How Long Should Kid Wear Pull Ups @ Bedtime?

Updated on September 30, 2011
M.W. asks from Oswego, IL
22 answers

Hi,
My almost 5 year old will not wake up at night to pee. She gets 4oz of juice or water around 6pm during dinner and then that's it. She will pee 2x before going to bed and then 2x every 4 hours. So if she goes to bed around 9pm or 9:30pm, I have to wake her at 1am or 1:30 to pee and again around 5am or 5:30am. She pees both times. My sister suggested not letting her have a lot of drinks during the earlier part of the day. She will be 5 in Nov and I just thought that by now she should be sleeping in panties and getting up to pee. I never had this problem with my oldest child so it's almost a shocker to find it so difficult with my youngest. Any suggestions? Return her to pull ups until she finally starts waking up on her own????

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So What Happened?

Thanks for all the great feedback. This process was so easy with my 9 year old that I didn't see it as something that would be a challenge with my almost 5 year old; mainly because daytime potty training her was sooooooo easy!!!! She mastered it so quickly and so much faster than my 9 year old that I never thought this part would be a problem. Oh well, back to pull ups!

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C.L.

answers from Minneapolis on

As long as she needs to. What happens if you don't wake her up? Does she wet the bed? She's still really young as far as nighttime dryness is concerned. Both of my boys wore pull ups at night until age 6. One went straight to no accidents at all, but the other had occassional accidents at night for a couple of years. A doctor won't even consider nighttime wetting a problem until about age 7. It's a developmental thing and all kids develop differently, but it's considered developmentally appropriate to have nighttime wetting until approx. age 7. Doctors will probably tell you NOT to restrict her liquids.

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R.B.

answers from La Crosse on

have him wear them until he is dry in the morning for a week straight.

My 3 yr old wakes up when she has to go... we have to take her.

My 4yr old still wets at night in his pull ups, my 12 yr old still does also.( such a sound sleeper!)
My oldest was the same as the youngest. Once potty trained never wet at night either. My 11 yr old just stopped wetting at night a few months ago.

Every child is different when it comes to when they stop wetting at night, just like every other milestone they reach.

( although I cant wait until the day comes that I don't have to buy pull up/ good nights any more!)

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L.C.

answers from Dover on

Till they stop peeing the bed.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Good LORD, how tired is that child during the day. Stop waking her up.

She does not have the physical ability to wake up to pee. She is going to pee all night long whether you wake her up or not. He bladder is making urine all night because her brain is not sending that chemical to her bladder to stop. She cannot be trained to stay dry while sleeping, you are not doing anything for her except making your life and hers miserable.

She is not only not really old enough but it doesn't matter how much they drink. Dehydration is a bit problem with bed wetting. Their bladder doesn't get the signal it is full since it has a minimal amount of urine in it.

She needs her rest, you need your rest, the whole family needs to sleep. If you don't want to do tons of extra laundry and spend tons more on laundry supplies then by all means go buy some pull ups and let it go. She is ready to be in panties when she stays dry for several weeks every morning.

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J.K.

answers from Chicago on

When my daughter was 7 1/2, and really wanted to be out of pullups, we went to see a pediatric urologist, who recommended a program called "try for dry." We used most, but not all, of the components of this program, and within 3-4 weeks, she was out of pullups and getting herself up on her own. However, this turned out to be a BIG MISTAKE. She was waking 2-3 times per night and was completely exhausted during the day, but there was no going back. In the "healthy sleep habits, happy child" book by Weissbluth, there is a sentence or two which says that prolonged bedwetting can sometimes be caused by sleep apnea due to enlarged tonsils/adenoids. Prior to going to the urologist, we did go to an ent for tonsil/adenoid eval. We were told that they were large, but not huge, and that it was not clearly indicated to remove them. 2 years later, the orthodontist took a panoramic x-ray of my daughter's jaw which showed that her adenoids were almost completely blocking her airway. We had them removed. Within 10 days post surgery, she was able to sleep completely through the night without getting up to go to the restroom. Now, if she uses the bathroom during the night 1x/month it is a lot and she is always dry. More importantly, she is happy, well rested, and full of energy. I know that your child is only 5 and so some of this info might not be relevant yet, but I just wanted you to keep the tonsil/adenoid connection in mind as you go through this. I would strongly recommend allowing your child to stay in pullups for as long as she wants to -- a good night's sleep is priceless. Best of luck to you.

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M.J.

answers from Sacramento on

Yes, plenty of kids don't master night training until elementary school. Our oldest finally did mid-way through kindergarten and it looks to be at least that for his younger sister. Both are very, very sound sleepers and just have trouble waking on their own to go potty. I'm not stressed about it. Pediatrician said it's very normal.

We just kept our oldest in GoodNights until he suddenly was dry for a few days when he was five. Then switched over. Doing the same with his sister.

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R.H.

answers from New York on

I have the same issue with my going on 5 yr. old daughter. She will be 5 at the end of October. I do not know where all of her pee comes from. Honestly, if I gave her less to drink she wouild be dehydrated, but still she wets at night. She never, ever wets her pants during the day. She is a solid sleeper and has trouble getting up to go at night. Instead of the frequent bedding changes, I have her wear the good-nites(they hold more) pants. I never had this issue with my oldest either. I have read much about it and know that her bladder is producing too much still and not big enough to hold it all in through the night. I read they usually, grow out of this around 7 and that it is normal for kids to wet the bed until then. I do not make an issue of it with her. However, to make life easier, I bought a case of the good-nites. Hope this helps.

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N.P.

answers from Chicago on

until they are dry for a week straight. Age isn't a factor honestly. It's NORMAL and ok to still wet when sleeping until the child is 8 yrs old. There is a hormone that makes the body hold the pee, that hormone can show up as late as 8 yrs old and still be perfectly normal and ok. You can do any tricks you want, but all you are doing is ruining everyone's sleep. Get some solid sleep and let your child get some, just let her body grow as it needs to. You wouldn't force her to grow extra inches - that would be silly. Asking her to stay dry is the same idea - silly.

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D.N.

answers from Chicago on

It depends on the child. My son was a bedwetter until 9 yrs old. He was also a very deep sleeper. My bro was the same way. For my son, you could actually carry him to his room and throw him up to the top bunk and he would NOT wake up. I did try a lot of suggestions I saw on here about limiting drinks, reducing dairy and a lot of other things. The alarm did not work since he did not wake up to it. Then one day he was just done. He gave me a pack of GoodNights he had and told me he did not need them anymore. Luckily they were unopened and I returned them to the store. My little one is 3 1/2 and sometimes still sleeps in my bed so we do put pull-ups on her. She occasionally wets but usually goes before bed and is good for the night so we reuse the pullups for another night. I just do not want to ruin my mattress. Once she stays in her bed--which she has said she will do when the baby comes--we wil lget rid of them. She sleeps in a toddler bed so no problem ruining her mattress.

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R.M.

answers from Colorado Springs on

One thing that seemed to work with our daughter was to have her wear panties under her pull-up. That way, if she peed, it would be uncomfortable to her but not a mess to clean up. After we did that, she never peed at night again.

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M.S.

answers from Los Angeles on

Until she is ready.

Nighttime dryness usually happens between the ages of 5-7. This is totally normal!!

My daughter was 8. We also have bedwetting in our family. But she is going on a year of wearing underwear and has never had an accident. When she turned 8, I got up at midnight for 4 weeks to get her up to go to the bathroom (she is a very deep sleeper). After this - she got up on her own and then eventually didn't get up at all (basically, can hold it all night) but that doesn't mean there aren't nights she wakes and goes - she does, she just doesn't wake me up to tell me - lol. She's never even had an accident...knock on wood.

My son is 6 and still in pull ups. Some nights he is dry but most nights he's not. I'll wait till he's 7 or so to try the midnight waking with him. He too is a very deep sleeper.

So - don't fret, your little one is only 4 and this is very normal. My Pediatrician wasn't concerned at all. She is the once they are older then 7 they can always look in to other issues for not staying dry, but prior to that - it's not medical nor worriesome.

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M.R.

answers from Phoenix on

Don't compare your kids...each one is different, and that includes bladder size and the ability to stay dry at night.

Ditto Gamma G!!!

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B.P.

answers from New York on

Put the pullups back on her. Our friend's son who is turning 5 next week had an accident when they were visiting. Her 3 1/2 year old daughter still wears pullups and went in them a few times while visiting as well. When my son is ill I will put pullups on him at night and he is 3 1/2. I think your daughter is just fine. Just let her go in her pullups as long as she stays dry during the day and avoid stressing everyone out.

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B.A.

answers from Chicago on

I was told by our doctor that it won't last forever, don't wake her. She sleeps deep. Perhaps because she sleeps so deep she needs more sleep. Don't take away her fluids as a growing body needs to have appropriate hydration. Be okay with pull ups. Make sure she gets plenty of exercise, eats right, drinks enough and gets maybe an earlier bedtime and gets to sleep until she wakes, not until you wake her. If she is unable to get up in the morning almost on her own,naturally waking she needs more sleep. She will start sleeping less deeply and then the night time dryness will come.

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B.C.

answers from Norfolk on

My son wore pull ups a night only until he woke up dry for 2 weeks in a row.
He was day trained at 3 1/2 but he was 7 before he could make it through the night.
Some kids just sleep very soundly and they sleep right through peeing never knowing they did it.
I just didn't want to bother with a wet bed and all the laundry every morning.
The pull ups were well worth it.

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L.S.

answers from Spokane on

My oldest is still in pullups at night and she just turned 5. Conversely, my 3 year old has been dry and night and in panties since she was potty trained at 2. Different kids do things differently.

My theory is that my oldest will be ready when she's ready. My doc told me not to worry about it, so I'm not. She's working on it though. She's stayed dry all night for 3 nights this week. *crosses fingers*

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T.G.

answers from Rockford on

She is well within the norm. My kids were dry during the night a few months after day training was done. They were all about 3. My daughter day trained at 3 and now at 7 she is still waking up with a wet pull up most days. We have seen some improvement but have found that restriction of fluids only served to make her cranky and thirsty, especially since her siblings could have more to drink. Waking her at night made us both miserable. We are waiting it out for now and the doctor is fine with that. We will re-evaluate when she turns 8 if it is still an issue then.

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M.B.

answers from Orlando on

I think it depends on the child. My son was night trained before 3, except an accident or 2 when he's sick. But my 7 year old nephew still wears pull ups to bed. I would try the panties under the pull up for a little bit and see if that encourages her to get up, or set an alarm for her to get up and go potty. Good luck

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ღ.❀.

answers from Oklahoma City on

Honestly, they should be able to stay dry all night at the same time they potty train. I NEVER did pull-ups at night! Once they told me they wanted to stop wearing diapers and use the toilet, we stopped diapers altogether and they just went on the potty. We didn't ever have anyone pee the bed. I don't allow them to take drinks to bed either so I think what you are doing with not letting her drink past dinner time is probably good! I think maybe you should ask her dr about it 'cause I know MY pediatrition says that they should stay dry all night at that age. :o)

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C.F.

answers from Chicago on

My granddaughter is in panties at night and I get up once and take her to the washroom and she is all good. The nights that I forget she usually makes it till morning unless she has had a lot of liquids then she wets the bed. It sound like her bladder has not stretched because she goes so often. I have heard DR. suggest having a child hold it for as long as they can to help stretch the bladder so they don't have to go as often. Ask her DR. what he/she thinks.

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M.D.

answers from Chicago on

definitely stop waking her up!

put the pull up on, when they are dry for an extended period of time stop wearing them.

accidents may happen

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B.B.

answers from Missoula on

I agree with Gamma G. Stop waking this poor kid up.
Being able to stay dry overnight is a totally different process from daytime potty training and some kids are simply not physiologically ready until they are past kindergarten. Put her back in the pull ups or washable training pants for night time. She will be ready when she is ready, but you can't force it by waking her up all night long.

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