Seeking Advice from Experienced Moms on Night Time Potty Training.

Hi M.,
Bedwetting can be a nutritional issue so the next step need not be the doctor. Please contact me if you'd like to hear how others have overcome this challenge with nutrition.

S.
____@____.com

I have a daughter who would be 3 yrs soon and I get up at night atleast once to take her to the restroom. I do not completely wake her up though. She is now well adjusted to this routine. I started on this one when she was a little over two.
I try to limit her intake of liquid before bedtime but that has not often worked.
Still we do have bed wetting accidents when I forget to get up.
hope something would work for you soon.

Hey there! I am having the same problem with my 6-year-old twin daughters. Their pediatrician recommended that if I suspected them of sandbagging or being lazy about getting up at nigh, intentionally peeing in the Pull-Up, that I have them wear panties underneath the Pull-Up. She says it prevents the mess of having to change the sheets and all, but is enough of a discomfort and inconvenience for the kid that she'll be motivated to get up in the night if she needs to.

Unfortunately, it didn't work for us. They just sleep too soundly -- when we've tried a night without Pull-Ups, they don't even wake up when they wet themselves. But it might work for you, so I thought I'd pass it along.

P.S. I'm a 1993 BGSU alum :)

M.,
I received the following information from an organization called Growing Child(growingchild.com) About 50% of 2 year old boys and girls can stay dry at night, 75% of 3 year olds and 90% of five year olds. Bedwetting by a 3 year old is within normal limits. Bedwetting past 5 may be abnormal and should be reported to a doctor. You probably already know most of these helpful hints, but I will pass them along anyway #1)Check drinking habits before bedtime. #2)It is important that the child try to completely empty his/her bladder just before going to bed. #3)Some parents have experienced success by taking a sleeping child to the toilet to urinate at the time the parents get ready for bed. I actually have a friend that sets an alarm to go off at midnight for her 6 1/2 and 5 year old to go use the potty.
I hope this helps in some way.

J. Franz

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M.,

Have you tried not giving them anything to drink after 7pm? We found once we stopped giving our daughter (who is now 3 1/2) anything to drink at night, the accidents stopped. We also found out that when we were going to Grandma & Grandpa's house that they were letting her have some pop/soda with her dinner occasionally and that lead to bed wetting also. So, she doesn't get anything after 7pm, plus we always ask her if she has to go to the bathroom before bed and make her try if she hesitates for a second with her answer. So, far it has worked like a charm. Plus, if she has to go to the bathroom at night, we put her portable potty in her room by the bed just in case, she can't make it to the upstairs bathroom in time as a safety net.

Good Luck!

Kim

What worked for me with my son, who is 9, is cutting off drinks at 7:30 (he goes to bed by 8:30) and waking him up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Granted he was a walking zombie but he went. He now has learned to get up by himself. He does fine.

one thing is to make sure that they dont have anything to drink say atleast 2 hours before bed time and make sure they go to the bath room even if they dont ahve to go. i had a little problem with my oldest and that seemed to help

Hi M.
I have a four and eight year old too! Both boys though- My oldest never had any problem - but my little one just started making it through the night about 2 months ago. What I had to end up doing is cut off his liquids about 2 hours before bed time and then make sure he goes potty right before he goes to bed. The first week or so if I heard him stir in the night I went in and carried him to the bathroom. He does great now- We got to go on summer vacation this year with no diapers or pull ups! what a relief. Hope this helps- good luck!! ~ K.

try a routine of waking them up before you go to be at night and then wake them up at the same time each night. eventually, their little bodies will get use to it and they will do it on their own. good luck:)

Hi M....my son was almost 9 before he stopped being wet at night...we tried everything....the doctors do have some medicines but a moisture alarm actually worked for us. It has a sensor you attach to the pull up and when moisture is detected it goes off. That way they get woken up as soon as it happens and they can connect the feeling with the moisture..check with your doctor and I'm sure they can recommend one for you.....good luck! C.

You have probably already tried this but cut their liquids off at least 1 hour before bed and make sure going to the bathroom is the last thing they do before bed, if they go back to sleep easily even try waking them to go to the bathroom before you go to bed. Hope this helps, I have four kids and my 6 year old son still sometimes has accidents.

Hi M.,

I have 2 kids. One is 5 and she is never dry when she wakes up. The doctor told me that this is not something they have control of and eventually they will out grow it. I guess if you are flustered with this, so is your son. I would just reasure him that sooner or later his body will catch up.

R.

M.,
I understand you wanting to find a solution on your own, but I really believe that if your 8 year old isn't dry overnight then there is probably a physical problem. I think it might actually be worse for him not to go to the doctor because he may get that it is something he is doing wrong when it may be a medical condition. As for the four year old...try taking her to the potty at about 1 am. Don't make a big deal and don't make her walk...you don't want her to wake up so much that she won't go backl to sleep.
Good Luck,
R. (formerly of BG)

I am sure no children older than 4 want to wet their bed, they feel very frustrated as well. I can only suggest you not to reward anything but encourage and remind your child to get up and use bathroom at night. i put a big plastic paper under the sheet( one of those big plastic paper for sealing the windows in winter time), that's way you don't have to worry about the wetness goes on the mattress.

Hi M., it's me S.. We had that problem with Sean and he finally outgrew it. For once, the doctors were right, he did out grow it. Although, it wasn't until he was 10 or 11. We tried everything, as did Sean, but I guess his body just wasn't ready yet for nighttime dryness. I did get a couple of those washable waterproof pads and that saved some washing. You can get them at a medical supply place. They are usually pink or blue on one side and white on the other. We used to use them in the nursing home. He refused to wear Good-nights. I couldn't blame him. They looked too much like a diaper or pullup. You'd think that if they can make a maxipad for women that is paper thin, they could make something discreet for kids to wear.
Give me a call. This week is free. Maybe the kids could get together and play.
S.

As far as your son, I have no experience there, but my son is 4 and just recently started going dry over night - we actually discovered it on accident when he had a sleepover with his older cousins I forgot to put his diaper on and he just got up when he needed to go. He hasn't worn a diaper since! I believe that he was going in the diaper because he could - I had been waiting for him to be dry in the morning and if I had kept that up he probably would still be in diapers now. Maybe you could just give the "cold turkey" approach a try with her - no guarantees, but it worked for us. Good luck!

H. M

HI M.. I HAVE TWO BOYS, ONE IS 11, AND ONE IS 8. MY YOUNGEST WAS POTTY TRAINED WHEN HE WAS 3. ABOUT 1 YEAR LATER HE STARTED HAVING ACCIDENTS WHICH DEVELOPED INTO NIGHTLY ACCIDENTS. WE'RE STILL THERE. I TOO TRIED EVERYTHING - NO DRINKS AFTER 6, GETTING HIM UP 1-2 TIMES THRU THE NIGHT, ETC. I TALKED TO MY DOCTOR. WE CHECKED TO BE SURE THERE WAS NOTHING MEDICALLY WRONG, IE BLADDER INFECTION, AND THEN HE SAID NOT TO WORRY. SOME CHILDREN, ESPECIALLY BOYS, HAVE A REALLY HARD TIME WITH BED WETTING, SOMETIMES UP TO 10, 11, SOMETMES THEIR TEENS. hE SAID AS LONG AS MY BOY'S NO UPSET OR STRESSED ABOUT IT NOT TO WORRY. I HAD HIM HELP ME WHEN HE LEAKED THRU HIS GOOD NIGHT (YOU'RE RIGHT - EXPENSIVE!!!!) WITH THE LAUNDRY, NOT AS A PUNISHMENT BUT LIKE A SELF CARE SORT OF THING - LIKE HAVING A SHOWER AND WAITED FOR HIM TO OUTGROW IT. HE WENT TO CAMP 2 WEEKS AGO AND IS NOW UPSET AND WORRIED ABOUT IT. HE STARTED ON TOFRANIL LAST WEEK. UNFORTUNATELY ITS NOT WORKING SO FAR EITHER. MAYBE THEY'RE NOT READY UNTIL THEIR READY. THAT PROBABLY WASN'T MUCH HELP BUT THAT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE. GOOD LUCK.

M.- I had a brother who wet the bed until he was 12 or 13 years old. It was not his fault, he had an actual medical cause to his bed wetting. His bladder was simply immature /small. I would suggest a trip to the doctor to narrow this or any other problem out for your son. If this is the cause of his bed wetting, then all the suggestions in the world may not help him and only cause him to feel as if this is his fault when in fact it isn't. Hope this helps out with your son!

If you have not tried this yet. I would wake the children up before you go to bed to have them try and use the toilet one more time. My oldest wet at night till 4. I would put her to bed at 8 pm and then when I went to bed at 11 or midnight I would wake her, take her to the bathroom and then put her back to bed. It worked. Good Luck!

My brother was like that he wet the bed until he was probably 9 or 10. My mother bought this device that looked like a heating pad and he slept on top of it. When he would pee this alarm would go off. At first it would wake everyone up but him. But then he started waking up as soon as the first drop hit it. He eventually stopped. I will ask my mother the details she's out of town until tomorrow. I guess we found out he was a deep sleeper and he wasn't waking up to go to the bathroom. I will ask where she got this device and how long it took to cure him.
Good Luck!

What I did was not give my children (9 & 7) drinks about an hour before bed. Which I'm sure you have done since you have tried everything.
Also, you may want to try getting up in the middle of the night, and waking them up to go potty when you go to bed, until they get used to doing it by themselves. I think that would be your best bet.

Hope that helps!
Maria P

Hi, I have a good friend that is chiropracter, he has helped many children stop wetting the bed. This one is in Enon, oh. But ask around to find a good one. Mine does a free consultation with you. If you have any more questions you can email me at ____@____.com this helps
jo

Hi! M. I have been in your shoes when it comes to older children still wetting the bed. At 8yrs. old my son was still wetting the bed almost every night. I have potty trained my 3 yr. old but at night she has had some accidents which is expected even at 4. My advice to you which may help is to if possible limit their fluids earlier at night. An alarm clock set for them to wake at night to go may also help, or if someone is still awake to get them up to go. For your 4 yr. old, rubber pants that they use over cloth diapers instead of pull-ups may help to teach her to get up and go after a few nights of not having a pull-up on to absorb the wettness. Plus, they won't leak through. Good luck, I hope this helps some!

Set an alarm clock for your kids to wake them up every 2 hours to go potty. Limit their liquid intake after 5 PM...which you probably already do...

I know this has to be frustrating, especially by eight years old. Some children just don't have large enough bladders to make it through the night. I believe what has worked best for different parents with this problem is stopping liquids about one to two hours before bedtime. In addition, it is a pain but setting an alarm for about 1:00 am has helped a lot of parents I know. They get up at 1:00 am and get the kids up, run them to the restroom and all go back to bed. It really does help and saves daily sheet washing. Good luck.

Hi M.

My only adivise to you as a mother is to monitor there intake,Do not give them anything to drink @ a certain time, and once it's time to go to bed sure they both go to the bathroom

M.,
Have you tried waking your children up when you or your husband go to bed at night (around 10-12 midnight)? Setting an alarm clock for your eight-year-old to get up and go in the middle of the night? Is your eight-year-old responsible for helping to clean up the mess in the morning, helping with the laundry? If this doesn't work, I'd definitely consult with a Dr.
Good Luck,
B.

If you have tried everything. Your next step should be the Doctor. Doctors have found that some children either have very small bladders/plus deep sleepers or a conection in the brain to the bladder does not always communicate with each other. There is a medication out there now that helps with this. I can not remember what it is called but my niece was on it for about a month and she never wet the bed again. I beleive it helps with the senses and also helps to expand thier bladder. Good luck!