Pull-Ups At Night

Updated on December 29, 2008
J.L. asks from Fairfax, VA
12 answers

My son will be 4 years old in just a few months. He has been potty trained since he was just over 3 years old (during the day). I've been trying to get rid of the the pull-ups at night but am a little scared just to quit all together because he still pees so much in his sleep. Any advice on making this transition? Thanks!

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S.L.

answers from Washington DC on

My son is 3 and wears a diaper at night but not for naps. When we worked on diaper free nights for my daughter, we bought two mattress pads(covers the bed like a bottom sheet). I put them both on the bed in case she had an accident. That way I only had to rip off a layer and then go back to bed. We also woke her up to use the potty before we went to bed around 11. A few weeks of this seemed to work for us. It has been almost a year. We still have random accidents but it just tells me to cut back on drinks after 7.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

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M.M.

answers from Washington DC on

It definitely could be developmental but my son had a similar thing going on. I read a great book that said alot of it is that diapers are so great nowadays kids just go because they really dont want to wake up and get out of bed to go to the bathroom. and that's the feeling I got from my son that he just didnt want to be bothered getting up. who would??? The book suggested that you pick a day and just let him wear underpants to bed. when and if he wets don't make a big deal about it just have him change AND have him take the sheets off and accompany you to the washer and throw them in and make up his own bed. The book stated let him sleep in a big sleeping bag or something and it makes it easier to just throw that in the wash. I also intituted a reward calendar where if he was dry for 5 nights and they didnt have to be continuous he could get a cheap toyor something. then when he accomplished this I did 10 nights, then 15 nights and literally within a month he was getting up on his own. Its a great book. I think it was called "Mommy I have to potty" or something likethat by an author whose neme is Faull or something. good luck

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S.R.

answers from Washington DC on

J. my son is almost the same age. Will be 4 end of feb. I was starting to be concerned too about a month ago but then all of a sudden he was just dry all the time. I think they just have to be ready on there own. I have talked to alot of parents about it and some are ready and dry much earlier and other take until they are close to 5yrs old. I know we are ready alot earlier for these milestone then they are but he will get there don't worry.

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D.K.

answers from Washington DC on

Actually, as many as 15% of children still wet at night several times a week at age 6, so don't be too concerned. It's really a developmental thing, not behavioral. My 6yo still has problems with this. It simply doesn't wake him up. He's a VERY deep sleeper. Every child is different, but if you were to talk to your son's doctor, I'll bet he would say that you don't need to worry about it until at least age 6. That's what they told me. We tried an anti-diuretic at night this year, but it didn't help too much. So we ruled that out and decided that it's just a matter of him not feeling it until it's almost too late (during the day still) and when this happens while he's sleeping, he doesn't have enough time to wake up and get to the bathroom. His nervous system is still developing in this one area and it's actually fairly common.

So anyways, my best advice is to not worry about it too much. When they're ready, they're ready. Other than restricting liquids and waking them up yourself to go potty at night, there's not much you can do. If those tactics still don't help, then you can bet it's developmental and eventually he'll be staying dry himself.

Best of luck!

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A.F.

answers from Norfolk on

I didn't read the other responses. Plus my boys have not hit that age yet. Mine are soon to be 3 and soon to be 2. Our oldest is potty trained. Day and night. Have you tried limiting his drinks after a certain time. Our son has his last cup at 6-6:30. Nothing after 7 and he stays dry all night, but if he does have to go he does wake. Again I don't know if this is any help, for my boys are not that age yet.

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S.C.

answers from Norfolk on

I would limit liquid just before bed and then put him in the thick cloth training pants with rubber pants over the top. If he has an accident it won't be so much mess to deal with. he may just need to feel himself wet in order to get the idea to get up at night. I would also light the way to the bathroom in case he needs to go at night and make sure that he knows that if he needs you at night that he can come and get you. Some kids are trained to not get their parents at night even if they wake up. Babies that go through the cry-it out thing are not sleeping through the night they just learn that their parents will not respond when they are in the crib.

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K.F.

answers from Washington DC on

My son had issues up until he was 8! Although I think he had some added stress with a new step-mom and big move, new house situation...on top of being a very heavy sleeper....but it's totally normal for a soon to be 4 year old! Here's what we did: I had a plastic cover for the mattress - way easier than trying to clean the mattress....we didn't let him drink anything 2 hours before bedtime - except a sip of water while brushing his teeth...then 2 hours after he went to bed, we would wake him up and have him go to the bathroom. This prevented him from having to go the rest of the night. Not sure why this added break into his sleep helped, but we only had to do it for a couple of weeks and he was fine - he started waking up on his own...thank God because I was sick of all that laundry! :)

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R.D.

answers from Washington DC on

We had this issue with our daughter. She is 5 and about a year ago we took away her pull-ups. We just have the protector on her bed and our 3 year old son's bed and neither are in pull-ups at night. our daughter still has accidents on occasion, but we just make her go to bathroom before bed and cut off her liquids around 7, bed time is 730-8. We also get her up and take her to the bathroom when we go to bed. She is also a HEAVY sleeper and doesnt even wake up when she wets the bed...so it is just a huge effort on all fronts to make it through the night dry...well not so much anymore, but good luck! Keep with him though, he will get it!

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M.G.

answers from Washington DC on

first thing first,

you need to limit the amount of fluid he has before he goes to bed.

then you should go ahead and expect to have bed wetting for a while. its going to happen.

you can get plastice matress covers, at bed bath and beyond.
then once you have his pee schedule down. go and get him up at night before you go to bed and put him on the toilet. tell him to go pee and then put him back to bed.

first thing in the am put him on the pot and make sure you put him on the pot when you are getting him ready for bed and then again when you go to bed.

hope this helps.

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A.C.

answers from Washington DC on

my son is five and he still will have an accident every now and then, but only when he is REALLY tired. I just limit his fluids in the evening and make sure he tries to pee before bedtime. I invested, which was very cheap, in a plastice mattress cover (JC Penneys online- has many Many sizes). so even with the occasional accident, its just a load of laundry to clean up.
Just be prepared to do alot of laundry in the transition! I always kept a change of bedclotes close at hand during that time, so I could change it all quickly in the middle of the night half asleep. Good luck, it really does sound like he's right on track.

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R.H.

answers from Norfolk on

What i would do is get a fitted water proof mattress cover and take off the training pants. He can't learn to hold his pee until he knows he's peeing. ( knowing and KNOWING is two different things) You can say he's peeing all you want but him actually KNOWING he's peeing is something all together different. They only way he can learn to hold his pee is when he feels himself pee in the bed and feels the bed wet. My daughter i got a water proof cover that was soft like a sheet from Sears. (I got one a walmart first and if fell right apart after a few washings) The sears ones are great they feel just like a reg. sheet but are water proof and wash great. I got Two for trading out. Also make it his job to take it off and put it int the laundry. So he understands the whole system.

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Y.L.

answers from Richmond on

If he still pees a lot at night, why put him through the stress of night potty training? Some kids just take longer to get bladder control at night and it sounds like you are in that situation

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