Thinking about trying to get DD dry at night...

[cardamomginger]

... and not really looking forward to it!!

DD is 3.9 and has been (give or take the odd accident) dry and clean in the day since the end of last August. She is still in nappies at night. I'm thinking it might be time to start thinking of getting out of nappies and into pants, and I have no idea where to start!!

About 70% of the time she waked up with a wet nappy (but she is a late sleeper) and about 50% of her wet nappies are pretty wet. Her first wee of the day is usually quite a big one, so she does seem to have at least some overnight bladder capacity. She very very rarely does a poo at night. Is she ready? Not ready?

I've read stuff about cutting down her drinks before bed time. She doesn't have a lot to drink just before bed and I am a bit loathe to cut it back too much - she has problems with constipation and related UTIs, so hydration is important.

Can someone please give me some pointers and hold my hand a bit?!?!

Thank you!

You can't train to be dry at night, most children start to produce a hormone between the ages of two and eight that suppresses urine production at night. Until that happens there is nothing doing.

Just let her wear pull ups until they are reliably dry for a long period of time, they you can get rid of them.

You cannot train night time dryness

It is hormonal and is not viewed as an issue by GPs until a child is around 7 years old

Wait until your DD has two dry nappies on the run and then buy a waterproof mattress protector and go for it

Major x post with gobbler there

Oh OK. Thanks. Something else I read suggested waking them at night (e.g. before I go to bed) and trying to get her to do a wee then. Is this a good or a bad idea?

It won't make her dry at night so why do it? As PPs have said, night dryness is linked to the production of a hormone. Once she produces a high enough level of this hormone, she will stay dry at night. In normal human development, it can take up to age 7 to produce a high enough level of the hormone.

If she is struggling after she turns 7, please speak to your GP.

We have a thread on this already - but our children are 7. Relax. It will come when she's ready.

Bad idea.

You might get a dry bed but dd won't learn how to wake herself and you'll just 'wake up' the bladder and kidneys instead.

I wouldn't, it's just a strain on your back, lots of people report eventual success with this method, but it would have sorted itself out in the same time frame.

Really don't stress, just forget about it and it will happen in time.

Ds2 is 8 shortly and still wets.

Absolutely don;t cut down on her fluids before bed if she's prone to UTI's.

The hormone produced reduces the production of urine overnight and that combined with increased bladder size enables children to stay dry at night. Until both those things happen then all the lifting in the world won't work. It isnt a skill they can learn as they aren't conscious!

There is no evidence that nighttime waking works at all.

Thanks everyone! One part of me is a bit AAAGGGHHH as it's not something I can really 'do' IYSWIM. But the rest of me is , as it's something I don't have to 'do' .

We've just been on a short holiday and I had told DD that when we got back we could see about getting her out of nappies at night, which conceptually she quite liked the idea of. So maybe pull ups.

Thank you everyone .

The problem I have with this method is my DS wees in his pull up out of laziness I.e. before he falls asleep and first thing.

Don't know how to tell when the hormones have kicked in.

It's called, "second dry night for DS 7.4, could this be it "

The usual pattern is that they have dry pull-ups for a week or so. You then abandon the pull-ups.

If this hasn't happened by the time they are seven - join us on our support thread for DCs who need a bit more help.

If she is awake, she asks to do a wee rather than going in her nappy, so hopefully lazy weeing won't kick in.

Really appreciate everyone's input - this is why I ask MN!

I know it is quite scary but sometimes it is worth biting the bullet. DS at 3.2 had been potty trained for around 8 months but had never had a dry night, not one, so 100% wet nappies in the morning. But once the weather got a bit better, I put a plastic undersheet on the bed and put him to bed in just his pyjamas and he simply never wet the bed. I didn't have to do anything. The plastic undersheet came off the next time I changed the sheets, never to be used again. If she likes the idea, it is worth a try, especially now it is summer time. If it doesn't work, you can always go back to pull ups and try again in a few months.

my dd had been dry in day for a yr, but wet every night. I bought new nappies that change colour when wet and said we are going to try and see if we can make it NOT change colour, no pressure, more a "lets see if we can do it" thing. She peed first night to see what it looked like (natch), then NEVER AGAIN!!! did a week of those dry pull ups and now sleeps bare bottomed. That was at 3.3. I am sure had i not broached the subject she'd still be in wet night nappies. It was so odd!

Hmmm... Which nappies are these? Sounds interesting!

Huggies night time pull ups. I think they have disney princess on the pack or something. Waitrose sells them