How Do You Handle Overnight Pottying?

[not_telling]

DS has had access to the potty for about a year now and pretty much always does his poops in the potty.  About 4 weeks ago we started doing underpants during the day...at least until naptime.  He's in a diaper for nap and overnight.  A week ago he came to our room at 5am and said he needed to go potty.  DH took him to the bathroom (he have a gate in the bathroom doorway so that if DS comes out of his room all the doors/access points other than our bedroom are blocked off).  Last night he came in around...3am maybe?...and said he needed to go.  We're certainly not at the point where we can count on having dry nights and not wear diapers - most mornings the diaper is wet to very wet.  Just wondering if others just have their kid come wake them to go potty at night or if you have a potty in the kid's bedroom...which would be tricky cuz DS can get his diaper off himself but not back on. 

What's your overnight system?

[Caitlin0919]

I'm curious about this as well since we haven't really done any nighttime training. DD is in underwear during the day and does really well, but she sleeps all the way through the night in her diaper. I've considered waking her up any time I have to pee at night(I'm pregnant with #2) but I never remember to.

[lifeguard]

I know people who have woken them part way through the night & brought them to the bathroom. We did this with our nephew for a few years 'cause he didn't wake & would often wet the bed.

[JTA Mom]

I went the lazy route and just put a diaper on at night. Ds would wake up dry but pee as soon as he was awake. I waited a few monts to make sure this was his new 'normal' and then one day put a shower curtain, blanket and then fitted sheet on the bed. Gave him undies and talked to him about having no diaper, so can't pee in bed. It wasn't a scary talk, more matter of fact. And he's been dry since. Mind you, he's going to be 4 in a month, and this has happened maybe in the last couple months.

Night time dryness is not expected before age 5, with daytime dryness not happening until around 3 (these are averages, of course). So if he's not night time dry yet, I wouldn't sweat it yet.

Ami

[mtbmomma]

My DD, 2.5 has been in underwear and dry all night for about 2 months now.  About 3 weeks after we were consistently dry in the day, I just decided to give underwear at night a try and see how it went.  I do wake her up at about 10:30 or 11 pm and have her go pee in a little potty next to her bed, which she always does, and then she is fine until morning.  We had maybe 2 accidents the first two weeks and that was it.  She also was waking up with very wet diapers in the morning when we started this.  I have tried skipping the 11 pm wake up and she ended up wetting the bed, so I don't think she is ready for that. Now, she seems to wake up on her own at that time if I am up later and forget to go wake her.  

She doesn't really actually wake up during these times, I help her get to the potty, she pees, then I place her back in bed and she is fast asleep again.  I have read suggestions of making sure they are completely awake so they learn to go on there own, but I don't mind having to wake her when I go to bed for now.  

I would say give it a try for a week or two, and if it doesn't work out then just go back to diapers.  I keep DD's bed double made, with waterproof pad, sheet, waterproof pad, sheet.  That way if she does wet the bed I can just quickly pull off the wet sheet and pad, and she can climb back in again. If you do decide to go this route, make sure you let him know that he will be in underwear and need to get up to pee, and I highly recommend having a little potty for him to use at night if you don't want to give him access to the bathroom.  

[JudiAU]

We always honor and treat with respect all requests to go use the toilet, although occasionally there is internal eye rolling and nashing of teeth because it is annoying at 3 a.m. and a 17m old. =S Both of my kids have big bladders and don't pee in their sleep and sometimes need to go in the middle of the night. They are both young enough that it requires a parent. DS (4) has a potty in his room. DD (almost 2) still sleeps in the same room and will tell me. And yes, they rise pretty early for the day and full bladders is a big factor.

Even worse is the 2 year old's indendent streak so she won't allow you to help and you have stand there while she takes off her night time diaper and pajamas and sits down without assistance, sometimes loosing control in the process. Then she gets mad, because she can't dump a potty with no pee in it. (eye roll)

I'd assume that you have a long while to go before LO will wake up, take himself to the potty, and go back to sleep on his own and um, be proud of his success (grumble grumble).

[myfairbabies]

Our system is to have waterproof sheets on the bed, lol. DD starts out the night in her bed (which is next to ours) and if she wets, which happens about once a month, I just take her pants off and pull her into bed with me. I don't even bother putting new jammies on her or changing the sheets until morning, and she's never wet more than once a night. When she day potty trained, she started waking up with a dry diaper, and cried every night when I tried to put one on her (she hated diapers). So this has been our system for the last 6 months, and works great. She's 25 months now. We do keep a little potty next to her bed, on the rare instance that she needs to go in the night, or if she drinks a ton of water right before bed, I'll take her potty a few hours after she falls asleep.

My sister had her 3 yo dd in pull-ups and she always wet them, until they were out of town and ran out. When she told her that she had to wear underwear and to not pee in them, my niece said "I don't need a diaper at night" and was right! She just peed in them because that's what you do with diapers, lol. Ever since then, she's been in underwear with no problems.