To expect 3.5 yr old to use potty alone at night...

[Cato9lives]

3.5 yr old dd has been potty trained for past 7 months. Recently went dry at night around 6 weeks ago. She has always been a good sleeper and nearly always slept through 8pm til 7am, (we have been very lucky, I know!) Over past month she has started waking up around 3/4am every night saying she needs a wee or a drink. She has a drink right next to her bed and a potty in her room with a night light. She is capable of doing these things by herself but she always calls me into her room to witness her doing them! If I don't go she gets upset which makes the situation worse. Obviously I want her to stop waking me up in the night. I've bought her a gro clock and tried to bribe her with the promise of special ice cream if she doesn't wake me up, but nothing seems to be working. I'm worried about this turning into a habit that we can't break. Has anyone had similar? Help please! 😢

Im going to brag my son was dry all day and all night from the age of 3 he would sleep all night wake at 6.30ish and pop to the loo never had a wet night since 3 years old.
Bragging over.
However my youngest was almost 8yo before we got dry nights.
But did have the odd accident at 10.
It just takes time for them.

My nearly 4 year old uses the toilet on her own at night and has been for a few months. But she is still little, I think you need to ride this one out. She will get there soon enough.

She is very young. She might be frightened in the night. She will be drowsy if she has just woken. I would definitely expect a child that young to wake a parent if she wanted a wee or a drink in the night.

Ignoring her age and ability to use a potty. Think about the message you are conveying to her. You are telling her, that her needs don't matter. From a developmental/psychological point of view it's very mixed message for her to understand. Sometimes you are available but other times you aren't. How does she square that circle, how does she know when you are there for her and when you aren't. If say she was sick during the night, you'd absolutely want to be woken up.

Don't stress :) disturbed sleeps may occur for many more years 🤣 mine is 5 and still walks past the bathroom into my room to give me a nudge and say 'I need a wee'. Hears me say 'go for a wee then' and potters back out of the room to the toilet (alone). I have said he can just go... but this appears to be an important part of the wee process 😂

She's just too little op. She still needs you.

She doesn't really need a wee or a drink.

She needs you.

If all possible wee or drink related needs were dealt with it would be monsters under the bed or worries about something random.

What she needs is her mum reassuring her and making the small hours in the night feel less alone.

3.5 is nowhere near old enough to resettle for more sleep without a grownup. Once she's awake she needs you.

The way back to full nights of sleep is helping her to tell her half-awake and slowly waking-up brain that it's not wakey time yet without the groclock - by the time her eyes are open enough to look at a gro-clock she is awake. It's totally normal to go through sleep cycles of deeper and lighter sleep during the night. Generally people without insomnia issues come half-way up to lighter sleep and sink back down into deeper sleep without being aware of it. That's a brain process still developing in your little one. She'll be ok. She just needs to know so deep down that she's safe and snug and doesn't need to wake up yet, that she knows it even before waking up.

Never mind 3. Sometimes I want to nudge my husband awake if I wake up during the night, just to tell him of my plan to wee and get some water 😂.

I don’t, though…

I’m not sure mine would go to the toilet on his own in the middle of the night now actually, and he’s 7 (fortunately never arises).

She’s 3, you are being a bit mean here OP.