Continue Pull-ups or Not?

Please understand that night time wetting is not due to any lack of trying on the child's part. Usually it's a physical issue, such as her bladder not quite growing as fast as the rest of her body. Help her understand that it is not her fault, and you know she is trying, etc. Wearing pull-ups at this age is really not a big deal, and it is probably WAY more traumatic for her to have to get out of bed in the middle of the night, watch you change the sheets, change out of her soggy pj's, wash up, change into new clothes, and get back into bed, than it is just to wear a darned pull-up! Also, wearing pull-ups will not mean that she is not potty trained. Night time dryness and potty training are two totally separate things.

My daughter (now 7) was fully potty trained at 24 months, and wet the bed at night until she was nearly 5. She hated that she had to wear a pull-up to bed, but we helped her understand that it was just that her little body wasn't cooperating with her, and was not her fault. There is nothing to be ashamed of with this issue. They grow out of it.

Am lucky pull ups were before my time! I just took my daughter one last time to the bathroom before I went to sleep! Yes she was asleep! I would walk her there! Or carry her there! About 1030-11pm and tell her to go pee! It worked and then again about 5 am to 6 am! It was worth it no sheets to change!
I have a grandson now! I do not know if they will use pull ups!
Also no drinks after 6 pm helps too! Good luck...this too shall end! Happy parenting.

Night time dryness... is NOT even attained until 7 years old. This is normal.

My Husband, was even older than 7, and was still having accidents. Tell her this.

MANY MANY Kindergarten kids even, wear diapers at night. Normal. And per our Pediatrician and my daughter's teacher.
EVERY kid is different.

It is a BIOLOGICAL occurrence. Not the child's fault.

My daughter, was about 5, when she stopped wearing diapers at night.
She is 7 now... and just last night she had an accident. Its fine. We don't fault her. She can't help it.

Don't compare her... and for her to compare herself... this will not help.

Tell her that each child is different... and even OLDER kids have pee accidents in bed. Tell her my daughter is 7, and only last night she had an accident. We just change out the waterproof bed pad, and change jammies and she goes back to bed. Its NO big deal.

Tell her to be herself... NOT be like others. SHE is special and unique and even 1st graders, have accidents. I know, because the Teacher told me this. My daughter's teacher.

She is SOOOOOOOOOO young, to have to be dry at night. Really. I feel so sad for her. Its too much pressure on her, and at her age.
She is NORMAL....

all the best,
Susan

I know girls that have used them up until age 7. She is NOT the only one. Maybe her friend JUST started doing this and so was "bragging" about her new accomplishment. I would just let her know that everybody's body is different. Some people have bigger bladders than other people and can hold their pee longer than others, especially at night. Some people sleep heavier/deeper than others and so don't wake up during their sleep if they need to go potty, and some people wake right up and are able to go potty in the night in the bathroom. Every BODY is different. Hers doesn't seem to be ready to last all night yet. It isn't anything to feel bad about. When her body is ready to "last all night" without relaxing and letting her urine seep out, then she can try no-pull ups. You'll know when that happens, because she'll wake up dry EVERY night... for 2 weeks in a row or something.
There is really no need to go through the hassle of washing bedding 3 x a week b/c she doesn't want to wear a pull-up. That will make her feel bad, too!
One tip: don't ASK her if she needs to use the potty before bed. HAVE her go right before bed. THEN, after she has been asleep for about 2 hours, maybe 3, wake her enough to take her to the potty and have her "go/try" again. I had to do that with my very deep sleeping son for a LOOONG time. But it cut WAY down on any bed wetting.

I started doing a dream pee (as I call it) with my 4 yo daughter. She goes to sleep between 7 & 7:30 and I get her out of her bed before I go to bed (around 10), take her to the bathroom and she goes pee. I don't turn any lights on or speak to her and she basically sleeps through the whole thing. It's worked great for us. You could try that. Your daughter may just not be physiologically able to wake herself up to go yet but if it seems like she can stay dry for a long time, then try the dream pee and see if it works.
Good luck!
C.

I dont know if she really doesnt want to then let her try. I know its tough. Can she not start off in her own bed and then if she wakes up and wants to go into your bed tell her to sit on the potty first? That way if she wets a bed it will probably be her little one instead of your big one.

i say take away the pull-ups and go to babies r us and buy a mattress pad that's about 4x6' (ft.) it's rather small, doesn't cover the entire bed. but covers enough and plenty. sorry, forgot the name brand.

buy two. if she has an accident, just remove it and switch with the dry one. you don't lose any sleep doing it, accept having to clean/wash your daughter.

i do the same for my 4 year old. i don't attach the cover to the bed, but just simply lay it over the bed where her bottom-half will be laying over it ..and that's it. my daughter hasn't wet her bed for a couple of months, but we still use it in case 'cause she's still 4..

now, you'll know longer have a sad, but a confident little girl :)

No, no and no to pull ups...if you need something for her to wear overnight because you co sleep go on hyena cart (online market place of work at home moms that make cloth diapers and trainers, etc.) and look for some cloth trainers. That way you are not wasting your money on pull ups and you still have something to put on her at night in case she has an accident. Also, many of them look like regular underwear so she won't be embarrassed either.

I would put her in undies at night when she can stay dry for several nights in a row (about a month). This happens for different kids at different ages, usually between the ages of 2 and 5 (mine were 24 months old and 3 years old when they went to undies at night). Some kids have more trouble, one of my nephews is 6 and still wets sometimes. As you can see you really just have to watch and wait to see when your daughters bladder will mature to that point. If the concern is because she sleeps with you, is putting her in her own bed an option?

My son is five and rarely has an accident but if he sleeps over at the grandparents house or has a late night we we have him sleep in "nite nite undies" and he knows that it is just in case. When we started doing this we reassured him that it was just in case and no big deal. Better to be safe than sorry, especially at the grandparents and then he was ok with it.

I would take away the pull ups and let her learn from accidents. My daughter potty trained herself last Dec and she started waking up from naps dry. She naps in mine and my husbands bed (I often nap with her) but we decided to stop using the diapers for naps and she is so proud of herself.
On the nights she can't go pee before bed, just wake her up before you go to bed and take her to the bathroom. I'm assuming those are the nights she wakes up wet.
best of luck,
C.

I'd still continue to use them...infact, my boys will be five in June and still use them at night. One of my twins is very close to staying dry at night so I just started letting him wear his underwear under his pullup to help him start to get the feeling....just tell her that every body gets out of them at different times so good for her friend Angela but she needs a little bit more time to make sure she's really ready. I find it best not to drag those conversations out for too long because it can turn into something dramatic (my daughter is 11 so I clearly remember those days with her when she was trying to make the transition).

onestepahead.com has a device that sounds an alarm at the first bit of moisture, that might be an option.

My daughter is now 8 and once in a blue moon will pee in her bed. She is in her bed now, though. I know it's a bummer to change the sheets but I would treat here like the big kid that she is. And, I know the previous post was rather blunt, but you might consider the process of getting the kids to sleep in their beds and you sleep with your husband. It's a long process so you may as well start now.

I would take away the pull ups since most of the time she is dry. They make pads that just kind of wrap around the bed - you only have to change the top sheet. Good luck!

My 11 year old granson still has accidents. I choose not to wash sheets every day so he wears night time pull up type things. He can go weeks and not have issues and then it hits and it's every night for a month. The Urologist says it's biological and nothing is wrong with him, as he gets closer to adolescece he'll grow his adulthood size bladder and it'll stop.

What they have to drink before bed does nothing to stop the wetting, it can actually make it worse. Stronger urine, bladder infections, dehydration, etc...

Waking them up only makes you tired. They can't help urinating while asleep, it's like trying to make a 6 month old walk...it's biologically not possible.

Alarms only wake up everyone in the house and make more laundry. Once you change the sheets and they go back to sleep they are going to wet a gain and there you have 2 sets of bedding now.

Just be patient, if you have time then by all means let her go without pull ups, the only one it effects is you because you have more laundry. But it may be a self esteem issue to her and she needs to go without. But I would NOT let her spend the night anywhere without wearing a pull up and I'd make sure the parent in the house knew she had to wear it. Nothing makes me madder than a friend coming over and them wetting the bed then finding out they did it all the time at home, how rude is that.

Hi, I’m M. Francis from the GoodNites NiteLite Panel. Mamapedia is partnering with GoodNites through September and we see questions like yours all the time on the NiteLite panel, so I wanted to chime in with my thoughts. I see that it’s been a while since you originally posted; how are things going now?

First, you sound like a great mom to be so concerned about your daughter’s feelings! I’m a co-sleeper, too, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. Second, at four years old it is still very common for children to experience bedwetting. It sounds like you’re already doing the right thing by taking her to the bathroom right before bed and establishing a bedtime routine. You might try limiting fluids close to bedtime if you aren’t already, but it’s very likely your daughter will still have some nighttime accidents even if you do. There is no way to “train” a child out of bedwetting until they are developmentally ready, and at 4 years old, lots of kids just aren’t yet. So you’re doing the right thing by supporting her and trying to make her comfortable.

It sounds like the bigger problem here is the peer pressure! You might try explaining to your daughter that many, many children her age still need to wear protective underpants at night. 20% of 4 – 12 year old children still wet the bed (GoodNites.com), and that number is higher the younger the child. You might try explaining to your daughter that one in every five kids she knows still has some nighttime accidents. You can explain to her that means that in a classroom of 30 kids, at least 6 of them still wet the bed every now and then!

You’ll find more facts and advice about bedwetting at GoodNites.com. Good luck and please let us know how everything goes!

sorry if this sounds rude, but maybe she just needs to sleep on her own, your husband should sleep with you too and not your 2 year old...very unhealthy!

ONe option you can look into is training pants instead of pullups. They look like regular underwear but have a little extra padding plus a polyurethane/vinyl lining inside--some have outside. I plan to use them for piotty training soon and was looking some up the other day. I cannot remember the name of the ones I think I will get but they cost $14 which is pretty much what you pay for one pack of pullups. She may feel better about them since she does not want pullups anymore. You wil save money also.