Getting out of bed

[mrstgrlvr]

Hi. A couple of weeks ago we converted my DDs cotbed to a bed. Main reason being she's potty trained but couldn't get to the potty during the night, causing either distress or a wet bed. All went well at first but now she's faffing about getting up and down all the time - mainly to the potty, 3 or 4 times in a row even though she's used the potty before bedtime. Naptimes are the worst. She was shattered but banging the wall with her feet, jumping up and down on her bed. I left her to hopefully settle down then came back to find she'd stripped herself, her bed, and her room a mess.

I try returning her to bed, it's not working. I've tried ignoring her and leaving her to settle which eventually works at night time after a good hour but she's up early for nursery (we both work full-time) on week days and not getting enough sleep. I've tried shouting at her and punishing her but nothing is working.

When she goes to the potty she's managing to get out tiny dribbles etc so she shouts us to clean the potty, take her to wash her hands etc and we have to respond. It's driving me nuts! Anyone else managed to solve this problem?

How old is she? Does she still need a nap in the day?

She was 2 in January. She still naps for at least an hour at nursery. At the weekend she often lies in longer in the morning so we don't push the nap issue those days. But sometimes she gets up just as early and is clearly shattered. Night times are just as bad though. We've maintained her bedtime routine which has always worked really well in the past. The potty combined with the freedom to get up seem to be the main distraction at night. During the day she seems to have lost the triggers to nap regardless of how tired she is - partly because she's not in a cot and partly because weekend naptime at home doesn't always happen, if she doesn't need it or cos we're out and she'll (eventually) dose in the car. One poss solution is we still get her up at 6.30am at weekends, make sure she's home for a nap at the right time, to re-establish the day time routine. But that is very tiring for DH and I, it limits our weekend outings and family visits etc, plus we still have an issue at night regardless.

It sounds to me like she is bordering on dropping her daytime nap. You may find that if she doesn't nap in the day, she is more tired qt night, and will therefore go down with less messing around.

The transition months between not quite needing a sleep, and completely dropping it are hard for everyone in my opinion.

Would it be possible to put her back in a cot until she's completely made the transition and then try her in a bed again?

Blimey, two years old (and a young two at that) is terribly young to be expecting her to be dry at night. I'd put her back in nappies for sleep until she's at least three if not four and change her bed back to a cot. You're expecting an awful lot from her.

I disagree Octavia. It sounds like the OPs dd is already dry, or able to be dry at night. I don't think there is anything to be gained by putting her back in a nappy.

Thanks littlefish. I think you're right that she's borderline ready to give up her nap. Will try dropping it altogether and see what happens. My worry is her being overtired and cranky. A couple of weeks ago she missed her nap for a couple if days then napped for nearly 3 hours the following day. I can see she's tired and struggling. If we're in the car any length of time she'll often fall asleep. But maybe she'll lie in a little longer and settle quicker at night.

Think having the potty in the room is a distraction too when she knows she's allowed to get up to the potty so uses it as an excuse to faff about when she doesn't really need it. Will try removing it til after she's asleep.

@ Octavia. She's very bright and advanced in many areas of development. We follow her lead. She took easily to potty training and usually has very good control. We took her out of night nappies because she was consistently dry in the morning. She was also waking up snd shouting us cos she needed a pee. Accidents are only occasional. Because she's clever we've just naturally moved her onto the idea of using the potty during the night and she's used it appropriately a few times. If I put her back in nappies, she'd still wake up occasionally during the night needing to pee, or very distressed at having wet her nappy.

Lol @ the idea that 'clever' has something to do with bladder control.