Sort of Potty Trained

I put my daughter in those pull-ups that feel cold when they become wet and she did not like that at all. I made a sticker chart for my daughter and for every dry night we did a sticker and for every wet we did an X. When she completed 30 days of dry nights we put her in panties. This worked because she did not like the cold or getting an X. She asked to wear panties after putting her the cool alert pull-ups an after her 30 days were up I held to my word and put her in panties. Every once in awhile she has an accident but that is all part of growing up....Hope this helps=) Chrissy, mom of 4 year girl and a 9 month old girl. Lord Help Me!..........LOL

Hi,

I have 4 kids - my 3rd child, who's 6, has just started being dry at night because we take him to the bathroom before we go to bed (10:30-11 p.m.) and when we wake up (5-6 a.m.). He had been wearing "Goodnights" at night. He did go a couple of weeks about a year ago being dry all night but then started having middle of the night accidents.

I think it takes time, so you may have a couple more years. He has a few friends in the same boat. I wouldn't worry, but you could ask the pediatrician.

I would definatly call her potty trained! My daughter is 6 and just last year quit wearing Goodnights. She was just a bedwetter. She still has accidents every once in a while. I was a bedwetter too. Only I had accidents until I was like 10. And it's VERY common! There is medication if she still does it when she's older....it helped me. But, don't make her feel bad. I know it's easy to get frustrated, but she WILL grow out of it. Hang in there:) She is normal!

What the other moms are saying is correct. Some kids just don't make it through the night until they are older. My oldest is 12 now, but didn't wore Goodnights until about 8. Our doctor said not even to start worring until about 6. when she was 7, he put her on medicine and a few months later she started making it through the night. At four, your daughter is definitely too young to be concerned, her body just needs to mature a little bit. But, whatever you do, don't make her feel embarassed or ashamed. She will be fine.

In my opinion, your daughter is potty trained, she's just a bedwetter. If she's changing herself at night she's not doing this for attention or for any psychological reasons. She's just unable to go through the night. Her doctor should check if there is a medical problem,but this is something that may just take time to correct itself. My youngest daughter wet the bed at night after potty training, then stopped for six months, then started wetting the bed almost every night. We had to put her back in pull-ups. She was six before she was able to have dry nights. What we did was reduce water intake, of course, then I would take her to the bathroom late at night before I went to bed. She'd barely be awake, but if I sat her on the potty, she'd go to the bathroom. That helped a lot - getting her bladder empty around10 :30 or 11:00 at night. Also, waking her up really early to go and letting her go back to bed helps too - sometimes the wetting happens an hour or so before they wake up in the morning.

I also think it's really important not to make a kid feel shame about this. We made sure her siblings did not make fun of her for this and we tried not to show too much anger or frustration about it. We just tried to make her feel that this is something she needs to work on to get better at. We praised her accomplishment when she had dry nights but didn't get too upset when she had an accident. I think at this age, when you make a big deal out of something, the negative attention gets to be something they start identifying themselves with (which may have happened with my daughter) and they don't want to let go of it. Ending the problem means ending the special attention, even if the attention wasn't for something they were proud of. So, with my daughter, once I realized this may be a long-term problem, the dealing with it became routine, nothing special.

Don't panic. She is still very young and many children are "dry" at daytime, but still lack nighttime control. Please consider her "potty-trained" and continue to encourage her. It will occur when her bladder catches up with her. I have four kids and several had nighttime bedwetting issues. I just used diapers and Good Nights and when their bodies were ready, they stayed dry (one was nearly eleven). The doctors and bedwetting studies will offer suggestions, but they also will reassure you that it has nothing to do with the amount of liquid before bed, etc. It is a biological development and patience is the best key. You will see dry nights in the months and years ahead. Don't rush it and don't panic---it isn't her fault or yours! Kati

from books I read, some children don't sleep through the night til age six or seven. you may want to research this a little more. I don't get she is outside of normal range for needing pull ups at night.

I would say stop worrying. My 3 1/2 year old son is exactly the same way. He pees a ton at night and we actually have to change his diaper in the middle of the night or he leaks through. He has nothing to drink after dinner. As our systems mature, your body secrets more anti-diuretic hormone at night so that you don't pee as frequently as you do during the day. Some kids take longer than others to achieve this biological milestone. As she gets older the problem will probably fix itself.

My daughter just turned 5, and she as well was completely daytime potty trained before she was 2.5 but still needed to wear pull-ups at night until after she turned four. Combination of her being just too deep a sleeper and her bladcder just couldn't hold it for that long. We tried everything we could think of (no liquids after a certain time, waking her to go pee late at night/early in the morning, etc.) but it just frustrated and stressed all of us out. I finally just went back to using pull-ups at night and eventually she just started staying dry on her own. It was probably a few months after her fourth birthday. I'd say just relax and give it time. Everyone's body is different and unless it's really bothering her, there's no use in getting frustrated by it. She won't sleep in diapers forever!

I have a 4 year old daughter as well. I had to finally break her of that habit by letting her wear panties to bed. She wet for a little while, but I did notice that if she was in a 'pull up', she would pee in it because she knew it wouldn't affect her sleep. After she finally noticed that peeing to bed was uncomfortable, she started to wake me and take her to the potty. No, it's not fun to change sheets and do laundry all of the time, but it did break her of it.

Hope this helps! Good luck It's all trial and error I believe.
T.

Hi F.,

I don't have any advice, just wanted to let you know you're not alone. I am in the EXACT same situation, and I don't know what to do either. When she turned 4 (several months ago) she was dry about 5/7 nights. Now, she wears diapers to bed because she wets almost every night. We limit liquids at night, too. Good luck with your/our situation! It can't last forever, right? : )

My daughter was 5 1/2 before she stopped wetting at night!!! We tried all the tricks too. She is a very deep sleeper, and was capable of wetting herself and not even waking up. So we used pull-ups until she was 5 1/2. Everyone (including dr.) told us not to worry, that she would do it when she was ready, but is was SO HARD. They were right, and one night she decided that she wanted to try sleeping in underpants, so she did and has been fine since. Good luck!

I have raised 3 children and all of them were wetting bed after they had been potty trained. As long as she is staying dry when she is awake she is definitely potty trained. The night time issue takes longer for some kids. Some times it is a matter of sleeping too deeply. In time they work through that. Other times it is an allergy to something like milk that irritates the urinary system and causes a problem. I took milk away from son for a week and that solved the problem. Then we gradually added a small amount back into his diet. We could see at what point the milk became too much. Dont stress too much over this, it is very common and although frustrating at times, smile, it does get better.

I wish I had words of wisdom, but the cutting off of the fluids is all I can think of - I even wake my daughter up at 10 or so when I go to bed and she goes again. I don't know if you want to try that or not. It is helping my daughter most nights to stay dry the rest of the night - but she is almost 6. Hate to break the bad news to you - but I am told by the pediatrician that this is normal for some kids and they just sleep to sound to wake up when they have to go. Unfortunately this is the only advice I have that might help.
Good luck!!
H.

Its totally normal for kids to wet the bed until age 6, then your Dr will consider it an issue. We potty trained our kids at night by just telling them to hold it until they wake up in the morning. When we first told them to wake up if they feel like they have to go potty, that didn't work. They kept having accidents. Once we said to just hold it, they were able to understand and do it. We let them have a sip of water before bed, but thats it, and they've both been fine for over a year now. Good luck!

F.,

Your daughter is potty trained. I have a daughter who at eight-years-old still slept in Goodnights because she is a heavy sleeper. You may want to visit bedwettingstore.com. They have products like little alarms that clip to her underwear. When the clip feels wet, it will go off waking your daughter and telling her to go to the bathroom. In our case, the alarm woke us and we had to wake our daughter. It can be a good training device. Check our the website. I agree with the moms who said you should not shame your daughter over this issue or punish her. It is a matter of training her body and sometimes is takes a long time. Be patient and love on her! You should be proud of her for getting up in the night to change her diaper. If she is responsible enough to take care of herself in that situation, she will learn how to wake up with a little help before she is soaked. I hope this helps. Hang in there!

Hello,

I don't know if what I can say will be what you want to hear, but it is our life....

Our daugther was 6 years old March 6th and has been potty trained since 2, however she never has been able to go all night - she wets the bed. I have even talked to our pediatrician about this who said some children can be upwards of 8 before their body signals them at night and/or has a large enough bladder to handle those hours (no matter how little they have at bedtime) - it was not what I wanted to hear because Goodnights underpants are not cheap, and probably not what you wanted to hear either - but that is what she (our pediatrician) says can happen.

She used to wear nighttime pullups and as she has gotten older we changed to goodnights underpants. She takes it off the first thing out of bed in the morning and uses wipies to clean herself off to make sure she is clean and puts on her underware.

We have rare occasions of dry which she loves and then wants to be able to go without - I tell her lets wait until you can go for a whole month of dry nights...I don't want her upset or thinking she's not a "big girl" - she is, her body just isn't there yet at night.

We don't say much about it other than a reminder to go straight to take it off - just because I know it's her body not able to go that long and/or she doesn't have the control...our pediatrician also said that it can be hereditary (my husband was almost 8 before he didn't have the same problem).

Good Luck!
M.

I have a friend that has had the same problem with her 4 year old daughter. I told her what I have done with my son and since she put them into practice with her daughter, and there have not been any accidents. I do not give my son anything to drink after dinner, and I make sure that he uses the restroom 2 times before he goes to bed. If he does not go to the bathroom 2 times then after he has gone to sleep I wake him 1 hour later and put him back to bed. If he still does not go then I wake him up 1 hour before he will normally wake up and take him. I also do not let him sleep with a diaper on because it makes it to easy for him to just go in his pants. If you put the underwear on her all the time she will resist going in her bed. Micah has been potty trained for 3 months, 3 of my friends have used the same steps and their children have not had any accidents, and my friend with the 4 year old daughter used them as well and her daughter has not had any accidents in the last month since she started doing it with her. I hope that this helps. I know it works if you are willing to change sheets for about 3 days. God Bless!

You may have to resort to the old fashion way or training pants with rubber pants. The reason I say this is because she's getting up & changing herself after she's done it. IF you use regular under pants & rubber pants, it'll cause her to feel it sooner & she may start catching herself & wake up & go the potty. Those pull-ups & things can be a henderence. Good luck & God Bless!

I think this is completely normal. My daughter did not stop wearing pull ups to bed until the week before she turned 5. She is now 6 and has no problems. I tried not to make a big deal of it so she wasn't ambarassed. The doctor also told me that this was sometimes genetic and that it was likely that her father had the same problem. The doctor also told me he wouldn't worry about it until she was closer to 7 years old. My advice would be don't stress about it and it will happen soon. Her bladder just probably isn't ready yet!

Oh, this is definitely potty trained. As long as she is going to the bathroom on her own during her awake hours; she is potty trained. Many kids have issues at night. I once knew an eight-year old who wet the bed. It's just their bladder control is not where it should be; but it will be eventually. This is just something you kind of have to wait out.

K.

This has been a common question. At my daughter's 4 year well child check up I found out that only 70% of children are night time potty trained at 4 years of age. So your daughter (like my own) just falls into the 30% that isn't. Don't worry too much they will grow out of it. I've heard it taking up to 7 years old before they can control their bladder at night. Some children sleep really soundly and are just not aware of the fact they have to go. That's how my daughter is. I've gone in several times to wake her up and she is sound asleep but soaking wet. You could try to wake her up yourself in the middle of the night. It's exhausting but it's worth a shot. My daughter no longer uses diapers either we get night time Pull-Ups. It makes it easier when we get her up in the middle of the night to take her potty if all we have to do is pull them down and up rather then take them off and put a new one on.

I had the same problem with my daughter.She was potty trained at 20 months but would wet through the night and had to wear good nights.Anyway I finally figured out with her it was a security thing and a lack of confidence in herself.What I did with my daughter (aside from the liquids and things your already doing.)Pick a time when you are going to take the diapers away and let her know ahead of time.I picked when my daughter turned 4 and I let her know ahead of time.I said when you turn 4 you no longer get to wear diapers at night,you are a big girl and I know you can stay dry!And I am so sure that you can do it if you go (ex: all week) without an accident you will get a suprise.You can even tell her something specific that she's been wanting to do or get for a while and it doesn't have to be something expensive it could just be something she LOVES to do.It worked wonders with my daughter!She made it through that week and beyond!And believe it or not I didn't know if it would work because she was having soaked diapers before that day!

Try something different. Instead of keeping her bladder empty, try to keep it full, and have her hold it. During the day, have her drink a specific amount of liquid (12-16 oz.) and see how long she can hold it. Don't make her suffer, but ask her if she can hold it for one more minute, two more minutes. Make it a game. Measure her urinary output. Measure in and measure out. Her "goal" is to be able to drink more and hold more. She should be trying to increase her urinary output. It means her bladder is holding more. It's bladder "exercise". She will be working the "holding" muscles. In time, she may increase the volume her bladder can hold (making it easier to get through the night) and her muscles will be stronger (making it easier to get through the night).

My daughter had the same problem. We started waking her up to go to the bathroom during the night. It worked fine. Her problem was that she could not get awake enough to take herself until it was too late. After a couple of months the problem stopped.

I have four children 10,8,4 and 1. My 10 and 8 year old wet the bed until they were about 7 and my 4 year old has been potty trained since he was 2 and still can't wake up in the night to go. Overnight I always use "goodnights" or pull ups, it makes them feel like they are still Big and not like a Baby in diapers. My pediatrician says that their bladder isn't yet strong enough to help them hold it all night and it's ok....it will happen. Your daughter will grow out of this. No worries.