My just-turned 4 y/o has been begging for weeks to wear underwear at night. He soaks pullups and diapers, so we weren't excited to try it, but we finally gave in to see what happened. He's able to hold it for about 5 hours at night, on average. We wake him up and take him to the bathroom before we go to bed, but unless we take him again around 2 or 3 in the morning, he has an accident. My husband thinks he'll learn by being wet that he needs to wake himself up before he has an accident. He's a super-deep sleeper, and I think he's just not ready to go all night. Last night was the 9th night (5 accidents, 4 dry nights) of underwear, and though we took him to the bathroom before we went to sleep, he didn't wet until 5am, which was much later than usual. What do you think? Will he learn by having accidents or is he just not ready at all? I don't even know how to get him to wear pullups again, but I would love to know if the 3am changing sheets is helping him learn at all!
Thanks, ladies. I wil have my husband read your answers since he thinks this will teach him how to stay dry at night. I did manage to get my son in a diaper during the night, and I've already talked to him about it this morning. He's ok with pullups again as long as we can try the underwear again sometime!
i think it's nowhere near time. night training doesn't mean you wake him up twice a night. that's you being trained, not him.
the way you get him to wear pullups is you tell him that he hasn't been dry so he doesn't wear underwear. it's not a tragedy it's just the way it is. you're the mom don't forget.
no, none of this is helping him "learn". there is no "learning" nighttime dryness. i'm sure the other ladies will be glad to elaborate.
Please go to my page and look at all the answers for the same exact question. Or go to the line above and type in night time dryness. There are tons and tons of the same answers over and over.
This is not a choice, making a child sleep in pee is not kind. Be the grown up and tell him he is not old enough to wear underwear to bed, he is going to have to wear a pull up until he wakes up dry every day for a month. That it is something his brain turns on when it is ready to.
It is nothing more that making work for yourself to put underwear on this child. His brain has not told his kidneys to stop producing urine at night and his bladder can only hold so much.
Like what's already been said. Nighttime is physical maturity of the body, not mental. How about putting the undies on OVER the pullup/diaper. My daughter isn't physically ready for night or day dryness but wants undies like her older brothers and Mom & Dad. She wears them over her diaper. She uses the potty when she can and the diaper gets the times she doesn't. It really helps her confidence and state of mind.
He's not ready. Staying dry at night is not like daytime potty training, it is a physiological thing, not a matter of learning. You can't make him stay dry all night before his body is ready, and what you are doing now isn't accomplishing anything but interrupted sleep and piles of laundry.
This is not a big deal, he will wear underwear to bed eventually, but for now, save yourself the hassle and go back to the pull-ups at night.
I think his body just isn't ready yet, though he wants it to be. Compromise with him - he can wear underwear inside a pull-up. If he wets, he'll feel it (but the sheets will be dry).
OR - http://www.pottyscotty.com/mi-00078.html sells waterproof, washable "nighttime" underpants that might be another option. We've tried the daytime waterproof/washable version and I'm really happy with them. We're now using the waterproof pull-on pants over regular cotton underpants - I'm surprised they work as well as they do.
Oh my, I have three boys and I know that changing sheets at 3:00 a.m. is no fun at all! I think if he is tough to wake up, he may continue to have a difficult time with the night training. I did okay with waking my middle son before I went to bed, but then again, I work nights so I was able to wake him around 1:00 a.m.
I have friends that have used the night training product with great success! It is a small pad which slips into their own undies and then the alarm clips to their pajamas and wake them when it senses wetness.
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId...
It might be worth a try!
Best of luck!
We went through this last year with our 4 yo. The worst part was that he refused to sleep in a bed at the time and slept on the floor, so the carpet really took a beating. At first we were able to force him to wear a pull up. then he would wait until we were out of the room and take the pull up off and put the undies back on. He was very stubborn about it. I tried to put one of those pee pads under him, they sell them in the supermarket (kind of like the ones that you put under a hospital patient). He hated the pad, but I told him it was either the pad of the pull up. It took a while and a lot of morning showers, but he eventually got it. I will tell you that for a while I wasn't sure if he was having accidents or not because he would come in to our room in the morning in completely different pjs and undies. His old pjs and undies didn't seem that wet, so I think he would get a little damp and then just change himself. We also put a potty in his room with a night light to make it easier for him if he had to go quickly at night.
