3 Year Old Boy Won't Potty Train During the Night

My son is 3 and will turn 4 in December. He wears pull-ups every night. I wouldn't worry about bedtime at this point, it was going during the day that had me worried there for awhile. It was only a month or so ago that he finally stopped pooing in his pants when he was just too busy playing to bother! I would suggest the Character Huggies - if he's into any of them - my son loves the praise of having the sheriff badges (Cars movie) still visible in the morning! Positive reinforcement works wonders! Also, do you leave the bathroom light on all night? Is he close enough to the bathroom to get up alone and go potty?

Stop worrying about your little boy, he IS normal. When they are young like this, sometimes their little brain doesn't realize they need to wake up because their little bladder is full. As they grow their brain and their bladder will connect amd all this will go away. Your main thing is Do Not get frustrated at him, use pull-ups at night, and go on like there's nothing wrong. This is very common, especially in boys and sometimes girls too. I have a grand daughter that had to wear pull-ups at night til she was 9 years old, and now she is fine. It's just something you have to go through. The main thing STOP worrying. K.

How is he doing during the day with the potty? Sleeping through the night without needing to go at his age can take some time. Did he just turn three? You have to evaluate if you think he is ready for staying dry all night. He might not be there yet. Don't compare him to what you read or hear, every child is different :-) Stay positive about how well he is doing during the day (I assume) the night will come. You can also maybe make a chart up for him...not sure how you feel about this...I can go through the details if you are interested. When you have him go before bed explain why you are doing this, example: "Let's go try and potty before bed so that you can stay dry for when you wake up." As I said before he just might not be ready yet, he's body might not stimulate him to wake up during the night yet, this comes with age. Give him plenty of positive reinforcement for when he is dry through out the day, and shrug off the night accidents (easier to say, I know) with positive thoughts...He is still learning, I know he is working on it (unless you can tell he is refusing to, which is a whole other story!) My son is almost 5yrs old and I remember those days well, hang in there! Boys almost always take longer! Oh, a mattress cover, if you don't have one yet is helpful for clean up.

Hi M.,

Keep those pull ups at hand. It could be several years until he is potty trained at night. Doctors told me that some boys can be around the age of 7 before their bladder is mature enough to hold urine all night.

My son was potty trained during the day at 32 months and we almost 4 before he no longer needed pull ups. Don't worry about it and enjoy your little boy.

I have the same problem. I keep my 3 year old in a pull up EVERY night. He usually goes once during the night. I personally, dont think they are aware at that young age. Wait a few years.