Night time potty training for 3 and a half year old DD

[LulaTallulah]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated:

My DD has been potty trained for about 16 months (since she was 2 years 2 months), but we cannot seem to crack night times. She still wears pull-ups at night and doesn't seem to wake up when she needs a wee or when she has done one in her pull-ups. We have tried going without only to have to change PJs when we kiss her good night at 10pm. She hasn't woken up, the bed is just wet.

At what age do kids seem to crack it? Her friends of the same age seemed to crack it at the same time as being potty trained in the day. Did I do something wrong????!!

My DD1 is 4.3 and still wears pull ups at night as do a lot of her friends. She'll do it when she is ready.

You haven't done anything wrong!

Wait til she is dry in her pullups for a week and then go without.

In the meantime get her into the habit of going to the toilet before bed and first thing in the morning. You could also put a potty in her room and remind her to go if she wakes up needing to go.

IIRC there is a hormone that they produce which kicks in to stop them weeing in their sleep - that may be a complete myth but possibly some explanation as to why she is weeing in the night.

3.6 is still young to be worrying about being dry at night.

I'm wondering about this one too, DD1 was dry in the day just before she was 2, she's now 3.8 and still wears pullups at night. She's finally stopped pooing in the nappy but makes no attempt at getting out of bed for a wee. I tried a couple of nights with no nappy and I lifted her when I went to bed - that worked ok - but in the morning she was wet and just lying in it, she didn't seem to understand.

I shall be watching this thread with great interest...

Ok. Feel better now. I thought it would be a case of wait and see, can't see how you can force this kind of thing! Thanks for all the responses.

yes you just have to wait until it clicks with them, you can't trian them at nighttime
lifting doesn't really work longterm because you aren't teaching them to get up when they want a wee

Night wetting while asleep has nothing whatever to do with being trained during the day. Bladder and bowel control while awake are consiously done, the child recognises the signals of needing to go to the loo and does something about it. Wetting during sleep is not consiously done, and so cannot be trained as such, it is a developmental thing. Every child is different, and some are dry all night sooner than others. You have to wait until your childs' body starts producing the anti-diuretic hormone, which limits and concentrates the urine produced during sleep, so that the child stays dry all night, and wakes to go to the loo in the morning. Just carry on using nappies/pull-ups until she starts having a few dry ones in the morning.

It isn't totally foolproof either; anxiety, illness, over-tiredness, and big life changes can all cause the wetting to start again, so don't abandon the waterproof mattress protectors. And ignore all ignorant remarks from people who say "oh, my dd was dry all night from 2" because it has nothing to do with your child. Night wetting is so common, that healthcare professionals are reluctant to do anything until after the child is 7 unless you suspect an infection.

You can help a bit by making sure your child drinks well during the day and limiting drinks after tea, but don't bother getting her up during the night to go to the loo, it isn't recommended. Drinking lots during the day stretches the bladder to hold a good amount of urine, and makes sure the child is well hydrated, so that limiting drinks in the run up to bedtime won't make the child thirsty and want to drink more! Then they risk wetting even more! I wouldn't do this at present, wait until there have been a few dry nappies first.