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Potty training

Is your child ready for potty training at nursery? Here's the place for all your toilet training questions.

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Original poster

How to get almost 6 year old out of nappies at night

32 replies

wafflesandcream · 05/08/2013 10:02

DD was dry during the day at 2 years old but has very wet nappies every morning and they sometimes leak in the night. Some say wait until they are dry for 2 whole weeks before removing nappies and others say go cold turkey. We lift her around 11 pm and she will go on the toilet but she still has a wet nappy in the morning. Please share your experiences as not sure whether to just wait until she's naturally dry at night.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

krisskross · 06/08/2013 18:20

Hi, am watching with interest as were in same position with ds same age, though we do not lift him.

alittlebitbockety · 06/08/2013 20:33

Also interested (though my ds is almost 5). I also heard that there is no point until they have dry nappies but I am losing hope that will ever happen. We are thinking of cold turkey soon - hope someone who has an answer to the OP comes along...

gymboywalton · 06/08/2013 20:36

i would say stop lifting her and stop putting her in nappies.

put a waterproof sheet on the bed and let her go to bed normally.

Jenny70 · 06/08/2013 20:43

We're in same position - experts won't consider it a problem until 7 or 8, which is suddenly seeming close!

We bought a brolly sheet, covers one third of bed, decreases wasing. And since the hols we've gone cold turkey no nappy - hoping it was a morning wee, not overnight as such.

But alas 10 days in, no dry night yet. today broly sheet "only" had a patch, so perhaps we may be going in right direction, but he's sometimes wet by 11 when I go to bed.

The most frustrating thing for me is for 2 months last year he was dry & out of nappies and regressed after xmas for no reason. I persisted for 6 weeks, but then went back to nappies.

krisskross · 07/08/2013 11:02

There seem to be two schools of thought- one that theywont be dry until they are ready and that this is not related to being dry in the day. The other seems to.be that if they feel dry because nappies are comfortable, they will never learn to control their bladder at night.

Any tips from.those who.had this issue and cracked it? Thanks

MinionDave · 07/08/2013 11:11

My DS was 7 and a bit before he was dry at night. He got referred to the bed wetting clinic on his 7th birthday but during the wait for the appointment, his pull ups became dryer, until we finally braved it and he came off them. He still has the odd night where he wets the bed (he is 8 now) but this usually follows having a large drink too late in the evening. We try and restrict his intake after 5 (whilst obviously not dehydrating him!)

No real advice sorry, other than it may be just a problem that sorts itself out in the next year or so. Might be worth speaking to the GP or school nurse though.

mumeeee · 07/08/2013 11:26

Don't worry it is actually fairly normal until they are about 7 and a fairly big percentage of those over 7 still wet the bed. Have a look at the ERIC website. An enrusis clinic won't see children until they are over 7. Stop lifting her as that actually encourages a child to wee in their sleep.

alittlebitbockety · 08/08/2013 10:35

So there is no consensus then on whether to leave the night nappy on, or take it off? I might try without for a week or two and see how we get on, but I can't see myself changing sheets every night for any longer than this. Maybe I will come back and update for the benefit of the OP and others!

krisskross · 08/08/2013 11:43

Please do!, my update is that we've been leAving nappy off for about 4 night's. We altered drinks to.give more earlier too. He has woken up wet every night at about 5- 545. But it's not really getting later, maybe by a few mins,. I am v tired! Also, he hhasn't once woken before the wee to my knowledge.....he has always been.a really deep sleeper....

alittlebitbockety · 08/08/2013 13:51

Mine is a really deep sleeper too. He often has accidents when he has a nap - he still often has a nap - which makes me a bit dubious about taking the nappy off. But I feel I ought to at least try! My mother keeps asking is he dry at night yet and I feel a bit of pressure now that he is starting school soon.

learnermummy · 08/08/2013 15:38

My eldest son was like this. Aged 5.5 it started to bother him so I did some research and bought an enuresis alarm. It was traumatic to begin with as he was woken by a very loud alarm and part of the process involved him having to turn it off himself. It was however a great success and he was dry within 2 weeks and has been ever since (now 7).

A friend had similar issues with her daughter but waited to be referred. At their first appt they were told to increase the amount she was drinking to increase her bladder capacity. This also worked really quickly and they didn't need next appt.

I would stop lifting at night as that's not actually teaching anything. Not sure about getting rid of nappies or not as my deep sleeper would have stayed asleep even if soaked!

Best of luck!

pumpkinsweetie · 08/08/2013 15:48

My dd has only just turned 5, has been day trained since 3 but has always wet at night. I use pull ups, 4 days out of 7 she is dry but still wets half the week. I can't use plastic sheets as she bed swaps with her sisters so often i can't keep up with what bed she has actually decided to sleep on . Watching with interest

Jenny70 · 08/08/2013 16:19

We're on day 14 of no night nappy and no success (yet). Doesn't wake him, so is doable as we're both getting sleep, just the daily washing is bit of a grind.

Pumpkin, google brolly sheet - the go over bed and tuck in quick, but if she's bed hopping after bedtime it wouldn't work.

krisskross · 08/08/2013 18:15

Thanks mumeee for suggesting the Eric website....had a look today and it gives some practical advice.

Learner - I was interested in what you said about bladder capacity. Can.anyone explain how it helps night dryness, as my ds may not be drinking enough generally, according to.the Eric site.

Thanks

learnermummy · 08/08/2013 20:04

I'm not too sure about the bladder capacity thing but think its to do with being able to go longer between emptying bladder - so if you get them to drink larger quantities during the day then the bladder gets used to holding more. Will ask friend how much they recommended drinking.

givemeaboost · 08/08/2013 20:08

I have to second that I must say, the nurse told us to do that before our appointment, got him drinking lots more than usual with the help of school and low and behold he dropped pullups before the appointment! try and get ds to drink a lot more than usual during waking hours then I would limit drinks initially after say 5.30/6pm and see what happens.

gamerchick · 08/08/2013 20:17

Loads to drink during the day if you can.. we generally wee like a racehorse for a few days but the bladder does adapt.

Stop putting them on the toilet half asleep.

Protect the mattress and just stop with the nappies.

I used to use an old, thick cot quilt across the bed. It helped catch most of it and it could be popped in the washing machine in the morning.

krisskross · 08/08/2013 22:31

Thanks everyone....just wondering giveme....how much did they recommend your son should drink ans how old, was he then? Thanks

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 08/08/2013 22:38

Ds2 is 7.9 and only just dry through the night.

He was seen in eneuresis clinic earlier this year where they suggested that he needed to drink lots more during the day (he already drank a good amount) and practice holding on for a bit when he first felt the need to wee.

They suggested having 1 pull up free night a week, that went well so ds started asking to do this more and more.

He seems to have stopped sleeping as heavily (was previoulsy completely out for the count!) and has now started waking to go to the loo rather than depending on pull ups which he frequently flooded.

He's been dry now for a couple of months.

I still double layer his bed though just in case (mattress protector, sheet, mattress protector, sheet) as I hate changing the bed in the middle of the night and it's easier just to strip off one layer. We use m+s waterproof mattress protectors which cost £20. they are machine washable and tumble dry able and have been fab.

pinkmagic1 · 08/08/2013 22:54

I think you need to try going cold turkey. Once my two were dry and clean during the day I stopped using a night nappy despite the fact the nappies were always sodden in the morning. We had hardly any accidents and I came to the conclusion that they obviously saw no point in getting up to wee whilst they had the security of a nappy that kept them dry and comfortable. Good luck.

krisskross · 10/08/2013 09:42

Just to update.....have started to make sure ds drinks loads. At 645 am we woke and realised he had not called us in the,night....dh ran in to find ds asleep and wet. But....he was less wet than usual and we think he had lasted longer without weeing as otherwise he'd have woken us...progress! Only thing is that needing a wee still doesn't wake him....but nor would an earthquake!

Original poster

wafflesandcream · 10/08/2013 22:28

Grateful for all the comments and think we will stop lifting and increase the amount she drinks during the day and see what happens. She doesn't drink much at all in the day so probably doesn't have a large bladder capacity, but she's always been like this. Ironically she used to get up in the night at age 2 to do a wee on the potty as she was a bad sleeper but now is out for the count! If these don't work I'll look into the enuresis alarm. Love the idea of the double layer bedding too!

OP posts:

MavisGrind · 10/08/2013 22:36

My HV said you just have to wait until they're dry. DS is a really heavy sleeper and would frequently soak the bed despite pull up and restricting fluid intake in the afternoon/evening.

Then, one day, he was dry. Just before his seventh birthday. We still make sure he has a big wee before he goes to bed and we never risk too much liquid after 6 however he just went, like that, to dryness.

I wouldn't have believed he could do it (and actually neither could he) and was privately preparing for him to be wet until he was teen. We still have plastic sheets on the mattress but I think we're over the worst.

Moral of the tale is: they will do it when they are able. Not before. (and there are a surprising number of 'late' bedwetters)

Hope it all works out.

lotsofcheese · 10/08/2013 22:37

Watching with jnterest....

Shattereddreams · 10/08/2013 22:43

DD is 6, under the clinic and soaking wet. We have desmopresin tablets but they don't work. Next appt is Tues so will update after.

We just get on wearing nappies.

No easy answer. They are dry when they are dry. Neither she nor I are bothered. Her DB seems to be the same, now 3.

DH and I were both dry at 2 at night.

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