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Can potty training interfere with sleep or just ANOTHER regression?!

6 replies

InsaneDame · 14/06/2016 20:41

After nearly 2 years of awful sleep my ds2 finally started sleeping through at 22mo but after 3 months of wonderful sleep it's all gone wrong again. First it was the warmer nights unsettling him - he was up twice a night for a drink. A good night would be once, a bad night 3 times. I started potty training a couple of days ago - not going amazingly but the worst thing is he was up 4 times last night and in between times he was shouting out in his sleep. Is this a developmental thing? Should I try to 'do' something? When he wakes it's normally for a quick drink or tuck in then back off to sleep. He is still in a cot, self settles at bedtime, sleeps 8.30/9pm until 7.15ish (I often have to wake him) and has a nap 12.45pm until 2pm. He was so tired today after the disturbed night, I struggled to keep him awake on the school run.

He is 26mo by the way.

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FATEdestiny · 14/06/2016 21:35

I'm assuming he's still in nappies at night?

Sounds like those wakes are actually just for reassurance from you rather than whatever excuse he is giving you.

The only reason he should need a drink overnight is if he is dehydrated. A child drinking only just-enough water through the daytime may well get thirsty through the night. A well hydrated child who is drinking plenty of fluids in the daytime should not be so thirsty that they are waking in the night time.

So I would ban any requests in the night. Just go in, repeat the same sentence "its time to go to sleep. nan night" (or whatever) and leave with minimal fuss or interaction. Its about teaching him that while you will always come to him when he wakes, he will get no attention from you until morning. Hopefully then he'll stop bothering to shout you.

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InsaneDame · 14/06/2016 21:43

Yes, still in nappies at night - may as well be in the day really, save me wiping up wee constantly! I don't even talk to him when I go in - he will say' tuck in', so I tuck in and walk out. Thinking about it, he hasn't actually asked for a drink in the night since it was warm last week - last night it was 'tuck in' or 'I need my Bobo bear', which he had lost in bed. I guess I just carry on with the minimal interaction and hope it passes soon.

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BayLeaves · 15/06/2016 20:54

OP we are in exactly the same situation.

I get what FATEdestiny is saying however I can't bring myself to stop giving water at night. We live in a new build house which is very dry and sometimes I'll wake up at 2am myself and have a few sips of water, so I feel like I can't deny it to DS. At least 70% of the time he is probably just wanting attention/reassurance rather than genuinely thirsty but sometimes he'll drink half a sippy cup of water!

"Tuck in!" is a new one my DS has started recently too, and "Mummy, dark!" even though he's never been bothered by the dark until now and we've given him a nightlight recently. This evening I was putting him to bed and I explained that I don't want to be coming in to see him at night and that he should just cuddle his bunny instead of crying for mummy and daddy. He said "Sad dreams!"

I really think it must be a developmental thing as I have noticed a massive change in him over the last month. Saying longer phrases/sentences, being a lot more stubborn about doing things by himself, and throwing tantrums in the daytime, about the slightest thing that inconveniences him... which he never did before. So it must be linked somehow.

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BayLeaves · 15/06/2016 20:57

We are also potty training and it's just occurred to me maybe this could be another factor in the night wakings - perhaps they have started to notice the sensation of weeing in the night time and it wakes them up? But once they're awake, they don't know why they're suddenly awake, so need reassurance?

It's all speculation of course... I have no idea how those silly little brains work!

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Cliffdiver · 15/06/2016 21:37

Yes, bay is correct.

They become more aware of weeing/needing a wee, which causes them to wake at night.

DD2 is 2.3 and potty training and we've had a couple of instances of her waking up crying saying 'weewee in nappy'.

It does pass, usually when they move towards being dry at night.

It was very quick for DD1, but she was not fully potty trained until fairly late - 2.9 - but was dry at night within a couple of weeks.

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InsaneDame · 16/06/2016 12:27

I gave him a break from the training yesterday as I just don't feel that he is getting it - how long should it take generally? He only woke once last night at 2am and said 'smelly poo in nappy, change it'. There wasn't actually anything in his nappy other than wee so I expect he did a wee and thought it was a poo in his sleepy confusion! Bless them, it must be so weird for them to learn all these new things. I told him last night at bedtime that drink was going to sleep and he couldn't have anymore until morning, which he accepted and didn't ask for again.