Leaky Diapers!!! - Saint Charles,MO

My son is the same way. We don't restrict him from drinking anything before bed, but I will say "that's plenty to drink, leave some for later" to get him to drink less. Sometimes I only fill his cup 1/2 way, so he won't drink as much. Also, the only diapers that don't make his bed and him drenched for us are the Pampers Cruisers. Goodluck! :)

I am having the same problem with my son. We moved him up to size 6 and before bed time we try really hard to get him to go potty before bed. So far no wet beds in the morning. Hope this helps.

Hi A., I had the same problem with my now 4 yr old son. I had to start cutting back on the water after 6pm. I still give him water, I just make it a much smaller amount. I gradually cut it back, so he didn't notice it as much and was still able to have that drink if he was thirsty. Now after 7 pm, he only has about 1-2 oz in a cup and he is fine with it.

Good luck.

My daughter peed right out of those pullups too. Are the size 6 too big? Maybe there is just too much space and causes leaks. We use the costco brand of diapers. I love them and never had leaking problems. I heard boys are hard to potty train. I think practicing is always good but you cant force them. My friend also put big boy underwear on her son and let him pee his pants a couple times. It kinda makes them think twice before they pee there pants. Or you could buy him really cool big boy underwear that he likes to get him interested in being a big boy. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Let me just tell you...I'm no expert but I AM a veteren mom and I gotta say that "don't force him" is a HUGE load of CRAP!!!
The kid is three years old, it's time for the potty. End of story.
Also, no one has EVER suffered from dehydration because of going a couple hours without water before bed. Toughen up....this is NOT the first time you'll have to use tough love in his lifetime!

I know I'd read that a woman had used one of her maxi pads around the top of her son's diaper because he liked to fall asleep with his bum in the air so when he went it would leak right out... That sounds a lot like that diaper doubler, and I bet it would be more economical ;), just a thought.
You could try putting a towel under him at night until you finagle a way to fix the problem too.
I think this is a pretty common issue around the time where they're starting to be close to the age of potty training, and other moms I know tend to try to get up once a night and change their diaper in the middle of the night. You may get so good he doesn't even notice :).
I'm glad your doc said not to force him on the training, truly I believe it's when they're ready for it. Some times peer pressure makes them ready for it sooner as another poster said, but sometimes not.
Good luck!

I agree with the two opinions of cutting off drinks a couple of hours before bedtime and offering half-full cups. My little guy used to prefer drinking to eating. I think he got used to the full feeling in his tummy. Anyway, when we slowed down the fluids, his diapers didn't leak as often.

Well it sounds like you've done everything that I would have done. I found the Goodnights from Huggies to work the best and everytime we had wet issues we needed to move up to the next size (whether he was that size or not). How is he positioning himself? If he's particularly gifted and long then it could be he's just leaking right out the top of it. Maybe he just needs to reposition?

I agree that his fluids after dinner need to be restricted. If he's thirsty or needs to brush his teeth then give him a small Dixie cup 1/2 full. Remember, if you give a kid a full glass of liquid they will more than likely finish the whole thing...

You didn't mention if you had started potty training? If you have and he's doing it during the day, I would recommend taking him to the bathroom before you all go to bed and getting him to go, and again if you wake up in the middle of the night. My son is 5 and still wears goodnights. I'm not forcing him to go to the bathroom at night but he's eventually learned his body signals and I hear him wake up and go potty now by himself. Sometimes, it's just getting in the habit.

If your little guy isn't potty training yet, I think you should consider it and possibly resort to peer pressure to get some encouragement for him...my kids only started potty training when they saw other kids their ages already doing it. Maybe some strategic play dates with some potty trained kiddos may help? Just some ideas...hope something helps.

Hi A....

I can only suggest what works for us... we use Huggies Natural Fit... size 6. We also do not allow liquids after dinner... so nothing after 6:45 or 7. If he does get thirsty... we give him a sip of water and send him on his way.

no drinks after 6:00 or a cup at dinner and that is all for the evening. if he goes that much at night he is definately going to have a hard time sleeping when he is potty trained. You may want to take him to the potty before he goes to bed, before you go to bed, and first thing in the morning. Maybe with those 3 times of going potty he won't be drenched in the morning.

A.,

The only thing I can suggest is to cut off his fluid intake about 1.5-2hrs before bed. That way he will hopefully pee everything out before he goes to bed. This is how we finally potty trained my now 6.5yr old at bedtime. He was an extremely heavy sleeper and would not wake up to potty. If he says he is dying of thirst then I would just give him a sip!

Good luck and God Bless!!

I disagree with your doctor and your son. Although I'm not sure what is meant by force him to use the potty or he refuses to use the potty, he does need to be trained to use the potty. It is not his choice, it's the adult's. Don't feel sorry for him waking up drenched, you should feel sorry for YOU! He obviously doesn't care! Take the time, draw the line in the sand and train him to use the potty - period! Unless there is some medical reason, you need to take control.

First of all, who says he should already be out of diapers? My son wasn't potty trained until after his 3rd birthday. Boys are SO much slower about getting potty trained than girls, and trust me...they definitely do it when THEY're ready, not when YOU are. :-)

As to the leaky diapers, we had the same problem. So we used Huggies Overnights. Good luck!!

We have been going though this with our 2 1/2 y/o (he'll be 3 in Dec.). He has to wear Good nights in size S/M. He can out pee these, but he doesn't tend to. You could try size 7 Pampers (they are the only brand that makes a size 7) at night. I also looked into specialty diapers for children with incontenence (can't control their bladders).
We decided to 'cold turkey' potty train our youngest son (it worked with his older brother). No more diapers except at bed & pull-ups in the car (or a piddle pad in his car seat). He happily wears his big boy underware. When he pees it makes a mess & runs down his legs. He really doesn't like this. After 2 weeks he ocassionally tells me that he has to go potty, but most of the time I just tell him he needs to sit on the potty every few hours. Our youngest was not interested in the potty or underware, but he can hold his pee for 12 hours & when he lets it go he can soak through any diaper available! That is why we started potty training him.

I hope some of this will help you!
God Bless!

This was happening to my son too. I got him the huggies nightime for a while (they hold more), then cut his drink off about 2 hours before bedtime. (You can tell him you are going to this and he can drink all he needs before that.) When he was potty training, I made sure he peed before he went to sleep and right when he woke up and that solved our problem. Good luck!

Hi A.,
This is more for future reference-even though he's not potty training now, he eventually will be, and your nighttime problem will be an even bigger problem! My daughter was 5 1/2 before she could stay dry at night, and our doctor told us that the bladder works best when it is emptied 8-10 times a day (which seems like a lot to me). Anyway, just something to think about when your son does show interest in the potty!

My 3 1/2 year did that too, mainly I think b/c he slept on his tummy a lot. I seriously thought about the maxi-pad trick, but it wasn't too long of a phase for him, thankfully. One thing I would monitor, is how much does he drink during a day? I don't want to scare you - but I only noticed one other person mention this....one of my best friends' daughters was waking up drenched and drank a lot of fluids too and turns out has diabetes. Those were basically her only symptoms and no dr. ever thought to check that. Might not be a bad idea to mention to your dr. and they could check it. Her daughter's got really serious before they caught it. And, it is NOT hereditary, no one else in their families is diabetic. But, if that's OK, I'd try working on the potty training slowly, but in my experience w/3 kids, they won't do it before they're ready. OR you will drive yourself crazy trying to force it. I don't remember for sure how old our daughter was, she wasn't as good at is as the boys (as far as she had more accidents and was a bed wetter for several years after) - but one son was a month before his 3rd b-day and the other was a month after his 3rd b-day and once they decided to wear big-boy under-dudes, that was it. We have good friends who would take their child every so many minutes and make her sit there. They did that and had her in pull-ups for a year or more and I think everyone was miserable, she wasn't ready yet. That wears you out and doesn't really work. With our boys, it just "clicked" and there was no looking back. Good luck. He will be potty trained soon, I'm sure. Hang in there.

I would start restricting his water or liquid intake about two hours before bed. Let him have a sip or two before hand if he's thirsty but don't let him have an entire glass. You may want to start introducing potty training. I don't know if you are going to put him in preschool, but most require that the kids are trained before they start or by the time they are three. Good luck and God Bless.

As a mom of three..10, 6 and 2..

You need to stop drinks two hours before bed and potty train now that he is three.

Sorry but you did ask for our advice..

Babies R Us used to sell a product called a diaper doubler, it was a big insert made like a maxipad, that goes into the diaper at night. I searched the internet and found this link that had a picture of the product.
http://anordinarymom.wordpress.com/2007/01/30/wfmw-diaper...
I don't know if you'll have to copy and paste, but you'll know what you're looking for. I know these will help without restricting your child!

If he's three, I would potty train him. That will take care of it.

Is he susing the excuse of "I'm thirsty" at bedtime to delay bedtime? If so than that's just a control issue and not a thirst issue. I would try to wean him off that control.

You could tell him he can have another drink, but he needs to try to go potty in the potty first.

What brand diaper you using? Get the size 6 in Huggies SUPREME they hold a lot of fluid. You can stop his intake of water by a certain time of the nite. 2 hrs before he goes to bed.

why not wake up in the middle of the night a few times to change his diaper?

Hi A., My son is 2 1/2 and we had the same problem with him until we bought the Huggies over night diapers. They are great!!!! My son never leaked through them, they only go up to a size 5 though. Now we use the over night pull ups and they work pretty well too, not as well as the huggies over nights did but they still help. We also use the vinyl pants that we bought at walmart. We put on his Huggies over night pull up and then we put the plastic vinyl pants on over it and that way if he leaks through it stays in the plastic pants and doesn't get all over the bed. I hope this helps!!!! Take care and God Bless!

Good Morning A., I hear ya calling!! Our almost one yr old gr son gets up drenched from head to toe almost every morning. If he gets a bottle in the night like at 3-4 am he is really soaked, daughter in law doesn't change him then just gives him a bottle. She doesn't want to risk him not going back to sleep until 7.

Their oldest little guy is 3 1/2 has been in pull ups off and on at night. If he has an accident he gets up and removes them and puts on big boy underware and goes back to bed.
He goes to bed most nights at 8, so dinner time he has his milk in a cup. Then at bedtime has a sip or two of water half an hour before bed. He normally gets up dry in the mornings. He drinks alot of water during the day with me, only milk at Breakfast & lunch time.

I would try to limit his fluid intake in the evenings. He won't die of thrist, let him have only a few sips before bed.

Good Luck to you & your little guy.
K. Nana of 5

You've received some good advice. You may also want to talk to your pediatrician about your son's need to drink a lot of water. Just a thought.

A. - My son had the same issue, so we began restricting his water intake after 6:00 p.m. Right before story time (bed time), I'd let him take one or two sips. Problem solved! It helped tremendously.
He also is 3, and we had the same issue with him not wanting to be potty trained. One day, he just decided that he wanted to wear big boy underwear (after we had quit making a big deal out of it), and he was instantly potty trained, both during the day and night.

Night time wetting can be a big problem for a lot of kids...even older. Limit his liquids near bedtime, but don't expect the problem to completely go away....
Another thing that crossed my mind...You might get him checked by a doctor....If he drinks a lot of water, and pees a lot...thirsty a lot...? Is there diabetes in your family? Not that it definately is, but it can be a side affect of diabetes... It would be worth checking out to make sure...In my mind ruling it out isn't a bad option.... There are other reasons, so don't panic, I just wanted to mention it, just in case.... Enjoy your little boy...

I dont let my son have anything to drink after 730 or 800.

I completely believe in "don't force him"!!! Don't get too frustrated! My son turned 3 in January. He was not ready to be potty trained. He was READY the end of May. Since he decided, he was potty trained in 2 days!!! He has only had one accident since...waiting in line for a bathroom! I have 2 older children that were potty trained at an earlier age but they weren't done in 2 days either! Don't force him! My sons incentive was he wanted to go to mom's day out at the YMCA. I kept telling him he had to be a big boy and not wear diapers. Good luck!

You do need to testrict his water and if he's thirsty he will let you know. If he is then give him an ounce of water and that's enough and get him up in the night to use the bathroom. He sounds like he's dealing with nocturnal enuresis and I went through that with my son until he went through purberty and it's common in boys but do get him up at least twice in the night to get him to keep from to soaking his clothes and bedding. S.

he won't be thirsty, cut back on his fluids a couple hours before bedtime. i bet you'll notice a huge difference ;) he'll probably sleep better not being soaking wet. good luck!

When we transitioned our boy to underwear, he would have accidents often. We stopped all drinks at 7:00 and don't have any issues. The only slip-ups we have is if he drinks alot late and forgets to go to the bathroom before bedtime.

Could you take him to the bathroom before you go to bed? Our guy just turned three and we have him go to the bathroom before bed and then we get him up about 1030 when we go to bed. He barely wakes up and rarely has any trouble getting back to sleep. He is not in diapers but would have a wet bed if we didn't take him, just a thought!

HUGGIES Overnights work great. And yes, I would restrict the liquids about an hour or so before bed. If he gets thirsty he can have a sip but if he drinks a lot you shouldnt have to worry about him being too thirsty. Try for a week or so and see how he reacts to it and see if the overnights help. Chances are if he drinks a lot before bed, he will be upset if he doesnt get to anymore. But stick to your guns for a week or more and he will learn that its ok. Hes just used to getting all of that water now and it wont hurt him one bit to not get some an hour before bed. And theres nothing wrong with giving him a sip if you really think hes thirsty, but he'll get used to it and I really think this will help your problem. Hang in there, you are not a bad mom for restricting water intake before bed!! Lots of kids have liquids restricted at bedtime for potty issues at night. Good luck!

From personal experience to me Huggies brand absorbs/holds more - we were using Luvs and our little one would wake up soaked sometimes and now we've been using Huggies and he hasn't woke up wet since.

Limit water after 6 o'clock, and if he's drinking tons of water, maybe you should rule out juvenile diabetes. I don't want to scare you, but excessive thirst is often a symptom... Good luck!

Don't feel bad about him still being in diapers. Plenty of kids don't potty train until that age!

If he's drinking a lot during the day, I think just a sip of water at bedtime to moisten his mouth should be sufficient. Limiting the evening/nighttime liquid intake might help.

You could try putting a wool soaker over his diaper. I've heard of many moms who do that with great success!

Make sure his winger is pointed down into the diaper and not up hopefully will use more of the bottom part of the diaper.

My son is 2.5 and he has the same problem. He all ready wears a size 6 normally. So since I can't go up a size at night, and don't feel like spending the extra money on Huggies overnights etc... I just change him in the middle of the night. He usually wakes up around 2ishAM wanting a drink, so I give him a drink and change him. My almost 8y/o has a bed wetting problem, always has, and he uses the good nights, and they work good for him...

I agree with having him sit on the potty at night, even if you're not working on potty training. I had both my kids sit on the potty from very early on at night and in the morning, to reduce that over-wetness. Also, have you tried cloth diapers? If you're in the Kansas City area, you might go check out the store Happybottomous (sp?) in Lee's Summit and try fuzzibunz or one of the other pocket diapers for over night. With two diapers in them, I think they work great for overnight (and you only have to pay for them once!)

K.

you need to limit his drinking at bedtime. if he goes at 8, nothing past 630, etc. and while i wouldn't force him, i would push the potty training a little more...maybe let him sleep in underwear to get the point across. but definitely limit his fluids and don't let him have a cup or anything in there at night. good luck!

I don't agree with the forcing of the potty, so my advice is to try the Huggies Overnites. We have been using them with my daughter since she was 6 months old and they are awesome! We buy ours at Wal-Mart and they are in a purple package.

pampers baby dry work really well for us

Hello A.,

Wow, you got some varied reponses on your question - seems most are about whether your kid should be potty trained or not rather than your real question about night time leaking. Bothered me a bit, to be quite honest. Even if you were starting potty training, he would still be in diapers at night. Hope you are taking all of these reponses with grain of salt, your potty training schedule is between you, your kid, and your doctor. Everyone else is just an opinion.

Speaking of opinions, night-time leaking is the post I tend to respond to the most. We had a terrible time with my son leaking out, but finally found a great solution. When he is going through a leaking phase, we use Serenity incontinence pads in his diaper. They are for adults with bladder weakness, so they are made specifically for absorbing urine. We get the "heavy flow" ones, and just put one in the diaper every night. He barely notices the extra bulk and they have not failed us once in the year or so we have had the issue. There are lots of different brands and you can usually find them near the maxi pad section at the store.

Good luck. Don't let anyone get to you on the potty training thing, and I hope you give the pads a shot - they really help!
D.

A.-
Don't force him to potty train, they will do it when they are ready. My almost 3 year old daughter is potty trained but still uses a pull-up at night. She would wake up pretty wet sometimes. What we had to do was to stop her drinking atleast 30 minutes before bed time. What we also do is make her try and go to the potty before she goes to bed. Sometimes she will want something to drink right before bed but we limit how much she gets. We also sometimes just fill her sippy once after supper and that is all she gets, so she can drink it as fast as she wants but she doesn't get any more. It all pretty much comes down to how much they drink before bed time. If he is leaking through the pull-ups and diapers you can always put the plastic plants on him over the diaper to keep the moisture off his bed. Good luck, it is all about trial and error and what works best for him. But it does help to eliminate the liquids before bed time.

I wouldn't worry too much if he's still in diapers if he's just 3 years old - I would definitely limit his drink/water intake before bed - stopping 2 hours or more before bedtime. If he is sleeping with a drink - you might want to put less or something because I'm sure taking it out all together would be a nightmare. Anyway, try that strategy - hopefully it will help.