Ideas on How to Potty Train Boys for the Night Time!!

I was blessed to have my son potty trained in 2 weeks when he was 26 months old. Bladder, bowel & nighttime, & no accidents. I know this is very unusual, & my daughter wasn't completely trained until 2 1/2 years, & she's had accidents. The key I found was to limit how much they drank before bed, & to have them potty RIGHT before bed & then I would get them up again to go before I went to bed. Maybe you've tried this. If not, I hope it helps!

The problem is you let them wear pull-ups at night! I wouldn't run to the bathroom either if I was wearing a diaper. They need to know that if they don't run to the bathroom, they will be wet in their beds. and That is motivation enough for most kids. give it a try.

That's a tough one... I have a sister in law that her boy is now 9 years old and still has night time accidents. He wore pull-ups untill he was about 8 years old and she started setting a potty alarm for about 1:00am. It was tough on her and like I said he still has nighttime accidents but they are getting less and less.

good luck

I skipped the pullups, buying crib covers, like lap pads but bigger, that are waterproof. I kept new bedding by the bed and washed whenever necessary, but the crib covers helped a lot.

Potty training is a lot about the psychology of it. If they are wet and uncomfortable, need to be roused, bed changed, showered off, re-dressed and put back to bed, their mind will begin to see it as a difficult procedure, and start looking for ways to correct it. After about a week to a month of this routine (which hubby and I traded off on and tried VERY hard to keep our paitence and kindness, expressing only disappointment (aw bummer) and encouragement (suggesting solutions)), we changed strategies...

We began to get our son up after about 2 hours and put him on the potty. Then we'd try and be able to hop up and get him on the potty if he woke again before he wet the bed/himself. Any time we got up during the night for water, the other kid, the pet, whatever, we'd put him on the potty before we went back to bed.

He hasn't wet the bed in about four months, but we still put him on the potty before we go to bed (about 2 hours after he does), but now if he wakes he comes to tell us and we send him to the potty on his own. (We can't seem to convince him yet he doesn't have to tell us.)

Good luck and hopefully you can get something from my experience!

Go see your doctor. My brothers suffered from a disorder that makes it so your "not potty trained" in the night until they hit puberty. There are some medications that you can use for when they go to sleep overs and things but it's not good to give it to them all the time. Really just talk to your doctor they'll know about what you can do for them. I'm sorry that you have to deal with this but eventually they will outgrow it.

There are things you can do to encourage this, however, keep in mind some children simply will not do this until older. I have no problem admitting I did not stay dry at night until I was 12. And back then there were no pull ups! Every morning I had to change the sheets on my bed, and take a bath. And it was not accepted. I was punished, we bought every imaginable device from buzzers to monitors, and none of them work. One day I just stopped. My 7 year old now has to wear pull ups. We tried waking him to put him on the potty before we went to bed, we tried telling him if he stayed dry 2 weeks he could have a big prize, we tried no drinks after diner, we tried everything anyone told us too, none of them worked.

The pediatrician said "It is not the same mechanism as day time potty training. It will just happen one day--we don't worry about it anymore like we did when you were a kid until they hit puberty. It will be worse on him if you make a big issue about it then if you make no issue about it. His body at this point is just not capable of it."

Something to consider though. Highly sugary drinks tend to make kids do this more frequently. Do they drink kool-aid or sugary beverages at all?? Not just before bed I mean at all?

You really can't contol night time wetting, it will only happen when thier bodies are ready and capable. It can be frustrating but it is just one of those things that as parents we can't control. Be thankfull they are trained for the day!

Hi. I am a mom of a 9 1/2 year old boy. I have found this 1 area to be the easiest of all his growth issues - if you know what I mean - like eating and binky and sleeping alone...
I took a class when my boy was about 2, and the best advice this gal gave me was that boys just take longer! We got the day time routine down with rewards in time at all and put a pull up on him at night. Once, the pull up was dry at night, we starting taking it off. We had several accidents, but that was it. Boys are ready when they are READY. When they are asleep, they have no mental or physical control over their bodies. The teacher of this class said it was simply developmental. Adding pressure and yelling or punishing would just bring anxiety to the sleep process. Good luck and relax.
Pull ups are great. And you can also wake him during the night to go potty during this process. That will help with any accidents. Good LUck -Lori

You know I feel your pain. I have two boys. I had to use pull ups and refused to let them drink anything after dinner. They connected the lack of juice because of them sleepin in the bed. I also left the bathroom light on or use a nightlight. I hope this can be something helpful but this worked with me and don't forget the enormous amount of patience needed. Good Luck Susi

You have lots of suggestions. My boys do not get a drink after dinner. They got potty before bed. I was having trouble with my little one (he is 3 1/2) He was tending to wet his bed about 3 or 4am. When he goes through this, I increase the amount of times he goes potty during the day. I noticed if I made him go potty about every 2 hours through the day, or at least try, the wetting stopped. It is hard to remember through the day, but its worth it to not change the sheets at 4am! Good luck!

First and foremost make sure you cut off any fluid intake at least two hours before bedtime. My son took longer at night but not much longer. That is a sure sign they are drinking too much before bed or their bladders just aren't able to hold anything at night. This sounds bad but over a weekend where they don't have to get up early, wake them before you go to bed and get them to go on the potty or in the middle of the night. I did this with my son while potty training and it seemed to speed up the process. One of the major indicators that they are potty trained ready is to go all night dry. Talk to your Pediatrician too.

A.,
I have a nephew who was 4 and still wetting at night. My brother took his son to the doctor who diagnosed diabetis. That is one of the symptoms. I also have a son who wet the bed until he was 13. I took him to a chiropractor who told me that when he laid down, the nerve was being cut off that told the brain to go into sleep mode. After a series of adjustments, he never had another accident. It was great! He got to have sleep overs, and go to camp, which he felt very uncomfortable going to before.
When he was younger, he was punished and yelled at over something he had no control over. He is 19 now.

My pediatrician explained that our son had a small bladder, leading to night time "accidents." He outgrew it. I did start watching his fluid intake an hour before bedtime. Good luck.

Hello A.,
Had a simular situation. Buy some star stamps and make your son a chart. Every time he pee's he gets to put the star stamp on the chart but he can't do it without mommy looking. You know you have had success - when your child wakes you up in the night to ask if he can put a stamp on his chart.
Good Luck. Keep it up about three weeks and you got it whipped!
cheers!
sky
Getting them to do it in the first place - draw a boat on a piece of toilet paper and tell them to blast the ship. Boys are natural distroyers. Make sure there are some made up in advance.

Hi A.,

Go easy on them. My husband and I were both bed wetters until mid gradeschool. There is a possibility of a physical reason they are not waking up that can be considered still at this point. do a little research just in case. : )
Hang in there.

Lots of great suggestions on here. I'm in a similar situation as you. I have 3 boys. The oldest, 6, has been dry at night for a few years because the attachable alarm worked great! My now 5 1/2 year old is so stressed out by the alarm, it's counter-productive and we no longer use it. We limit fluids and wake him up before bed, sometimes he's dry, but mostly not. Interestingly, he's always had to use the restroom more frequently during the day compared to the oldest. In the last month, he suddenly is going longer between potty breaks and has a dry pull up in the mornings much more frequently! He's so proud of himself! I know it's seems like a long journey, stick with it and talk with his doc, it could just end up working out soon.

Hello A.,

I just talked to my sister-in-law the other day and she was telling me about her 6 year old son who would wet the bed at night. She did some research and found that dairy can make them wet them bed at night. She cut out dairy products and within 2 days he quit wetting the bed. If he has had any kind of dairy during the day he wets the bed at night. If you try this, you might talk to your doctor about what you can supplement for the vitamins they get from the dairy products. Let me know if you try this and it works. Thanks!

At night it isn't about 'training' some people just wet the bed longer than others. Luckily there are 'goodnights' pants for older kids who still wet the bed. There doesn't need to be any punishment or anything like that because it is a biological thing, some bodies just don't have the mechanisms in place that early. It is actually pretty common-I wet the bed until I was about 9 or 10. You can try having them 'strenghten' their bladder by going pee a little, then holding it for a few seconds before they finish peeing. Some people believe it has to do with hormone levels, others believe it has to do with size or strength of the bladder and mechanisms that let you 'hold it'. Be kind to him -don't tell his friends, cause even though he can't help it it can be quite embarrassing. Eventually he'll grow out of it. Have him drink more water in the morning and day and less before bedtime.

There is a chance that it's a medical condition. You should talk to your pediatrician. One of my boys had a problem at night until he was 9 and it wasn't medical. Try not giving him anything to dring for at least an hour before bedtime, and have hin use the potty just before bed. Also we would wake him up once in the night. That helped him to be a lighter sleeper and got him used to waking up.

My son also had many nighttime accidents even at the age of 6. At 6 years of age I took him to our pediatrician for advise. He told me about a small device that could be attached to his diaper at night that would sense wetness and then wake him up with a little alarm. It took 2-3 times of being awakened almost immediately and he never had a problem again. This made him very happy since he could then take part in sleep overs with his friends. I don't know how this would work with a 3 1/2 year old but it definitely worked well at 6 years of age.

Hi,
I don't know if I would call this advice, but this works for me. My son Jack is 7 about to turn 8 in August. I usually stay up late doing stuff, or my husband does. Right before we go to bed, one of us takes him to the restroom. He doesn't remember this. I know my boy sleeps harder than my two girls. Then in the am, I usually get up about 6:30-6:45, and I go and take him to the restroom. I tell him he has 10-15 minutes to snooz. He is dry and in a much better mood. He has been dry since we started this. If one of us forget to bring him before we go to bed, this is when he might have an accident. I feel it is more work for me, but God put me hear to take care of my kids, not to just wish for things to happen. I do sometimes. Good Luck. I know how you feel. One day they will be 16.

I have a 2 year old who has been potty trained for a few months. At first during the night, we kept him in diapers, but eventually just left him in underwear. He had night time accidents just a few times and decided he didn't like having a wet bed. He waits to go until he is up now.
I've never used pull-ups. To me they seem just like a diaper and I feel that the child will never learn to be trained unless they are able to feel the unpleasant wet and cold. I hope this helps some.

I have a 9 year old who still has accidents at night. He has finally got it to like 2 accidents a month. The only sure proof way I can have dry night is to get him up and go during the night. He just couldn't hold it all night. We did the medications but that seemed to make him a bit more constipated and more frustrated. I never thought I would see the day when he gets up by himself but he just started doing it on his own. You dont want to deprive him of any liquids but an hour before bed time is best. In fact if you increase the fluids during the day he will get in the habit of getting his bladder fuller then emptying it. Talking to a uriologist is the best answer.

I have a 6 yr old boy and a 3 yr old. I wanted my oldest to completely potty trained before my youngest came. He is still very wet every night. What I have learned is the more you press the issue of your kids to be on your time schedule the more stressfull it is for everyone. We tried everything now we are waiting for my oldest's body to figure it out. He sleeps so heavy at night that his body does not get the signal to awake to go. At first I thought he was being lazy but our doctor said he could be 7, 8, or 9 before he grows out of it. We won't do meds right now so we will wait. Please just have a talk with your son and maybe make a calendar of the nights he wakes up dry he gets a sticker that day. Then a prize for a week dry and then one when he is a month dry. This did not work for ours but it did for my friend and sisters. My husband was 7 or so when he started being dry at night. Just be patient. Good luck!

Hi A.,
I have 3 little boys now and I know the frustration. My oldest is 7 the next is 4 and the last is a baby. My boys were potty trained by the time they were 2 1/2 or 3. The first suggestion is to stop any liquid by 2-3 hours before bed time. It could be difficult for them at first. So you will have to use the art of distraction. Bath time, one more movie, etc.. Second, you might have to get them up at about 11 at night for a potty check. And my last suggestion is to make a huge deal out of it if they do make it through the night. Lots of fan fare. Oh, and a little child logic. "Mommy and daddy don't wet the bed and we don't wear pull ups either. I know you can be just like mommy and daddy."
A little disclaimer: Your kids might just have immature systems. It's not bad. Lots of kids have this problem. Just reassure yourself that everyone you know is potty trained. It will happen.
Good Luck,
Stacie

With my boys, we limit their water intake right after dinner and before bed, which is about 2 1/2 hrs between...
We offer a few sips of water just before bed, making sure they empty their bladders, and if in the middle of the night they want more they have to walk to the bathroom where they can pee again and have another sip or so of water. Lots of praise is given for dry pull-ups and as soon as the boys wearing pull-ups gets up in the morning they have to go pee and change into regular clothes so as not to encourage lazy peeing in pull-ups...
Hope this helps
A.

I never had problems with my oldest son. He was potty trained completely at around 18-20 months old. I never had a problem with him wetting the bed. Now my younger son he had a small problem. I started with him not having anything to drink at least an hr before bed and I had him try going to the bathroom before bed. After we started doing this he never had a problem again. I made him responsible for this. he was about 3 1/2 yrs then. To this day he still goes to the bathroom before bed. he is 24 yrs old. It just takes time. Sometimes kids have the bed wetting problem cause the might have a medical problem. Make sure that they don't have much sugar during the day also. Everything will be fine. Just have patience. My step son didn't stop wetting the bed till he went away to college.
CL

A., how lucky for you! Boys are wonderful, I've got 5. As the others before me stated, patience is needed here. All of my boys took longer than my little girl. I"ve heard that there is a natural hormone in our bodies that is supposed to kick in and keep them dry at night. It apparently takes longer to work in boys. My 4th boy just started kindergarten and just barely started staying dry, but my 4 year old is now just starting to have a few dry nights. Be patient, don't give any drinks at bedtime. You can also teach them to change their own sheets and pjs. That alone has saved me many an awake hour at night.I hear them get up, change their clothes and they may or may not get another sheet on but THEY are taking care of it. I think it helps them with their independence and may even encourage them to stop on their own.Good luck, and dry nights WILL come. If it goes on too long, you can consult your dr. for some advice.

It is normal for some kids to not be night trained and can last up until they are 8 or 9. Usually by then their body kicks in and it stops. If it is a really problem you can go to your doctor and he/she could prescribe DDAVP which works great. It is a little pill they take that gets their body to turn off whatever hormone it is that makes them produce so much urine at night. They may need to take it for 6 months or so, but then their body will do it on it's own. (It ends up being cheaper than Pull-ups!)

Hello A. my name is N. and I also have a 3 year old and he was very hard to potty train at night but what I did that might be helpful is right before bed time I would cut the drinks short and make him potty right at bed time and if he wanted a drink I would only give a sip of juice or water and I would get him up in the middle of the night and put him on the potty what also helped is right when he gets up I make him go potty and would put him in his underwear right away because if he left him pullup on he would play and forget to pee and would pee on himself after about 2-3 weeks he caught on all by himself and I never had an accident again and was out of pullups for good and he was about 2 at that time hope that is helpful because boys are alot harder to train than girls good luck and congrats on the new one to come

I am a proud mother of two, Cassie 12 and James 15. James has a form of astism so break him of night time wettng was a challenge. James was potty trained during the day by 2 yrs. James' Grandfather and I were both bedwetters into our teens. Being very sensitive to the situation and taking into account James' disablities, I tried all the little suggestions no water hours before bed, eating crackers, waking him up, and etc, nothing worked. I searched the internet and found a little alarm that clipped on his underwear and had a pager attached. It took two nights and he never had the pager go off again. It was wonderful and made James feel that he had it under control.

Malem Bedwetting Alarm