What are the signs that a child is ready to go 'nappy-less' at night ?

[Oblomov]

My son has just turned 3.
He has announced - "no nappies at night".

At 2.5 he announced that he wanted big boy pants. No nappies.

We had a potty. So went with the flow.
He took to it like a duck to water.
Only a few accidents, when he got totally engrossed in playing.

What do I do ?
I hear that children often wear nappies at aged 6.
Surely 3 is too young.
He is a deep sleeper amd often has a wee filled nappy in the morning.

How do I discourage him, that now is not the time, without hitting his confidence ?

Or should I try it ?

In potty training books they say....
look for the signs...
can child pull down their own trousers, can they recognise that they need to go etc etc.

What signs should I be looking for, that a child is ready to go without nappies at night ?
Help please.

Surely the fact that he's telling you is a good enough sign?

three is fine

Err, dry nappies is the obvious one. That was how it worked with DD who was only 2.2. But the other signs are them shouting you in the evening/early morning to say they ned a wee, or asking to go nappyless. Which was more the case with DS who was much older.

3 not too young to go nappyless. DS was 3 1/2 and DD was 2.2.

not too young at all - SIL's DD2 was dry both day and night in the space of a month...when she was just 21 months old .

I've got the opposite problem - DS1 (6.5yrs) is STILL not dry at night - refuses to wear nappies - but wets everynight...

Message withdrawn

lol Fio - I'm not sure you could even say we are hit and miss - he "misses" everytime .

Still changing the bedding everyday is part of the daily routine so we shall continue like this.......thing is he doesn't actually seem to care that he's wetting the bed but just doesn't want to wear nappies/pull-ups anymore LOL.

My DD (just turned 3) announced she is a big girl now and too big for nappies. I have to sneak in and put a nappy on her after she falls asleep! She is wet in the morning - and drinks too much after 6pm in any case at the moment i think it would be a disaster.
Fannieannie - my DS (7) is fairly similar - just doesn't seem to be able to crack it. All was fine until about a year ago, and then about every other night wet PJ's and sheets in the morning (he sleeps right through it!)

I think dry nappies are the bit clue as well. My dd has had dry nappies every day for the last week, so when the pack is empty I'll leave it at that. She's also dry after drinking 3 large cups of squash before bedtime.
DS (who's 2.1y older) is still soaking every day and thank god he doesn't refuse nappies, because I'd hate having to change his sheets every day. He's also lazy in the day and rather wet his pants than miss a bit of CBeebies! That makes me soooo angry. While dd who's only been potty trained for a good month hasn't had an accident since week 1! Something doesn't seem to quite add up there, but that's how it is.

Cheers everyon for your replies.

I appreciate that people say that ... he is telling me - he is a child who knows his own mind.

But, generally he eats alot(even though there's nothing of him !), drinks alot , wees and poohs like there's no tomorrow. And generally has a very heavy nappy nearly every morning.

Doesn't sound like many of the signs are there, does it ?

My dds virtually never had dry nappies at night yet they were both out of nappies at night a couple of weeks after they were out of them in the daytime. one at 2.4, one just under two. Both of them just didn't want to wear nappies at night and so we tried it and they were fine.

So it might be worth a go, even if he hasn't had dry nappies at night.

I think you need to go by the child but 3 is very young.

Mine, I'm sure, are so lazy in bed, they would happily wear night nappies now (age 6 and 5) if I let them because they love snuggling in bed and can't be bothered to get up and wee . But I knew they were ready (they were both 4ish) and after a few nights of trying and finding they were dry, we never looked back.

You can try it and see but don't be disappointed if it doesn't work out because he is v young still (and also it may mean him waking up MUCH earlier to wee rather than sleeping through later and weeing in his nappy iyswim).

I am not sure what whether to try going with out a pull up at night with my dd she will be 4 in may. She is not that bothered by wearing them and they are mostly wet in the morning not soaked though(still some of the pictures left on the pull up that dissappear when wet). I have left a potty by her bed and said to use it if she needs to but she never wakes up for a wee. Not sure just to leave it until she completley dry or be brave and try her with out. I think she just cant be bothered sometimes because she said to me the other day she woke up and needed a wee in the morning but she was all warm in bed so she did it in her pull up!

Perhaps a pull up is a good compromise. If he can take them down himself, and get to the loo or potty, it will give you both confidence to go nappy-free. If he can't, then he's not ready and hopefully will see that and be ok with. Perhaps you can sell it as an intermediary option, to let him learn how to go in the night.

He is clearly a little boy who has his own ideas about things, so if he thinks he's ready, perhaps he'll be ok.

My little fella, I'm sure, will be one of those who is too darned lazy to get out of bed for a pee - probably until he's married, or something.

with dd she was dry during day
At night it took another year, we tok nappy off when she started waking for toilet rather than wee in a nappy and when she woke up dry or woke up early asking for toilet.
Took it off - not one accident. She was 2.5 when dry daytime 3.5 dry at night