Potty Training Twins??? - Minneapolis,MN

you can't night potty train. Kids are sleeping when they wet the bed. I am a twin and I think we wore diapers to bed until we we 4 or 5. There isn't much you can do about it. They are so young. Just have them wear nightime diapers. Not pull-ups to bed. They don't hold much fluids. Don't try underwear at night until they are dry every morning for a like a week or more and even then you may have accidents. When I was little I used to dream that I was getting up and out of bed and going to the bathroom only to find out I wet the bed!

"Night-time" dryness.... is not even attained until a child is about 7 years old, + or -
And this is NORMAL.
MANY Kindergarten kids still wear night time diapers.
Normal.
For naps or night time/bedtime, just use a waterproof bed-pad under them. That is what I do... and it makes clean up much easier, and I have about 4 of them that I just switch out as needed or if my kids leak or have an accident. No biggie.

This is normal, and biological. Full night-time dryness and control... is different than day time potty ability. These are 2 very different things.

They are very young.. to be expected to be dry at night and/or for naps. And you CANNOT control their bladder.
If you expect them to be dry at night, and restrict liquids etc., it will just make you AND them frustrated because it is not an appropriate expectation. Your kids are normal.

My daughter, was 5'ish, when she was able to be dry at night.... until then she was still wearing night time diapers.

My son, is 3.5 years old. He wears a diaper at night. He is pottying but he is not a full fledged rocket scientist about it yet. NO biggie.
A child, will not potty "train" until they are ready. My son even told me "IT'S MY BODY!" and that's it.

Your kids are NOT ready for underwear at night... nor are they ready for being totally potty able... nor are they ready for the expectation of being potty able yet.

Pull-ups in my opinion, is useless. They leak, they don't hold much. And it is useless for night-time use... because they don't hold much. So you WILL inevitably have leaks. Not the child's fault.
Just use night-time Diapers.... Huggies makes them.

If your child won't poop in a toilet... let him poop in the diaper. That is better than them getting constipated... or developing Encopresis. And boys.... are typically later in potty ability/attainment/training.

If you get 'mad' about their inability, it won't help. They can't help it. Prizes/rewards never worked with my kids and I don't use it. The kid... has to be ready for pottying... bottom-line.

All the best,
Susan

Are you using a potty seat on the floor, or regular toilet with potty seat on top? I preferred the 2nd option, BUT, it might be that he needs his feet on a stable surface (rather than dangling) to poop. Perhaps a higher step stool so feet can reach a bit better. If you're already set up so his feet touch, then I'm not sure. Good Luck!

As everyone else has said, it's normal. Just be patient. It can take months or even years to be physiologically ready for nighttime dryness. Both of my boys wore pull ups at night until they were 6.

Put your children in diapers at night until they wake up dry repeatedly. My daughter was not able to regularly sleep dry until she was 6. This is absolutely normal for a percentage of children.

Do not worry about the overnights, her body is just not mature enough to handle it yet. My daughter was close to 3 1/2 before she could go all night staying dry. With the occasional accident at 4. It is not worth the stress on you or her to get upset about nightime wetting. Just keep a routine and have her try to go before going to bed each night. If it is a 6 year old having wetting problems, then there may be a medical issue, but at 2 and 3, it's just that little bodies mature at different rates.

My twins are 3.5 and I still put them in diapers at night.

One of them has actually stayed dry during naps and at night almost right off the bat (2.5)- but I still put her in a diaper at night.. b/c it's just so much easier than cleaning up if she did wet. She goes thru phases where she takes off her diaper and throws it on the floor and I find it the next morning!

My other child would only poop during her nap (obviously I'd put a diaper on her!) and only started going on the toilet after she lost her nap (6mos later). She thought it would hurt - so that's why she didn't do it. But she's going on the toilet for everything now. She will however pee at night.

I was stressed over PT twins... but it's true what they say.... they will do it at their own pace. Good luck!

Nightime dryness is not the same as daytime dryness. They will get it when their bodies are ready. You cannot train this at this age. Put them in diapers at night until they are waking up dry every day for a week or two. Patience is the key here. You could have several years left of nighttime wetting.

I remember the none pooping stage and it was very frustrating.. just keep trying and look for the signs that one is about to happen and take him to the bathroom.and tell him he can't get off until he has done his business. As far as your daughter goes..I kept my kids in diapers at night until they started waking up dry in the morning. One thing I did do was to take them to the bathroom just as they are going to bed. Even if they said they didn't have to go it is amazing how they have to go once they get in there. And if she just sits there try running the water in the sink to generate the "need".
Hope this helps. Post Note... I read a bunch of the answers where people are saying this is normal until they are 6?? I don't believe that.. our parents had us completely potty trained at an early age because it takes patience and authority to potty train your child. We try not to hurt a child's feelings but if you a bit strict with the going before bed and we will not poop in our diaper/underwear you will have much more success than trying to wait it out. Take charge mom.. you can do it. Also if she is really soaking wet in the morning, wake her up before you head to bed and take her to the bathroom for a few days and see if that helps any. Could be she isn't emptying her bladder before heading to bed. I know that I am old fashioned when it comes to these things but both of my sons were completly potty trained by 3.

Updated

Good Luck! Boys and girls potty train differently. Hope whatever you try is sucessful

My daughter started wearing regular undies all day about a year ago ( she was a little over 2 yars old) , and we have never looked back. We went with stickers as a motivator, get 20 stickers on your paper and you get a bigger prize from a basket ( $1 store stuff) - we didn't have pooping resistance, though. However, like your daughter, this past year, she has still needed diapers at night, she has JUST been dry at night in the last 2 weeks, and that can get totally messed up if she has anything to drink after about 6:30 pm. We too had the problem with pull-ups leaking through the night, so we just used regular diapers, and although she has been dry for 2 weeks ( until last night when she was drinking water on a car ride home from 6:45-8:00) we are still having her wear diapers at night, and pull ups at naps.

I think I will give her some more time in them to make sure she is ready at night to stay dry, and we will have to be vigilant about the drinking after 6:30 pm. It never hampered her daytime potty trianing to have her in diapers while she slept or took naps, I just explained to her that when she is sleeping her body sometimes forgets to go in the potty and as she gets bigger she will be able to hold it longer and someday when she is ready and has been dry every morning for a long time, we will let her sleep in undies too.

I think the ppl saying "once you leave diapers behind, don't look back" must be trainiing 4 or 5 year olds, not 2-3 year olds - most kids our kids' age physically cannot hold it all night. It is not a big deal - just explain to the child why she has to use the potty during the day, and why she wears diapers while sleeping. Tell her as she gets bigger her body will grow out of the diapers, and she will be able to sleep in undies after she wakes up dry for a month straight or whatever time you want to decide.

GOod Luck!

Jessie

I didn't potty train twins...but did potty train 2 kids. My son was totallly potty trained at 18 months and could tell me when he had to go...woke up dry in the morning, etc. As for my daughter, that was a different story! she wasn't totally potty trained until she was a little over 3. I had always heard that boys were harder to train but I guess it was just the opposite in my case! I sometimes think these kids that aren't dry in the morning are dry when they wake up but the parent doesn't hear them right away and therefore you don't get them to the potty before they go. I used to whisk mine right out of bed the minute I heard them stir and they were dry and did use the potty! Good luck! I now have a grandson who is 14 months and this should be fun to see my daughter train him.

I have a 4 year old girl who has been trained for a year, and she wears a diaper at nap and at night and it is ALWAYS wet. She just wears the target brand diapers, and they work just fine--and we've never had leaks. (And her diapers are WET--especially in the morning!!)

I was glad to read all the responses to find out that it's normal for a child to wake up from nighttime sleep wet until they are 5 or 6...I had been wondering what age kids are ready to wake up dry!

Good luck!

I can't comment on potty training twins but can speak from experience. First off, patience (as hard as it is). He knows he should be using the potty; that's why he's going off to do it in private.

Rather than the prize bowl (didn't work for us), stickers did. Every try = little sticker. Every success (pee or poop) = big sticker.

Also, my eldest had just turned three when he officially left diapers. He too did not want to poop on the potty. I finally took him to Target's toy truck aisle, told him to look around, and select the BEST truck he could find. (I had explained all this beforehand on the way to Target in the car.) Then, I explained that once he pooped on the potty for three days in a row, we'd go back and get that truck. He pooped on the potty the next day. I think the motivation was just that he knew he'd get the toy he'd selected. The little stinker, however, told me on the way to Target that he'd changed his mind about the toy and wanted a bag of suckers instead. FYI that the smallest bag sold by Target contains 500 Dum Dums!

As for diapers vs. underwear overnight, I left mine in diapers until they were dry all night for a week. At that point, we switched to underwear. We've had one accident since (and that was a night where he slept for 13 hours). Diapers vs. pull-ups: I say just buy the night variety of whatever is cheaper.

Out of 3 grandkids, Only one of them wore pull ups at night. He was well over 3 and still wetting at night. We also tried not giving liquids after a certain time in the evening. Sometimes kids sleep really sound and it is hard to wake up in a deep sleep to go potty. Some kids have a small bladder too. Therefore it can't hold as much or as long. After a while, I think you may just find that she can make it through the night. In the meantime, I think pull ups are the answer. You can talk with her and tell her if she wakes over night to wake you and try to potty then. It WILL eventually develop to where she makes it through!! Good luck!