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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

4yo still has wet pull ups every night

21 replies

StarlitTrees · 04/02/2018 18:58

My 4yo DS has been potty trained in the day since he was 2.5.
He has absolutely no problems in the day at all. Never has accidents and just takes himself off when he needs the toilet.

But every single night he will wet his pull ups. I just don't know what to do. Some times if he has a cough and semi wakes in the night, I'll check he's ok and ask if he wants to go for a wee, he always says no.

And I know it's not the biggest problem, but he's a big four year old. I'm currently using the Asda first pants. They work out relatively cheap but they don't come any bigger than size 6 (16kg/35lbs +). To be honest, they're already a bit small for him.
But the only bigger option I see on the shelves is huggies and the price is ridiculous compared to the Asda ones.

So suggestions as to how to help him get out of pull ups?

And in the mean time, any bigger than size 6, but not extortionate options?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Valerrie · 04/02/2018 19:01

My 9 year old still has to wear pull ups at night. No medical issues, just deep sleeper and small bladder.

We use the ones from home bargains - they go up to age 10.

Soubriquet · 04/02/2018 19:01

You can't teach night dryness

It's hormone based. My 4 almost 5 year old is nearly dry. She will have one maybe two accidents a week.

Until she's ready, I will continue to buy dry nites...as extortionate as they are

ferrier · 04/02/2018 19:01

No help at all but one of mine was about 8 before he grew out of it.

ferrier · 04/02/2018 19:03

You can (or could) buy reusable pullups - pretty much like normal y-ftont types with a padding layer which, if he goes on sleepovers, are less obvious than pullups.

Pattylogic · 04/02/2018 19:04

My twins are 5.5 and are still in pull ups at night. My eldest daughter just became dry at night very soon after potty training so I have no idea what to do either!

I’d be very interested to know what brand the Home Bargains pull ups are as we’re currently having to use pyjama pants which are costing us a fortune!

sproutsandparsnips · 04/02/2018 19:06

My 8 year old has only just become dry at night. An alarm worked for us but no need to panic yet - wait a bit. I just used normal pull-ups in largest size at that age - much cheaper.

thingywotsit · 04/02/2018 19:07

I had a similar issue with my DD. Dry during the day but still having very wet nappies in the morning.

On the eve of her 4th birthday we made a 'thing' of giving them up so her baby sister could use them. She was dry at night from that point on - it turned out she knew the nappy was on so she used it.

I think we'd still be waiting for a dry night if we hadn't tried it.

Frouby · 04/02/2018 19:08

My now 4 year old declared at 3.9 he was too big for night nappies. They were always wet so I insisted he wasn't. Little monkey started taking them off himself and leaving them in the bathroom bin before he went to sleep.

We have only had 1 accident and that was after a meal (and lots of juice) out past his normal bedtime. I told ny dsis and she tried the same thing with her similar aged ds and he is dry overnight too.

I suspect that the wet nappies were his morning wee he was too lazy to get out of bed for with a nappy on. Maybe give it a try with a decent mattress cover on. I used his old cotbed blankets for the first couple of nights when I realised what he was doing to save having to wash a quilt.

Just give him a chance to be dry.

Original poster

StarlitTrees · 04/02/2018 19:21

Thanks all for sharing your experiences.
I do think sometimes there's an element of laziness in it.
He comes into our bed in the mornings. I now get him to take his nappy off and put it in the bathroom bin before coming in. But before I did that he would wee in his pull up in my bed rather than go toilet.

I'm (half) tempted to take him out of them and see what happens. But I just don't know. I know it's not total laziness as he does sometimes tell me that it's wet in the morning in a disapppinted tone.

Thanks for the home bargains tip, I'll go tomorrow. He hasn't said anything but I think surely the size 6 will be getting uncomfortable.

OP posts:

lorisparkle · 04/02/2018 19:36

To be wet at night is considered normal until at least 7/8 years so don’t worry. Mine were in snug size 6 until they stopped being absorbent enough. Now I just live with wet beds. There are things you can do to help but as pp said it is due to the body not releasing enough of a particular hormone so even if you followed all the advice you can not guarantee a dry night. To help then ensure at least 7 good drinks a day. Preferably water but definitely not black currant squash. Ensuring there are nightlights so they are not worried about going to the toilet at night. Getting them to help strip the bed. Definitely no punishments or telling offs but reward things they can control ( eg drinking lots) The website ERIC is the most informative I found.

Original poster

StarlitTrees · 04/02/2018 19:48

Great post, thanks lori
He does drink well, but I'm sure he could drink more. So I'll give him a couple more in the day.
what's wrong with blackcurrant juice out of interest? He normally drinks water, orange squash, or milk.
I'll have a look st the ERIC website. Thanks a lot

OP posts:

lorisparkle · 04/02/2018 20:20

Black currant squash irritates the bladder so not recommended when you have any ‘wee’ issues. In my family ds1 was not dry until 10yrs after input from specialists, ds2 was dry at 3 yrs after 1 week of day time toilet training and ds3 is a work in progress at 7 years. I just need to work up the energy to tackle it! Oh yeah the other tip is no drinks 1 hour before bed (however for ds1 we had to stretch it to 2 hours to ensure a dry night)

RoxanneMonke · 04/02/2018 20:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

llangennith · 04/02/2018 20:32

DryNites Pyjama Pants do larger disposable nappies. Sizes 4-7 yrs and 8-14 yrs.
DryNights disposable bed mats under a fitted sheet and on top of a waterproof mattress protector.
DS wasn’t dry at night till he was 10.
Middle DGS isn’t dry yet at 10.

Slippery · 04/02/2018 20:32

My DS was 9 before he stopped wetting at night. I tried everything, including setting an alarm at 11 pm to get him to go (it would go off for 10 mins right next to his ear and he wouldn't wake).

I tried dragging him out of bed and taking him to the toilet, but he would still be absolutely sound asleep and wouldn't wake up enough to wee.

In the end, I just gave up and eventually it stopped.

I don't think there's anything you can do but wait.

I think it's something that lots of children go through, but parents don't like to discuss. Hurrah for Mumsnet

Try not to worry about it.

LMonkey · 05/02/2018 22:16

My DS is 5 and still has sopping wet pull-ups every morning. For a couple of weeks I sent him to bed without a nappy thinking it would be a learnt behaviour - what a busy time I had washing! Totally pointless as it's about hormones like the other posters said and not fair to put the poor little lad through that every morning. When I was reading up on it before I read that GPs apparently won't do anything about this until the child is 7, although from reading this thread it sounds like there are plenty of children who are older and still not dry at night so that's reassuring. I guess I'm lucky that my child is a diddy little thing so is still in size 6 Aldi pull ups - I hadn't even thought about that side of things to be honest with you! Please don't worry about the fact that your DS is still wet at night, but I hope you find your solution to the nappy problem. Have you tried anywhere online for cheaper bigger size nappies? Amazon? Kiddicare?

Codysmum88 · 08/02/2018 08:09

My DS is 5 and still in night nappies Its all to do with a hormone kicking in, and that can happen at any stage between 3 and 9 in some cases 🤔

littlemisssunshine81 · 09/02/2018 03:44

My nearly 4yo is at the moment leaking through his pull-ups every night. The really frustrating thing is that I bought some terry topped waterproof bed sheets to go under his fitted sheet and they don’t actually work! Now the mattress has gotten wet and there’s only so many times I can manage to dry it/ febeeeze it/ clean it! Has anyone else had this problem?? What else can I use to protect the mattress? X

llangennith · 09/02/2018 11:46

We have waterproof terry covered mattress protectors on all our beds and they do work. Usually bought from a local haberdashery shop £9.99 but also from Amazon. If needed wash at the right temperature with non-bio detergent and don’t tumble dry. Buy disposable bed mats to go between protector and fitted sheet then the protector should stay dry anyway.
Not all mattress protectors are waterproof. Maybe you bought the wrong sort.

juneau · 09/02/2018 11:58

DS2 is still in pull ups at night and he will be 7 in May. He's a big boy, so I'm now buying Dry Nites size 8-14 and they cost a bloomin' fortune! I'll take him to see the GP when he's 7, as I know they won't do anything until then. It's annoying, but I know it's pretty common. DS1 was dry at night one week after he learned to be dry in the day, so I know it's not anything that the DC can do anything about.

lorisparkle · 09/02/2018 15:29

I am finding all the waterproof sheets are rubbish and a nightmare to wash and dry so I now have a large piece of plastic and a large towel over the top and then a normal sheet. It is so much easier. The towel and sheet are easy to wash and the plastic I wipe with an antibacterial wipe and leave to dry until bedtime. So much easier. For cleaning mattresses I found bicarbonate of soda the best. I sprinkled liberally on in the morning then hoovered up at night

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