Potty Training - Granbury, TX

My son was potty trained at 2.5, too, but it took several months before he started having dry diapers at naps and overnight. Once he was dry for a few nights in a row, I just asked him one night if he wanted to wear a diaper or underpants, he chose underpants. No accidents the first week, then a few the second and third weeks, and we've been fine ever since! But I wouldn't worry about it until he has consistently dry diapers at night! Otherwise, if you try too soon, you'll just be waking up every night to change the sheets, that's no fun for you or for him!
Good luck!

How do you get him potty trained at night? You don't. You can't "train" someone who is asleep. This is a physical milestone tied to the body's release of hormones. Until he gets that, he will not have the control to stay dry at night. It may be months, it may be a year or two (which is totally normal btw -- Drs don't worry until they're about 6). Yes, you can cut back on liquids, etc but until his body is ready this is really pointless. Until then, just keep him in a pull up or diaper (usually cheaper) until he wakes up consistently dry. Until then, you are fighting a losing (and avoidable) battle.

We are doing this now with my 3 year old. For my son, diapers and pull ups are like "permission" to pee. So I spent $10 and got a vinyl cover that encases his mattress. I bought an extra sheet for another $9. I have the vinyl cover, a soft mattress cover with pee pee pads on top (like what I used when he was a baby),then a sheet and another pee pad and finally another sheet. This way when he has an accident, I am not up changing sheets at 2 a.m. I just pull the top sheet off and he can climb back in. WE just got rid of diapers cold turkey. I saved a dozen or so of the pull ups in case we visit family over night and gave the rest away. We started this last month. Several friends told me I would just have to retrain his brain to not pee the bed, I was told just to wake him up throughout the night until he "got it". I was paranoid and starting out I woke him up about four times a night. After we went through two nights of no accidents, I started waking him up three times a night. And kept the pattern going. Now I just wake him up before I go to bed (around 10 or 11) and we have been accident free for two weeks now. He has even started getting up on his own to go potty. (Yeah!) This weekend we are going to try not waking him up at all and see what happens. Good luck!

Two and a half is really young for a little boy to have complete muscle control so I'm not surprised that he can't make it through sleep without an accident. Just give him time. Is there a deadline?

My recommendation would be to throw away the diapers. They have training uderwear that has a plastic liner so that it minimizes the mess. I am in the midst of potty training mine right now. She just turned 2 in January. She was wearing pullups and not doing well consistently. I decided to put her in underwear one weekend and take her to the potty every hour. Come Monday morning when I took her to daycare I told the teacher that she was in underwear and that she should take her to the potty every hour. She looked at me like I was crazy. However, she did really well. Asked to go to the potty all day long. She is doing really well despite the obvious accidents. Obviously, since we just started I am still using a pull up at night. However, she is in underwear no matter what we are doing during the day; and wears underwear during naptime. We will graduate to no pullup at night; hopefully, soon. I have heard from other moms as well that the pullups just confuse the issue. Also, I found that my husband and I; and teachers would rely on the pullups too much. It forces you to take them to the bathroom more often. Anyway, each child is different. And I have heard boys are a bit tougher. Good luck! Potty training is not fun at all.

Potty training to me comes in stages. I have b/g twins that just turned 3. They have been potty trained since they were 2yr2mo, however it took a few months to get them ready to go in underwear at naps and there were a few accidents. I would work on putting him in purely underwear while he's awake, just ask him constantly if he needs to go. Don't force him, or he might regress. Then I worked on him telling me and others when he had to go. I just stopped asking him all the time and would only bring it up occasionally and waited for him to come to me. He had a couple of accidents, but I just reminded him that he needed to tell Mommy when he needs to go. My daughter was no problem, another difference between boys and girls. Then I just started naptime training about 4 or 5 months ago, when they would wake up mostly dry. I just stopped giving them fluid after lunch and took them potty right before naps, whether it was at a playdate or mall or home (they usually fall asleep in the car). You may have an accident or two, but don't get discouraged, they'll get it pretty quickly. As far as nighttime goes, I won't be pursuing that for a while. I don't believe in rushing things. My daughter wakes up dry almost every morning, but my son wakes up wet every morning. He's just not ready for that step and I'm not about to ruin his sleep over it. You just have to remember that this is a process and wait until they're ready for each stage. You're doing amazing if he's potty trained at 2.5.

I think he is too young to night train or naps either. If he can't stay dry while he sleeps, you'll have to use a diaper and wait until you notice it stays dry consistently during times he is asleep. I don't think I've ever heard of a boy being night trained at 2.5 years.

Honestly, not much!! I mean, for sure you can get him in underwear out of the house..my 2.5 year old son has already done that 2 weeks after starting to potty train. He has to go right before we leave, and then I pay attention to time, and whenever I am even close to a bathroom, we go. Now, the nap and night time thing..you can try limiting drinks etc..but really, he is only 2.5. Many people would find it a miracle to have him potty trained during the day. He is still young, so it may be just a matter of body maturity. Give it time, and really, do the best that you can, but dont worry about it. Some kids dont stop peeing at night for several more years. Good luck.. I am right there with you!! ~A.~

Not to scare you but my son is 6 & still wears underjams (made by pampers) at night & still has very few dry mornings. For him I know it's in his genes. My husband wet at night till the age of 10 or 12. Just something they will one day grow out of. Or there could be a underlying problem,
as he gets older keep talking to your doc about it. also try to limit drinks after dinner. So I've heard.
Good Luck & God Bless!!!!!
C. M.

I agree with Stacey B. Give up the diapers and pull-ups cold turkey and buy the cotton training pants and plastic covers and buy mattress covers for the bed. I trained all 3 of my children (2 boys) this way and they were all potty trained shortly after their 2nd birthdays. I was reluctant to do so with my daughter who is the oldest. A friend of mine watched her for a day and put her in regular panties because she ran out of diapers. She had one accident the whole day in panties and was fully potty trained 2 weeks later with no accidents. My boys were a little harder but all of my children were potty trained before they were 2.5 without much hassel. They don't like to be wet. Diapers and even pull-ups absorb too much moisture and they are very smart and realize the difference. Why stop playing to go to the bathroom if they have a diaper on and why get out of bed?
There are some children who have harder time developmentally especially at night but your son is too young to think that is the problem. Keep trying and he'll get there.

I think it's wonderful he's wearing underwear during the day at 2.5! Good job, mom! Boys take their time. It's completely normal for a boy to NOT be potty-trained completely until 3.5 or even to age 4. What's the rush? I would let him sleep in pull-ups during naps and bedtime until you notice he's dry every time he wakes up. Then gradually phase out the pull-ups at naps first, then nighttime. Good luck!

I agree you can't. He will do it on his own when he is ready. When he is older talk to you pediatrician if you are worried. He may be 6+ when it happens each child is uniquely made.

I agree with others that you should probably wait until at least age 3 before attempting nighttime training. But when you do, I think you should just put him in either training pants or regular underwear, with a mattress cover, towel, or incontinence pad either directly under him, or under the sheet, and just let him learn by being wet at night. Of course, it helps to make sure he pees right before bedtime, limit evening fluids, and so forth. You can also keep a little potty in his room, if he has problems getting to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

I have three boys, and with the oldest, as soon as he was daytime trained, I started putting him to bed in underwear. He wet himself the first night, and then pretty much never again. My middle son, however, was wet almost every night, but gradually he became dryer and dryer. Even now, at age 6, he will occasionally wet just a little bit before he wakes up and goes to the bathroom; but he never has a complete accident. If you think of it as a gradual process and not expect it to be perfect right away, it will go fine.

Sounds to me his bladder just isn't ready yet. Since he tells you when he is awake, that is very good, and he has no control over when he is asleep. A childs bladder developes at different stages, and his may just not be develeped enough yet to hold it for that long. They say you may as well not even train a child daytime or toher wise until their diapers are dry for at least two hours , as they just can't hold it, so probably soon he will be dry at night. sounds like he is doing fine.

The outside of the house part is easy just make sure he goes before you leave and if he needs to go potty while your out then you can normally find one. But I always keep a spare change of clothes in the car just in case. As far as bed time, that is the hardest part! My son would stay dry all night but wake up in the morning and pee. What I do is I cut him off on drinking water on hour to 30 mins before bed time and I make sure he goes before I lay him down. And he knows that if he wakes up and needs to go potty he can go. It may take time but he will get it. Good luck!

it takes longer to train boys, because they don't develop control as fast as girls. of course it is a good ideal to talk to Dr. to make sure everything esle is ok. S. H

Good luck with that...

I have 3 boys and my 4 year old is still not potty trained at night and I am ok with that because when my oldest, who is 6, was 4 when he was just getting day time potty trained and by 4.5 he was night... all kids are different but really you will be hard pressed to find a boy who is 2.5 that is night time trained (and day time for that matter)... its a biological thing and his body is not mature enough yet to do that.

BTW... my 2.5 year old is no where near being ready to even day train but no biggie... he will be trained when hes ready!

they are only little for a bit so let him be a baby for a little bit longer :o)
Good luck
A. J

I had a friend that would wake her kids up before she went to bed to potty... and once during the night. I cut all liquids off around 8:00 and then made sure that my daughter went to potty before bed time. If not then I woke her up before I went to bed. Best of luck!

My daughter, who is fixing to be 4, was also pretty much potty trained by 2.5 too. But I did not start letting her wear big girl panties to bed till after about 5-6 months of not going in her diaper at night. Then took her out of the diaper, but still had some accidents in the middle of the night. So make sure that when u do get ready for that change, u get a mattress protector with the plastic lining. Make sure he has no drinks 1to 1.5 hours befor bed and make sure they go to the bathroom before bed too. Every child is different, and it is up to u when u think he might be ready. Good luck!!!

Hi K., you can't potty train a kid at night or nap. You or they have no control over what happens when they're sleeping. His bladder will grow and strengthen on its own, until then just keep using diapers or pull ups.

Urologists also discourage parents from waking their kids up in the middle of the night to pee because this can cause some kids to start sleep walking and/or urinating in their sleep throughout their whole lives.

Also for some kids, especially boys, bladder growth doesn't happen until puberty. Don't punish or humiliate for something he has no control over.