Advise for Night Time Potty Training

Have the same problem. My daughter is 5 and I wake her up before I go to bed and around 2 or 3 in the morning to go to the restroom. If I don't wake her up she will be wet in the morning and she doesn't use a night time pull up. I want to see if it will wake her up. Being cold and wet in her bed.

i suggest waking him up to use the potty before YOU go to bed. a friend of mine did that for one of her children and it worked wonders. good luck!

This is often a question on mamasource.... try to find the older posts on this issue. You'll find out many kids wet the bed at night until they are MUCH older than your child.

In the meantime, go to www.bedwettingstore.com and look at their products to help you deal with the situation. Waterproof bed covers are a must.

Just know your child is not failing, their body is just not maturing at the same rate as other kids. It has to do with hormone growth etc. It's not their fault.

Hello there,

We did not have that problem but this is what I was told to do when I suddenly took the diapers off my 3 year old son. We had him use the bathroom right before bed time at about 7.30. Then when I was ready to go to bed at a bed about 11.30, I picked him up and put him on the toilet again. Then early in the morning when I got up, I picked him up for the bathroom again. this worked perfectly for me. Eventually, I stopped picking him up at 11 but I did show him the pot I placed in his room and told him if he needed to pee, he should get up and use the pot. A few times I have noticed that the pot has been used. Goodluck.

A.

My daughter was 11 and wet the bed at night. The doctor recommended we wake her 2 hours after she fell asleep to go to the bathroom. We actually needed to wake her 1 hour (she'd wet the bed by 2 hours)into sleeping. It worked. After about 4 months she was able to get up on her own or sleep through the night with out wetting. When we woke her she'd barely be awake. But evidentally it helped.

My almost 7 year old daughter still wakes up wet, each and every night. Talk with his peditrician first. Mine said do not wake them up in the middle of the night. This is something they will outgrow. He is far from alone. My daughter has 2 friends the same age as she is and all 3 girls wear pull-ups to bed everynight. We just comment on the cool pictures on the front of the pull up. If you don't make a big deal out of it this should not be an issue for him. He'll stay dry all night when his body is ready. Just give him time. Oh, and just so you know, my oldest stayed dry from the time he was 2 1/2 too. Every child is different.

It is a very common issue (not a problem) because children are heavy sleepers and frankly they just can't wake up sometimes.

Buy a bed protector and GET THE DIAPERS OFF. There is no reason a 4 year old should be wearing a diaper. Very embarrassing for him. If he does wet it might wake him up and then he will start realizing what it takes not to be wet in the morning.
Take him to the bathroom before he goes to bed and then again before you go to bed.

We also have big drinkers too and we have one that doesn't always wake up in time and will wet the bed a little before she wakes up and she is 7. It happens and it is part of growing up.

We simply tell her it was an accident, no big deal, wash the bedding and be done with it.

They are only little once and once that is gone it is too late to enjoy it.
R.

I take my daughter to the bathroom when I go to sleep at around 10:00 or so. She doesn't really wake up and doesn't remember it in the morning. It really has helped.

Ok, the only thing I can tell you is that my daughter did the same thing until just after 5. Then it just stopped. I did the same thing as you: no drinking after 6:30pm and she HAD to sit on the toilet before bed no matter if she felt like going or not. It was really hard as my son didnt do it. Anyhow, patience! :-)

Hi,
I am a Mom with a similar problem. My daughter is 6 now and still does wet at night. My Doctor told me to not worry because it might be genetic( my siblings did it and so did my Mom). She will eventually outgrow it. I explained to her that it's not her fault and no one will be mad at her. She is a smart kid and I think she got it. Be patient, it might take a little longer for your son too but he will outgrow it.

Hi, Just wanted to share our experience, knowing it could be different with your son. Our son ( 3 1/2) was potty trained during the day but would pee at night, so we never stopped using the night time pull ups, figuring when he woke up dry in those, then we know know he was ready to go to bed without them. Well one night about two months ago, I discovered I was out of pull ups right at bedtime. My husband was out of town, and now way did I feel like getting my two boys out at night to get some. So I had him so potty right b/4 bed, then b/4 I went to sleep I put him on the pot to pee (we did this w/my older son- just pull his underware down, sit him down and point 'it' down) and he stayed dried all night. So i decided try it over the weekend and same great results. We have had some accidents but now we feel we can say he is potty trained. My dr said that since the underwear feel different, it might have signaled his boby to hold it. The pull up was comfortable and his body was used to that feeling and would allow the pee? I don't know, but I feel like we have been potty training his kid since 2 months b/4 he turned 3....our other son finished in 2 months! Each kid really is different. Hang in there.

Savannah,

Everyone will have a different story and every child is different. I have 4 boys. My oldest, who is 13, never wet the bed. My 9 year old still wets the bed. He has nighttime eurenisis and also takes DDAVP to help. It doesn't always work. He wears Good Nites Pull Ups every night. Letting him wet the bed w/o a pull up doesn't work. He is an extremely deep sleeper. My 4 and 6 year olds still wear pull ups at night. But they are getting better. I cut liquids off at 530pm and they use the restroom several times before bed at 800pm. AND, we take them to the bathroom before we go to bed.
It is very tiring and frustrating. I feel your frustration.

I promise he won't go into high school needing nighttime diapies! I know its frustrating sometimes! My 7 year old just recently (2-3 mos) stopped needing nighttime diapies. Every kiddo accomplishes these milestones in their own time. Be patient with him & yourself. There are some really good bed pads to help with the laundry issues, too. Good luck & hang in there!

Savannah R.
At 4 1/2 may I ask what kind of diaper he is wearing, and if he is still wearing it because of your nighttime problem with wetting? There was 1 good advise I was told early on - let them wear their underwear and wet on themselves. They do NOT this feeling, and will soon figure out they need to go to the potty and not in their underwear. I'd line the bed with good waterproof material and buy garage sale sheets; don't use good ones. Try cutting his use of drinks off at 6:00 since bedtime is 8:30. This suggestion may not be popular, but it has worked for many. Also, if you choose not to, you may need to wake him up once during the night and see if he will go to the bathroom.
Good luck.

I think this is common for some kids - especially boys. Some times their bladder isn't big enough to hold all night. Our son has the same issue and even when we do wake him up, he's wet in the morning.

Our pediatrician says she doesn't start worrying until 9 or 10, due to growth. You may want to discuss with yours and see what he/she thinks.

I just asked my son's pedi about this same thing today at his 4 yr. checkup. He said no rush. Boys can wait until 5 or even 6 for night training. He said to take the lead from them. They'll let you know when they are ready.

Savannah,

Just to offer you some encouragement. You can limit beverages prior to bedtime and encourage them to wake up, but some kids just can't hold it through the night for a bit. My son was potty trained at 22 months, but couldn't make it through the night until he was a few months past turning 5. My twin girls were potty trained at 20 months, one potty trained at night at 24 months and her sister not until just before she turned 5.

One other thing we did when we felt they were close was although then went to bed at 7:30, we woke them up at 10:30 or 11 (when we went to bed) and took them potty and we did that for over a week. It helped them to hold it through the night. They peed up a storm around 10:30.

Good luck!

My daughter is 10 years old now and has had the same problem as did I growing up. It is a common thing called under developed bladder. Dont worry about it too much but I do know it can be frustrating and concern you as a parent for your child. Keep and eye on how much your son drinks closer to bedtime and not let him drink but one glass of fluid. You might also want to take him to the doctor and request them to run a sonogram of the bladder to make sure there are no other problems and they might also prescribe a nasal spray that will help with reducing the bed wetting.

You can also wake him one time during the night and have him go potty. This has helped my daughter in recent months. And she has now out grown her bedwetting to only having accidents about 1-2 times a month.

Like I said before this is a common thing with children and it is an inherited thing as well. I suffered from it as a child and was punished for it due to noone knowing of the condition back when i was a child and my 14 year younger brother suffered from it as a child as well. 2 out of my 4 children suffer from it both of which out grew it about the same time which as about age 10 years...

Sorry for this being so long of a response but I really hope that is helps you in dealing with your concerns with your son.

good luck

M. B.

I've have visited this topic many times with my pediatrician and most recently we talked about it as it was bothering my son. First, my doctor said after our kiddos potty train during the day we never visit this topic - but I do with lots of moms. Secondly, he says besides bladder development - a lot of this is due to sleep maturation too. My just turnd 5 yrs in February son is 50/50 on waking up dry. He still wears a pull-up as he would not wake up if wet - it is due to that sleep maturation... being a heavy sleeper. If a bomb went off in his room, he would not wake.

We just recently revisited this with the pediatrician because little brother (who will be three in May) is dry at night and wears underwear. It makes my oldest sad because he says "we're not the same - we're brothers... we're suppose to be the same." If it wasn't for his concern, I think we'd wait a little longer - but we are looking into behavior mod underwear and such vs. medication.

Good luck - you are not alone and it is great to see Moms talking about it!!

Hi, I have 3 boys and they are all different. most boys have potty issues longer than girls especially at night. let him wear an overnight pull up or diaper to bed and put a plastic matress cover on the bed under the matress pad and dont make a big deal out if it. he cant help it.

its embarassing, but I wet the bed until I was 8... and they did not have pullups or anything like that back then.

lots of boys are not bedtime potty trained until 6 so just help him and encourage him and he will love you more for that...
Make sure he goes to the potty right before bed. and if he has an accident say thats ok we can try again tomorrow night and if he goes a night with out having an accident then give him a bigh hug and kiss and tell him that was wonderful and maybe a treat as well...

good luck,
A. J

The worst thing you can do is make a big deal out of it. All kids come to this point at their own right time. The Peditrician will not even start worrying about it until your son is 7. My oldest daughter didn't have any trouble potty training, but she wet the bed until a month before her 7th birthday. There is a hormone that signals the body not do urinate at night. Most of the time it's there by age 5, but not always. Get Goodnights, they worked best for me, and don't worry about it. Another trick I learned was to put two sets of sets and mattress covers on the bed with the pad I had used in the crib to keep things from soaking through. This way if she got me up in the middle of the night, all I had to do was take the first set off along with the pad and put her right back to bed.

Good luck.

Hi Savannah,

This is a very sensitive subject for me. I was a bedwetter until I was 18 years old! My mother was well into her 20's as was my grandmother. My son is 9 and is still wet probably 99% of the time. Here is the response I have given so many other moms. I am not saying this will be your son at all, just giving you our experiences.

"I don't really have any help for you other than to let you know that you are not alone. My son has been a bedwetter since day one, and can tell you that with him the only thing anyone wants to do is give him one of those alarms you wear on your underwear. I had one as a child and my problem got worse so I do not reccomend them at all.

Anyway, bedwetting can be caused by numerous things. Not enough of the hormone that "shuts down" urine production at night, too small of a bladder, an over-active bladder, and on and on. Do understand though that typical bedwetting is not considered a problem until children are about 8 years old (and even then, NOT a big deal until AFTER puberty)!

The urologist we saw said to cut way back on caffine, chocolate, carbonation, and citrus...cut out liquids after 4pm and only small amounts with dinner...make sure he uses the bathroom EVERY 2 hours and sits/stands for at least 2 minutes every time (to make sure the bladder is completly empty), and most importantly that the problem would not change if the child did not think it was a problem. My son is 9 and wets the bed nearly every night. I have a waterproof protector on his bed and I wash sheets daily (as goodnights are WAY TOO expensive to use every night). My son does not feel his bedwetting is a problem so he is not ready to make an effort to change. So as much as I push, he will not use the restroom every 2 hours, he will not stay in there for 2 minutes, he sneaks drinks well into the evening...so I have stopped fighting. I figure as long as nothing is medically wrong (and we have had many tests), and he is OK with it...eventually he will decide that this is not what big boys do. Until then, I have choosen not to fight this battle.

Sorry I'm not much help."

Anyway, hope that helps. Just don't expect too much from him too young. My daughter is 7 and has been dry 99% of the time since she was probably 3 or 4. I guess what I am saying is that it is different for everyone.