Help with Potty Training at Night

I am probably wimpy and leave my grandson in a pull up and when my adult sons were little I would put a diaper on and only after several dry nights I would put real underwear on them, It was usually fairly soon, that the dry nights would come.

Boy's brains are slower to make the connection anyway and, besides, everyone is different. I would put him down in pull-up to save you the laundry, personally. I'd slow down on the drinking after dinnertime -- the kid's not going to dehydrate -- a sip here and there is fine. Potty before bed. Lauds and adulations when he's dry in the mornings! Big congratulations when he wakes himself up to go potty in the big potty (instead of wetting the bed! Won't happen overnight (har har) but he'll get there.

I have to agree with the other moms I would use the pull ups. If he is wetting everynight then his body isn't ready, Kids didn't night train younger when we were little, our parents just washed more sheets. My 3 yr old is completely day trained with no acidents but when she sleeps its a whole different story, I like you thought about just putting underwear on her but we got our answer like this when she fell asleep on a car ride for maybe 1/2 hr she peed her pants. This happened twice just during short rides this told me her body just wasnt ready. She will wake up dry occasionally, Im not too worried about it. Good luck, he wont be in pull ups forever.

I personally wouldn't wake a child up at night to go potty. That just means that he will always need to go during the night because it is now a routine. What you want is for the body to not get up and need to go to the potty.

With both of my boys, I just made sure they went potty before bedtime and they drank up to the moment they went to bed and sometimes had a sippy cup with them. I had no problem with them wetting their bed at night. BUT, I know that is an exception.

As far as what to do? I'd stop waking him up and just put those good nights or diapers on him at night. You don't want to be doing this until he is 8 years old or older, which is normal for some kids to stop wetting the bed. Some bladders just aren't ready and have to progress.

I've had many friends who started off doing what you did and was told by the ped that they will eventually grow out of that. Some started waking them up at night, but after a few years, they got quite tired of it...I know that I would. I really wouldn't worry about it and just let the body naturally do its thing when it is ready. Good luck!

Often the neurological signal, the one that tells the brain "Hey, bladder full. Get up and potty", isn't fully developed by age 3, especially in boys. Sleep is certainly very important for you both. I would recommend continuing with the pullups and giving it some more time. I did not have this issue with my son but we did with one of my grandsons. By age 8 or so his brain began to receive the signal. It is not uncommon to have boys wet the bed up to age 14. If you haven't discussed your concerns with his pediatrician you may want to do that too.

I also have a 3 year old boy (June b-day) and his day's sound pretty much the same as your son... goes to the potty all day with only the occasional accident. However, we do the pull-up thing at night. Call them nite-nite diapers (with my daughter, we called them nite-nite panties) and he knows that is the only time he has them. Like others said, it could take YEARS for them to stay dry during the night. I don't know about you but I am tired enough without getting up in the middle of the night to change sheets!

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i'm sticking w/the pull ups until she gets it. as you will read, my daughter sleeps like a log, but i've noticed that when i do wake her just before i go to bed, she's less log-like and more awake, so i'd say she's beginning to wake more easily during sleep and think she'll get to the training some time soon. she's almost 4 btw.

good luck!

Every child is totally different on this one and if you are limiting drinks an hour before bedtime and making him go before bed you are doing what you need to do. I would absolutely let him wear a pull-up or some form of nighttime trainer. Here's my experience.....

6 yo boy is just now getting to where we rarely have a wet bed. He didn't potty train at all until 3 1/2 and we didn't even talk about nighttime until he was more than 5. He was still wet EVERY morning, and that to me says, NOT READY! When I noticed he was dry more often than wet we started having him wear underwear to bed.

4 1/2 YO boy was day trained at 2 1/2, but he is still wet every morning. We limit fluids, make him go before bed, he is still wet every morning. He'll get it when he gets it. Until then he wear a cloth pull-up, as we use all cloth diapers here and Pull-ups are SO expensive!

Almost three year old girl potty trained about a month ago. She did day and night all at once. I was putting a diaper on her at night still but after a week she was dry every morning. No more diapers for her! Thiking back I think she may have been staying dry at night for a while as if I changed her right when she woke up her diaper was often dry but if I waited a bit then she would be wet. I was probably seeing her "go" in the morning after having a dry night. Some kids actually get night BEFORE day and I thik she was one of those.

So, all that said, my advice would be let him sleep through the night, let him wear a pull-up, but keep limiting fluids and having him go before bed and waiting to see those dry pull-ups int he morning!

My son just went through something similar. He had been dry all night, and was getting up and going potty if necessary, so we let him wear his big boy underwear to bed. Three nights in a row, he wet the bed! He would wake up wet. My husband started putting his pull-up on over his underwear, we've been doing that for maybe a week. We haven't had an accident since, and he's staying dry. My opinion, take it for such, is that the underwear feels different and he's not getting the signal that he needs to go. Good luck! Let me know if you figure something else out that works!

All my children wore pullups for awhile at night after they were potty trained. My oldest wore them until he was seven. Each child is different. Some go through the night immediately some take a little longer.

I agree with the rest of the comments on here just put him in "night time underwear" (pull-ups) until he gets better at it. My boys are 4 and 5 and they both finally got the waking up to go to the bathroom thing this summer. Just tell them that these underwear are only for night time. I made the mistake of not making it very clear that the pull-ups were only for night time and my 4 year old decided he didn't want to be potty trained during the day anymore either. I wound up changing to the boxer short pull-ups and told him that they were his night time underwear and that as soon as he woke up in the morning we would be putting on his daytime underwear.

I would use the nite time pull ups. We did that with my Daughter and every morning it would still be dry. Come to find out she would get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She was potty trained by 2 then we had a set back b/c of a new baby. so by 21/2 totaly trained during the day and a little after three she told me that she did not need her night time pull up anymore she wanted to wear the big girl pants. The first week i had a big towel under her just in case but she never did wet. I believe that boys take longer to train. My 2yr old is still not trained. So each child is diffrent. Let your son be the one to tell you when he is ready to wear the big boy pants during the night.

My son was potty trained day and night when he turned 3. The key is to wake him up just before you go to bed (or whenever you think he might be going). Take him to the bathroom and have him go potty. That worked great for us for a while, until he learned (somehow ) to hold it at night and now at age 6 he doesn't go until 7am.
Good luck!

I had the same problem with my son, but after talking with his doctor during a routine checkup, she said that it was perfectly normal for a boy to need pull ups during the night.(She even told me that some need them up to age 6!) I make sure that he always uses the potty right before bed time. 5 months later, he was not needing the pull ups during the night anymore. I would just let him use the pull ups during the night, and let time do the rest. I would limit his beverages before bed time, make sure he uses the potty right before he goes to bed, put a pull up on him.....and then go from there. Sleep for your family is more important than a certain 'time' that your child shouldn't be wearing a pull up to bed. :)

I have NEVER heard of continuing to potty train a child at night. I have four kids and I would absolutely think that sleep is the more important thing for everyone....that said....I have not ever had a real problem with bed-wetting either.

I am a HUGE believer in schedule for kids and am still strict about bedtime, even with my teenager, especially with three in school. I would limit him to water from say, after dinner to bedtime...that should work well and help you to know whether thirst is the issue, or if he just likes juice, milk or whatever he gets to drink at night.

I would have him go to the bathroom as part of his nighttime routine and then, for now, rely on a nighttime pull-up. Eventually, his body will mature and he won't have to go asleep. In the meantime, everyone can sleep and the sheets are dry, not creating more work for you.

My mother-in-law...who is a dear soul (really she is, I just adore her) but she did try and make me potty train my first at about 10 months because every morning he awoke with a dry diaper and she said that was how you were supposed to know when the child was ready for potty training...ha!HA! That was a farce!

I think that if it continues, and the pull-up is still wet in the morning when he is five, you should ask the doctor about it....but at three I think that we celebrate that he has achieved potty training during the day and wait for his little body to catch up at night!

I have 2 boys, one just turned 4 and the other is 15 months. My 4 year old has been potty trained since he was 2.5 with a total of 5 accidents ever. He does still wear a night time pull up. He goes potty right before bed and my husband takes him at 11:00 when we go to bed. My guys is a hard sleeper and just does not know how to wake himself in the middle of the night. I recommend trying a night time pull up for several months and once he has a dry pull up for 4 or 5 nights in a row, try underware again. He'll get there and in the mean time everyone can get some sleep. Best wishes!

My first advice, if you havent already done it....is to buy a mattress protector. You can get a good but cheap one at Walmart that goes on like a fitted sheet. I have the same issues with my son and we have been waking him to go potty when we go to bed, which is usually 2-3 hours after he does. It doesn't take care of all the night time accidents, but it has cut it down a lot. Good Luck!

To be honest, it's just routine. My daughter is potty training now. I wake her up everynight at the same time. I don't let her have anything to drink after 7pm. Her bedtime is 8:30pm. I wake her up at 2am and then she wakes up at 7:30 every morning so I put her on the potty as soon as she wakes. She sleeps in her pull up so the bed stays dry, but that's all you can do is follow routine.

L.:
He would probably still wake up during the night even if you changed him to wearing pull-ups. I would try to cut back on water and keep him in the the big boy underwear.
P. S

Hi Leean, My son was potty trained at 2. He did fine in the day w/the occasional accident. I put pull-ups on him at night until he stayed dry all night long, then put his underwear on. He's almost 4(Nov.)and he stills wets at least once at night once in a while. So, my advice to you is definitely use the night time pull-ups until your son stays dry for at least a week.Good luck...M.

I've always understood that nighttime training happens when the body is ready... and that there really isn't a way to teach it. I'd put him in pull ups until he wakes up dry some of the time, then try again. It must be rotten for him to wake up wet every night. And lots of laundry for you. I think it may take a while for his body to be able to signal him strongly enough to wake him up. Give yourselves a break!