Ready to potty? Still Wets at night...

[MaryMarg]

My 3rd child seems ready to potty train.  She tells whenever she has pp or poopoo and immediately wants a diaper change.  She sits on her potty when we potty and has pp'd and poop'd in her potty.  But unlike my first two, her diaper is completely saturated when she wakes up in the morning.  I'm not sure whether we should wait until she is a bit dryer in the morning or try to do some sitting on the potty first thing (just for creating the habit) or...???  Ideas???  TIA!

[MamaJenese]

If I had waited until my kids were dry at night they would have been in diapers until they were five. Both my kids were totally ready to potty learn  long before they were dry at night. They are deep sleepers who just did not wake up until they were much older,  I would give the potty a shot and see how it goes.

[skycheattraffic]

I completely agree with pp. night dryness is different since many kids sleep through the sensation. I would absolutely go with the potty since she doesn't like being wet or dirty. You can encourage the potty at bedtime and first thing in the morning and that may make a difference but even if it doesn't, sleeping in a diaper doesn't mean she can't be diaper free and potty trained while awake.

[sageowl]

I have to agree with the others...night and day are two very different creatures.

Definitely work on daytime in the meantime.  Night time can take much longer.

[milk monster]

Yeah ... I don't have answers for this as our 20-m.o. DS also soaks a diaper at night, but is generally fine in undies all day, including for naps. So it *is* possible to be diapered at night and dry during the day. In any case, babies all over the world can manage potty learning before age 3--your DD is learning already, on her own!--so I'd say go for it.

Fwiw, I've noticed (during an ill-fated, EC-inspired, multi-week attempt at diaper-free nights, many months ago) that DS doesn't actually pee while he's asleep. He pees whenever he wakes up at night. We all wake up several times a night; that's when he pees--when he's half-awake, settling himself back into sleep. If he wakes up many times, diaper is much heavier in the morning. Daytime potty awareness might help her hold back from peeing at night, too (since she may well be awake when she pees).

Thinking out loud here ... since DS is dry during naps and waits after naps until he can come out and potty, maybe our DS might be ready for diaper-free nights, too. He knows that undies are not for peeing in, and that it's fine to pee in a diaper. (Thick padded training undies just confuse him, and seem to invite accidents, so we don't use them. Regular undies seem to work fine for us.) So if you decide to do daytime potty learning first--once she knows that undies are not for peeing in, taking off the night diaper might signal to her that she should hold it till morning. Hmm, something to think about for us, too ... Good luck!

[MeepyCat]

I'd absolutely potty train during the day, and worry about nighttime later.

For what it's worth, night time training my son involved getting him out of bed in the middle of each and every night for a few months, and physically putting him on the potty.  I expect to go through the same process with my daughter shortly, but we can take a breather and get through the holidays first.

[LeighPF]

I agree, nights and days are totally different. Monkey day trained just after two and now at almost four, still soaks his diaper every night.

[SunRise]

Definitely work with her during the day and treat night separately, as she progresses. She will learn muscle control / pee control during the day and eventually this will transfer to night time. My little one is currently, just this past week, successfully diaperless at night. Although I am sure accidents will happen

Some night time training ideas:  As soon as she wakes up, remove diaper and if its dry, plop her on the toilet. If she is wet when she wakes up, try waking her up an hour earlier and and get her on the toilet first thing. Limit night time drinking.

Edited by SunRise - 12/18/12 at 11:49am