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When should a child stop wearing nappies at night?

15 replies

vitahelp · 22/04/2022 09:23

My daughter is 3 (4 in July) and has been out of nappies during the day for well over a year now. However she still wears a nappy in bed every night and it is full each morning.
I'm a bit confused as to whether this is normal or not. Do I need to actively train her out of this, like potty training?
Some people I have asked suggest this isn't necessary and that you just wait until they don't need the nappy anymore, but I'm concerned she will still be wearing a nappy in bed at 10 years old if I do this!!

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Digestive28 · 22/04/2022 09:26

It’s normal. Night time is about waiting for a particular hormone to develop which means they wake up when they need a wee. It only really is a concern that warrants intervention if they hit about 7 years, most are dry by about 5 years though

DreamingofItaly2023 · 22/04/2022 09:27

Yeah night time is about the hormone. It happened for DS just after his 5th birthday.

MajorCarolDanvers · 22/04/2022 09:29

You can't train them to be dry at night. They need to be producing a hormone that wakes them up when they need a wee. That happens at different ages and your GP won't be concerned until age 7.

My two were both reliably dry and in pants by 2.5 years. My daughter was dry at night at the same age but my son wore took till about age 5.

I am a Beaver Leader (ages 6-8) and when on camp there are always a few of 6 year olds who still wear pull ups at night time.

Totally normal.

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whatsagoodusername · 22/04/2022 09:29

It varies. They need to start producing a hormone to stop them weeing at night. You can try training - there are alarms that will wake her up if they get wet, you can take her for a wee when you go to bed. It might work, it might not.

Doctors won't be interested until she's about 8, maybe older.

She might be dry at night, but used to the nappy so emptying her bladder into it in the morning, possibly just before she wakes up. If it's that, you'll probably have some success with training. If she's wet by midnight, it's probably the hormone hasn't developed.

Clymene · 22/04/2022 09:29

You can't actively train. They produce a hormone that wakes them up when they need to pee in the night and until that time, you need to put nappies on them.

And please don't lift for a wee when you go to bed. It's pointless.

Gowithme · 22/04/2022 09:32

I know people say lifting for a wee doesn't work, but it worked for our ds. Toilet before bed, then at 10 and then he'd go through. If we didn't lift him then he couldn't last all night.

UnaOfStormhold · 22/04/2022 09:35

It is worth trying to introduce the habit of a double wee at bedtime and a wee as soon as they wake up, and helping them feel comfortable to go in the night (a motion sensor light can help here) but if they're doing that and still wetting then it's a question of waiting for the hormones to set in.

DollyPartBaked · 22/04/2022 09:35

We lift our DC - I don't think it's pointless. But it still took till nearly 4 to be able to do this without an accident before the lift time and an accident afterwards.

I don't think it is pointless because (even though he couldn't go the whole night without it) he still gets to not wear a nappy at night so feels like a big boy - compared to baby sibling still in nappies AND we save money going through a 30 nappies a month.

nearlyspringyay · 22/04/2022 09:36

Totally normal. The hormone has to kick in. Dts were daytime dry at 3, 5.5 when they were night time dry.

MajorCarolDanvers · 22/04/2022 09:37

Gowithme · 22/04/2022 09:32

I know people say lifting for a wee doesn't work, but it worked for our ds. Toilet before bed, then at 10 and then he'd go through. If we didn't lift him then he couldn't last all night.

It might well have stopped your DS from wetting the bed but it won't have trained him to wake up.

Ohshitiveturnedintomymother · 22/04/2022 09:37

Gowithme · 22/04/2022 09:32

I know people say lifting for a wee doesn't work, but it worked for our ds. Toilet before bed, then at 10 and then he'd go through. If we didn't lift him then he couldn't last all night.

This works for me too. Dc was 2.5 when they were dry during the day and started to refuse to put a nappy on for the night. They had been almost dry at night but not reliably so we introduced a dream wee at about 10.30 and it works for us.
this summer when they are 3.5 I’m going to try to drop the dream wee and see how they go. If not we’ll continue until they don’t need it anymore.

vitahelp · 22/04/2022 10:08

Wow thank you so much everyone, I honestly had no idea there was a hormone that kicked in...feel quite silly now! Well it's great news, I was starting to dread 'night training' as she is such a good sleeper and I didn't want to sabotage that. So it is great news that it isn't neccessary.
We are already getting her into the basic habit of going for a wee before bedtime (usually just before her bath) and obviously taking her nappy off as soon as she wakes up. So we will just continue as we are for now.
Thank you so much :)

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Daqqe · 22/04/2022 22:04

My DD was daytime dry at 23 months. Nighttime was 3.5 when she decided one day nappies were for babies & flatly refused to wear one 🙈 We had 3/4 nights of wet beds but then it just clicked. She is a light sleeper and so she just got up for a wee when she stirred. We put a potty in her room. She is 5 now & still goes for a couple wees a night when she stirs. She seems to basically sleep walk herself there, she is barely awake!

FolkSongSweet · 22/04/2022 22:20

I potty trained my DD at 17 months (took 3 days before people start having a go, so she was clearly ready) but at just turned 4 she’s still in nappies at night. I tried to take her for a dream wee once but she was furious at being woken and really upset and it was an awful night, so now just waiting until her nappy is dry. I’d rather change a nappy in the morning than a wet bed in the middle of the night!

Floydthebarber · 22/04/2022 22:26

Totally normal. It's something the body does rather than being trained. Dd1 was dry in the night a few months before she was out of nappies in the day.

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