Overnight Potty Training - 4 Year Old

As always on this site, you've gotten some good suggestions. You are not alone. We are facing the same issue with my 4 1/2 year old daughter. Against concerns about interrupting sleep, I do get her up to pee before I go to bed around 10-11. Sometimes she is already wet. Most times she is wet when she wakes in the morning. I'm inclined to think her body isn't ready yet. Then again, it could be that she doesn't bother getting up because she knows she has the Pull Up. I'm gearing myself up for perhaps letting her sleep in panties for a few nights and dealing with the wet sheets to see if her body really is ready. When you're ready to try that, I've read suggestions for layering bottom sheets with a Chucks pad underneath to make changing sheets in the middle of the night less of a chore.
Good luck!
J.

Limiting water does not help it can make the situation worse. It makes the urine stronger and can cause a UTI. She just isn't old enough to stay dry. If you look back at this question posted before you'll see it's not all that common for a 4 yr. old to be dry all night. Some kids just don't develop that connection and wake up. Alarms don't work they just wake everyone up and you end up with tons more laundry to wash and a very tired and cranky family. Buy some pull ups and let her wear them until she can stay dry for several nights in a row.

She will eventually get there. Some kids still wet the bed until pre-adolescence when their bladders finally catch up to the rest of them.

hello.
i wouldnt worry about the potty training issue overnight. i have a 5 1/2 year old boy who still isnt potty trained overnight. thats a tough one to teach. as far as i see it, thier body will do it when it is ready. if you want to talk to your daughter about maybe slowing down her drinking around bedtime, or maybe start with no cup to bed with her. maybe that could help, but i wouldnt bother pushing this subject. she will do it when she is ready, only her body knows when that is. and dont worry, she wont be wetting overnight when shes 14! i believe her body will do it in time. if you want to talk to her dr. about suggestions, maybe that could help, if you feel more comfortable doing that. they may have some suggestions on how to do it, if its worth doing, or when to worry aboaut it.
i hope this helps some!
good luck,
A.

It is normal for kiddies to continue to wet up until age 6. So she is still within that window. We took our son to potty before bath, after bath, right before he went to sleep and right before we went to sleep later in the evening. It helped but their body has to be ready too.

I would slowly try to change the behaviors right before bed. There is a reason she's loading up before bed. She's old enough that you can begin to have a conversation with her that if she'd like to wear big girl panties to bed she has to cut back on what she drinks at night. You know her so you'd know how to best put it to her!

is there a medical reason she craves so much water? I would take her to the doctor and find out. I am betting there is. Sounds to me like she drinks to much and maybe goes to the bathroom to much which might be a sign of a medical problem. I have one in mind but I am not going to say what it is so I don't put you in a panic.
Trust me if it is what I think its controllable. Also when my older brother was wetting the bed my mom got a bed alarm that would wake him up to go to the bathroom but that was 40 years ago I don't even know if they still exist.

I think it's great that she is such a big water drinker. Kids are so dehydrated these days because of salty snacks, sodas, and salt in processed foods. There's not much of nutritional value in juice, so if she's not drinking that, it's good. You could try a good hydrator like Innergize from Reliv (available in different flavors) that you get from a distributor the first time, then you can place orders on line. You mix it with water, and it increases the absorption into the cells, where it's needed, and so there is less to pee out. This will probably help her feeling of being dehydrated while still giving her the benefits of all that water. I can help you with more info - this is a patented product so that means it is safe, effective and unique - there is nothing else out there that matches it. There are some phenomenal stories about what has happened for people. It is much more effective and also doesn't have the junk in it that Gatorade has, for example.

I think the other posts are absolutely right - she is not waking up with the "full bladder" signal to the brain. She's not ready to be dry all night, and there's no way to rush it. "Training" just isn't possible if the brain-bladder connection isn't developed. I went thru this with my son for many years - tried everything from alarms (don't work, make everyone miserable) to waking him up to pee (no one's sleeping, his REM sleep was disrupted) to actually putting him on medication at age 7, which he needed until 12. I'd hang in there with your daughter for the time being. If the pull up is holding her, great. If not, you can maybe add one of those bladder control pads to it if it's not too bulky.

If you want more help with the feeling thirsty before bed, let me know. Good luck.

It is normal for children to do this until they are much older than your daughter. This isn't a matter of choice on her part, her body just doesn't wake her up. I'm afraid my opinion is that you just have to wait this one out. It could be several more years.

Of course, if you are concerned, talking to your pediatrician is always a good idea. Good luck!

get a waterproof mattress cover, and let her go to bed in panties. after a few nights of waking up in a wet bed, she will get the idea! Worked for both my girls when they were 2. Good luck!

My daughter is 3.5 and the same way. My Dr. said they will do it when it's time - some just need longer to develop the sense of having to go while sleeping. I also read an article about cutting the water that said - it doesn't matter, it really is a developmental issue that often doesn't happend until between 3 and 5. Check w/ your ped and try not to stress. I think it's normal.

I would look into all the water too. Does she drink an excessive amount of water? My daughter is 4 1/2 she wets the bed. She is a very sound sleeper. We wake her at 11pm every night and take her potty, 90% of the time we wake up dry. I do not worry about it too much. My sister was the same way and it wasn;t until 13 she could wake on her own to use the bathroom.

First, have her checked out to find out why she is drinking so much water and to rule out anything medical. My son was a bedwetter for many years. I tried everything, waking him before I went to bed, cutting fluids, a nasal spray prescribed by the doctor, nothing worked. He did out grow it on his own. I know he was a sound sleeper, I would walk him to the bathroom, have him pee, put him back in bed and he would never even wake up. Sound sleeping is usually the issue because their brain has not developed enough in that area to wake them when they have to go so they just sleep through it. Thank god for pull-ups they didn't have them when my son was young so I did tons and tons of wash every day. Good luck!!