Bedwetting 3 year old

[ewbank]

Hi, my 3yr old DD has been potty trained for almost four months. All went smoothly and she's now very reliable.

However, we have been night training for a couple of weeks and have come across a problem - she's a hugely deep sleeper and when she does have an accident she sleeps straight through it!

I have been putting her on the loo when I go to bed, and tonight when I went into her she was already wet. This is what a deep sleeper she is - I sponged her down, moved her into my bed, changed her sheets, put a nappy on her and moved her back into a clean bed all without waking her up!!

What shall I do? She has only wet twice in over a week but when she wets she'll sleep through until morning with no idea she is lying in a puddle!

Do I put her back in pull ups?

[HairySubject]

I would go back to pull ups, night dryness isn't something they can learn, it is linked to hormone production.

Mine were 7 before they were reliably dry at night.

Don't believe everyone who days their kids were dry at night straight away, some were but others lie.

[ewbank]

It's frustrating as if she was a lighter sleeper I think she'd be fine.

Mind you I'm not going to complain about her being a deep sleeper - I can Hoover in her room during nap time without waking her! Pull ups it is then.

Thanks

[IMurderedStampyLongnose]

My nearly 5yo is still wet at night,but getting drier every night.As a PP said it linked to hormone production so no point in pushing the issue,she'll be dry when she is dry.

[BackInTheRealWorld]

She doesn't sound ready. Don't try to force it, it happens at different ages for different children. My don was dry at 3 and my daughter needed medication to finally get dry at 10.

[LurcioAgain]

Back into pull ups.

Night time dryness is not like potty training - it is a purely physiological phenomenon controlled by the production of a hormone which can kick in (in the vast majority of children) any time between about age 3 and age 7. The NHS will not refer children for bed wetting under the age of 7 for this reason.

What the hormone does (sorry, have forgotten its name) is to enable the kidneys to produce very much more concentrated urine over night so the bladder doesn't over-fill. I've seen it in action when my DS was catheterised after an operation - the catheter bag would remain only about half full of very dark urine over night, then first couple of hours after waking there'd be loads of urine. The paediatrician in the hospital explained it to me (and the night nurse who'd been worried about the drop-off in urine production).

So - don't worry about it, back into pull ups, and invest in some waterproof bed covers - the ones with a toweling surface are best, as plain rubber sheets simply result in a lake of urine which spreads all over the place. (My experience is that even once children are fairly reliably dry over night, other factors like being a bit ill or overtired can still cause occasional bed-wetting which can ruin a mattress).

[PamBagnallsGotACollage]

Yep. As others have said, night dryness can't be taught. Put her back in pull ups and wait until she is dry naturally.