Nightime Potty Training

I have a 3 yr old right now too & just got over this stage. the only thing that is working for me is putting her on the potty for one last time RIGHT before she falls asleep. I mean literally, as shes nodding off run her over, let her go & then pop her right back in bed. I'm also not giving her a sippy cup right before bed which she had before. If she wants a drink, I give her a couple of sips of water & thats it! Now I'm working on the wiping...lol. Good luck!

Hi M.,

I wish you luck! I believe when they are ready to potty train, it will happen. I decided when my child had been completly potty trained during the day, I would potty train at night. I would place a set of sheets on the bed, cover with a plastic sheet or waterproof sheet and another set of sheets. All I had to do was wake up and pull off 1 set of sheets, clean up my daughter and back to bed. Well after doing this night after night, I decided.......is it really worth it? Is one diaper a night going to break my budget? My daughter would litterally tell me...."I love my diaper", even though it was only 1 in 24 hours. If it was up to me, I would talk with your daughter about it, but leave it up to her. When she becomes dry again thruout the night, ask her how she feels about wearing undies at night instead of the diaper. I promise it will happen. Once my daughter decided it was time to get rid of the diaper, she let me know. Guess what? Not one accident since she decided it was time. She is 9 years old and still potty trained.

If you decide to continue potty training. Try not to show any anger or disappointment, if an accident does happen. You may want to set a clock to wake her 1 or 2 times a night to go pee. This would help but you will be back to not sleeping thru the night again.

I hope this helps put things into perspective. I wish you luck! Like I said, it will happen some day. Sometimes I wish my 9 & 12 year old were back in diapers. They tended to not argue as much as they do now!

H. B.

Your daughter is perfectly normal. Most children are potty trained in the day, but do not wake up at night until after they've already wet themselves. Children aren't usually potty trained at night until they are 4 - 8 years old. You may try waking up in the middle of the night and putting her on the toilet. I wake my son up (he'll be 4 next month) at 3:00am every morning (my mom did it to me when I was kid and I still wake up every night!) to go pee. Then I take him back to bed and he'll sleep through the night. Every once in a while (about once every 2 - 3 months) he'll wet before I wake him up, but he's almost always dry, will pee in the toilet, then wakes up dry in the morning (at 6:45am). Good luck and don't worry your daughter will grow out of this stage too!

How we did this with my son was we put a gate across his door and put the little potty in his room and told him he could come out of his room in the morning after he made peepee in the potty. It worked right away. He had been staying dry during naptime so we knew he could do it. He saved it all for the potty in the morning. We still have accidents every now and then but not often. Maybe 2 times a month. This worked for us. I've also read that you can get them up in the middle of the night to go potty then put them back to bed. Say around midnight or whenever you go to bed. That could help. Good luck. ~V.

I have done a tremendous amount of research on this particular topic. Not necessarily for me, thought it will come in handy in the future, but for my masters. Kids are NOT mature enough at your daughters age to know the impulses to go to the bathroom during the night. Their bodies just "let it go" Having a dry night usually (normally) happens between the ages of 5 and 6. Most people will cut off the liquids after a certain time, but are deprieving them of thirst. Kids know when they want something to drink. It you have to put a diaper back on her for nighttime that is okay, please dont let people say that is wrong because it is normal. Hope this helps.

Dear M.,

I am a great grandmother and haven't had this problem in my life for quite a while, so I am no good at giving you any modern advice.

But, your story reminded me of a letter that I found a few years back. It was written to my aunt from my father when I was about 3 or so. I was evidentally going to visit my aunt and uncle, and my Dad told her that if they would get me up after I had been in bed for about an hour, that 'they would have good results' and that 'she' would stay dry most nights.

So you see that problem is a very old one, and the solving of it likely depends upon each child.

Sounds like you have good plans for your life and are enjoying this time.

C. N.

Make it a routine for you to wake your child a half hour before you plan to go to bed. Put a night light in the bathroom. that way it is not to bright for the child to get back to sleep. PUtting the diapers on just shows that it is okay to pee in the. They have learned that is what they are for. My daughter would go all day wihotut an accident but night she wold go. Some kids sleep deeper than others and dont realize they have to go. Um talk to the doc I know theres devices that can be used to wake him for that but he may be to small for them. When i talked to my doc about that he just told me to get her up before i go to bed, praise her for going in the middle of the night in the bathroom and lether know it is okay to get up to go SOme kids just dont have the bladder to hold i tall night. Mine is 8 years now and gets up about 1 am, goes to the bathroom and asks me to bring her a little drink,then off to bed she is again. Whole thing takes 10 minutes and shes asleepl.

But do put a night light instead of hte bright light to go in the middle of the nibght or it will be harder to get him to sleep again After a while he wil get in the routine himself.

But trust meyou are not doing anything wrong...... it is common

My thought on this is just don't make a big deal about it...at all. Calmly and matter of factly put her in a diaper (or preferably a pull up - one of the night time ones would probably be good) and in the morning wipe her clean and give her a pair of undies. Don't make any comments about the process except on any morning she is dry. On those mornings praise her - but don't go overboard about it - a simple "good job, you're dry" would be fine.
She may have stayed dry for long periods at night in the past but as children grow and even just from life stress (for a 3 year old it could be truly something minor) they often start wetting again. I really think if you don't make a big deal about it then it won't be a struggle. If she knows she isn't disappointing you when she wets there may be less pressure to perform and that could be just the shift she needs to get her past this wetting stage. Just know you may face it again at another time. Also, I have to mention that I have friends and family who's children wet well into elementary school and it isn't totally uncommon - at 3 you are far from out of the bedtime wetting woods.
One last thought - my cousin was allergic to milk - the ONLY sign they had was that she wet the bed constantly. Their pediatrician mentioned that it could be a milk allergy. As soon as the milk was out of her diet - she quit wetting the bed completely. I don't know if this is a possibility but you could try soy for a week and see if it helps. Good luck - and don't stress about it too much, it really is quite normal!

Hi M. It's F., What I'm about to tell you might not settle well. Basically what I did with my girls is wake up two to three times in the middle of the night and took her to the potty. Wether (spell check), or not she needed to go, I made her sit on the potty, I would turn on the water faucet or flush the tolit and that usally got her going. This did last for several weeks, until she was able to do it herself or sleep through the night DRY. Mind you she did ( both my daughters ) have miner set backs here and there, but it did subside and they were offically potty trained. Patience is the name of that game. Good Luck

I have a 2 1/2 year old who is also totally potty trained int eh day and has been since just befor 2. We wake her up to pee on our way to bed atnight. She goes down abotu 8-8:30ish and we wake her to go potty at about 12. Some tiems seh barley wake sup, we pick her up carry her in set her on the potty and tell her to pee. She does and then off to bed again. We have not had an accident in months. I did the same with my son. Then every few month when I am coaught up on laundry and can hadle the extra sheets I will see how many nights she can go with out wetting. We went for almost a month andthen had 3 noghts in a row, so we are backto waking her, in a few months I will try again. My son was fully trained by 3 so I would think your daughter and mine will be coming up soon!!!

H.