Nighttime Pottytraining Help Needed! :(

I have a friend with a 5 yr old and a 9 yr old son. BOTH of them still wear pull ups at night. I know several other boys between ages 3 and 10 who are daytime trained, but have severe issues through the night. According to some "seasoned parents" and a few doctors I have asked, it is normal for boys to have nighttime potty issues, even into double digit ages. I'd say, as some others have, that since he is waking up, that is a good sign. He knows what he has to do, he's just not quite there yet. Give it some more time.

I'm having a hard time getting my daughter daytime trained and I'm not looking forward to the nighttime training issues.

Good luck.

A.

Wetting the bed it totally normal, and their are a million different ideas of how to "deal with it". If he is waking up by himself at night, you are much closer to crossing that hurdle then I am. I think that your question is more about getting him to stay in his bed, and go to the bathroom at night by himself. I know this sounds silly, but have you tried just talking to him about it. Explain to him that he is a big boy now, and that he can go to the bathroom by himself at night. Remind him that he doesn't need your help, leave a well lit path to the bathroom, and praise him the next morning for not waking you up. Right before bed, take him to the bathroom, then tuck him in and remind him that he already went pee, and does not need to go for at least an hour. My son has a clock in his room, and I will tell him that he can go to the bathroom again when they clock says 9 at the beginning. He will watch it for a few minutes, then fall asleep.
My son sleeps like a rock, and even when I wake him up at 11 to pee, he is almost always wet the next morning still. I tried putting him to bed in underwear, and he wet the bed every night but one, for an entire week. Sometimes they are just not ready. Don't fret.

To be perfectly honest with you, it's up to Mom & Dad to attack the issue. First thing, you need to figure out if your holding him back from being trained by putting the diaper on him at night. Let him go without it and by chance wet the bed once or twice. The little guy has no idea what it feels like to wet his bed. I guarantee, he will not like it. They make waterproof mattress pads so you may want to get one. This way he will not ruin the bed. After a couple accidents, he'll get the idea. If he doesn't, then you know he has a bigger issue at hand.

You may want to try a bed wetting alarm. It worked great for us. They cost about $100 (yes, it's expensive), but they work like a charm. There is a little sensor that you clip on the front of the underwear (where it would get wet if they pee), and as soon as they pee, it sets off an alarm (little beeper you clip on the shirt, which has a wire that goes to the sensor). My son wasn't waking up soon enough, so this helped him associate the feeling inside (that he has to go potty) with the alarm sound. Be sure to show your child what the alarm sounds like before you try it the first night (we didn't and our son freaked out crying because he didn't know what was happening). With the alarm, it took less than a week to solve the bed wetting issue. A year later he relapsed and we just used it again and within 3 days he was fine. If you read the website for night-time pullups, they explain that when children go thru growth spurts, their body may be making more urine than they can physically hold, until the other parts of the body grow to match. Also, my son is a deep sleeper, so the alarm helped him learn to come out of sleep to go potty. Hope that helps.

My daughter used to use the "gotta go potty" excuse for not going to bed but it was a phase that eventually went away. I think it is a control thing. We talked about being honest and how important it is but it really just went away on its own when she got bored w/ it. I think the less attention about it the better and the sooner it will go away.

I took a potty training class and was told that 3 and a 1/2 is the most sucessful age to start potty training w/ boys. So it maybe that your son is ready during the day but not at night. I was also told to not use diapers/pull ups because it just makes the transition longer. They have to "FEEL" the accident in their underware or bed in order to learn what to do. It was messy at first changing bedclothes all the time - my daughter never pooped in bed just pee peed once in awhile. But she was completely trained in 2 weeks day and night. So good luck!!

K.

We are dealing with the same thing. It is a stage. This, too, shall pass. Don't make a big deal about it. Be matter of fact -- tell him to do his business quickly. Allow one time out after night time ritual. You need a time limit -- one to two minutes is plenty. At night if he wakes up, he might be uncomfortable and want a change. I taught my daughters how to change their own pull-ups -- they'd go potty & not wake me. My son isn't quite there yet. He doesn't wake up -- so we use less expensive diapers for now. Also, he might rec' attention for the pottying & trying to rec' the attention at night that he wanted during the day? Just a guess there. And don't worry -- any changes -- any stress -- kids have accidents up until 7 or 8. Also, one of my daughters is a very deep sleeper (she's 7), and we still have potty issues. My 5 year old never had problems until kindergarten, and school seemed to wear her out, and she was regularly having accidents. We gave them extra sheets & a towel and had everything ready for them next to the bed & they are very good and changing it themselves -- allowing us to sleep. We didn't make it a big deal.....and it resolves itself.
Good Luck!

I think part of this is normal. They will do anything until about the age of 9 or 10 to get out of going to bed upon the first request. Are you using pull ups? Is he self efficient enough for you to tell him when he wakes up to take off the wet pull up and try to go pee and then put on a new dry one. Without waking Mommy. He might be doing this for attention. I'm not sure about what I'm asking. It's been a few years since I dealt with this and trust me, you do forget details of certain things.

Since he is waking up that is a good sign. Even though he is already wet. Give him time. I would not take away the diaper/pull up. Remember boys take longer that girls to potty train and i even read that it is normal for any child to not be night trained til 5 or 6. when he does wake up and says he needs to go. take him to the potty even if he has wet his diaper and don't make a big deal about it. let him sit on thr potty if he wants then change him to dry diaper/pull up and put him back to bed. Just remember that this too shall pass.

I also recommend letting him go to bed w/no diaper at night. Just make sure you get a plastic matress cover for easy cleanup! I bought one at wal-mart for $7.00. Also, make it a big deal that he will have 'special night time underwear' and let him pick them out. Don't let him drink anything about 1 and 1/2 before bedtime besides a small sip of water if he absolutely needs to. And make sure he potty's right before he lays down for the night. Remind him if he asks for water or something to drink that he can;t pr he will wet his big boy underpants and messy up his bed. He may or may not have an accident but be persistent and hopefully it will work. He will not like the feeling of waking up in a wet bed! :o) Good Luck.