Removing Diaper from Nightime for My 4 Year Old Son

Someone else may have already suggested this - but Leaps and Bounds sells (I think anyway, I got mine awhile ago) a protective pad that absorbs a lot and is about two feet wide (just for the "diaper" area of the bed) and you can get for a twin or full sized bed. It is soft - "cloth like" - not rubbery or plastic. I used to put it ON TOP of the sheet, and if they had an accident I could just whip that off the bed and put a new one on. I would actually recommend trying the full size version even if you have a twin bed, since I found that my twin size one was a pain to keep tucked in. Good luck!

Hi C. I have a son who is 11 now.He also wet the bed when he was younger they do sell bed pads they would go right under him saven his bed .They are great to have.There is store on 28 in east wareham across for 7 eleven that use to have them. Good luck Y. B

C. jes there is you can go to k maart or wallmart and get him some trining pants they are made of cotton and they are heavy in the middle. that is nota big propplem thats what i did with my kids ty
B.

They do sell a big, square absorbent pad that you can put down on the bed to protect the sheets. I bought mine at babies r us, in the bedding department.

My son will be 3 in May and we never used pull-ups, we went right to underwear. He had maybe a hand full of accidents at night. My husband and I would get him up before we went to bed to go to the bathroom and this worked great! We would also tell him to get us if he woke up and had to go. Now he will wake up on his own and go by himself.

You can try putting him in a pull-up - some kids feel that is more grown-up than a diaper. (If that stays dry for the week, then tell him he can sleep in just pajamas.) It's good that he wants to give it up, but all that night-time water is going to be a problem, you're right! At least if he has to get up to pee, he can pull that pull-up down like underpants and not have to deal with a diaper and tapes.

I used to put a sheet on the bed, then put an infant waterproof pad on top, and a second bedsheet on top of that. If my son had an accident, then I only had to strip the top sheet and pad, and there was a second sheet underneath. It wasn't perfect, but it kept the mattress dry and prevented a full bed-change in the middle of the night.

There are also fully waterproof mattress covers - with zippers and all. They are a pain to put on, but once they're on, your work is done. You definitely don't want a urine smell in the mattress.

Good luck.

Walmart sells matress covers that are water proof that feel like cotton - and don't make that swish sound of purely plastic matress covers.

Put a set of sheets on the bed, then the mattress pad cover, then another sheet. If your son has an accident in the middle of the night, just remove the first sheet, plastic mattress cover and the bed is still made. If you want to get 2 plastic pads and protect again, you can - or put your little one in a pull up after an accident.

Have a dry blanket handy... a pillow and case! (you never know and you don't wanna be searching around at 2am).

I read other moms suggest the plastic squares... but at 4, children have a larger bladder... and it might not be enough.

Deffinately limit water intake for an hour before bed for best results.

I would first observe his diapers in the morning to see how dry they are. So you know what you will be dealing with.

But as you said, you have to limit the drinks. I wouldn't let him drink during the night and even in the evening he should stop drinking by a certain time. And make sure the last thing he does before he gets into bed is empty his bladder.

Go to one of the bath and bedding stores, they sell all kinds of waterproof/plastic mattress covers. It is important to protect the mattress. Even if you get one of the fitted covers, Babies R Us has a wide variety of flat pads you can lay over for double protection.

Be prepared for some accidents though........ maybe wait and have him shower in the am!! Best of Luck

A waterproof mattress pad can protect the mattress from accidents; it goes directly on top of the mattress, and the sheets go on top. However, I would definitely recommend having an extra set of sheets handy for this stage, since accidents are common, especially if he is a night-time water-drinker. You could also put him in special night underwear, which is super-absorbent, to minimize potential accidents. I think Gerber makes these, and probably other companies, too.

When my daugther was wearing pull-ups to bed (but underwear all day)we let her put a sticker on the calendar each morning that she awoke dry. The calendar was in the bathroom wall near the toilet, immediacy in rewarding her was important. When she was dry for an entire month she could sleep in underwear. She's only had one accident in the year since then. You definitely need to limit the water during the night and for the two hours before bedtime. As far as protecting the bed the best you can do is get a waterproof mattress cover. Changing him and the bedding is pretty much unavoidable if he has an accident. Good luck!

Start using Huggies Pull-Ups. They are just like underwear. If he can make it for the entire month of April staying dry at night, they you can change him to real underwear! Also, insist that he go to the bathroom right before bed. Even if he says he does not have to go, make him sit (or stand) for a few minutes. I have 2 girls so I don't know protocol for 4 year old boys (sit or stand??) If he will sit, give him a book to read or just talk to him. Once he's in real underwear, see if you can get a "pee pad" to put under him and this way, if he has an accident, the urine will be contained to the pad and you willnot have to change the entire bedding! Last thing...make sure you have a waterproof mattress pad on his bed to protect the mattress!

GOOD LUCK!

T. H.
Usborne Books Consultant
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I just wanted to let you know that you can generally get a plastic protector for the bed at toys r us, target, or babies r us. My daughter is four, drinks lots of water, and is finished with her pull ups. She just hollers when she needs to use the bathroom and we get up and take her. She doesn't do that very often either. So...maybe he'd be fine if you just let him know that you want him to call you if he needs to go potty. It sounds as if he is ready to do that. Good luck!

My son is almost 4 and has gone one week without diapers at night and surprisingly with just one "accident". He can choose training pants or underwear and always chooses underwear. The night he had an accident he had lots of milk close to bed time so I imagine the night time drinking will be a real issue. To keep the bed dry I think we have a pretty good system. His mattress has a waterproof cover under his sheet. Then, on top of his sheet I have another smaller cover that he sleeps directly on top of. At first he didn't like sleeping on it but when I explained that it was just a tool while he was learning he accepted it fine. I don't use his regular blankets but smaller ones that are easier to wash if wet. I also set out a clean set of pajamas for fast, middle of night changes. Obviously, he goes to the bathroom right before bed and if he wakes up during the night. We set a flash light by his bed so he can get to the bathroom at night but also tell him that while he is learning he can wake us up so we can help him. So far that's it. I think it helped that he said he was ready and wanted to try. Really, I think that was the most important element. Hope that helps!

My daughter is 5 and when she was about 3 1/2 we stopped having accidents during the day, but still had to have pull ups at night. But most nights, she would wet through the pull ups. I bought a water proof mattress protector that fits like a fitted sheet. I still have it on her bed because we still have random accidents, but it protects the mattress. Still washing the sheets, sigh, but scrubbing the mattress was a big pain! It wasn't expensive and is machine washable.

There are waterproof mattress pads you can get. That is what we use. I phased night diapers out slowly - we had lots of pull-ups, then as I noticed they were often dry I gave my son the choice about whether he wanted to wear one or not. Sometimes he did, sometimes not. There have been occasional accidents, but not frequent enough to be really annoying - I'd say once or twice a month tops. Good luck!

Stores do sell plastic bed covers. Try Khols, Babys 'R Us, Target or Walmart even. One of them should sell them. Have you tried pullups at night instead of diapers? Pull ups seem to keep wet in the diaper alarming the child he peed himself. I would suggest that before putting him into regular underwear first. If he can continue not to wet himself then try underwear. Good luck!

When you said he was "ready" I thought you meant that he was dry at night.

You can buy a cloth soaker pad that goes over the fitted sheet in a variety of sizes from medical supply stores so that you wont have to change the entire bed. They also make cloth training pants for bedtime that allow the child to feel wet unlike a diaper.

You'd asked if they sell something that you could use so you don't have to change the whole bed. I believe that they do, I think I've seen it in the one step ahead catalog/website. You just put it over the sheets I believe.(that, of course, wouldn't solve the coversheet getting wet problem, but it would protect the mattress or you could wait until summer when he may not have a top sheet anyway.) I have a girl whose 6 now but when she was 3, we started putting her in pullups at night. She was proud to see that she hadn't wet during the night (you know how they turn colors...) anyway maybe that would work. Then the first week she was in underpants, she did wet the bed, but only like 2 nights... It really bothered her that she'd done that, then she just stopped.

Also- in addition to a full waterproof mattress pad-
you can buy the 1/2 bed size mat like they give you in the hospital when after you've had the baby.
I believe I found one of these at walmart- maybe called a wet pad- it's large- made for older children- bigger than the little baby pads.
All kids and bodies develop differently- and he may just take longer to be able to have control at night- but- the limiting fluids at night is most important- actually 2hrs. before bed is what I've always read and been told- but most definitely over an hour and he will adjust and learn to drink more in the morning and day to get in his fluids. If he seems to be excessively thirsty- be sure to have him tested etc. -if any diabetes or other conditions run in the family especially-
but likely -it's just he needs to break the habit of drinking late- he is too busy playing during day and then is getting his fluids in too much at night.
I would put on the thick training pants underwear- and maybe 2pr if it's not too uncomfortable- and if he wants special-cute undies- put one pair on top of the other.
Also- maybe he'll accept the pullup-big boy pants-over a pr. of underwear or under- if he at least has the undies on.
If it really gets to still be a problem- try explaining to him that it's okay to still have the "big boy"training pants-(transition from a diaper at least)- because he can't control what he does when he's sleeping- tell him his body is not ready for regular underwear alone even if he's ready-
lots of kids' bladders still have no control up to 8yrs. old even- especially if they grow very quickly.
Hope all goes well!

I have twin girls, so that boy/girl thing may be different. But our pediatrician told me that when they were truly toilet trained during the day, they'd be trained at night, too. He was right. One of my daughters wet her bed once after we took off the night time diaper, and that was it. However, I have a friend whose son, who is almost 9, will occasionally wet his bed at night, and he's had difficulty with night-time bed wetting from the start. I hear that boys are "slower" in this dept. than girls, so I don't know if it's worth a try for you or not

Hi.

My son just turned 4 and am currently going through removing nighttime pull ups. My advice...no underwear at night. I have him in very loose clothing so that he doesn't feel like the pull up is on. My husband & I also wake him up before we go to bed to urinate. Works well.

Also, I think you should stop the drinks 1.5 hrs before bedtime.

Urinated sheets are much better than buying pull ups, in my opinion!

Good luck!

There is a plastic/rubber mattress cover that will protect the mattress. If he has an accident you just wipe it down. I used it when my son was younger for accidents and worked perfectly.

I would suggest not letting him have anything to drink after dinner, at least until he gets himself up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. My sister has is set up so that if her son has an accident, he has a pillow and a blanket to take to sleep on the floor or on the couch or the living room, so he doesn't wake her up.

Has your son stayed dry in his diaper through the night for a while now? I would just switch unless you know for sure he can wake in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom if he has to. This will save you alot of wet sheets and frusteration. They do sell mattress protectors for cribs that arent fitted that can go under your son. You could put that on top of his sheets and have him sleep on that for a while in case there is any accidents. After that you can place it under the sheets for reasurance.
Again, if he stays dry and wakes up on his own to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, making the switch should be pretty easy. If he does not, you might have to wait it out and use either good nights or diapers. I had to keep a diaper on my middle daughter until she was almsot 5 because she just couldnt get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Then one day she got up and has been getting up ever since.

I was told of a large pad that wraps part of the bed over the fitted sheet.
It tucks under the mattress on each side. I was told to get two so I have one if it gets wet. We are just starting potty training so I am not there yet but my son is often wet from diapers and now that he is in the big bed - I am going to get them. I am tired of changing sheets (I know we need to monitor his drinking but he has always been a big milk drinker and a heavy wetter at night so I was prepared for it all)

We use the waterproof mattress pas under the fitted sheet - always but I love the idea of the pad and want to pick some up.
I know One Step Ahead carries one in their catalog (as well as they should on line)
I was told Bernie and Phyl's but I was going to check wal-mart, target and bedding stores first.

HI C. my daughter got plastic sheeting from mother care also you can get night pants that are waterproof

there is waterproof mattress pad.... it might be long but you can buy water proof crib matresss pad and put it on middle of his bed and sheet over it. so u only just need change sheet and replace the waterproof pad to dry 1 too.. (have 2 or 3 of crib size waterproof mattress pad is good idea?)

well, double sheet his bed and have another pr of jammies handy just in case, but you don't really have much of a choice if he does pee the bed.. keep plastic on the mattress too.. but if he's dry for a few weeks at night, then he'll probably do fine.. my son was overnight trained pretty quickly once he decided he wanted to be. he's had one accident in almost a year.. good luck

Thankfully I am out of the diapers for 3 years so I cannot give you product names but there are definately products out there to protect the mattress. Check your catalogs, ? Wal-mart. We transitioned my daughters when they kept waking up dry. My son was harder and older, but we found that if we watched the fluid intake in the evening it helped a lot. The other thing we did was to get them up and toilet them again, when we went to bed.

I strongly recommend plastic (completely enclosing) mattress covers. We use them on all mattresses and pillows because of allergies to dust mites. If you don't like sleeping on plastic you can add a cushioned, washable mattress pad. You can even get them at wal-mart.

Regardless, you will be doing laundry but it will pass.

I love the mattress covers because I found that occasional accidents happened up to 2 years later. Sometimes the kids were so tired, they slept through it.

Good Luck

Hi,

My daughter's bed has a plastic cover to protect the mattress. I also have a plastic/cloth piece that I put over her sheets...available at Walmart. We use pull ups but when we don't we use the plastic/cloth piece. Generally only once a night she needs to "go" and if she goes on the plastic/cloth piece I can remove it and then use the sheets safetly for the rest of the night. I think once her "pull up's" are dry for a week they are ready.
Best of luck.....

They do make rubber pad and pull-ups