How does a child become dry at night?

[mum2oliver]

My ds is 4in March and has been dry in the day for over a year now.
How do I approach the night time?

are his nighttime nappies wet when he wakes? If they're not, he's ready.

You oculd always keep a potty near his bed and tell him to wee in that in the night if he needs to go.

I dont agree about the nappies being dry..ds admitted when he woke up he was wetting in his nappy because he knew he had it on. All I would do is put a potty by bed and maybe try him? Keep spare pjs and sheets etc to hand and see how he does over a couple of nights if you are up a lot then he isnt ready.

You just have to try i think, m2o
I thought dd wasn't ready because her nappy was always wet. But one night she stayed over at a friend's house, who didn't put a nappy on her and she stayed dry. So I didn't bother putting a nappy on her the next night and haven't bothered since.
When we went away at Christmas, dd requested a nappy at night and used it. Basically, she if she is wearing a nappy she will use it, and if she's not, she is dry. We have had a few accidents, but can count them on one hand.
HTH.

Don't do the potty near the bed thing or he will expect it to be there and pee where it was when you take it away - then you need new carpet - my brother did it for years with no potty there!

If he is dry in the morning - explain to him that he will not be wearing a nappy tonight - do not give him much to drink after his dinner and when you go to bed get him up and take him to the loo - this you will have to do for a short while until he gets up to go himself.

Make sure you make a huge fuss when he is dry all night and maybe get him a little toy or something - don't be harsh if he wets the bed though just say to him oh dear honey well let mummy clear it up and you can try again tomorrow - it is normal and may take a month to get him dry through the night.

Ds is just 3 and has been dry since the summer - this is what we did and now he gets up and goes to the loo and gets straight ack in bed!

Oh and get some pampers bed matts to put under the sheet - just means you have to wash sheet and not mattress and countless covers!

Good Lck.

Try it and see. He's old enough for you to explain to him what is happening.

I have never tried the potty by the bed, could never quite take to the idea of having it in a bedroom. We told ds (4.6) and dd (3.4) that they could shout for us in the night or get up themselves if they wanted to. We always leave a shaving light on in the bathroom so they can see what they are doing.

It was not nearly as traumatic as I expected it to be!

do you know how long after a drink he wees?
I have just pottyt rained dd1 so know she wees about 30-40minsd after a drink so now she has her bedtime milk at around 7pm so she has used toilet before goingt o bed at 8pm. She has been dry last 6 nights..although she is exceptionally early and shocked me as we only potty trained last week.

m2oliver - there's some good advice on here but just one word of warning - some children, esp boys and esp those where father's/mothers were late too - genetic link is proven, are just darn late in 'learning'. If it doesn't work don't panic - I waited with ds as he just couldn't control it (they suddenly produce an enzyme from memory - it's either there or not and can be very late in arriving) but he suddenly came out of them at just before 7 - at the same time as my 2 yr old dd. Now I only have the 5 yr dd in them and she is still sopping wet every night. Main advice - don;t worry or get them worried about it - not worth it.

I agree with everyone else that you should try it and see - but do you think he is interested/ready? My dd was dry in the day for well over a year before she was dry at night, then she just started gradually not wanting to wear a nappy some nights. I expected this to be a recipe for disaster but as others have said, if she was wearing a nappy she would wee in it, if not she would wake up.

For a couple of months I did take her to the loo when I went to bed, which I know doesn't suit some people but it worked for us. Over time she started to just not go when I took her at bedtime, now she almost always lasts until morning.

She still refuses to go to the loo by herself though, even in the day. Grrr.

i too am struggling with this. ds is 2.9, has been out of nappies in the day for about five months. he has extraordinary powers of holding on, 14 hours last night, and only 9 of them asleep! but every time i take nappies off at night he has an accident about once a week.

I have 4 children, 2 points is he dry most mornings, he's mastered the day so he knows when he needs to go. I would give it a go, invest in a good waterproof mattress protector and take it from there. Do u use pull ups or big boy pants, it's up to you i have tried both and i don't think it makes a difference. Some children will take to it really well others need a bit more help. Explain that if they need to go then go to the toilet or potty. Don't make a big deal if they wet just clean it up and try again, and make a massive deal of it if he does well. Practice makes perfect, you may need to help them with routine, you could try to wake them in the night to see if they want to go, this can help them get into there own routine if you have problems, good nighttime routine helps also. Good Luck with it, let us know how you get on!

Try not to give them much to drink after 5 and make sure they go to the bathroom right before the go to bed. Don't let them wear a pull up, buy those bed mats instead. I also would take dd right before I would go to bed so she got used to the idea of going during the night if she needed to

Accidents are completely normal, upto the age of about,9. My eldest used to go for mths without wetting then all of a sudden he wet for no apparent reason. It could be that they have had a nightmare, extremely tired in a really deep sleep, or just forgot. Even adults forget things so why should children be different. Just keep trying they will get there, i am planning on training my 2yr old in Spring/Summer i think she may be ready now but with it being so cold i thought i would wait.

What we have done with lo, is lift about 10 o'clock at night, put onto potty and lift back into bed without disturbing lo too much.

For the first couple of nights I went in during the early hours at about 1-2am and lifted again.

Then one night I decided that I was too tired and didn't go in during the early hours.

Lo was dry in the morning and called for the toilet at about 5am-6am.

Only have a couple of nights when he went the bed very lightly. They seem to understand that they can control themselves and either call for you.

There hasn't been a bad night since and lo is 3 and 4 months. Been dry at nights for about 6 months now.

Give it a go if you think that they try this.

paulaplumpbottom is absolutely right. GOOD ADVICE!

I would go for it - try to avoid pjama pants - if you don't want to fork out on a absorbant thing just stick a towel under the sheet.

Make sure the last thing you do before bed is a wee (child not you) and try to get up a few minuted before your child normally wakes so you can get the child to the loo as soon as they wake. I would keep going for a week before deciding if it has worked (no matter how many accidents there are) and lots of praise for getting through the night.

Im still none the wiser.Should a child be able to go for a 12 hour night without a wee?
Iv tried him on Sunday and monday night and he wet the bed once on Sunday and twice on monday.
When do you know?
Is it that they are just ready physically?
I just cant see him ever waking to wee.

mum - I think some children can (DS2 who's 4 - and became dry at night completely of his own doing last summer) can go to bed at 8pm - get out of bed at 10am (normal getting up time is 8am - but during the holidays he was lazing in bed until 10 ) and be completely dry!

DS1 on the other hand is now back in nappies (at 7 1/2yrs old) as finally after 1 1/2yrs of having a soaked bed EVERY single morning he decided it might be an idea to wear nappies again.

DH gets up in the night to wee
I don't

Think its the same with children too - some do need to get up, and others don't.

Don't despair may just not be ready give it couple of mths and try again! It can take a while for them to get it and yes he probably is physically ready.