When do kids stop waking you up at night?

[User8888888]

Currently having a bit of a culture shock as we’ve just taking the bars of my 3 year old’s bed and started nighttime training. We’ve gone from her sleeping solidly for 12 hours to waking us up for a wee/other faffing and wandering into our room like something from the living dead in the early hours.

This may sound naive but what age do children take themselves off to the loo at night? Have I got months or years of this to come?

My oldest is 6.5 and he has only in the last year or so stopped waking me regularly at night - not for a wee though, I think that was much younger... maybe 4?

It’s a rare night that I’m not up with my 3 year old for some reason or another, last night he needed a wee and then his quilt fell off. Count yourself lucky you’ve had the 12 hours uninterrupted at some point, and hope it will come back... none of mine have ever done 12 hours 😢

It’s a choice. They stop waking you up when you set ground rules and tell them not to. Most children shouldn’t need the lavatory overnight.

A three year olds who has just moved into a bed will need a week to settle, particularly if they are only recently dry at night.

Mine don't really wake up in the night to go to the toilet now. They're 4 and 6. They do still shout for us usually if they are up in the night.

DS1 was still in nappies at night until he was 4. When DS2 stopped using nappies at night at 3 we put the potty in his room at night for him to use.

Should also say, both DS were in a big boy bed for ages before we did toilet training. Both moved into a proper bed at 2. And we kept the stair gate on the bedroom door until DS2 was 3.

When they leave home...

My 16 and 18 year old DCs regularly wake me when they're coming in at night

When they are teens they wake you up b/c they "feel sad" or you dared to clean their room & they can't find the 6month old magazine or they suddenly remembered the sports event tomorrow which they never told you about but they have no clean kit & they know they're banned from using the washing machine after they tried to wash each item they own one at a time in 3 cups of detergent (which they still insist was right way to do it)...

You never tell a teen you're not available to listen & help, but sigh...

My youngest is twenty soon, he still wanders into my room during the night, I may leave home before he does

At 8 I realised I was slept though most nights the previous year, except for illness or bad dream. So about 7?
Am mine were classed as 'good' sleepers......

DD2(17) came into my room "for a chat" at 1am the other night & DD1(19) called me at 4am this morning for a lift home after a night out.

These are both fairly regular occurrences. Although they were great sleepers & both slept through the night from 8 weeks as babies & we didn't have the sleep regression I read about on here this may be it now

At 6weeks but when they got 16 years they then had to come in and wake me up to tell me they were home, but would then sit on the bed chattering even though my head was on the pillow and my eyes were shut ! Ifi spoke to them during daylight hours i was lucky to get a grunt

My 18 year old woke me up at 4am this morning coming in.

Generally, by 3.5,but then would have episodes for say a month each year when there would be waking/wandering downstairs after being put to bed, coming in as I'm dozing off, all related to various worries. Some needed action like sorting out school bullying, others just growing up and realising parents might die sometime. Generally sorted with a few weeks but I swear I find the odd broken night tougher than when I expected it.

About 4ish both my girls slept through without waking (excl sickness etc). So you get about 10 years of no interrupted sleep before the teenage years..

DD2 (20) recently rang me up at 4am because she didn't have enough money to pay rent that morning.

Also had chats at 11am/midnight due to relationship problems or for DD2 health issues.

The odd midnight emotional breakdown esp during GCSEs / A levels / Uni exams

There is a brief hiatus when they are teenagers and sleep well. Then they get to going out age and you can't sleep properly until they are safely home (by 2am if you're lucky). You'll also get occasional vomiting due to alcohol, emotional outbursts when they roll in drunk and have fallen out with a friend/boyfriend, lots of clanking around in the kitchen when they make post night out snacks, and occasional phone calls when they can't get a taxi. Really, you won't sleep well until they move out (but may still worry about them getting home safely even when they live in their own place) sorry.

Oh god I didn’t even think about teenager years-eek! I can’t really complain as she slept though from 6 weeks but no one ever prepared me for the fact it can get worse and then last for years. Why is there so much focus on just the first year if disturbed sleep basically lasts for years and years?