'dream wee' attempts prompt blue murder! help!

[nappyrat]

DC (3.5) goes to bed 7, sleeps 12 hrs. Trying to get potty trained at night. So at 22.30 when I go bed I try & lift gently into potty next to bed for the 'dream wee'. What a bloody con! A dream wee is not - it seems - possible! Cue 20mins of screaming...seemingly just because woken up!

Help! He can't last all night so I have to get him weeing in the night somehow...

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

Dream weeing actually has the opposite effect and teaches them to wee while half asleep.

try a bed wetting moisture alarm.

[CwtchMeQuick]

Honestly, if he can't go all night and he isn't waking when he needs to wee I'd just leave him in pull ups. He's only 3.5, plenty of time to get dry at night on his own terms.

[Thingywhatsit]

I think potty training at night is a bit pointless to be honest. They are ready when they are ready, and I believe it's all to do with hormone that you need to produce to wake you up when your bladder is full???! Until your boy starts producing it, it's gonna be a bit of non starter I think....

No point upsetting him is there? Can't he just be in pull ups for a bit longer?

[Wolfiefan]

I agree with thingy. It's all about hormone production. If he isn't drinking loads before bed there's not much else you can do. Some kids take much longer than others.

[NannyR]

Sounds like he's not quite ready. Night dryness isn't something you can "train" a child for, it depends on the child's body starting to produce a certain hormone, if they are not making the hormone they cannot go the whole night without weeing.

Lifting, when the child is asleep can be counterproductive in the majority of cases, like the previous poster said, it reinforces that weeing when you are half asleep is ok. If you want to do lifting, make sure the child is properly awake before you take them to the loo.

However, I would say that a child who is considered to be dry at night would be capable of recognising that they need a wee, waking up and getting themselves to the loo (or a potty in the bedroom) by themselves.

[Igottastartthinkingbee]

I agree with pp, I don't think you can train them to be dry at night. Leave him in pull ups. Try leaving them off when the pull ups are consistently dry in the morning.

[NotVeryWhite]

Dream wee is a bad idea imho. Would you want someone to wake you or worse, wake half naked in the toilet? I wouldn't!

Also the bladder is a strange animal. If you 'train' it to wee at 11pm then expect that to be a need routinely, if you do it long enough. Better to use pull-ups until they're dry long enough to go without. Or if it's not that often, buy some decent kylie sheets so you don't have to change the whole mattress cover in the middle of the night.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Dream weeing isn't advised any more for the reason given above.

Pull ups until he's ready himself.

[nappyrat]

Oooopd! Sounds like I've been doing it all wrong! Thank you. Dream wees now off the agenda. Thanks Girls