Need Help for Nighttime Potty Training

My nearly 4 year old son is just recently potty trained in the daytime. When his Good night is dry we will get rid of them. I really wouldn't worry for a few more years. The only reason I responded is one strategy is to wake him up to go to the bathroom 60-90 minutes after he falls asleep or even right before you go to sleep.

There's no reason to have to change sheets every day. Night "training" isn't training at all, it's not about waking up to pee, it's about the bladder maturing to the point where it doesn't need to be emptied during the night. If he is not at this point yet, then diapers or nighttime protective garments are appropriate.

Hi T.,

4 years isn't too bad. Both my boys were night wetters until they were 12.
I didn't sweat it, just changed their bedding daily. I felt it was more important that they got a good night's sleep. That was 30 years ago. Times are different and people have lots of ways of coping with this issue. Like maybe getting him to answer an alarm clock during the night. I'm sure you'll have some good advice from this site.

Good luck!

Try walking him to the bathroom once a night. He may sleep so deep his mind doesn't know the ques yet. Also his body may not beable to "hold" it at night yet. Talk to your doctor. Sometimes children (boys expecially) have a "bed wetting problem" simply because therie bodies are growing and their bladder size is not keeping up. They make night time "underpants" try some of those. No since in letting him get embarrased and self counscious about it not to mention the massive amounts of laundry for you! A.

I agree with Denise P. about just letting him use the pull ups at night. and some for some kids, they're body just doesn't register while they are sleeping that they need to pee when they are sleeping. Don't fret over this...and don't punish over this.

HI, My son is also 4 (november) and we use a pull up at night also. He wakes up dry about 50 percent of the time. I will continue to use one for a while. I see nothing wrong with it. He is not ready to go without one so if your son needs it for now continue to use it. good luck

Stick with the pull-ups at night. I wet the bed until I was 4 or so. My husband did the same thing. Nothing you can do about it and it won't last forever. Better than changing sheets and having your son sleep in a wet bed at night.

I agree with the PPs. As long as you've cut off his liquid intake a couple of hours before going to bed and he goes pee right before going to bed there really isn't much more you can do!

First I would make sure that he doesn't drink anything at least 2 hours prior to going to bed. I think that pull-ups tend to be to absorbent so that the child doesn't even know that they have had an accident until it's to late. Maybe if you do allow him to feel wet he may eventually start waking up and go "potty" instead of wetting the bed.

I hope this helps.
K.

Hi T.,

I have the same thing going on here. It turns out there is a hormone that is responsible for this which essentially syncs the brain with the bladder, and in our boys' cases they just aren't producing enough of it yet. This is not uncommon at all at this age and they will catch up!

Try not to worry. I stressed over this for quite a while and changed a bazillion sheets before going back to pull-ups. Actually, he refused them b/c he is "not a baby!" so we bought UnderJams which are really just pull-ups, but maintain his self-esteem.

As my PA told me, if he's still doing it at 15, we can start giving him the hormone. ;)

Hang in there!

I was a bedwetter for a long time, I just slept so hard that I didnt wake up in time. i was super ashamed of it, and even still am. I would recommend not doing anything to shame the kid or make him feel guilty, since this isnt his fault. No one LIKES to sleep in pee. (at least, I hope not!) Good luck!

Personally, I'd use a Pull Up til he's consistently dry. Why cause yourself more headaches with wet sheets and him being uncomfortable? I don't think putting him in undies is going to make his brain/body connection work any quicker.

Hi T.,

My son was potty-trained at 3, yet it took him quite a while to be dry at night. Children's bodies develop at different rates, and he my still not be physically at the point where he can reliably wake up when the need comes at night. What we did is that we didn't make a big deal out of it, but we talked about how big boys don't need pull-ups at night, and complimented him every time he woke up with a dry diaper, and eventually one night of dry diaper turned into 2, 3, 4, and eventually he slept without, with only an occasional accident. Also, it helps if you make sure that he drinks as little as possible in the 1.5-2 hours before going to bed.

Good luck! He'll get it, they all do.

I agree with everone who says that he is just not ready yet. But when he does become ready, use a protective sheet (without fitting) over his sheets. They can be found at BRU and are very soft and the pee will not go through it (flannel keep me dry pads). They are normally used under sheets but I'd use one on top - no changing sheets. Just pull of and wash!