Night Time Pull-Ups

My son is not quite 3 and a half and we stopped putting pull-ups on at night about a month ago. Grant it, he was staying dry through the night, but I would definitely give it a go with her (another mom said to try for a week, I like that idea). If she is still having accidents after the week, then maybe you need to talk to the doctor about her bladder control. I think that if she has been potty trained for a period of time, she has enough control to either hold it throughout the night or get out of bed and go, but again, I say give it a shot and see what happens. My son has 3 other friends around his age who have also been out of pull-ups at night for quite some time now, so I think waiting until 6, like another mom posted, is a little extreme. (Although I don't blame you about not wanting to get up in the middle of the night...those first few were SO scary!) Good luck!

i would try taking her out of the pull ups at night for a week or so and see what happens. my son who will be four in may has been potty trained since he was 2, and i took him out of night time pull ups a few months after that, and he has had maybe 3 accidents, mostly when he was sick...

Hi R.,
there may be a combination of contributing factors.

What if you continued on your 'no pull ups' at night strategy - once you get a waterproof mat for her to lay on?

Waterproof bed mat options: http://tinyurl.com/waterproof-mats
(As you can see, squillions of other parents deal with this same issue)

She's been weeing in her pants (the diaper) since she was born, so this is comfortable and she needs to learn to wake and then GET UP.

I repeatedly remind my son that if he wakes at night he should go to the loo for a wee - as that is why we wake at night - to go to the loo!

With some role playing fun, practice being asleep, waking and then RACING to the loo.

What if you gave her a hefty dose of self confidence? Tell her she can do it, and will get better and better. No OJ until it settles (blame any juice or non-water drink as 'causing' night wees too)

Does she wake at a regular time? I'll bet the pants are WARM - ie they wee on waking. Get in her room just before her waking time and help her to fly out of bed in time for a few days.

Tell her to call you for help (It'll only be for a while) and help her - she may be scared of the dark - a night light? A special 'toilet torch'? Just ask.

Do you have a trampoline or mini tramp? Bouncing on it for 10 minutes at a time can really strengthen her pelvic floor, giving her more control and wait time within 2 weeks. (and yes, YOU TOO! Unbelievably effective tip for Moms - I no longer needed to get up at night myself, nor worry that I was getting diabetes as I was going to the loo all the time, LOL)

One last idea to consider is food sensitivities - additives, colours, preservatives, even natural ones such as salicylates in strawberries and such are wee-producing in sensitive kids (perhaps as a 'build up'), and weeing gets it out of their system.

Check out:

Is this your child? http://www.drrapp.com/

Fed up with Food Additives: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/

Good Luck!

You'll find a way forward, take a deep breath, it doesn't have to happen today - strive over the next month together to introduce some new changes WITH her - together as a team. You'll come out the other side stronger. There is nothing wrong with her, or YOU.

C.

http://www.tribalbaby.org/

I have 3 girls and I had all three out of pull ups at night by -3 depending on when they were day trained. Put a big girl panty on under the pull up. If she goes durning the night she will be wet but the bed will be dry. I did this when one of my girls told me she didn't get out of bed because she had a pull up on. Also have you picked her up and put her on the toilet in the middle of the night to pee and then put her right back to bed I had to do this with my middle child for about 2 weeks and then she just stopped and slept through the night and woke up dry. Any way good luck.

With our older three children, we did the night time pull up until 4 1/2 for the boys and 3 1/2 for our older girl. they are now 12, 11 and 9.

For some reason, our youngest (almost 4 year old girl), potty trained very easily and didn't want a pull up at night. She wanted a potty in her room. Yes, that can be messy and you do have to empty it in the morning. But, she hasn't missed getting up at night to use her potty and never bothers anyone else in the house. Some days it is full, others it is dry and some days there is just a tad bit of urnie in it.

Just go with what works for you! Good luck.

Actually four is young to be out of pull ups at night. From my discussions with other parents, most are out by six. However, there are a few that need them even beyond six. I have two, one was out at age five, but the other just got out at the age of ten. One factor can also be genetic. My mom and I wet the bed until late, mom until teens, and I until nine. From personal experience, I can say that I did NOT want to wet at night nor was I too lazy to get out of bed. I slept so hard that I did not know I even wet until I woke the next morning. When I was young there were no pull ups and I can say I was most definitely embarrassed. My suggestion would be to try to not make a deal out of your daughter wearing pull ups, and let her know you will leave the decision completely up to her when she no longer needs pull ups and that when she tells you she's ready you will put her in panties. If you get anxious, I would just "check in" with her periodically to see if she's ready, without pressure (which I know is difficult).

My daughter just recently turned 6. We had in a pull up until almost a month ago. We were having money trouble and didn't want to waste any more money on pull ups, so we told her she had to start being a big girl. She was just being lazy! I wish we would have done this sooner. She only had a couple of nights with accidents that required sheet and pj changes. She has went the last 3 weeks being dry every night. I know it stinks to get up, but it was worth it!!

Developmentally, all children are different when it comes to bladder control. Some potty train at night earlier and some a little later. I would encourage you to let your daughter make this decision. When she wakes up dry for a week and she feels comfortable no longer wearing a pull up at night that is the time to stop wearing pull ups.

Chances are that she has the bladder control and ability to wake up if she has to pee, but it might be so automatic by now for her not to bother waking, that it might take some work to change the habit. Our 4 year old boy often needs to pee at least once in the night, and there's still an accident now and then (every month or two), but usually he'll wake up and come and get daddy if he needs to pee. Sometimes he'll fuss in his sleep and we'll know we should wake him up to go pee. When he was getting rid of his night diaper (a year ago or so) we offered a treat or reward if he was dry all night, and lots of claps and praise, so he was very proud "look mommy it's dry!!".