Toddler who wets during day but dry at night/naps ???

[HomeOnTheRanch]

What's up with this??

 

I started training my 2yo (28.5 months) a week ago Monday. Prior to that he had shown interest and would sit and pee on his potty occasionally. Last Monday I blockaded the two of us in the kitchen and 1/2 bath area and did the training with the doll that wets based on the Toilet Training in Less Than a Day method. I checked that book out of the library for my 1st, laughed, used it, was amazed it worked, and bought it to use with the 2nd. Somewhere along the line I've lost (permanently loaned?) the book, but I've used the method for all of the others.

 

We stayed in the kitchen 3 mornings straight (nap after lunch). He will go to his potty chair or the toilet (he can use both fine) ONLY when I tell him to. He won't choose to go to keep his undies dry. I'll ask him if he's wet/dry and he always answers dry. I'll tell him to feel. At that point, if he's wet, he'll go to the toilet and change, go pee more, etc.

 

The bewildering part is he stays completely dry during his afternoon nap (since we've started training--1 1/2-2 1/2 hrs) and at night (the last 4 in a row--10 hours). He refuses to have diapers put on him now. I use undies with plastic pants (both easily removable by him) during the day and pull-ups at night for extra absorbency if needed (as I've said, they've been dry the last 4 nights). The only times he has ever indicated to me that he needs to go pee without me asking is during church (HA! 3x!) and after he's been tucked in bed. Those times he didn't do much and wanted to play with the toilet paper, etc. OK. I've been a mom for many years. I know that those times it was more "fun" to go to the toilet. With a newborn and homeschooling 4 others, I can't make life "un-fun" for him forever, can I?

 

Any thoughts? I've never experienced this before. I've tried food bribery, etc., but nothing seems to work!

 

:confused:

[Sherry in OH]

:grouphug:

 

My 35 month old is dry all night. He will sit on the potty first thing in the morning. After that he wears diapers.

 

I tried to train him at 2.5 years. After 4 days I gave up and put him back in diapers. He would sit on the potty if I told him to, he noticed if his underpants were wet, he just didn't care. Playing was much more interesting.

 

I keep telling him that when he is three, he will have to use the potty and that mommy will not buy diapers for a three year old.

[wapiti]

I would forget the potty training for another 6 months or so. 28.5 months is still young. At this point, I don't even bother trying until they're around 3.

[HomeOnTheRanch]

Hi, thanks for your replies. I thought I would throw in an update. I just kept on with it. I constantly asked him if he needed to go and put him on the toilet after meals.

 

Yesterday (3 weeks after starting) he FINALLY started telling me (sign language...he speaks very few words) that he needed to go. He has stayed clean and dry for several days, but I am very relieved that yesterday and today it is because he has told us rather than us asking him. The next step is getting him to actually go on his own instead of insisting that someone accompany him, but hey, I'll take it!

[ocelotmom]

Staying dry through the night is largely a separate issue from daytime training - it involves the maturation of certain hormonal systems, as well as being able to sense that the bladder is full (which is influenced by how sound of a sleeper the child is, as well as daytime training) and the ability and desire to deal with it appropriately.

 

But the hormonal aspect is a big thing. A child producing adequate Anti-Diuretic Hormone (a hormone produced at night the makes the kidneys produce less urine) doesn't have to deal with the full bladder aspect, so they'll stay dry through the night much earlier. My oldest stayed dry through the night most nights from 4 months old. My middle one didn't until about 3 years, and after she was pretty good at the potty during the day.