Hello!!! My son is almost 3 1/2 and has been potty trained during the day for at least 9 months- he has been doing just great!! My only problem is nighttime. I can't get him potty trained at night. He waked up wet nearly every day. About two months ago he was dry almost every night so I decided to try to have him just in underwear. He did okay for a few days then started having accidents nearly every night. I told him we needed to try the pull ups once again since he wasn't able to stay dry. Well, you can imagine how well that worked with a 3 1/2 year old who wants to be a "big boy". Now, he won't let me put on a pull up before bed- but still is wetting every night. I end up going in his room after he is sleeping and putting a pull up on him. So, how do I get him potty trained at night? And, how do I convince him to let me keep a pull up on him for bed? I have tried rewards, sticker charts, waking him in the middle of the night to go potty, offered rewards for letting me put a pull up on him, etc. but nothing seems to be working. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
K.
Thanks everyone for all of the great advice. I'm not really so concerned with my son staying dry at night- because it's not a big deal to put a pull up on him- and just one a day doesn't cost much- but if he only would wear them!!! I just hate having him wake up wet every day or have to sneak in there to put one on him while he is sleeping- but you all gave great tips to get past that issue with him. I almost had him convinced to wear a pull up last night- and then he backed out at the last minute. I am sure we will get him back to wearing them soon with your suggestions! Thanks a ton!!
K.
Hi, are you monitoring how much he drinks before he goes to bed? My son who is 5 would hold his urine all day because he did not want to miss anything and in doing so trained his body to go at night not during the day. I had to make him go potty every hour and cut off liquids at a certain time now he is back to waking up dry. Good luck.
Hi K.,
We dealt with this for years with my eldest son. Unfortunately sometimes, especially with boys, there is actually a physical developemnt delay and they can continue to wet at night for quite some time. It is a hassle and an embarassment to them, but it is quite common (why else to they make "Good-nights" underwear!). There is a little device you can buy that is potty alarm. You put one part in their underwear and clip the alarm to their pj's or pillow. It goes off as soon as a drop, and I mean a tiny drop, of liquid hits it. The alarm wakes the child up and then they get up and go to the toilet to pee. It worked wonders with my son. We had tried everything...EVERYTHING! The doc said he'd out grow it, year after year, and finally we tried this and he was over it in less than a month. Just a note, my son is a VERY sound sleeper. Many times you just can't wake him up (kinda scary if there were to be an emergency), yet this worked. My best wishes to you...
I'm kind of in the same situation without the tough not wanting to wear pull ups struggle! That's hard when he really wants to be potty trained at night and get rid of the pull-ups, but night time accidents are pretty uncontrollable until they train themselves it seems. My son is 3 and has been trained well over a year for daytime. He has not yet stayed dry all night. He's had poopy diapers in the middle of the night that I wake and change, and then he'll stay dry from 2:30-8am, but not yet all night. People keep telling me that night training was easiest for them because the child trained just began to stay dry at night. I'm still waiting for that one after a year. :) But I keep reminding myself that they say 3 1/2 is average potty training for boys, so night time is not a big deal and must be normal even though it's been over a year of daytime underwear. Right around when my son turned 3, he told me that he was a big boy now and didn't want to wear diapers at night. He told me that for about a week and I just kept telling him that we'll work on it, but accidents happen and the diaper will keep you dry in case you have an accident while you are sleeping. We won't wear them anymore when we don't have accidents anymore, just like we did for while you are awake. And I was lucky enough that he was okay with that answer. Also, we started limiting liquids at night, so after dinner he could have water, but no milk or juice. That way he can drink if he's genuinely thirsty, but it's not drinking just for enjoyment. We've laxed on that recently with the summertime and being out until just before bedtime...should go back to it though. :) Best wishes to you!
I haven't done this yet but I'm guessing that not giving any liquid a few hours before bed might help. I'm also wondering, and I haven't done my research so this is just a guess, but if he's not waking up to urinate, is it possible his bladder is just not fully developed yet? I would put on a waterproof mattress pad and wait it out. Or maybe those plastic pairs of underwear that are absorbent. Good luck.
For my daughter I was only able to get her to wear a nighttime pull up only if she could wear her underpants over the pull up. You could also try a pull up over the underwear. He'll feel wet, but won't wet his sheets. Our pediatrician said that by 3 only 60% of children are dry at night and by 4 only 75%, so I wouldn't worry about him not staying dry yet.
Hi K.,
Instead of a pull-up, you might want to try "training underwear". It's waterproof, but still breathable, and it goes on like underwear. And it's washable. So you could call it "special nighttime underwear" or something like that, and it would function like a pull-up, but it wouldn't LOOK like a pull-up, so your son might be okay with it.
I don't know if they sell them in stores, but there are plenty of places to get them on-line (mostly cloth diaper websites). Happy Heinys sells pocket trainers - you can see them at www.happyheinys.com), and I think Bummis sells them, too (www.bummis.com).
Just a thought - hope that helps! Feel free to e-mail me if you would like more information on trainers. Good luck!
J. :-)
