 times in a row." The doctor told me to make a chart for the 4 nights and put a sticker on the dry nights until he can count to 4, and then he can have the underwear again. That worked so well with my son.

If your son has never had a dry night, don't bother with the stickers. Only do the sticker thing at the point that he is actually capable of having a dry night. You do need to go back to the diaper. The pullup doesn't let him feel the wetness. It's also easier to take off. I would get a one piece night pajama and put it on him backwards so that he can't take it off if he persists in pulling off his diaper.

You know, you can buy the kind of pads for his bed that the elderly who are incontinent use. You have (of course) a waterproof padding on the mattress, then the bottom sheet. Lay down a pad where his bottom lays, then put another bottom sheet on top of it. That way, you only pull off the sheet and the pad under it. The bottom sheet and the mattress padding under it is dry. That keeps you from having to wash the mattress padding all the time.

I would NOT allow your son to sleep in underwear if he's peeing the bed every night. He doesn't get to call all the shots. AND, getting to wear underwear every night is a privilege he gets once he can stay dry every night. You never push him to have dry nights. But you don't have to reward him with the underwear if he's still peeing the bed. That's the difference.

Good luck!

I would tell him straight up - either the pull up or x on the bedding. Like one of those pads you can put down on the bed, or layer waterproof covers and sheets so you just strip the bed to the next layer.

I've told my DD that I'm sorry, but right now her body doesn't wake her up and we don't have time in the AM when she has to go to school to strip the bed and give her another bath. Often her pjs will wick the pee up her back if we don't use a pull up. We do try sometimes when there isn't somewhere to be the next day. So far, no go. It's our compromise.

I tried kushies training pants, but they did not keep her bed dry. THey were for daytime use.

How old is he?

It can take up to even 7 years old, for total night time dryness to occur. It is a physiological thing.

I have 2 kids.
My son is 7, and is still not dry at night. And he is in night time diapers.
And he does not fight it. Why?
Because, I explained to him about his body... how it is developing, and even at his age, it is normal not to be all dry at night ALL night. And accidents happens. It is normal.
Even the Pediatrician said so.
So, he does not fight it or have hang ups about it. At all.
My daughter, wasn't completely dry all night, until about 7-8 years old.

And I also have, water proof bed pads directly under him at night, when he sleeps. I got it from Amazon. I have about 4 of them, that I can rotate as needed. It is made of fabric. Not plastic.
I use it just in case. Because, kids, have accidents at night. And the bed pads prevent the sheets from getting soiled.

You, need to talk to your son.
Explain, his body to him.

At school, even the Moms of my son's classmates, said that their kids have accidents at night, and/or some of them are in pull-ups or night time diapers still. And it is not a big deal.

Unfortunately it comes with the territory. For little ones learning to hold it all night, we cut of beverages at least 1 hour or more before bedtime and we also insist on the final bathroom trip before hitting the sheets. If the 1 hour cut off time doesn't yield results then move the time up 1/2 hour before bedtime with no drinking.

You will need to figure out if the bed wetting is a product of consumption, heavy sleeping or something else.

You may also consider getting mattress pads, the hospital kind. They work but if you have a heavy wetter they may overflow their boundaries and still wet the bed. Also invest in 2-3 mattress protectors, which will keep the mattress from getting wet even though the sheets and mattress protector got wet.. You can change the entire bedding.

I know you want to avoid this but it comes with the territory.

So sorry but it won't last forever.

Hope this helps from a chronic former bedwetter.

Maybe a heavy panty liner or incontinence pad in his underwear. That's what I used instead of pull-ups when I first started potty training my DD, and they worked really well. They make pretty thin ones too, that are quite absorbent. I never used them at night though, so I'm not sure if there would be leaking issues. Maybe add one of those training mats on top of his sheet?

Hold old is your little one? Is he old enough to do the bedding himself? If so.. so be it.. buy a few extra sheets so they are ready.

My 5 year old went from not needing a pullup at night, to having accidents and I told him he had to be dry for 7 days in a row, then he could go back to underwear. He went from Jun to oct being dry.. He is just starting to be dry agian. I think with school and some other changes.. it changed his sleep pattern, but also. He was going to the bathroom every 20 mins at school, that has recently stopped. I think it is all connected.

You could go the cloth diaper route and use a wool cover. But it will be VERY bulky and stinky.

My 7 year old son still wets the bed EVERY night. We have tried countless times, all the tricks...No fluids after a certain time, potty before bed, waking him before I go to bed, putting him in underwear so he can "feel the wetness", etc. My sister used the potty pager on my niece as she wet the bed until 9. It worked for her. We recently tried it on my son. He slept thru the alarm, every night. One morning I went in to wake him for school and his alarm was vibrating and he didn't even know it. My son gets upset and says he will never learn how to stay dry at night, but he doesn't fight the pull up. We use Goodnights. He often still wakes up with wet pj's. It's frustrating. He's going to his first sleepover this weekend and he's terrified the other boys will discover his pull ups. I feel bad for him.

My 4 year old daughter just stopped wearing pullups last week. However, she was dry for the last several months every night. She was terrified to try underwear. We finally put our foot down and said no more, it's a waste of $. I bribed her with a new coloring book, and that worked.

I would suggest the cloth underpads they have in hospitals and nursing homes. they are about 36 x 36 so they cover up a good section of a twin bed.. put it on top fo the sheet and that should protect the sheet and keep the beddingunderneath him dry.

YOu can buy them at hospital supply stores. expect to pay $15-25 but they are very durable waterproof and wash well.

There are thick undies.. he might fit in gerber training pants which are thick..

Our son was day trained at 3 1/2 but he wet the bed till he was 7 1/2.
Some of his friends were 10 or 11 before they stopped wetting the bed.
He was in pullups at night till he woke up dry for 2 solid weeks in a row.
There were still some accidents after that but they were rare.
Fortunately he never fought us over pullups at night.
Your son doesn't get to call the shots on this.
He won't need pullups forever but he's not ready to go without them at night yet.

We tried a borrowed cloth diaper from a friend. My daughter was pleased with that solution until she put it on..."This is a diaper!". Tried the plastic covers and those rubbed her legs. Tried a little waterproof pad under her. It worked except she woke up soaked in pee and the pad often moved. We tried waking her up for a potty break when I get up...that works occasionally, but even with taking her to the restroom, she STILL manages to have an accident. She sleeps so soundly, that being wet head to toe has no effect on her.

My daughter is five and the idea of pull ups makes her sad...she doesn't want them. And as much as I hate it, it's just become non negotiable. Our other solutions just haven't worked. And we have just explained to her that her bladder hasn't gotten big enough to wake her up yet. Let us know if you find a workable solution!

They make a sticky mat to put on the sheet under your child when sleeping that absorbs the urine. I tried them when my daughter was little and they worked fine but the blanket and sheet on her got wet.

How big is your little one? I am sure you can find some kind of cloth diaper with the outer rubber pants to fit (try Google). My daughter used underjams until about 5yo at night. They were softer and thicker then the other brands and didn't make that crinkle noise when she moved around.

I would also invest in a vinyl mattress cover this way the mattress wont get ruined, you just pull off the sheets and wipe down the mattress.

Tell him mommy is the boss and since he still has accidents he doesn't get to choose, mommy gets to choose. If you have extra money to spend on sheets and laundry every day then it doesn't matter what he does.

As for me I tell the kids they've got to make lots of choices all day. Like what they wore, what they watched on TV (it's only set to do certain stations and shows), and a lot of other choices. But now it's time for me to get to make a choice and my choice is to not spend all my time doing pee pee sheets.

My kids used the thick cotton potty training pants with "rubber pants" covers at night during potty training. I'm pretty sure we bought them at Target but who knows if they even sell them anymore. Try a google search, maybe you can find some that way.
It's such a shame pull ups were ever invented, they are the worst!!!

I use a water proof sheet protector ($15 ea) for my 3 year old. She does wear a pull-up to bed though but sometimes it will leak. I tell my little one (LO) if and when she mentions not wanting to wear pull-ups that she needs to not have an accident at night - once she can go about a month without an accident then we will switch to panties but still have the sheet protector so that I do not have to wash all the bedding. If she gives me a hard time I tell her "do you want to pick out your pull-up or do you want Mommy to?" - that usually distracts her and gives her the sense of "control" she's needing.

With my first LO, I did the same thing. She wore pull-ups until she was about 4 when her body was physically able to deal with night time potty issues (ditto on what @Doris said about "physically not being ready")

My daughter wet her pullups every night until we took them away, and maybe had 2-3 accidents this past year. She wakes up to go to the potty but didn't feel she had to with the pull up so he may surprise you.

They do sell the training underwear and rubber pants at Target, but they make a lot of noise and were uncomfortable for my daughter.

They also sell disposable pads in the adult diaper section that I believe you can stick on the bed so they don't move.

Let him wear underpants one night. He may decide he does not like being wet and go back to pull ups or who knows maybe he will,wake up dry. Heck, miracles never cease!