Potty training...when to Stop Pull-ups at Night

Most children will not be fully potty trained at night until they are 5 or sometimes 6 years old. That is what the doctors at my pediatricians office have said. My daughters were both around 5 when they stopped wearing pull-ups, but we used to get them up to go potty before we went to bed. And we limited there fluid intake to nothing after dinner. Even with that, we had accidents for several months.
Remember, she is ONLY 3 1/2, don't expect too much of her yet.
I'm willing to bet that she won't be an adult bed wetter :-}

I heard by limiting dirnks at night time, when they can stay dry all night or be able to wake up and go to the bathroom then it would be ok to take her out of pull ups, if not than that is ok.

When my children were able to go potty throughout the day without accidents is when we stopped wearing diapers at night. There will be accidents, but eventually she will learn how to hold it. If I was given the choice to go in a diaper or get up and go, I would chose the diaper too!

It is all about how you handle the situation when she does wet the bed. Do not make it a big deal and say, "Uh-oh, we will try to make it to the potty next time!" A lot of times my children do not have accidents until the morning right before they get up, so you might try waking her up, versus letting her get up on her own. My children are four and two and both go through the night without accidents and have since they were first potty trained.

I'm trying to remember how we got my daughter (now almost 4) to stay dry at night. I know we had several nights with accidents. My advice would be to prepare yourself for changing sheets in the middle of the night and then dive in! I bought a cheap plastic shower curtain liner to put over the mattress, then a couple beach towels, then the mattress pad, then the sheet. I think the only way to teach staying dry at night is to go for it and let your daughter experience it. Limit all beverages after dinnertime and make sure she pees right before going to bed. You might try waking her up to go to the bathroom when you go to bed so she gets used to waking up to pee. When she has the inevitable accident at night she will probably wake up pretty quickly after feeling the wetness. Just change the sheets and trudge on. I don't think there's any way to avoid the bedwetting, after all, for 3 1/2 years, she's peed at night without waking, it's become a habit that now has to be broken. Best of luck, try not to get too frustrated, she'll get it eventually :)

When she is consistently dry at night, she is ready to make it through the night. You could try going without the pull ups a few nights and see what happens. If she wets the bed, dont make a fuss about it, just go back to using the pullups.

Good day too you...... My daughter will be turning 8 this week and she still is wearing "Goodnights" to bed. My daughter has an underdeveloped bladder and also a hard sleeper. Docter wanted to put her on medication 4 years ago but I chose not to.( Thank God I did not. Found out it causes seizures). Anyway, it will be o.k. She is still wet about 50 percent of the time. Probably until she is 9 or 10.but if you want to set your alarm every couple of hours to wake her up and not give her anything to drink past 6 that helps a littlr.

you'll know when she's ready, all kids are differn't, but have you tried not useing the pullups, when my little girl was potty trainning, she peed in those all the time, so i tried reall underware, i took her to the walmart, let her pike her faverite ones, and she only had one pee accident and one #2, and that worked for her, the feeling off the pee on her legs did it for her, she hated it. but every child is so differnt, my son is almost three, and i have not dared to try potty trainning him yet, he show's very little intrest, so i will wait untell this summer.

I have potty trained 4 children and as soon as we start the diaper and pullups are taken away. You might have more laundry in the day at first but it won't take long. Many childrens bladders don't grow fast so it might still happen once in a while.
good luck,
kat

Hi! I am a new mother of an 11mo. little precious girl and also a step-mom to a 5 year old. I have been wondering (pre-planning) on how to handle this same issue for my daughter and also because our 5yr old still wears pull-ups, during naps or bedtime. My brothers (all very grown,) struggled with bed wetting even into their teens--they slept in the same room and one (6 yrs apart) taught the behavior to the other. I have to say I agree with the theory that it is really up to the parents to figure what "hat" to wear. Children of course are all different, even siblings differ greatly--what works for one may not be the approach for others. I have decided to begin with baby signing, and to teach my little one first what the feeling of using the bathroom is, ie. Identifying it when she goes. Then I want to move into letting me know when she goes, (again by the "signing motion, for #1 or #2, also to protect her from announcing or feeling embarrassed in public) and then I will move onto nightime, and of course letting me know (verbally or however she wants)to let me know. I remember for me, I was always afraid to get up at night in the dark, alone--I was potty trained before three, but even as I got older I was afraid to get out of bed-still i was never a wetter. In talking to my brothers candidly then and even now as adults, they have always admitted to me, that they were just mostly lazy, especially in the winter months. Still, my mom and dad could never cure it--but I believe it is because my parents berated them about it--their delivery was wrong and spoiled their confidence.(But I will say the women in these emails sound very positive and supportive--and I am not saying their childeren are lazy by any means)- In our case,I finally did however try to initiate change with our five year old (whose parents both simply allow it, and are very lax--do not really make the efforts to potty train, or get up at night to take her., (and yet please note they are great parents, her mother is in fact a teacher...)..I offered to get up at night to take her, both at set times and if she calls for me--because on many occasions, my boyfriend has forgotten her pull-up for even a nap, and she has gone in the bed. What I offered was to try and not use the pull-up, and to be available to her during naps and night-time--to simply call me and I will take her--if she goes the whole weekend without a diaper I will take her to Toys R us to pick out a toy. Unfortunately this has not worked because her dad has not pursued it--or given me the reins to do it on my own and I don't want to overstep his boundaries. So, it is left as it is, and why should she do it differently when she doesn't have to? I also recognized that she was a bit embarrassed about it, and it really would have worked better coming from her biological parents, so I stepped back. With my little one, she has gone poo in the bath tub twice and we have rushed when we see it beginning, sit her on the toilet and praise her at eye level, both of us,(while holding her there of course) clap and say YAY!! ---She laughs and loves it. From there I believe I have opened the door in many ways-I am familiarizing her with what she sees the purpose of the toilet, and rewarded her-- I guess on a final note in reading all these very helpful messages from everyone, I see that most of those that say things like "it's not laziness" or, "they are hard sleepers" or, "let them get there in due time"...these are all things that I hear from my boyfriend on his daughter---I believe all those things to be true, "AND" it doesn't mean that we can't find the "hat" to wear for each individual child to get results. Some of these parents have childeren that are like my brothers were, 8, 11--soon they will be teens!!
The problem doesn't stop there, they will carry on the behavior and only be emabarrassed at grandparents, or sleepovers--or when friends come over--I still remember the smell--it gets careless, passes the plastic, and destroys (actually burns thru)the mattress--not to mention the time and money in continuously having to wash bedding, or do they wear a pull up forever? The last issue of Parenting magazine talks about how childeren want discipline--focus on not making it a problem, but a challenge that with hard work can be over-come. This is a life lesson! Starting early will only better benefit your child. Otherwise, what comes later, "they have a degree but they just can't find work in this market" or, "she is so smart but she just can't focus when she reads"---I can't help but tell my boyfriend it is all a crutch--and in his case, he is the lazy one--maybe the hard sleeping is prevelent because she is already subconsciously aware the diaper is there--I am a hard sleeper, but when I feel my bladder full it is uncomfortable, it wakes me up, I know I do not want to wet the bed so I go to the bathroom. My brothers have actually told me that they were sick of the problem and it's effects--the act itself lowered their self-confidence, and the way they felt about it was guilt, mostly because they new it was a lack in their own self-responsibilty---and accountability issues later grew in other areas because of the lack of "call of accountability" (which we all agreed should have been handled differently from my parents)...In a child,yes, there is a learning curve to recognize these feelings-the bladder full during sleep, etc. However subconsciously when they know that diaper isn't there, and proper nuturing along the way is present, rewarding etc.--The changes will follow-reading these emails only shows me it is best to start early, no excuses, make it happen.

There are a lot of factors affecting a child who wets at night. Laziness is not the issue. Our bodies secrete a chemical at night that allows our bladder to expand and hold more liquid. It is possible she doesn't get enough of it. She may be a very deep sleeper and not be waking up on her own. At four, I don't know that I would interrupt her sleep cycle at night to wake her for potty breaks. There is one thing I know of that helps my daughter who tends to wet the bed on occasion. Magnesium can help with bladder issues. I give my daughter sunflower seeds to snack on, but yours may be too young to chew them well. Google it! Find a food that's high in magnesium and have her snack on that for a few days. Otherwise, don't rush it, these issues tend to sort themselves out over time and she's not being lazy, just sleeping through it!

S.

About Me:
I am a SAHM of 8 great kids.

My daughter was potty trained by 3 1/2 & we did pull-up just at night for a while after. I think they KNOW they can pee in the pull-up. At least that's what I found with my daughter. When we were ready to make the transition, we made sure she didn't have any liquids for AT LEAST 2 hrs before bed, that she went potty last thing before bed. We put a "cool" night light in the bathroom & a water-proof mattress pad on the bed under her sheet. We put those THICK cotton panties on her (because they can still feel the wetness, but less clean up for Mom!). She had a couple of accidents & that was that. Altho - she did wake us up every time she had to go, but at least she was waking on her own. It might be that easy for you too. Congrats on #3!

Please don't worry about she will be ready in her own time. I am a mother of a 6yo and a 4yo. While my 6 yo was fully potty trained during the day by the age of 4 he needed goodnights until about 6 months ago. It happens. My 4 yo was completely potty trained day and night before his 4th birthday. Every child is different, so please don't stress over it.

My 8 year old still wets the bed. He is a very sound sleeper who does not feel when he has to go. It has nothing to do with being lazy. Unless she is waking up and then using the pullup. I would try a few nights in underwear and see what happens. If she still wets then put her back in the pullups. My daughter was potty trained during the day so I tried her in undies at night and she was fine. Stopping the drinking will not do anything.

When we first went to undies at night, we would take our daughter to the toilet when she went to bed, which was usually by 8PM, and then take her in her sleep when we went to bed 2-3 hours later, and she would always pee at this sitting, often quite a lot, and be dry the rest of the night.
We did have her in this routine when she was 2 1/2 but then we moved house so went back to pull-ups at night until we were settled. We only stopped this taking her late at night in her sleep when she was almost 5! But it helped to get her thru the night dry 99% of the time - since she does sleep 11-12 hours.
It is nice to do it now if you have your 3yr old in a toddler bed, because there will be accidents and toddler beds are easier to wash and make all the time!

My daughter is around the same age and woke up wet every single morning she wore a pull up. I guess if the option was there, she was going to use it! I finally just stopped using them and was sure to put a waterproof mattress pad on her bed. She had a few (but not very many) accidents. I make sure she goes to the bathroom right before bed every night and remind her that she is wearing panties and if she needs to go to the bathroom, she needs to use the toilet. I gave her the option of calling me during the night if she needs help, but she didn't really do that. I put a night light in the bathroom and if she needs to go, she gets out of bed and uses the toilet herself.

I am a mom of 3 and my 2 boys 11 and 8 still wet at night. My 4 yr. old daughter has never wet the bed. I have talked with our pediatrician about this and a lot of time kids will grow out of it and not to worry about it until they are around 7 or 8, but in my boys case, it is a sleep disorder. My boys sleep very deep and it is all about retraining their bodies to go between the various sleep stages instead of just remaining in a very deep sleep all night long. They don't wet at night because they are lazy, their bodies just can't wake up when they need to go. They hate how they wet at night. They are also hard to wake up for school in the morning because of how deep they sleep. The earlier they get to bed, the better they do. This is because when they get to bed earlier, their bodies aren't as tired and don't go into as deep of sleep. My 11 yr. old doesn't wet every night, just the nights he gets to bed late. My 8 yr. old wets about every night no matter what. The dr. has advised me to wake them up about 1 hr. after they go to bed to help their bodies change the deep sleep pattern. There are also alarms that you can buy that will wake them when they wet. It is all about retraining their bodies to change their sleep pattern. I know all about not wanting to buy the expensive pull-ups anymore, but it is better than washing sheets everyday!

Watch her liquid in take in the evening. Have her use the restroom before going to bed & than wake her in the night to go potty. It worked with my son. Good luck!!

my son just turned 3 he is now potty trained with the occasional accident. what i found to work to get him not to wet the bed is i left him in underwear and set an alarm for around 12 checked on him if he was wet i woke him up changed the sheets had him take a bath. and then did it again a few hours later. i know it sounds crazy but after 3 nights he stopped wetting the bed and has only had 1 accident since

Hi L.,

My son was potty trained at 2 1/2 - 3. He is now 5 1/2 and still wears something (pull-up, goodnights, etc) to bed every night. I restrict liquids after 6-7 and encourage one more trip to the potty just before laying down. If he is still awake in bed when it is my bedtime, I will physically take him again. He is wet about 95% of the time in the morning - and still asleep when I go to get him ready for school. His father was a bedwetter until about age 11 or 12 - so I somewhat expected this for my little guy.

My friend's daughter was a bedwetter until she was 5 1/2. I remember she took her to the doctor when she was 4 1/2. Her doctor (who is at the same clinic my son goes to) advised she continue with the pull-ups, limiting liquids, and going before bed, etc. for another year or so and see if it stopped without meds - suggested meds have more negative side effects than positive returns. She is 8 1/2 now and doing fine!

My son RARELY wets when he takes a nap or falls asleep in the car - but when he says he has to go - he REALLY has to go and we better find a restroom quickly! His father still has trouble holding his bladder for hours on end - while I will hold it all day if away from home - and have since I was four.

At any rate, I would think that wetting in the night at 3 1/2 might just be normal for her. I don't agree that you are making her "lazy" - but would encourage her to take off the pull up as soon as she wakes. That is one thing my friend's husband was not adamant about. If left on she would just continue to go in her pull-up rather than use the potty.

Maybe I am just lazy - I got tired of doing 2 loads of bedding every day. Oh and my son is a heavy sleeper and doesn't wake when he wets - so I would rather it be contained in a pull-up than all over his clothing & bedding.

Good luck! =)

Hmmm... wondering about this one myself. I've read a child's body has to be able to produce ADH (antidiuretic hormone) on their own to stay dry most nights (by about 4 years old), and their bladder must develop to be big enough.

In the throes of potty-training myself, and my son just started being "dry" on his own (80% of mornings), without me doing anything extra (I take him for at least one pee at night: before I go to bed, or when I wake up late at night). It started after about two weeks of potty-training. He still wears pull-ups at night.

Also, I was a "bed-wetter" as a child, and it turned out to be a UTI with no other symptoms (except stinky pee). The bed-wetting stopped when they treated the infection. However, don't assume this is the problem for your daughter until you try the behavioral tricks other Moms are recommending first.

Good luck!
T

I know every child is different as well as bladder control capability. But I have never used pull-ups (I think it's a scam for the diaper companies to get money for longer), and my three girls have done fine. I usually keep them in a diaper at night until I'm sure they're potty-trained during the day. Then I keep them in their panties all night. There are usually a few accidents, of course, but they've all done fine at night even at young ages. Buy a plastic mattress pad for easy clean up, and then just try out keeping her in panties for a few nights to see how she does. You might be surprised. And good luck!! Maybe I've just gotten lucky.

I have a daughter who is 7 and still has to wear a pull up at night! It is hard for me because I never had a problem when I was a kid, and neither did my 11 year old....BUT my 7 year old does. No one knows why, but she does. I have a brother who is a urologist, and told me that a childs bladder can take up to 7 years to fully develop. He told me to wait until she was 7 to try and do anything about it. She is now 7 and we are getting her an alarm to see if that will help! I know it is frustrating, but if she is staying dry in the day, I don't think you have anything to worry about! Good luck! My brother in law also told me that when they are sleeping and wet, that is the only time they are able to "void" (completely empty) their bladder, and that it is good for them. If you are still concerned you could ask your pedetrician their oppinion and see if they have suggestions.

We have tried everything with our 7 year old. WE would wake her up two times a night to go, but she still gets wet. It just happens sometimes! Very common. Good luck!

In my opinion there is no difference between pullups and diapers.

Stop the drinks after 6 pm and potty them often.

Our then 3 yr. old was wetting the bed every night, sometimes 2x per night. In frustration, we said, "What can we do to help you to stop wetting the bed?!" He said, "When I wear pull-ups I wet the bed." It was as easy as keeping him in underwear at night! We had some accidents for awhile, but there was GREAT improvement after getting rid of pull-ups. I hope it is that simple for you.