Night Time Potty Training! - Calamus,IA

Updated on April 19, 2008
M.T. asks from Calamus, IA
7 answers

I would really like to know some tips on how to get my four-year-old to stop wetting the bed! He hates pullups and diapers and wants to wear underwear. I thought this was a good sign and we were going to be able to tackle the nighttime issue; however, he still wets the bed. It is getting frustrating changing and washing sheets so much. He wets the bed probably 4/7 days of the week. We cut off all fluids after supper and he definitely goes pee before bed. Last night he even got up in the middle of the night and went pee and then went back to bed. I checked on him around 4 am and he was lying in a puddle! So what I'm wondering is do I go this far only to put him back in pullups? Any tips or advice?

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So What Happened?

Thank you everyone for your advice-this is my oldest son so I will get to go down this road again in a couple years. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that my oldest will be trained before his brother has to start-but like many of you said-maybe I won't have any problems with the youngest since they're all different :)I do have a "soaking" pad underneath him. I think I will purchase another one and just buy more laundry detergent and get used to things until he catches on-thanks again.

More Answers

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B.H.

answers from Minneapolis on

Bedwetting is a physical problem due to immature weak bladder. Kids can't help it or control it.

I know a ton of kids who were bedwetters til 8 or 10 years old easily.

My daughter had a birthday party last summer and some girls spend the night the one mom told me her daughter still needed a pullup at bedtime and these are first graders.

Just get used to the idea of chaning sheets or buying pullups you can't force this or push it along faster.

1 mom found this helpful
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K.H.

answers from Milwaukee on

Wow!
It sounds like you're doing everything right (cutting off fluids after dinner and making sure he goes potty right before bed...). You must be so frustrated.

My boyfriend's 7 year old son still periodically wets the bed. We spoke to his doctor and it was discovered that due to enlarged tonsils (or whatever the reason), he sleeps so soundly that the normal urge to urinate doesn't wake him.
Does your son snore?

Also, I know there are some easily treated overactive bladder problems that some kids experience that you might want to look into.

Since you've already done all the obvious stuff to correct the problem, I would try setting up an alarm clock in his room and teaching him how to use it. Set the alarm to go off in the middle of the night and then again early morning.
He should be able to go to the bathroom and then right back to sleep I would think.
No matter what you do, I would absolutely NOT go back to Pull Ups or diapers.

I hope this helped and good luck to you!

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J.P.

answers from Appleton on

All children are not created equal. Therefore I would have to disagree with setting an alarm clock to wake him up. That would just teach him to get up nightly at those times to use the bathroom. Some kids bladders just don't gain the ability to hold the urine through the night until they are older.

Does your child have asthma? It seems kids with asthma have a higher rate of bed-wetting than others. Some meds also can have an effect.

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R.

answers from Minneapolis on

We have the same issue w/ our 5 1/2 year old. My husband got rid of the pull ups a few weeks ago. I have a baby who has me up a couple times a night so every time I am up w/ her I wake him up to go to the bathroom as well (there are times though when I am just too tired to do it). He is a very sound sleeper and most of the time if we cut off liquid after 6 he is OK, but every now and then it doesn't matter and he still pees the bed. I am tired of washing sheets too. <laugh> The good news is they eventually grow out of it. Funny thing is our 3 year old has absolutely no problem staying dry and hasn't wet the bed once in the 2 months he has been potty trained.

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S.S.

answers from Milwaukee on

My son if four and still wears pull-ups to bed...but he's just starting to be dry regularly. Some tips I read that have helped him is to give him a high-fat snack before bed such as peanut butter toast or crackers or cheese. And to let him have a drink or so before bed (dehydrated people go to the bathroom more frequently so you don't want them dehydrated before bed). And then we wake him to go to the bathroom before we go to bed. And so far he's been dry every morning we've worked on this using these techniques. But remember that each child is different...and develop in their own time. I wish you the best!

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C.K.

answers from Des Moines on

Hi M.,

We had the same problem with our oldest son...nothing seemed to help. He finally out grew this when he was about 7 years old. All children are different. As long as you don't think there is a medical reason I really think you will just have to let him out grow this one. I have a 7 year old girl that I daycare and she just told me last week that she is finally staying dry at night...she was so excited.

There are pads that you can buy to put under them, so that you don't have to wash the sheets every time they have an accident. I didn't have one, but this little girl had one and she called it a "soaker".

Good Luck!

C.

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J.G.

answers from Milwaukee on

Sometimes it just takes some little guys & girls a little longer to adjust. Like I tell everyone, there's our time and then there is God's time.

Our son wasn't fully trained until he was 4-1/2 years old. Yes it was frustrating. But he was so worn out from being so busy during the day that he was too tired to get up.
We put a mattress encasement on his mattress so we didn't have to continually have to clean the it.

It will work out. Some kids just need more time.

J.

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