Potty Training Blues - Hurst,TX

I think you might want to try normal underwear at night and do the mattress pad thing...they are like 10 bucks at Target. I think it's good for them to feel the wet...so they know to wake up when they need to go.

Just because they are trained during the day it does not mean they have to be able to hold all night. Some kids do stay dry at night soon after potty training but many do not. His bladder is not mature enough yet to hold for that long. My 4 1/2 daughter has been trained since she was 3 and she still wears a pull up to bed now , and yes it is very wet in the morning. Put him in a pull up for bed , save yourself the stress and the laundry , when he starts getting up in the morning with a dry pull up , and it is like that every day for a week or two , you will know then that he is ready to leave it off , but some kids do not get to this stage until 5 , 6 sometimes 7. I needed to wear one to bed until I was 6 , and I am not scarred or damaged in any way by it now.,

Please realize that bed wetting is NOT the same issue as potty training. No matter how much your son may want to stay dry during the night, this is not a matter of willpower or effort or even not drinking too much before bedtime. His little bladder may just not be growing as fast as the rest of him. OR, his brain may not produce enough of whatever enzyme it is that tells the kidneys not to release urine while he is sleeping. Some kids don't stay dry at night until they are 8 years old (my husband was one of those). Our older daughter, who was potty trained before she was 2, wet the bed at night until she was almost 5. And it was like night and day - one day, she just no longer needed pull-ups anymore. Much to her chagrin, her younger sister stayed dry at night as soon as she was daytime trained (and I will say, little sister was more difficult in EVERY other possible way!).

The best thing to do is to put night time pull-ups on him and leave him be. Don't make him ashamed of this, because as hard as he tries, there's really nothing he can do about it. Set him up for success - have him go potty before bedtime, don't give him too much water too close to bedtime. It will come in time.

This is so normal for this age- especially for a boy. There's a reason they make Overnight Pullups in larger sizes for older toddlers and kids! LOL

Let him know that he will outgrow this, it's normal, and a lot of kids still wear Pullups at night, and then just ignore it for the most part. Yes, limit fluids 2 hours before bed, and have him potty right before sleep. If it doesn't resolve itself in a year or so, have his pediatrician check for any abnormalities, but, honestly, this can be "normal" for some kids, even up until adolesence.
DON'T WORRY! Chances are excellent that he will be dry by the time he's 5 or 6! Just make sure he knows this isn't a big deal and there's nothing "wrong" with him.

Night time "dryness" does not occur until even 7 years old. It is BIOLOGICAL based. NOT anything to do with 'daytime' pottying.

Accidents will happen. It even happens in much older kids.
You can't control his bladder, or his nerve or brain development.

Don't wake him at night just to go pee.... it will create a very sleep deprived kid. Not healthy.
Don't limit fluids beyond what is natural. That does not work.

Pull-ups are useless, they are expensive and they don't hold much and they leak. Just use a night time diaper, and get some waterproof bed-pads to put directly under him. That way clean up/laundry is much easier.

My daughter is 7... just last night she had a pee accidents in her sleep. No biggie. I just get up, switch out her bed pad, put a new one under her, she washed herself off under the spout, changes PJ's and back to bed. All it took is like 5 minutes.
No biggie.

all the best,
Susan

Don't worry about it. My 8 year old still wets the bed. We tried cutting him off from fluid but that did not work he would wake up thirsty in the middle of the night. It can be genetic. My older brother was older when he stopped and I have a nephew that is 13 that just stopped maybe a year ago and they even did meds. My chiropractor said that if he's still doing it at 10 that's when she will start working with him on it. Not sure what they do but she said it's best to wait till their older to do any major intervention. My son decided he wants to quit wetting and wear underwear to bed like his big brother but he just can't wake up. Sometime if we wake him up he does not remember it. At your son's age it's very normal.

Good luck and God Bless

My 7 year old still needs pull ups. It is biological. Talk to your pediatrician and they shoudl tell you that. Hang in there. I'm trying to be positive about my own. Last month's Parenting had an article on it, I think.

Hi! I'm a little late in answering, but I just wanted to say that each and every child is different in their maturity and biology when it comes to potty training. How about the best of both worlds - put him in pull ups during the night, unless he asks for underwear. Be prepared with a waterproof pad for when that happens. Encourage the underwear, but don't push it. He really just may not be ready. If he isn't ready, no amount of work you do to prevent bed wetting will help! It just puts more pressure on both of you. Encourage the behavior you want, but don't stress about it! While potty training at this time seems so important, don't forget that it's just a very small piece of a very large puzzle. Best wishes! G.

My daughter is 5 and still wear nighttime pullups at bedtime. Some mornings they are very wet, some mornings they are dry. I have heard just like others have said that this is normal and they aren't ready at night until up to age 7 sometimes. Just hang in there. I learned from potty training you can't force a child into something their body isn't ready for. My daughter was potty-trained fully until she was 4. We knew she was behind, but she just wasn't getting it. Yes, it was frustrating, but sometimes you just have to go at your child's body's pace. During the day she does fine now. We have high hopes for nighttimes!

Looks like great advice. I invested in a waterproof mattresspad too! I got two so when one was washing/drying I could use the other. Saves you all some headaches and keeps bed clean and dry.

He knows that he has comfort in the pull-ups. Take them away completly. Tell him he is a big boy and there is no need for accidents in bed. Without him knowing, make sure you have plastic on his mattress. Girls' I have found are so much easier to train however at 4yrs of age your son should know better. This is lazy time. Keep the drinks away and such. I would also try going and getting him regular underwear. Tell him he's a real big boy, really encourage him. Let him know that since hes' grown so big he gets to wear real underwear and doesn't need those pull-ups because they are for baby's.
Hopefully this works. If not I would have him checked by your Physician. He may have an overactive bladder. Good luck, but try the big boy thing first!!

My son wore pull-ups until age 6. Just use the pull-ups or diapers - at four I would still use diapers and don't worry about it or make a big deal about it. Talk to your doctor at the next check up if you are concerned. It's a biological thing - he can't help it.

try one of those potty alarms that hook onto their underwear and the alarm hooks on their shoulder. you can google them.

I struggled with this too, but our pediatrician felt that it was better to stick to the underwear and just be prepared to deal with accidents. While it's been a pain, I did notice he at least had a chance of waking up if he was wearing underwear, but in the pull ups, he was comfortable so he just would go all night.

I too tried everything to eliminate accidents, but unfortunately, it's just something they have to grow out of. DS1 is 6.5 now, and only has an accident every two weeks. (He's been potty trained about 3 years.) For the first year or so, it was rare a night passed that he didn't have one. We just bought a plastic mattress protector, four mattress pads (I put two on at a time) and a ton of sheets, underwear, and pajamas. It's made staying in hotels or with relatives difficult, but we have dealt with it.

Hang in there. I know it's really frustrating but the ped said he'd outgrow it when the relative closest to him outgrew it. For us, that was my brother in law, and it didn't stop completely until he was 7. Just don't make a big deal with your ds about it; he's just not waking up when he has to go. The brain will get that part down eventually.