nighttime potty training

[HappyLady]

My DD is 5.5 and still not nighttime potty trained. She's been daytime potty trained for quite some time, but she did give me a hard time with it so I've talked to her pediatrician several times on this subject. The doctor said the nighttime potty training will just happen naturally, but if she isn't staying dry through the night by summer we could try the alarm that sounds when she starts to "go" in her sleep.

 

Right now my DD wakes up dry about 3 - 4 times a week. She wears pull-ups to bed and we always make sure she goes to the bathroom before she goes to bed. My DH was a bed wetter until (he remembers) about 9 years old. I'm worried that since my DD isn't staying dry through the night that maybe she's going to take after my DH.

 

Anyone have a similar situation and if so, how did you handle it? Has anyone tried the alarm and had success? Any other advice?

[bettyandbob]

Does it really matter in the long run if she takes after your dh? The worst thing about the situation is she won't be going on sleep overs or to overnight camp.

 

Put a zipping plastic cover around the mattress and use elastic fitted mattress pads that you take off and wash with the sheets. When you travel bring an airbed and pump, plastics sheets and regular bedding for her to use. There's usually enough space on a motel room floor to do this. If you don't go the air mattress route, bring the plastic sheets (queen size for hotels) and strip the bed, remake it with your plastic she before she uses the bed.

 

Wash her sheets and involve her in learning how to strip the bed, get things to the laundry room and make the bed again. Do it in a matter of fact way. NOT PUNISHING. She just needs to learn that when the bed is wet this is what she needs to do, just like when dinner is done she needs to clear her dishes.

 

I think 5.5 is too young to worry about this. Your dh grew out of it. The worst issue that comes out of bedwetting is the shaming bedwetters get from others. That is something you can control. You can't control your dd's physical growth.

[HappyLady]

Does it really matter in the long run if she takes after your dh? The worst thing about the situation is she won't be going on sleep overs or to overnight camp.

 

Put a zipping plastic cover around the mattress and use elastic fitted mattress pads that you take off and wash with the sheets. When you travel bring an airbed and pump, plastics sheets and regular bedding for her to use. There's usually enough space on a motel room floor to do this. If you don't go the air mattress route, bring the plastic sheets (queen size for hotels) and strip the bed, remake it with your plastic she before she uses the bed.

 

Wash her sheets and involve her in learning how to strip the bed, get things to the laundry room and make the bed again. Do it in a matter of fact way. NOT PUNISHING. She just needs to learn that when the bed is wet this is what she needs to do, just like when dinner is done she needs to clear her dishes.

 

I think 5.5 is too young to worry about this. Your dh grew out of it. The worst issue that comes out of bedwetting is the shaming bedwetters get from others. That is something you can control. You can't control your dd's physical growth.

 

 

Thanks for the tips! And no, it doesn't matter, but I'm wondering if I should even bother trying to "train" her or to let it happen naturally. When talking with my friends, their children either stayed dry during the night right after being daytime potty trained or they woke them up every few hours to take them to the bathroom and after about a week they were trained. Seeing as this is my first experience with this, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to deal with it all. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing by not doing anything at all, you know?

[umsami]

DS1 had nighttime enuresis up until this year (9 years old). Wet the bed every single night. Alarms didn't work at all. Taught him to strip the bed, and give himself a shower in the a.m. if necessary.

 

Turns out he also had chronic constipation which was playing a part. Nobody knew.

 

Once that was fixed, his night time wetting went away about 2 months later. Now, he has an accident maybe once/month.

[bettyandbob]

 

 

Thanks for the tips! And no, it doesn't matter, but I'm wondering if I should even bother trying to "train" her or to let it happen naturally. When talking with my friends, their children either stayed dry during the night right after being daytime potty trained or they woke them up every few hours to take them to the bathroom and after about a week they were trained. Seeing as this is my first experience with this, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to deal with it all. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing by not doing anything at all, you know?

 

Everything you do with your oldest is hard, because it's the first time you deal with the problem whatever it is. And even you can't always take the same approach with other kids you have because of differences in the dc themselves dealing with parenting is easier because you have more confidence (or at least I had more confidence with my younger dc).

 

Changing, washing sheets is a pain. On of my dc grew out of bedwetting at 11 or 12. My younger ds has disabilities and he's starting to stay dry at almost 12, but I expect with his disabilities he won't fully grow out of it for a while--plus he's been diagnosed with sleep apnea. I can already see improvement in his bedwetting since he had his tonsils and adenoids out. Not breathing disrupts sleep and a poor sleep pattern can lead to bedwetting--at least that's how it is for my younger ds.

 

I think bedwetting is considered normal until around 7. After that when I might start looking for causes. Sometimes bedwetting is related to allergies. We removed all mild allergens from my oldest dc's diet. and that helped a little. He was wetting daily. Alarms did not work. Getting him up did not work. When he was 10 I took him to a chiropractor and as long as he stayed in alignment wetting went down to once a week or every other week. If he wet 3 times in a week he went back to the chiropractor and then the pattern would go back to once a week or less. And then it slowed down further and stopped. He went to overnight camp. He hasn't had a problem since. He's in college now. He has traveled without me many times having to share space with other people in hotels, tents, dorms.

 

The only thing I did not do was the drugs. A boy near me died from the drug for bedwetting. It was a pharmacy mistake which resulted in an overdose. But I just thought that is not worth it--my kid can wet the bed rather than take a drug that might accidentally kill him. There are other times when he must take the risk and take a prescribed drug, but I'd rather wait out the bedwetting than put that risk on my dc.

[AK_Mom4]

It never hurts to rule out a UTI, but I agree with the others - staying dry at night isn't anything the kid can control. We went thru it with youngest DD due to a medical condition, so that's why I mention the UTI test - UTIs can be stealthy and not cause pain. But with a family history, you probably just have to wait until she gets bigger.

 

Here is my time-tested recipe for the perfect bed coverings: zippered plastic mattress cover (maybe two if they are the cheap kind) so you protect the mattress. Then, three layers sheets and waterproof pads - waterproof pad, fitted sheet, waterproof pad, fitted sheet, waterproof pad, fitted sheet. We used the kind of waterproof pads that lay flat on the bed and the fitted sheet holds the pad in place, but you can also use the kind with elastic corners.

 

This way, you just strip off the top sheet and waterproof pad that are wet and toss those in the wash. Every third day (when we would get to the bottom layer, I would wipe down the plastic mattress cover, wash the top blankets in case they had come in contact with the wet sheets, and remake the bed with all the layers. Much easier than remaking the full bed every day and even a little kid can strip the single wet sheet and pad off the bed in the morning.

[NicAnn]

This is very common. Many kids can't stay dry at night until the are much older.

My dd wears a pull up at night, just in case. I do wake her up at midnight to take her and if I do that she stays dry.

[magnificent_baby]

My almost 6 year old *just* became night trained within the last few months. We waited until he woke up with a dry pull up about 75% of the time. Then we abrubtly quit using them. We always made sure to praise him when he was dry, and not ever act upset if he was wet. I also try not to let him drink very much right before bed. There are still a few accidents here and there, but those are decreasing greatly.

 

I would highly recommend a waterproof cover under the fitted sheet.

[HeartatHome]

Do you notice around the time she tends to go? If so, you could possibly wake her about 20 - 30 minutes before that? If not, I'd try waking her between the 11 - 12:00am time frame every night. If she goes to sleep around 8:00pm then wake her up at around 11:00pm. If she goes to sleep closer to 9:00pm then wake her up closer to midnight. Basically around 3 hours after she goes to sleep. If you notice she's already gone just push the time earlier. That's usually enough time for the bladder to fill up and if she she goes when you wake her plus no added liquid it may hold her off again until she wakes up. If you go to sleep around that time yourself you could just make it part of your routine to wake her before you go to bed for a couple of weeks. I know it's a pain but it might help in training her and then you'd be done except for the occasional accident. I know all children are different and not the same things work for all kiddo's but you could give it a try. (I've seen this work very well)

Some kids just take longer and will eventually grow out of it.

[craftyerin]

My almost 5yo daughter still floods a pull-up every night. Her older brother has been dry at night since he was 3 or so. Her twin brother has been dry at night since he turned 4. I'm not remotely concerned. Both my DH and I were late to night train, frequently bedwetting into lower elementary school. I figure she can wear a pull up for several more years before I start to try to work on it with her.