Our son has been day potty trained for nearly 2 years. He was day trained right after he turned two. He does not currently stay dry at night, but that is not the issuse. It does not bother me at all, I know when his body is ready he will stay dry on his own. I personally was a bed wetter until I was 10. The issue is with wearing his Goodnights, which he just started wearing 2 months ago. Up until then he was sleeping in cloth diapers, but at almost 4 years old he has outgrown them all. So we switched to Goodnights.
It just started 2 weeks ago, maybe less. He will beg to sleep in his underwear, and promise that he will hold his pee-pee in all night and won't have any accidents. I don't know where this is coming from because neither my husband or I have ever made him feel bad or guilty that he can not hold it all night. We have talked with him about it not being his fault because he is sleeping and he doesn't know he has to go. There have been a few nights the tantrum has gotten so bad that I just put him to bed and once he is asleep I will put the Goodnight on him. He wets everynight, there hasn't been one dry morning ever. We have tried (only a few times due to laundry) letting him sleep in his underwear. He would sleep in the wet clothes all night long, poor kid. He just doesn't feel it. Sleeping in the urine actually made his eczema flare up a little, so that is when we started the Goodnights.
And thoughts or advice?
S, H, I am hoping you answer this one, you always have great advice about this subject!
He sounds like a normal little boy who is trying to grow up and show some independence. Mine did the same exact thing. I let him wear his big boy underwear with the understanding that if he started having accidents he would haev to put on the pullups. Have you tried a night time alarm for the bed wetting?
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My daughter isn't even three yet and she has had the same reaction to pull ups. I did the putting them on while she slept thing for a while, then she started waking up in hysterics because someone put a diaper on her. So I simply double sheet her bed (putting a water proof pad in between layers) and strip the bed if she has an accident. It hasn't been a big deal, there are no arguments and she is happy to go to bed in panties. She has a night here and there, but for the most part she night time trained herself pretty fast after switching to panties. Even at two she associates pull ups with being "baby diapers" even though we have never called them that (or been around anyone who called them that) or pressured our kids to be night time trained in any way. My son, who is older, went through this phase as well shortly after he turned three. We double sheeted for him as well with no expectation of him staying dry. He was night time potty trained in less than a month.
Dawn is right on. My daughter wanted to wear her Elmo's to bed, so I told her, fine, wake up dry three mornings and they are yours. She only had two accidents after that, and she was sick.
You may also want to try doubling up on the toilet before bed. So literally have him go when he usually goes, and then after all the bed time routine stuff, make him go one more time. My daughter always has a last attempt.
How about those Depends, they look a lot like underwear on the package. Otherwise, for my kids they would wear a diaper with underwear over it, and for some reason that satisfied the need for big kid underwear.
Also, we bought incontinence pads and made up the bed in many layers: a pad, then the fitted sheet, another pad, another fitted sheet, sometimes 3 layers. That way, in the middle of the night, you can strip one layer of the bed and it is dry. Much easier to strip than to make the bed.
Alternately, I have seen those devices that when they sense wetness they sound an alarm. It is especially for bed-wetters who sleep so soundly they simply do not wake up. But at 4 years old I would not call him a bed wetter, just still growing. Hope it works out for you.
PS: maybe put a potty chair right next to the bed as well, so he does not have far to go at night.
My 4.5 yr old FINALLY has been staying dry at night--sometimes. He asked me to keep him in undies, and I told him "ok." The first night he stayed dry. The 2nd night, wet. Last night, dry. The few times we have tried going without the diapers at night what had worked was for me to "dry walk" him around midnight. I'd wake him up and take him to the bathroom, he'd pee, and then the next morning he'd be dry.
Good morning...I haven't read the other responses, but when my 3 year old refuses the pull up at night, I let him wear his underwear, but I make him put the pull up on over it, so at least there's no mess if he has an accident. Since you have the extra burden of eczema, perhaps some petroleum jelly to help protect his skin? Good luck!
My son is 5 and a half and just started staying dry in the last 6 months. He just made up his mind that he was ready. I still wake him up right before I go to bed to have him pee again. Every once in a while he still has an accident, but it is rare.
I had strong feelings about this, because my stepson was a bed wetter and his mother made him wear diapers.....still at 8 years old - not goodnights or pull ups, actual diapers (he was a skinny thing) . I felt this was humiliating for him.
So, my oldest potty trained at 2, but continued to wear diapers for bed. At about 3 1/2 she said she didn't want to wear them to bed, and I didn't make her. No, she hadn't been dry at night. She would go to bed at 8:30, and at 10:30, I would go in and she would be soaked, and sound asleep. I would change her and the sheets, and she never woke up! I did this for about 6 months - and suddenly, it changed.
Then my 2nd daughter trained at just under 3. She was stubborn about it, but within 4 days was trained. The 4th night, when I went to put a diaper on her, she said she didn't wear diapers anymore. So I didn't put it on and she never had an accident. Different kids.
Anyway, my feeling is you need to try. Yes, it's more work for you, but his self-esteem is an issue too.
My 3 1/2 year old FINALLY got the potty training thing down and now doesn't want to wear a pull up to bed. I either tuck it into his pajama bottoms before he puts them on so he doesn't notice or let him fall asleep naked (he's a little nudist at home) and then put the pull ups on him before I fall asleep.
