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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

Getting them 'dry' at night....

18 replies

Tw1nkle · 01/03/2013 12:04

Hi,
My DD is 4.4, and has been toilet trained for quite a while now.
I think she is ready to be dry at night too, but drinks a lot before bed - I've tried to stop that, and now she's had a few dry nappies lately (went 3 nights dry earlier this week).
I just want to go for it, and stop using the nappies........
Does anyone have any advice please.....

OP posts:

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Themobstersknife · 01/03/2013 12:12

I think they are either ready, hormonally, to be dry a night, or they or not. I think your DD probably falls into the latter camp, as she is not consistently dry at the moment. If I were you, I would be waiting for DD to be consistently dry for at fortnight or so, before trying without nappies. DD1 is 3.5 and is dry mostly, but not every night, so she is still in nappies. All of her friends go without nappies, but some still have accidents, and some are restricting fluids, which to me does not seem right. If my daughter is thirsty, I will let her have a drink and wait til the hormones kick in.

BobbiFleckmann · 01/03/2013 12:14

ours has just turned 4 and despite having been trained really easily adn early, she's just not ready at night. I've taken to lifting her at 11 - she always "performs" but still always has a damp / wet nappy in the morning, even if she gets up to go first thing - so we're just waiting... and waiting...

sandk · 01/03/2013 12:55

With DS, we just went for it after a week or so of dry nappies. Yes there were accidents occasionally. We used to put a double layer of sheets on the bed - waterproof sheet, regular sheet, waterproof sheet over that, another regular sheet on top. Also had a spare duvet ready. So if there was an accident in the night it was easy to get rid of the wet stuff and pop him back into a dry bed.

We are still waiting with DD (nearly 6). Heavy sleeper I think, hardly ever a dry nappy in the mornings. I daresay it will be sorted eventually!

Beatrixpotty · 01/03/2013 14:46

My son is 3.5,he has been potty trained since 2.6 which was pretty uneventful .He has been wearing pull ups at night ever since.They gave been dry for ages.3 weeks ago he just said "I don't want a nappy,I'm a big boy." So we stopped.No accidents yet..

ZuleikaD · 01/03/2013 14:56

It's entirely hormonal, you can't train for it, as this thread demonstrates! (One dry at 3.5, another not at 5). My own DD is showing no sign of dry nights at nearly 4, and like mobster I'm not going to refuse her a drink at night. The 'lifting' can be counter-productive because they're not properly awake so they're still just weeing in their sleep. I'd also be inclined to wait for at least a week or two's worth of dry nights before abandoning nappies.

Princesspond · 01/03/2013 14:59

As themobstersknife says sometimes its physiological and they don't yet produce enough Anti diuretic hormone to achieve nighttime dryness and this is entirely normal. The ERIC website although aimed at bedwetters (I.e children much older than your daughter) has some useful tips. My DD is similar to yours and I did try her without nappies but i found it wasn't working so have left it a while and will try later. I have found it is more likely that she is wet if she had a late drink, but I don't want to restrict fluids

Original poster

Tw1nkle · 01/03/2013 16:10

Thanks everyone - this has been really useful!
I think I might wait a while now.....
I do like her to drink whenever she wants, as she doesn't drink that much in the first place - so it might not be a good idea to stop her drinking at night anyway.
I didn't realise it was still 'normal' at her age - but it's great that it is!
Thanks again!

OP posts:

LoveMyBoots · 01/03/2013 16:18

Try the ERIC website. It has lots of useful information. But I wouldn't worry at this age.

CecilyP · 01/03/2013 16:46

With DS, I just went for it when he was 3.2. Prior to that, he had never had a dry nappy in the morning, but after I took him out of nappies, he didn't wet the bed. As your DD has already had 3 dry nappies, she already has a headstart on DS, so I don't think you have anything to lose by just going for it.

MajaBiene · 01/03/2013 16:52

I didn't wait for DS to have dry nappies in the morning - how can you tell if they are weeing in the night or first thing in the morning?

I would just take the nappies away, get some disposable bed mats, and tell her she needs to use the potty at night. If she is still weeing lots or wetting the bed in the first few hours of sleep then she probably isn't ready physically. However, if she is dry when you go to bed and wets later, then she might jut need a few nights to retrain her body not to wee in her sleep.

brettgirl2 · 01/03/2013 17:22

In terms of the drinking I dont stop mine drinking but at tea time and after she is only allowed milk and water. Its juice to avoid I think.

PoppyWearer · 01/03/2013 17:29

FWIW OP, my DD is 4.6yo and a few weeks ago, completely out of the blue, decided of her own accord not to wear nappies at night anymore. We've had one accident, I'm thrilled!

She does still wear nappies some nights. I've put an open box of them in her room within reach, and she decides if she thinks she needs one or not.

We find that she wants them on Thursday/Friday nights when she is tired, and also last week when we stayed at relatives for a few nights and she didn't want to find the toilet in a strange house in the dark.

It will come!

peacefuleasyfeeling · 01/03/2013 17:52

DD potty trained more or less spontaneously at 2.3 and was not wetting her nappies at night from about the same time. After a few months of dry night nappies (I wasn't in a hurry to get her out of nappies at night), one evening she had a paddy about not wanting to wear a nappy, so I let her off. She completely wet the bed... I talked to a colleague the next day who also said it was hormonal, but encouraged me to let her sleep without a nappy until the end of the week, seeing as she was clearly capable of staying dry. She also suggested I let her sleep with a bare bottom (no knickers or pyjama bottoms, or in a night dress) as the bare sensation apparently keeps some children from "letting go". I'm glad I did; I went and bought a soft terry sheet with plastic backing and some extra disposable undersheet absorbent pads as well, and made her bed with the plastic sheet at the bottom, topped with an absorbent pad (belt and braces, expecting the worst) with a normal sheet to finish off. DD went to bed in just her pyjama top, and has stayed dry since (a few months). I did try to get her to do a dream wee at midnight the first night, but she wasn't having any of it, and with hindsight it seems silly as she clearly hadn't been needing to wee at night for the preceeding months (apart from the night just before ). She does sometimes wake up for a wee in the night now, but then just wakes me up and I help her onto the potty and then back to bed.
The very best of luck to you!

skaboy · 01/03/2013 20:10

My son was lifted and I think it made him worse. He was still in pyjama pants at 6 and then had accidents up to 11. We found out it was linked to being left handed but made to write right handed at nursery.

equiliteral · 01/03/2013 22:16

Another one here who didn't wait for dry nappies. DS1's were generally soaking in the morning, but on Christmas Day (he was 4.4; had been fully toilet trained during the day since just before 3) we ran out of pull ups, and there was nowhere open within a reasonable distance to buy more.

So we explained to him that tonight he would be sleeping without a pull up, and would have to be very careful not to wee in his sleep, and that if he could manage it he would be allowed chocolate coins with breakfast (I was desperate!). He's had 3 accidents in that time (i.e. over 2 months), 2 of which were when he had flu. I do try to make sure that he drinks lots through the day, but he only gets a very small cup of milk with his bedtime toast now.

With hindsight I think DS was just being lazy and weeing in his pull up because he knew he could. I was sure that it was hormonal and was waiting for him to become dry, and I know that this is physiologically correct, but personality also seems to have a part to play; you might just want to go for it and see what happens?

TheChaoGoesMu · 01/03/2013 22:29

I didn't wait for dry nappies with dd. She used to do maybe one or two nights with dry nappies, but that was about it. I ran out of nappies one evening and was debating whether to go to the shop for more. Dd was keen to give it a go, so I put the potty in her room, put her to bed and kept my fingers crossed. Anyway, it worked, she got up and went in the pot if she needed to go, so finally we could say goodbye to the nappies. I didn't limit her drinks. She had just turned 3 at the time, and was obviously ready, even if the wet nappies weren't telling me that.

CecilyP · 02/03/2013 10:17

Yes, DS was like that, always wet through in the morning, but I think he must have just been having a massive pee in his nappy first thing, just because it was there. With no nappy, he just got up and went to the loo in the morning.

Svrider · 02/03/2013 10:36

I'm trying to employ the "it will sort itself out" mindset
Easier said than done with the price of night time nappies!

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