Best Age to Start Night Potty Training

I think you could start by doing a couple test nights, prior to giving up the pull-up completely just to see if she's ready and dry in the morning.

Get her used to not drinking alot of fluid after supper and only a tiny bit of something to drink with a night time snack or before bed. (We will sometimes do ice chips if we've already gone over the liquid limit for the evening. There is actually less water involved, and the will quench the pallet.)

But, the last thing before going to bed ins a potty-break. Then, see if she is wet in the morning. If yes, then either reduse the water intake again, or perhaps she's not ready. She needs to feel the urge to go and have the muscle control to stop herself. If the muscles are not there, she won't be ready and will surely fail.
Also, tell her it's ok to come and get mom/dad in the night when she wakes up and feels like she has to go potty.

I'd also suggest a waterproof mattress cover and an extra set of sheets/mattress cover because when ou make the switch to underwear at night, there will be accidents.

Goodluck.

Hi B.,
I think you should go back to the pull-ups at night so you can get some sleep. Her body just doesn't sound ready. My daughter turned 4 in April and had been in pull-ups at night until June 13th. She had been asking when she could wear underpants to bed since her birthday but she wasn't dry. She wanted to wear underpants, her body was not cooperating though! We told her that if she was dry for a week then she could wear undies. She finally started to be dry but we were leaving for my sisters wedding so i was still putting her in pull-ups while at my parents. The night of the wedding we were staying in a hotel and i forgot a pull-up. She had been doing well for almost 2 weeks so we had her go potty before bed (like normal) and reminded her she was in undies. She's been pull-up free since June 13th. Give your daughter a little time and her body will catch up.

I agree with the person who said that you are trained, not your daughter. A LOT of kids are not night trained until 4-5 years old. Some even 6 years old. It's something her body has to learn (on it's own) and when it does she'll be night trained. I would definitely put her back in Pull-ups at night so everyone can get their sleep! If you have to get up at night to make sure she stays dry, her body is not ready. She may be mentally ready and want to not have accidents but her body is the one that has to learn to controll the muscles. Make sure she knows that she hasn't done anything wrong or bad and that the Pull-ups are meant to help, not because she is going backward. Reward her during the day for staying dry and she shouldn't regress.

My honest opinion is you are potty trained, not her. If she can't go through the night with out you waking her up and having her go, she is not ready and should not be in underwear. I would have her wear a pull up and let her (and yourself, especially with a baby on the way!) sleep all night. She needs the uninterrupted sleep more than she needs to wear panties to bed. MANY MANY MANY children her age, and older, cannot stay dry all night - it is totally normal for the age. I would let her know how proud you are of her for staying dry during the day and say nothing about being wet at night. Eventally, when her body is physically ready, she will be dry all night, too.
Good luck
S.
mom of 3 and daycare provider

I think that this is something that happens naturally when her body is ready. Her body may not be ready yet to wake her up when she needs to go in the night. I would continue to put her in pull-ups at night. I don't think it's worth you or your husband getting up in the middle of the night to take her to the potty. One day she will naturally wake up dry and it will continue progressing until she doesn't need pull-ups anymore. My daughter was around 4 when she went to wearing underwear at night and rarely has an accident. We waited to make the switch until she was consistantly dry all night on her own.

Once my daughter established day potty training I talked to her and told her to come get me if she had to go during the night. I shared with her my disappointment when her night pull-up was wet. She eventually came to get me and then after that went on for a few months I told her that she had to get up and go potty by herself and I showed her the process of that. This took less than 8 months. I'm comfortable with her wearing pull-ups at night as long as she's having accidents once every few months. She's doing well but still has them a few times a year. She'll be four in August. If she's with family she'll have a pull-up until she's 4.5 years I think because it's not her home and may be prone to having an accident. I think if you wake her that would work but we never woke our child to go. We'd have her go before bed and that was it. Eventually she got it and I'd discuss going to the potty during the night right before bed. Something clicked with her and she goes by herself.