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Original poster

nearly 4 and still in night time nappies

14 replies

bagpussmice · 16/07/2007 14:06

dd2 will be 4 in Oct. and still wears nappies at night, and they are very wet. she drinks a beaker of milk before bed, and often wakes up in the night for water....
How do I start? I never had a problem with dd1 as she was dry day and night at 2.5.
Any recommendations or tips will be helpful as I hope to get her night trained during the summer hols.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

HuwEdwards · 16/07/2007 14:07

really not unusual.

Read on here that being dry at night is something to do with the onset of a particluar hormone which kicks in.

stealthsquiggle · 16/07/2007 14:09

Really really not unusual bagpuss - do a quick thread search and you will find 100's.

I decided on the low stress approach with DS and have only just started leaving pull-ups off - he is 4.8 - and then only because he was starting to wake up with them still dry ~50% of the time. So far so good - a couple of accidents but more good nights than bad.

throckenholt · 16/07/2007 14:10

it isn't unusual. My twins are 4.5 and still in nappies - although we are trying without this week and doing lots of washing.

Things to think of - waterproof cover for bed, spare bedding and night clothes, being able to have broken nights. If all that is available and she is willing then give it a go for a week - then reassess and either take a break or stick with it.

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Original poster

bagpussmice · 16/07/2007 14:14

she;s never been a brilliant sleeper anyway, hence leaving it so long as any other reason for her to wake up is a def. no no...

OP posts:

spina · 19/07/2007 15:13

ds1 is 4 in sept. dh decided fourteen days ago to go with out nappies at night (for ds1 not himself!!) had three dry nights,then a coulpe of wet ones.....we're now on our fourth wet night in a row. Ds1 is waking ds2 (6mths) up when he wakes(ds2 has only just started to go through the night) i went back to work on Monday. I havn't slept through the night since october of last year!!!

My brother wet the bed til he was 8.

Don't worry about no nappies until they're ready.!!!!!

spina · 19/07/2007 15:16

should have said we feel we can't go back on the no nappies now as it will undermine ds1. We didn't approach it as a "let's have a try" we were "Let'd do it."

I wish dh hadn't spoken to his friend who asked quizically(sp?) why we were putting a nappy on ds1 as his 4yr had been dry for about 6mths! AAAGGGGHHHHH!

Martha200 · 19/07/2007 20:52

Don't worry too much over it, are my thoughts.

Our DS was 4yrs 2 mths and still wanting nappies for poos and we had them on at night.
We got fed up over the manipulation skills trying to be used over the issue if doing poos so we gave him a choice.. he wouldn't make it, so we banned the nappies completely (I know sounds nasty!) of course we meant this and that meant at night time too.

First couple of nights he awoke in the morning wet (even with a trip to the toilet before I went to bed) and I discovered he was weeing and not waking when he did, rather than being awake and not going to the toilet.. he cracked the poo issue within a day, then after those 2 wet mornings, we had a run of dry nights/mornings! Not sure why, as we didn't cut back hugely his liquid intake, then we had a few more wet nights and now we are on a run of dry nights again (to the point I hear the 'oh mum' sigh when I ask him in the morning, are you dry?!! (we have been nappy free over a month now.)

Tips: all I can say is not to make a fuss if she does wake up at 2am or other times wet.. (tempting as it is with all the sheet washing!!) Before we tried he always had wet nappies, which is why I didn't try going without, besides the poo issue was really on my mind!

They get there in the end.. try not worry too much about it, remind yourself the things that she is great at and it lightens the stress I think.
Sorry can't offer any more help

princessmel · 19/07/2007 20:56

Ds was in pull ups at night up untill a few months ago. He was 4.5 ish.
Lots of his friends were/are too.
I just said to him , In a very casual no pressure way 'if you need to wee in the night just use the potty ( it was in his room) or go to the loo'.
I said this for a long time and he didn't do it for ages ,then one day he did but still had wet pull ups, but they got dryer and dryer till he was doing all his wees in the potty. Now he rarely goes in the night atall.
HTH

WigWamBam · 19/07/2007 20:59

Dd is 6 and still not dry at night. It's really not a problem.

It's not something you can "train"; there's a hormone which suppresses urination overnight, and until that kicks in they physically can't be dry overnight.

Relax - it will happen when she's ready.

princessmel · 19/07/2007 20:59

Just wanted to add that I have friends that have done the cold turkey on the nappies and it has worked in the end, for them. The children feel they are wet and wake and then learn to go before they wee etc.
I just wanted to wait till ds's pull ups were dry instead of going that way.

Either way dont worry as its normal for them to be in them at this age .

divastrop · 19/07/2007 20:59

my ds1 was 4.5 when he started to be dry at night.ds2 is 4 on monday and i havent bothered to try him without night nappies yet,i am waiting till the baby sleeps through.

dd1 is 9 in december and still in pj pants.i have tried loads of times to get her dry at night and it's just never happened.but i wet the bed till i was 9 so i think its genetic.

Hulababy · 19/07/2007 21:00

Don't worry about it. DD is 5y3m and only in past 2-3 months has become reliably dry at night. This was despite being PTd within 3 days at 24 months.

I don't think you can PT for night time. It just happens when the child i ready.

canmummy · 19/07/2007 21:02

This could have been a post from me a few weeks ago! I've always tried to involve her in getting her dry at night and have had a few periods of her being dry for a few nights.

The final straw came when she was particularly winding me up and wouldn't go to bed then I noticed she'd wet her nappy already. I was livid, it was pure laziness so I threw all the pull-ups away in a fit of rage! So since then we've had quite a few wet beds but I praise her loads when she's dry

I spoke briefly to her school nurse for next year and she suggested giving her plenty to drink throughout the day so she's used to the feeling of a full bladder.

Maybe just try and see what happens? We never had a dry nappy whenever she was wearing one

skianne · 22/07/2007 21:32

Has anyone heard of some kind of mat that they lay on and it alarms when they start peeing and eventually learn to wake up before they start?
Mine is 5 and a half and keen to try without nappies but everytime we try it doesn't work and he feels upset. Don't want to keep putting him through it. Any thoughts..?

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