Help me potty learn my lo at night!

[kdescalzi]

Oh wise mamas, what should I do? Dd is 3.5 yrs old and currently uses nighttime pull ups. She pees a lot at night! Now she is getting uncomfortable with the wet pull up in the middle of the night and does not want a new one on! But she ends up peeing on me! For the past two weeks her pull ups have been leaking as well so it's either her waking because her pull up leaked or because she is uncomfortable being wet.

What is my next step? I would love to do away with the pull ups! Please tell me how you potty learned your little ones at night tia

[Peony]

Being dry at night is entirely different then being potty trained at night. The vast majority of the time, it isn't something they can control or learn. Their body has to mature. The body actually produces a hormone to decrease urine production at night, that is what allows most of us not to get up during the night. The production could start at age 1 or age 6. Night wetting in older children is still common. It is not unusual for a child to be day trained at say age 2 and then still in diapers at night at age 4. 

Some people swear by the cutting off liquids at dinner time, no drinks before bed, waking them up to go pee. Those things can help, some children. The cutting off of liquids is something that most experts or research doesn't show that really works, the hormone production plays a larger role. Other children are true night wetters, what I mean is that they are just not peeing once a night where waking them up at 11pm is going to help them stay dry at night, these other kids are peeing multiple times a night. Their bodies are not mature enough yet. I do have one of these. She is 6 and has been wearing Good Nights since she was barely 3 years old because she pees SOO much at night, regular diapers or pull-ups will not contain that volume of liquid. We've consulted with various docs (she has several specialists for health conditions) and the theory has always been that due to how much she pees at night, even trying a bed alarm (which are meant for age 6 and up, not for younger children), is not going to be successful. We have to wait until she isn't peeing so many times at night. 

Pull ups, even the night time ones don't contain a lot of liquid. Other options could be regular diapers or the night wetting diapers for older children which are Good Nights or UnderJams which are meant for big kids so they hold a lot. 

[sageowl]

I agree with Peony:  it totally depends on the kid.  It's not at all unusual for some kids (without medical conditions) to continue to have trouble with bed-wetting until they're around 5 or 6 years old.  Since you're basically unconscious when you're asleep at night, there's not much you can do about it, really, except have the child wear some kind of diaper, or you can plan on changing clothes/sheets regularly t (until you notice it isn't happening any more). 

[bdoody11]

Unless there is a pressing need, I wouldn't push it. My DD was day learned by 2.5 years and wore a pull up until her 4th birthday. After that she refused to wear a pull up. However, we went through a year on her waking up at least once a night to pee (which meant I had to wake up once a night too) and often peeing in her pjs (not usually soaking the sheets). I actually would have preferred her in a pull up until 5 when she was able to start sleeping and holding it through the night! 

[kdescalzi]

Thank you for the great replies! I felt like there was no way she was ready to actually wake up with the urge to pee. I think she is too young to realize she needs to pee. I took the pp advice and bought Good Nights. Hopefully they don't leak tonight! Wish me luck!