Dry nights

[Vjr]

I am currently trying to get my 3 and 10 month old son to be dry in the night. His pull ups were dry for about two weeks so we decided to bite the bullet and go for it. Every thing went well and he was dry most of the time but with a few wet nights in between. It has been about 7 weeks since we started this and he is still wetting the bed 2 or 3 times a week. is this normal? My partner thinks we should put him back in pull ups as we are both so tired from bed changing in the night, but I'm worried that this will make things worse again and be taking a step back. Can any one advise me on what I should do?

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vjr - it is normal for his age to be unreliable - don't worry about that.

it is a tricky situation though, as he is dry some of the time he is kind of halfway there and i understand your worry about putting him back in pullups being a step backwards.

on the nights he is dry, do you know if he gets up for a wee, or does he just sleep through? if he is getting up, then it could be on the wet nights he is dreaming that he has got up!

if you do want to persist without the pullups, but avoid the bedmaking, have you tried putting a smallish waterproof sheet (a cot size one?) on top of his bed sheet, with another bed sheet sideways across it and tucked in at the sides? that way if he is wet you only have to take the two extra bits off rather than remake the whole bed in the middle of the night. (i'm assuming here that he is only wet underneath.)

does it bother him that he is wet sometimes? if it does then it might be better for him to go back to pullups for a while. if he's ok with it then it probably is worth persisting. good luck!

Id go with Janh's idea, but substitute a towel instead of the 2nd sheet over the waterproof sheet as more absorbent. Best of luck.

I'd go with Janh as well, but something I've used is one of those Pampers care mats - I suppose it would work out v expensive if you had to use a new one every night, but if it's only occasionally, then they're really good; as absorbant as a nappy (No I don't work for them, I don't even use Pampers - I'm a huggies girl, and always have been)

Thanks to everyone for your advice - I really like the idea of the towel/sheet on top of the waterproof mat as this is something I had never thought of. I will give it a go tonight.

janh - He only gets up for a wee in the mornings as he is a pretty heavy sleeper. I now put him on the potty when I go to bed at night and he usually does a big wee then, which helps, but does not necessarily mean that he will last till morning.

I do feel very reasured having read other peoples experiences as whenever i have spoken to friends they have said "well, we decided to take the nappy off and he/she wet the bed once and has been dry ever since"!!! At least now I know that he is normal!

We have had 3 dry nights in a row now so fingers crossed!!

I have been soooooo fortunate with my Son he is just over 21/2 years and has been clean day and night since March, I do not give him juice only water and having spoken to friends whose children are the same age and are trying to get them dry, they say Juice goes straigt through them, perhaps this is the key. I too used pampers caremats under his sheet, just incase.

Vjr,
We were lucky with our eldest as we really did nothing to get him dry at night. All we did was limit the fluids after about 6.30pm (he goes to bed at 7.30pm) and make sure he did a wee last thing before he went to bed. I know some books don't recommend limiting fluids but I know from personal experience that if I have a drink just before bed I'll need to get up in the night! Apart from that he just did it himself....

On the bedding front we have a big plastic sheet under his sheet and when he had the odd accident we would whip the duvet and sheet off the bed, rub down the plastic with the dry part of the sheet and chuck my son into a sleeping bad....and so to bed! Took seconds and can be done whilst in zombie mode. I'm not sure about care mats/using towels. As they're more absorbant doesn't this mean the child won't realise they've wet themselves? Surely that's part of the learning?

Has anyone had a problem with leaky nappies at night? ds, still in night time nappies seems to be able to wee "outside" the nappy! Twice in the last 3 nights he has wet the bed; wonder if he's fiddling with willy or has an errection and somehow wees through the waistband. His pj's are wet around the tummy area, so suspect it could be that.
Any ideas?

My ds also wakes occasionally with a wet waist band overnight, which I've always put down to the fact that he now sleeps on his tummy(since about 9months old, he's one now) and wriggles about much more. This seems to push the nappy down at the front, often turning the waist band of the nappy over. He's also a big wetter at night generally. The male anatomy must come into it too, as the nappy is only ever wet in the top 1/3 of the nappy, with total dryness elswhere! I've found that by putting him in a poppered vest, ie one that does up under his nappy helps, also sleepsuits rather than PJs. Busy trialling washables at night, but have yet to get him thru the night without needing a change, because of total saturation!

Honeybunny - which washables are you using? We use terries at night and only occassionally have leaks, admittedly my dd is not a big wetter. Usually leaks are due to me not fitting the nappy properly. At night its even more crucial to make sure nothing is poking out of the waterproof pants, the tiniest bit of liner or nappy in contact with the pjs will wick wee out over time. Or it might just be that you need to boost the absorbancy, a folded muslin square is good for this or you can buy some really good boosters.

I've used cloth nappies at night (and day!) for both my last two. I've had great success with terry squares, popo ultrafit shaped terries and various WAHM nappies at night. If you find you're getting leaks, best thing to do is fold a booster in half and put it over his 'directional weeing equipment', so that you've got maximum absorbency at the point of impact. If this seems to pull the nappy away from his leg, put the booster outside the nappy. Make sure his equipment is pointing down, too Then you need to make sure you've got the right size of wrap: nighttime cloth can be more bulky than day so you might need to have a larger wrap for night.

HTH!

On the absorbancy issue, my friend has just started using Weenies pads at night inside her nearly-3 year-old's night time cloth nappy with great success. For those who haven't come across them, Weenies are a disposable pad that can be flushed or composted so don't add to landfill like regular disposables.

we are currently trying to get our 3 3/4 year old son dry at night, he has been dry in the day since 2 1/2.my first son was dry day and night at 2 years so was kinda expecting(unfairly i know)the same from no.2 son. santa brought him mans pygamas with a "wee hole to pee through" and he is hugely happy at this and wants to wear them every night and is keeping them dry,taadaa .so needless to say this particular pair is washed and dried every day ready for the next night,3 dry nights so far ,let's hope i've cracked it eventually.