Potty Trained 3 Year Old Still Wearing Pullups at Night

Try taking her to the potty about 30 minutes after you cut her off of liquids. Then put her on the potty again right before you take her to her bed. - M. C

3 is so young....way too young to be concerned. I have a MUCH older boy who still deals with this issue. A speceliast at Northwestern recommended taking away the 4 C's Chocolate, Caffeine, Carbonation and Citrus, from his diet and it has really helped. However, I think at three you shouldn't even be the least bit concerned. Everytime we went to the doctor from 3 on, the doctor said....."don't worry about it until he is 7 or 8.....then we can discuss". Just give her time and be patient, it's already great theat she is potty trained.....some kids take longer just for that.

Stop using the pull-ups. If she has them on she is going to think it is okay to go potty in them. Get some diaper covers and put them over her underwear, that way you won't have a huge mess. Both my girls were night trained before they were daytime trained and neither have had any night time accidents. Good luck and I hope you won't have to change any wet sheets in the mornings.

I had this same problem with my son. He would still wet the bed at night.I didn't give him anything to drink before he went to sleep. I would make him pee before going to bed. and I would also wake him up ever so often during the night to make him go potty.Finally he caught on to it. He has had a few accidents at night. I hope this helps you out.

I always make sure to send my son to the washroom right before bed even though he hasn't had a nighttime accident in many months. I would also wake up at least once at night and take her to the bathroom. If she has already wet herself wake her up earlier in the night to go potty. You might have to do it a few times at night. After a while the kid will wake themselves up to use the washroom. It's okay for them to still be having accidents until like six years old.

We have a 4 yr old and 3 yr old twins. When the twins nap there are no diapers or pull ups. They go before they sleep and all is good. At night time for all of them its a 50/50 shot. The twins where diapers and the 4 year old a goodnite. One of the twins is dry 90% of the time, the other about 40%. The 4 year old isnt to bad if you watch intact from 6pm til their 8:30 bedtime. I have been told that they are doing just fine by our doctor and other families. There are occasions I will bring them in the bathroom during the night and they will go (pretty much while they are sleeping) Just a matter of time I am told.

Hi M.,

My now almost 6 year old dd was in the same boat. The Dr. recommended cutting off liquids 2 hours before bedtime but that was during dinner time. I did cut off about an hour before and made her go to the bathroom right before. She was never consistently wet which was frustrating. Then when she told me that she could pee on cinderella but not on ariel, I knew the pullups had to go. We would "pee" her before we went to bed, she was usually sound asleep, but would go potty when we said to go. But then we realized that she could go from 10pm to almost 7am w/o an accident but if we were later than 10, she would wet the bed. We then told her we were not coming in to do it anymore and she would have to wakeup. She has only wet maybe 3 times in almost 2 1/2 years. Our ped said as long as she wasn't 8, not to worry, sometimes their bladders are just too small.

Good luck
C.

Well when I first read your post I thought, oh she has nothing to worry about, then I read the responses and see everyone else thought the same lol..

I think you are right on track. It won't be too long and she won't wear pull ups at all just hang in there.

Sound to me like she is right on track. And kudos for mom for getting her potty trained this far!

Just be patient hun, it'll happen!

Oh, and you are right on limiting the drinks that will help as well!

S.

What I found with my son is that the pull-ups enabled him to go in his pants...so, we just put him in underwear! Cutting the liquids will help and if you hear her mumbling or movement in the middle of the night, then take her to the bathroom. Also, making sure they try and go before they go to bed helps. A pull-up is a diaper and the kids are smart enought to know at this age that they can use it as one....

I have a 3 yr. old that has been daytime potty trained & she is still in pull-ups at night. I try to wake her up 1 time during the night to get her used to going potty. Sometimes that not very easy but she will go potty. Try what you think will work & the child will learn to use the potty before bedtime & when they wake up. Good luck K. W

When you are on your way to bed, pick her up, and put her on the potty. Quietly tell her that she needs to go potty, and wait until she does. Help her back to bed, tuck her in, kiss her forhead and say good-night. If you ever hear her in the night (talk in her sleep), get up right away and do the same thing. Don't turn on the lights. Her bladder probably isn't big enough yet to make it that long.

I have 3 kids and if I hear my youngest (age 6) in the night, I still help him out, although most of the time he will now get himself up. Every kid is different and I didn't have to do this with my other two.

Good luck and have a great day!

One of my kids was still not dry at night until she was almost 12. She wore a pull-up up to a certain age - might have been 9 or 10 - then I couldn't bear to make her. The doctor said it was just an immature bladder and I did not want medical intervention. Since I'm basically a lazy, let-it-ride sort of parent, what I did was develop a bedding system to make changing the bed easy on myself and on her. It goes like this: positioned in the bed where the child sleeps, over mattress and waterproof mattress pad, put a large clear plastic garbage bag, smoothed flat, then a bath towel, then the bottom sheet. This way the bath towel catches most of the liquid and you aren't doing the mattress pad constantly. The plastic garbage bag can be wiped off with a baby wipe. The child doesn't feel so stigmatized and can help change the bed. Don't ever make her feel bad about it because it isn't her fault. Eventually she will be able to "hold it."

My daughter Abygale was almost 3 before she was potty trained & also wore a pull up at night & nap time. My pediatrician told me that it was normal, sometimes kids are so deep in sleep they do not know they are using the bathroom. But he also recommended we stop drinks 3hrs before bedtime. We put her to bed around 8:30 so no drinks after 5:30
Hope this eases your mind, I have been there. Also, I used Goodnights at bedtime, they are expensive, but they were awesome at keeping all the wetness off Aby & keeping the sheets dry!!!
Bet of luck!!

My daughter peed in diapers when she had them on no matter what. She, like your daughter, was also in diapers at night only for months. I finally said the heck with it and put her in her underpants. I also did cut out liquids 2 hours before bed at night. I haven't cut them out before her nap though. I hate the pullups they don't hold any liquid. I used good nites made by huggies. They really held the pee but it sounds like your little one is ready to graduate. Good luck.

Make her try to go potty one last time right before getting in bed. If we went to bed several hours later, we would get our boy up and make him try. My husband would also get him up when he got up early in the morning for work and then put him back to bed. He is 5 now and every great once in a while he will wake up wet. I didn't use pull ups much because they are still diapers and my kids would pee in them. Do you have the plastic backed waterproof matress pads? Would it help if she woke up wet with out pull ups on? I know it's gross and not fun to clean up, but I have 4 potty trained kids ages 2-7. And they don't like to wake up wet. Hang in there!!

Our daughter turned 4 in November- she was potty trained during the day well before she was done wearing pull-ups at night. (She had stopped napping by the time she was completely potty trained.) Same as you- she was often completely wet in the morning, which was a sign to me that her body wasn't ready to stay dry overnight. One day last fall, my husband forgot to put a pull-up on her at night, and she stayed dry. We celebrated that a lot. And then we gave her the option each night to decide what to do. No pressure- just telling her that when her body was ready, she would stay dry overnight. We also talked a LOT that when kids are learning to stay dry overnight, accidents do happen. Again, no stress about that- it's just part of learning. Mistakes do happen. So, over time, she decided more and more often not to wear pull-ups at night, and now she is pull-up free. I think she's only had an accident once- right as she was waking up in the morning. But we really tried to make the process her own, and she seems to have felt a lot of control and pride over it.

I wouldn't worry about your 3 year old still wearing pull-ups at night. It is not uncommon at all. Most kids are ready to make the change over the next year or so. Some take longer. Your child is at a very normal place in the process.

Talk to your pediatrician. Our suggested a night-time alarm. It's a small device that attaches to the pull up, and when it gets wet, it is activated. Beware, it is loud, but it took less than one week for both my children to be completely dry at night! I have a boy and a girl, and it worked beautifully for both. My son was a very deep sleeper, so we weren't sure it would work, but it did!
Good luck!
Janice

I would do whatever you feel will help without shaming her about it. I have a friend whose little girl is almost 7 and she is just now having some dry nights. The dr said he would not worry about it unless she was 8 and still wetting every night. It is more common in boys to wet at night when they are older, but not uncommon in girls either.
Hang in there!
I agree about the pull-ups- she might not feel when she is wet.
If you don't want the vinyl pants, you could put her in a diaper cover over panties. Search ebay for diaper covers- there are some that are waterproof and velcro, made of PUL so it's not so sticky/sweaty to wear.

M.

At three years old, your little one still doesn't have the bladder capacity to hold it through the night. Some children wear pull ups well into their 4-5's which is okay. I had a little trouble with my first child and was concerned, but after researching it a little I realized it was okay and frankly quite normal. Now, four children later, I know that each child has their own time frame for when their bodies are ready for different functions. Don't worry - Be Happy! Good luck!

To be truthfully honest, I don't think you should be worrying about this quite yet. She is still only 3 years old. The big Hurray is that she is potty trained. Her body will eventually let her know to wake up during the night. I would be more worried if she is still in diapers at the age of 5. Then maybe she may have a problem with bed wetting. Bed wetting is a pretty common thing, so I wouldn't be to worried. There will always be a solution to this problem.

I also started noticing at around 2 1/2 years old my daughter would wake up for no reason. You would ask her if she needs something and she would so nope. So when she started waking up for no reason I would run her to the potty. 9 out of 10 times she had to go to the bathroom. So that told me that she didn't realize that's what was going on. She was to out of it to comprehend. So maybe if your daughter wakes up in the middle of the night screaming or not sure what she needs, I would run her to the potty.

So my advice is to defiantly cut off liquids 2 hours before bedtime. I have been doing this with my 3 year old and she wakes up pretty dry in the mornings. But then again, there are mornings where she is completely wet. And that was when I cut the liquids off. So you never know. It's a mystery. Be patient and give your little girl time.

M., I have a 5 year old lil boy that does the same thing and tells me he is too old for pull ups "I am not a baby" He is wonderful through the day and I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun to get him to stop going through the night. I consulted our family doctor about this and he said that he is so exhausted that he does not realize that he is wet ~ he sleeps too hard ~ it is ok and eventally it will stop. IT IS FRUSTRATING to clean sheets every morning. He goes to bed at 7:30 so we get him up at 11:00 and take him poddy and then my husband gets him up at 5:30 before he leaves for work. This has been helping ~ I just wanted you to know that you are not the only one in this boat. I hope that this helps.
H.

Hi Marsia,
The only thing I can think of is (as already suggested) cut off liquids a few hours before bed time, make sure she potty's before she lays down and maybe you could make sure she gets up fairly early. I don't know what your/her schedule is like but I know at the Day care where I work there are children that have to woken up from nap before the other kids so they don't pee the bed/cot. Other then that I don't really know. Wish I could help more.
G.

My 4 year old son is still wearing pullups at night. He is the same as your daughter for naps. I've tried waking him up to go to the bathroom when I go to bed, 2 hours after his bedtime. Sometimes it works, sometimes he's already wet the bed if we're trying to go without a pullup.

Honestly, I've decided to not make a big deal about it. He is a very deep sleeper and I think it will just take him some time. It's not like being awake and potty training. At some level they have to have the neurological ability to wake up and know they've got to go. I would have to cut my son off from fluids 4 hours before bed to ensure he wouldn't wet. That misses anything to drink with dinner. I'm not ready to do that.

Good luck. I know she will be dry all night before you know it!

Bed wetting is something that will be a problem for a few years still. Her bladder is just still too small to last all night. Cutting the liquids will help, you could also try getting her up once or twice during the night and getting her to use the restroom. You could also cover her bed with a plastic fitted cover, that will save her mattress. I remember wetting my bed as a small child it only happened at night, I just slept too soundly and my small bladder was just too small. She'll grow out of it eventually. Just try not to make her feel ashamed when accidents happen.

Good luck.

Just like a lot of your responses said she is very young and it is normal. Only if the problem persists when she gets older should you worry about it. My son is almost 8 and he is still having problems. We found out it is a deep sleep disorder and we are working to fix the problem. One of the things we were told is that drinking milk at night can make a child sleep deeper. The last drink my son has in the day is water only. Also I doubt you give pop but that is another bad thing to give a child in he evening. Pop is a rare treat at my house, so that wasn't a big issue. Last, there are excersizes she can do to strengthen the bladder muscules. Start and stop the potty as she is going to the bathroom. The doctor told me this should help. i have been given all kinds of information so if you continue to have problems and have more questions you can always message me. Take it easy though I am sure it will get better.

I would say that most three year old's bodies are not ready to not urinate during the night. Just keep putting a pull up on her b4 her nap and switch to a heavier pull up or a diaper at night. I found that with my kids, they didn't stop urinating at night until they were 4 or 5. It is simply physiological. When her body is ready, it will happen. It is something they cannot control at that age.

We have the same problem but also have recently gotten our 4 year old out of pull ups at night. The pediatrician assured us that some kids just have different control at night (she is a deep sleeper and even sleep walks). Our 3 year old stays dry sometimes more than her. Our best way was to train ourselves to get her up before we went to bed and then again if we got up. She is now good through the night (with occasional accidents if she is really tired) but we still have to have get up if we hear her whining in her sleep. Good luck. T. (mom of 3)

My daughter was eight years old before she stopped having accidents at night. Her pediatrician explained to me that the bladder is a muscle and just like every other muscle, it takes time to develop strength and coordination. The suggestion to stop liquids two hours before bed time is good. What you also may try is to wake her up in the middle of the night or even set an alarm in the middle of the night and get her up to go to the bathroom. This will help train her internal body clock to wake her up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. If it takes a few years before her bladder is strong enough to hold it through the night, don't get discouraged, and don't ever make her feel bad or ashamed about accidents. (Remember, one day the roles will be reversed and in your elder years she may be changing your wet pants. Now is the time to set an example for her on how to be patient and compassionate about this.)

Hello--My daughter had to wear pull-ups at night until she was almost 5. I think you should not really pressure your 3 yr old at this time because she is still a toddler.
Of course, keep trying to have her go potty right before bedtime and "empty the balloon." Sometimes kids only partially eliminate urine when they go because they do not want to take the time.

Just a thought.
Good Luck.
K.

I was a bed wetter until I was 5, my younger sister until she was 8, and my mom until she was 12. It is not uncommon and it is nothing to punish or shame them for. I agree with maybe cutting off drinks an hour or two before bed and definitely make her go the bathroom right before bed time but I do not agree with waking your child up in the middle of the night. It's not fair to your child to be woken up out of her sleep in the middle of the night. When you are sleeping there are different cycles your body has to go through and when you wake up unexpectedly your body has to start all over again to actually feel refreshed in the moring. She's young and she will grow out of it until then take small steps to help the problem.

There's really no reason to be concerned about this or think you have to do something to 'fix' it. She sounds very normal. The vast majority of kids don't stay dry during the night for an entire >year< after they've been daytime potty trained. Yes, there are exceptions to this but most doctors will tell you to not be concerned until they are bedwetting at age 5. Just continue to put on pull-ups or goodnights if she's bigger and don't make a big deal about it or it may affect her self-esteem.

My daughter was 3 in July. She is potty trained but still has some accidents at night, no matter what she doesn't or does drink. I think some kids bladders are small so you have to wait it out. I talked with my sis and she said that was like that with 1 of her 4 children. I know this doesn't answer your ? but it happens to alot of the kids. I just don't buy pullups anymore and she will wake up if she does pee and change her clothes so her body is used to getting up to go.

I have to agree with Rhonda when she wrote "I don't see the pull ups while sleeping as a potty training issue, but as whether or not the child is has matured enough to be able to hold it while they are sleeping". My 4 year old granddaughter (4 in early Dec) is the same way, and she's a very heavy sleeper as well. I think that plays a big role in it as well.

I've heard other moms say the same thing, that their children that were heavy sleepers, and those that have had night terrors at any time, don't even feel that sensation when they're asleep. And some don't until 6 or 7 years old. It's out of their control.

I'm fed up with buying the pullups for her and my 2 year old as well, but I'd rather have the dry bed, too.

my 4.5 yr old is still doing the same...i have heard it can take till 5 or 6 for sound sleepers to get it at night.

My daugher is 4 1/2 and has been potty trained for almost 2 years but she still wears a pull up to bed as she if wet about 4 our of 7 nights. We try to watch the liquids but she still can't make it through the night and doesn't wake up. Please share any good advice that you get with me. ____@____.com

thanks!

M.,
If it makes you feel any better, my 6 year old twins are just now trained at night, and we are still in that phase of them coming down to report they woke up dry. I hydrate them as much as I can during the day. We eat dinner around 6pm and they only get 1/4 c of milk then. They pee before bed around 8-8:30pm then my husband or I get them up to pee again before we go to bed. We did that with our older son until he was 7. It may sound like a hassle but its better than cleaning up!

Some kids just sleep deeper than others. My kids trained early for daytime but night time was much later. Maybe wait and try again when she is a little older.

Don't worry, J.

My daughter wore a pull up at nap and night time til well past 4. We started by taking away the pull up at nap time when she started always waking up dry. Then we did the same at night. I don't see the pull ups while sleeping as a potty training issue, but as whether or not the child is has matured enough to be able to hold it while they are sleeping. All children are going to be different on this one. I would rather have the pull up on than to have a wet bed.