My son has been daytime potty trained since he was just under 3. We never pushed the nighttime training until he wanted to. However, we've had ups and downs with it. He didn't to wear a pullup overnight and had great success for up to a week at a time, but inevitably that would change and he'd have a series of accidents that were waking him (and eventually us) several nights in a row. Just for the sake of sleep, we put him back in pullups. Especially now, it's tough, because he's in kindergarten and REALLY needs his sleep. We have started to try to go back to underwear the last couple of weeks, but he's only stayed dry maybe 2 or 3 nights in a week. We've limited fluids leading up to bedtime, made him go right before bed, etc. As has been the issue for these last couple of years, he sleeps SO heavily that I honestly don't think he's recognizing the urge to go because he's just out like a light.
I just wondered if anyone else had experience with this at this age/later. Several of my friends have said their child wasn't overnight potty trained until at least 6, so I guess it's not that uncommon. And the pediatrician said it's not a big deal. I just feel bad because my son seems to be embarrassed about a pullup overnight.
Any thoughts/support/recs would be appreciated :)
I did search this topic and found a lot of posts, but they all seemed to be about much younger boys, which is why I posted.
He's not in desperate need of water and is able to have it overnight if he needs it. I'm just limiting his intake a bit before bed.
I guess I'll just wait until he's ready again. At one point, he went an entire month without an accident, but that was nearly a year ago. So, we'll see if he's ready again one of these days.
Thanks!
There is no such thing as "night time potty training"! It's a physiological readiness that's either there or it's not.
You'll know he's night time ready when he has a dry pullup for 7-10 days in a row. Good luck!
My son was day trained at 3 1/2 but he was 7 yrs old before he could make it through the night and stay dry.
When he was dry for a solid 2 weeks in a row, we were done with pull ups.
Some of his friends were 11 before they could manage it.
Tell your son a pull up at night is nothing to be embarrassed about - his body is just not ready.
If you search this topic in the search you'll find that this is a very common question. Every time the same answers are typed, there is nothing you can do except be the parent and tell him until he gets older he is going to wear pullups.
Please don't limit his drinks. It hinders the process. He needs to have urine to feel the urge to wake up and go. His body is not stopping the production of urine during the sleeping phases. He has no control over this, it's like telling his blood to only pump in the arm or that arm. It is impossible. The brain turns on and starts producing the chemical that tells the kidney to stop producing urine so therefor the bladder has no urine in it when he's sleeping. Once he wakes up he'll fill up quickly and need to go, that's the phase we are in. The kids stay dry most of the night then when they wake up they can't get to the bathroom quick enough to go in the potty. It stinks, literally!, but we do quick showers in the morning so that other kids and teachers can't smell the stale urine on their bodies.
Our son was 5 when he finally got it. We did the alarm though, it snapped in his underwear and would make a buzzing noise at the first hint of wetness. It took 2 weeks of every night getting woken up but after that no more accidents!!! He would FILL a pullup and leak out of it and he slept so soundly I think he didn't know he was peeing. The alarm was our saviour. I would order it now but wait till Christmas break if you can. That way he isn't getting woken up nightly. I did it over that break last year and by the time he was back at school he was sleeping all night dryly.
my friend's daughter was a heavy sleeper and would wet the bed. during the day she potty trained very early, right at 2yo but she couldn't wake up at night when she needed to go. They tried limiting fluids, etc, but eventually started setting the alarm for the middle of the night and one of them got her up to pee which was very effective (altho means getting in the middle of the night). That lasted until she was around 7 and she was finally able to get thru the night consistently.
good luck!
Just wait until he is ready. He needs his sleep lots right now. Put him in a pull up and when his body is ready. he will stay dry. The more stress he feels the longer it will take.
My daughter was in pull ups till she was 12. She hated it but like your son, she was a very hard sleeper and just would not wake up. I took her to a pediatric urologist and they put her on some very expensive medication that frankly for her, did not work. I do know it has worked for others. But eventually, she grew out of it. Her father was the same way and was a bed wetter till he was about 8 or 9. Tell him to hang in there. Many kids are in his same situation. If he still has the problem when he starts having sleepovers or goes to sleepovers, none of the other kids have to know. He can change in private and put shorts or jami's on. In the morning he can have a bag to put the wet pull up in. It will all work out. Good luck!!
