Potty Training - Idaho Falls,ID

I started teaching a parenting class for parents of kiddos birth to five about 7 months ago. I've learned from my colleagues that the newest research is finding that children don't have the muscle control necessary to make it through the night until at least 4 1/2 to 5 years of age so it can save a lot of unnecessary struggles and shame to just have the kids potty right before bed and first thing in the morning and wait it out longer before giving up the night time diaper or pull up. That's my take on it but I'm interested to see what other parents think. Good luck!

I swiched to tushie diapers (because cloth was not an option at daycare) ... told her that's all they had a the store.... told her they stopped selling day time diapers. One day she said she didn't like these diapers and didn't want to wear them at night ... I said OK, let me know if you gotta go ... she wet the bed for times ... cosleeping .. the whole family up change the bed and that was it.... my advice ... gel diapers don't feel wet .. they are not uncomforatble

D.
FTWM with two kids (4 and 6 mos), check out meetup.com Westminster Whole Food Nutrtion group

I am going through night time potty training with my 3 1/2 year old son right now. He has been potty trained during the day since before he was 3 with very little problem. This is our 3rd time trying for night. Hopefully the 3rd time's the charm! Pull-ups haven't worked for either of my kids. (My daughter was 4 before we got her potty trained at night, 2 years after we had day-time down.) We have had to cut out all liquids after dinner, potty before bed, potty when I go to bed and potty once during the night. Some nights it works, others it doesn't. Just remember that every child is different and use the advice you get here to help you find what will work best for YOUR child. Good Luck!

I went on line and obtained information when my daughter was 2-1/2 about a three day potty training. It definately worked in three days and worked out great. She only had one accident at night and has not had one since. You have to dedicate three days of staying home and not going anywhere for this to work. With this program you get rid of all diapers, even at night. In the day, you can set your timer and everytime it goes off, make it a game to run to the bathroom to go potty. My daughter is almost 4 now and sometimes when she hears a timer, she thinks she needs to visit the bathroom. I was completely satisfied with the 3-day potty training and it definately worked. I put a pad on the bed for night-time so if there was an accident it would be easier to cleanup without stripping the whole bed in the middle of the night. I also limit what she drinks at night, and makes sure she goes potty before bedtime. Remember, get rid of all the diapers and tell them what a big girl/boy they are without diapers. Good luck.

I have learned with my 3 1/2 year old son that he would be fine until 5 or 6 to potty train at night. The doctor told me it would soon come to him. He understands right now when he wakes up in the morning if his pull up is dry. He tells me all the time that he can wear his underwear. I tell him that he has to be dry for a few days in a row. I try not to let him drink a whole lot before bed. But it will come in time. I would concentrate on the potty training during the day and wait for the night for awhile. Good luck.

I wondered the same thing about my just-turned-three daughter. A source I found online pointed out that most girls are 5 or 6 before they consistently make it through the night and that boys are typically 7 or 8.

I don't believe every child will be that old before being truly "nighttime" potty trained, but it at least puts things in perspective. I would just relax a bit about using pull-ups at night and not feel like you're taking a step back with them.

Good luck!

Hi! It actually takes quite a bit of time for their bladders to be capable of staying dry for such a long time. Most children are actually not ready to stay dry all night long until long after they have mastered day-time dryness. So my son only wore pull-ups at night, until I realized that they were always dry. We let him stay dry for about 3 weeks and then made the switch to big boy underwear. Good luck!

Hi A. my son was hard to potty train to I just made she he went to the bathroom when before bed and then as soon as he gets up. Try not letting him have anything to drink like an hour or so before bed that might help too.
R.
www.workathomeunited.com/momof3forever

A.,

We put one of those portable potties in my 3 year old's room and he just gets up and uses it in the middle of the night. We also keep a nightlight next to it so he can see it. I just put him to bed in underwear and stressed to him that it would feel icky if he peed in bed. He's never had a problem.

If your little guy is sleeping too heavily, I've heard of setting yourself a timer and waking the child to go to the bathroom at night in order to get them used to it.

If you haven't already, I would just talk to him, explain it, put him in underwear one night with some sort of soaker pad underneath the sheets and clean sheets at the ready, and just test it out. At least then you'll know if he is going to sleep through it in underwear or wake up.

I've also heard of people keeping them in pullups at night for quite some time. I guess it depends upon the child.

Good luck!

Do not worry about night, work on the day and use a pull-up at bed time, once he starts waking up consitantly dry in the mornings then you can switch him to underware. There is really no way to train for the night, it will happen once his bladder is strong enough to go for long periods of time.

A.,
Oh my goodness, you are describing my son to a 'T'. He was that same way. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to get him to sleep through the night finally without pullups or diapers. Anyway, might I suggest no liquids after 6-7pm depending on bedtime, a nightlight in the bathroom so if he gets up in the middle of the night he can make his way to the bathroom and maybe for the first month or so, you could either put him to bed with big boy pants on, and once he is fully asleep go in and change him into a pull up or diaper. Or you could set your clock to get you up every so often through out the night and get him up to use the potty! Good luck either way!!! Boys are so much harder to PT then girls!

I stopped liquids two hours before bed, then when I went to bed I woke my son up and had him pee. That only needed to be done about two weeks then he would go all night dry himself.
Once they get the day time thing down, their bodies just somehow figure out to stay dry during sleep. It can vary between children on how long it takes to go all night too. I kept pullups on him until he went dry for a week solid. Pullups were my saving grace with both of my kids, never had an issue with them. My son potty trained at 3 in three weeks and my daughter the same.