My son potty trained with ease between 2-3 years old but has not yet mastered it at night. He will be 5 in April. He is currently wearing pull-ups to bed. He has stayed dry a few nights here and there but nothing consistent. The amount he pees at night has decreased. He shows some discomfort in putting on the pull-up but does seem secure knowing it is how it always has been. We just tried underwear for the first time last night with a pad under him. He is a deep sleeper and woke up once but could not go. He did wake up wet but not soaked. He was in a good mood but I was wondering if any one has any advice on training at night with a deep sleeper.
At 5 I dont think it is as much training as some other issue. Some people have weak bladders. Stress is an issue perhaps.
J., my youngest daughter had the same problem. Deep sleeper and wore pull ups until she was 9. It affected her self esteem of course. The doctor prescribed hormones DDAVP for a few weeks, but it stopped working and I was NOT comfortable giving her hormones and stopped. Finally, we contacted Pacific International Ltd. and had a consultation with a representative. We began the program and in 2 weeks, she stopped wetting the bed and had NO REOCCURENCES. She doesn't monitor her drinking anymore before bed because she's trained to wake up. It is expensive, but worked and they work with you during this process. You may want to wait a little longer and he may grow out of it, but if it is because he sleeps so deeply, he may not be able to wake up without being trained to. My daughter still thanks us and says it saved her life. I hope this helps, please contact me with any questions. I know how you feel, and more importantly, what your child is going through, it can be very damaging to their self esteem when it goes on too long. N.
J.,
My daughter is now 5 1/2 and is in underwear at night only for the past two weeks. She is also a deep sleeper and really needs her sleep to function. My husband and I used to be so worried that she'd never be dry at night but we decided that sleep was more important and that in time, she would be dry. We started the process to help her by giving her a fairly big drink of water around 5pm as her last big drink of the day. At dinner, she would only drink a few sips, like 1oz of liquid. Then we would make sure she used the bathroom right before bedtime which is 8pm. She wore a pull-up to bed. We started to notice that as time went on, she was dry in the morning on this routine. So, we let her put on the underwear and a pull-up over it. We did that for like two months. And she kept it dry. And now, she has graduated to just underwear, but only if she doesn't drink much past 5pm. On days when she is thristy and wants to drink later, we offer her a choice to drink and wear a pull-up or to not drink and no pull-up. amazingly, she has drank some more than we'd like a little later than we'd like and she actually woke up at night to go. We were surprised! So, I think her body is ready now. Your son's body will be ready also in time and maybe you can try these steps - drink at 5pm, no drink later- to help him begin this process. Good luck.
There are overnight pull up type things that look like boxer shorts. They may look a little more like underwear rather then diapers. Try those.
Unfortunately I don't have any advice for you, but I wanted to let you know that you are not the only one struggling with this. My son whom is 7 still has the night wetting issue. We have been battling it for a VERY long time. He is also a very heavy sleeper and simply does not wake at night. I tried all the "tricks"; no liquids after 6, wake him up to go potty(what a nightmare), just put him in underwear and he'll learn. None of it worked. My ped. said that basically he just needs to grow so that his bladder can hold more through the night. In fact, over the last couple of months we are having more dry nights than wet ones so we're headed in the right direction. Don't worry, your son WILL get there too.
Hi J.,
I have 3 deep sleepers ages 4, 6 & 8. The key is the liquid intake. As the other moms have said, about an hour before bedtime, stop the liquids. If they insist, mine will get a sip (literally) of water to satisfy themselves. Right before they get into the bed, I ask them to go to the bathroom one last time for the night. If they say they don't feel like it, tell them that you're not forcing them to do it, just give it a try. They still haven't completely mastered interpreting their body signals, so 99% of the time, they'll be surprised to find something will actually happen in the bathroom, even it it's a tiny bit. Though my 4 & 6 year olds are trained, they still have their occasional slips, so they sleep in the GoodNights. They have ones that look like shorts, too. They might change your son's feeling of discomfort with the pull-ups. Is he scared of the dark? Try keeping the light on in the bathroom overnight, or a nightlight. Just be patient. It shouldn't be much longer. Good luck.
I have the same issue. From what I understand, the bladder doesn't fully develop until 6+. I guess that means some kids can stay dry in the night -- some don't. I think it's normal for some -- and doesn't classify as "bedwetting".
My son is 5-1/2 and wears the boxers to bed at night. His drinking is limitted to 2 hours before bed and 1 last trip to the bathroom, but he is such a deep sleeper that the one time I woke him up because he was drenched, he walked to the kitchen and stuck his little butt in the freezer after I told him to go to the potty. He doesn't even remember. => Eventually, he'll get it. Right now, I'm enjoying the fact that both my kids sleep peacefully through the night.
You could try, no food or drinks after 7 for example and be sure he empties the bladder right after last drink and again before going to bed. Before you go to bed at night, wake him and walk him to the bathroom to go again. If it doesn't help, you should contact the pediatrician and see if further evaluation is needed in case the bladder isn't fully developed, or some kind of med might be necessary. Perhaps there is some kind of appropriate behavior modification that could train him to awaken on his own when he needs to use the bathroom. Good luck.
my son is in same boat. I limit liquids 1 hour before bedtime and I wake him 2 hours after going to sleep and take him to the bathroom...it has worked so far.
Hi J.,
Have you tried decreasing his liquid intake. when training my daughters that is what i did and it worked, i believe that it help them to realize the difference and feel the differnce. when my girls would wet the bed i would decrease the water intake and i use to wake them up in the middle of the night when i got up to use the bathroom. if they said that they did not have to go i would put on the water and let it run that seem to help and the would do their buiseness.
a little about me i am a divorsed mother of three of the best daughters in the world, and they were all potty trained befor they were two. they are now 15,9 1/2 and 5 years young. i am currently a part time substitute teacher and a full time college student who is about to graduate this year with my BA degree in psychology.
When my kids were small, I tried cutting way back on liquids after 5:00 PM. Just sips of water-and no salty snacks to make him thirsty. It WILL happen. Boys usually are slower than girls in many ways. A star chart can sometimes help-or getting hiom up about 11 to pee. Good Luck-and don't be discouraged.
