night time nappy

[bakingcupcakes]

DS is nearly 3 and not potty trained. I'm planning to have a go later this summer. The last few weeks he's been wetting the bed and I feel like I'm constantly washing. We're using Aldi size 6 at night now but it's no better. Size 5 are fine in the day and he tells me a lot of the time when he's filled it anyway. I've also tried giving him less milk before bed. He used to have 7oz, I reduced to 5oz this week but it just made the wetting later (5.30 rather than 4am). I've also tried putting pull ups over his nappy. The wet is always up his front. Any suggestions for what else I can do/ different nappies I can buy? Huggies drynites keep coming up on google. Has anyone tried these? Are there any others you think are better? We're meant to be staying with friends the 1st weekend of August but I'm seriously thinking of cancelling because the wetting's so frequent.

I found by that age that there wasn't much I could do, as their wees just weren't contained by a nappy. I used to just give a small cup of milk before bed, as much more would definitely result in wetting.

Also you can get potty training pads for on the bed which are quite useful. I bought ours from Wilkos but I'm sure other places sell them too.

He should be potty trained by 3. Start now.

We have similar problems with night wetting but less frequently now we use pampers 6+ stay dry. I think pampers have also started doing a size 7, which might be a bit big if you usually use a 5 but worth a try?

Not sure it's helpful to suggest he should already by dry in the day pp, you don't know any background e.g. medical or previous attempts.

Can you give him milk on cereal instead so it will be less, with a small bit of water on the side?

I have made a previous attempt at potty training but it wasn't very successful and DS got quite upset so we stopped - that was in June. My next point to try is my week off in August. He does sit on the toilet before bath time but doesn't always wee. I thought night time dryness came after day time dryness though.

I suppose I'll have to try less milk again. And I'm going to try a different brand of nappy. Possibly the pampers if they go quite big. I'm not sure if he fiddles with it in the night because the nappy only gets wet at the front.

Is his willy pointing down when the nappy goes on?

Is he having a last pee before bed with the nappy going on just before he gets into bed?

Yes, night dryness and daytime potty training are seperate things. The former is controlled by the hormone vasopressin, which instructs the kidneys to slow down urine production overnight. You can't train for that

I found as DD1 got older (dry at night at 4.3) reusables were the best bet. If you don't want to go the whole hog, you could try some washable inserts inside the disposable, plus a waterproof wrap outside. Maybe start with a a few eBay cheapies to see how you get on?

Saying he should be potty trained is really unhelpful and also not true, 3yo is a perfectly normal time to potty train.

OP, my DS also has problems with nappy leaks overnight,you say the wet is up the front, is his willy pointing down? We get leaks at the front when he shoves his hands down his nappy in his sleep you could try a pull up with a nappy over the top so you can do it up a bit tighter. Otherwise, just layer sheets with waterproof mattress protectors, or try waking him and changing his nappy when you go to bed (if you think he'll go back to sleep well enough afterwards)

His willy starts out pointing down but I think it ends up pointing up at some point during the night. I tried a pull up over the top of a size 6 last night along with less milk but he still wet. Last nappy goes on at 6pm after bath, then milk, then bed at 7pm.

I wasn't aware night dryness was something that couldn't be taught. I just thought it was taught later so that's good to know, thank you.

The washing of the mattress protector is a bit of a problem. I only have one so it has to be washed and dried on the day. Think I maybe need to buy another.

I've never tried a reusable either so that's something to look into.

Thanks for all the replies.

Why aren't you changing him during the night OP? I'm sure if you changed him before you went to bed then he would be much drier??

I change my three year olds nappy at about ten o'clock. Otherwise she'd wet the bed.

Oh, and i use an incontinence/disposable change mat pad underneath her bed sheet as well to save what's under that.

Are you using night time nappies eg pampers baby dry rather than the hummer active fit style ones? Do they do a 6+ size? I can't remember. The + sizes aren't any bigger but are just more absorbent.

We had wet beds for months around the time of potty training and having a double set of bedding helped. So double make the bed I.e waterproof cover, then sheet, then another waterproof cover, then a sheet. Then when bed gets wet you can just whip off the top two layers, grab a spare duvet (with cover already on) from the warderobe and bed is remade in 30 seconds. I use a mattress protector as the bottom waterproof layer and a Huggies bed mat as the top one. My son used to wet through the duvet too so in the middle of the night I used to just chuck all the wet bedding and duvet in the washing machine then turn it on first thing. It was all ready to hang up then before leaving for work and could be finished in tumble dryer that evening.

And yes you can't teach night time dryness. It needs to happen by itself.

And stop giving him evening milk at all. Give him milk as a drink with his evening meal if you want him to have it but a bedtime drink is a recipe for disaster at this age.

I would second the cutting down of milk/ having it a bit before bedtime and encouraging a last wee before he goes to sleep.

If you want to beef up the the night nappies though I would highly recommend a bamboo reusable liner inside a disposable - DS was a champion wee-er at night and this was the only thing I found to stop the leaks!

As long as he's only doing wees overnight and not poos they're super easy to use, just chuck straight in the washer for a quick rinse in the morning (or even just under running water if you're not as lazy as me!), then into a 90 wash with the rest of my towels (bathroom, not tea-towels if you've read that thread )

I don't know why I don't change him in the night. I didn't realise I was meant to carry on with it I suppose. I stopped when he stopped waking for night feeds at around 18 months and he never leaked until around a month ago. He's not changed the amount he drinks or anything. Maybe I need to start it up again.

I don't know if the disposable change mat would work for us. DS has my old double bed in his room and tends to move around a lot in the night so the wee has potential to get everywhere! That's why I bought the mattress protector. It's just a bit of a bugger to wash and dry as it's so big.

I've bought some Asda 6+ ones to try for later and some of the drynites pants although they don't look all that absorbent to me. I've been using the Aldi size 6 recently which say up to 12 hours.

I haven't heard of bamboo reusable liners so I'll look those up. It's only wee at night - no poo.

The Huggies bedmats are huge. Two of them would easily cover a double bed. But maybe invest in another washable one.

My 3.5 year old isn't dry at night either, and was regularly waking up wet. I tried various night time nappies, but found the Huggies DriNites to be the best. Cost a small fortune, but they seem to be bigger than others and we've not had anymore wet beds.

I don't change nappies at night, but I have cut out bedtime drinks and sometimes take her for a wee when I'm going to bed.

My just 4yr old dd wears the driNites. We've just moved up to the 4-7 rather than 3-5 as they fit better and hold a bit more. I still check her nappy when I go to bed and about 50% of the time I have to change it- if it isn't already wet then it will be too much until the morning, but if it is still dry then, it holds until morning. She can hold her bladder for up to about 6hrs during the day which isn't always great.... and she has to be prompted to use the toilet so doesn't yet register the sensation of needing a wee... they will all get there eventually, it just takes some of them longer for the hormones to kick in.

I had the same problem with my 2yo. We use the old inner towelling bit from a cloth nappy inside an Aldi disposable to boost absorbency. We put this on when we change her (in her sleep) at 11pm. She's usually dry when she wakes at 730ish now. Good luck with it OP.

Also there's an hour or more between you putting on night nappy and him actually going to bed so that is something else you can try, put it on as he goes to bed.

My 3 year old is dry day and night mostly apart from a few accidents, we've found that the accidents happen when he's over tired as he's in such a deep sleep he can't wake up for a wee and if he's had a lot to drink.

We make his last proper drink, his drink with tea so around 5.30/6 and then he's allowed a sip just to wet his mouth before bed at 7.30. I think the 5oz of milk maybe causing you more of a problem than you think and he doesn't really need it at his age.

Puppy training pads or disposable protectors are the way forward so you don't have to keep changing the bedding.

Also in the hour the nappy is on before bed the chances are he is going to bed already slightly wet so the nappy will absorb less through the night, id change him again before bed.

With the potty training try make it fun that's what I had to do, a reward chart with the days of the week, each time he used the potty he got to put a sticker on, if he had so many each day by the end of the week he got a treat.

A potty in each room so there's not a mad rush to get to one as this can panic them, and positive encouragement 'shall we try the potty like all the other big boys, you're so clever I bet you'll be brilliant' not 'let's get you out nappies as babies wear them' as I've heard others say

My DD is nearly 3. We just potty trained this month. She's got the daytime routine pretty well. For nights we use pull ups though she's usually dry until morning. However until we potty trained, she was leaking a lot (last couple months) and we had the same problem. I think potty training in the day does trigger night dryness (not reliably, but can prevent/reduce nappy leaks). Until then so try the incontinence pads or disposable sheets which you can bin & just wash the sheet. As someone upthread said - multi layering the sheets is quick for midnight change. I had resorted to a last nappy change just before I went to bed. Wasn't always useful but did help a bit. The remedy however has been the daytime potty training...

Those who use the Huggies Drynites do you use them on their own without a nappy?

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'm trying to get him to have the milk now instead of bedtime but I'm not having much joy. 'But it is for stories at bedtime Mummy'

I just don't understand why it's suddenly happening now. It's the same amount of liquid as he's always had. Less really as he's dropped daytime milk and doesn't have much water.

I'm really bothered about next weekend. We're staying with friends and I really don't want him to wet. We went a couple of months ago and I didn't worry about it at all as he'd been contained in a nappy for so long. The leaking happens around twice a week now although I'm wondering if it happens more often but dries before morning and we don't notice so it's possible we could go and it be fine.

I can't potty train before because of work and being busy this weekend. Plus it's a long journey and I'm scared he'd wee in the car...I'm dreading actually potty training. It's part of the reason I've left it so long. That and DS being really adverse to it.