Starting tomorrow! What to do at night?

[Newmums16]

My DD will be 3 in June and we are going to start potty training her tomorrow. Health visitor advised keeping her indoors with no bottoms so we will be home Easter weekend giving us 5 days. I am wondering what to do at night time though? Should we put her in pull ups? She co-sleeps with us if that makes any difference. All advice appreciated :-)

Leave pull-ups on. Mine weren't reliably dry at night for a year after being dry during the day, although they were only just two when they were potty-trained so you might find it doesn't take as long for a 3 year old to be dry at night. Get the daytime sorted before you even think about nights though.

Agree, DD was trained day time in September but still not dry at night or anywhere near to be honest. I read that it's more to do with hormones. We just pop a normal nappy on before she gets into bed.

I'd really recommend reading Oh Crap before you start if you can. I'd just tell her nappies are only for when you're asleep now. My DD was dry at night within a month or so of starting potty training so she might not be in night nappies for too long, you just don't know. My DS is only 3 days in and his night nappies have already been drier each morning.

Hi, sadly night time dryness is a whole different matter and a lot of it comes down to when the body starts making a specific hormone. It can be inherent too as both me and DH wet the bed till 8 ish. Sadly this is now reflecting on our kids and our 3,5 and 7 yr old still wear a nappy at night.. but it changes for every child as our 3yr old is almost dry but both the 5 and 7 year old fill a nappy at night. We just don’t make a big deal of it in our family and it isn’t turned into a big deal. Hope this helps x

I also followed the oh crap method, bought the book off amazon. My little boy is the same age as yours, nearly 3.
I started potty training last week and I put him in pull ups at night as I wasn’t ready to deal with doing day and night training at the same time! Anyway, I noticed his pull ups seemed to be dry just a few days after starting so I stopped putting him in one. And he’s been dry since then, touch wood. I would just follow your child’s lead and not worry about night training too much.
Good luck for tomorrow!

Brilliant thanks for all the advice everyone. I’ve just realised we’ll have to pop out on Friday to do the food shop. Should I put on a pull up? I’m assuming it’s too soon to risk it in knickers?

I'd just do an online food shop if you can get a slot, it might be confusing to go back into a nappy or pull up if it's going well or she is still learning.

Just go for it. Offer toilet before, during and after. Don't put a nappy on if it's going well.

I agree, don’t put a pull up on as she’ll be confused and you don’t want to undo your hard work!
Bring the potty when you go out, offer it to her in the car before you go in the shop. Also bring a change of clothes and I’d put something absorbent for her to sit on in the car seat and the trolley such as a towel or puppy pad if you have one. Then keep an eye out for her signs that she needs a wee when you’re in the shop.

Also, I’d avoid underwear on day 2 and keep commando as knickers will feel too snug and can be confused for a nappy. I followed the oh crap method and the author recommends no underwear for at least 4 weeks if you can. But of course it’s up to you, whichever method you decide to follow

I used to put pull ups on to go out for the first week or so. It didn't seem to cause any confusion and both mine were trained pretty quickly.

UPDATE: it’s going terrible so far! She’s done a wee on the floor 4 times and not attempted to go on the potty once. When I put her on it she’s just says ‘all done’ without doing anything. I knew it wouldn’t be easy but I thought she’d wee in there once at least!

What method are you using? They're very unlikely to just get up and use the potty, they'd be training themselves if that was the case. You need to teach her to link the feeling of needing to wee with moving to the potty. So every time she looks like she's about to wee, move her saying hold it. If she's started, pick her up saying hold it. This is the Oh Crap method, it's really worth a read.

Yes, oh crap was recommended to me but because I was starting the next day I didn’t have time to buy the book and read it. I’m just leaving her without any bottoms on. She just starts peeing wherever she is and then I’m running her to the potty! I started off super encouraging but it’s really getting frustrating towards the end of the day

You can get it as an e book and you only have to read the first couple of chapters initially so it's quick read. I'd really recommend it if you're unsure about how to proceed.

Basically you're starting with a child who's clueless because they've never had to think about weeing and pooing before because it's a natural process. They don't need to be taught to wee, they just need to be taught where it goes. So potty training means getting them to go from clueless to realising they have peed, to realising they are peeing, to realising they need to pee. That's when they'll start self-initiating. You have to teach them that though. The book explains it far better but it's basically not sitting them on the potty at regular intervals, waiting for the child's cue and not asking them if they need to wee.

The first few days are really tough, hang in there. My child was exactly the same, I think he weed on the floor 6 times in one day and he’d scream when id put him on the potty. By about the 3rd or 4th day he got the hang of it and go to the potty himself.
The poster above has explained it really well what you need to do. Just be consistent and she’ll eventually understand that this is how it is now, no more nappies.

Also keep your eyes on her at all times and the potty nearby. So then you learn her cues for when she needs a wee (eg crossing her legs, panicked look) or starts doing a wee and swiftly place her on the potty. Then hopefully some wee will go in the potty and she will learn the association.

Secret is to have 2 or 3 potties...put them in the lounge/kitchen/hall. Means no running around frantically! Take one when your out too pop on the buggy. Pull ups do mimic a nappy so as others have suggested try not to use these too often in the early stages it really will confuse.

Agree with others, plus dont stress when accidents happen,thats a necessary part of the learning, to feel wet, and gradually learning they can avoid that by using the potty or toilet to try to be dry.

So not everything panned our so smoothly (I’m a divorced single parent now!) But potty training was a breeze.

Fair bit to do with whether child ready or not. 22 months for my daughter. She didn’t want to wear a happy. We had one accident. And that was my fault!
Son 2.5 years.

I made NO big deal about it with my son. No treats, no bribery (and I do bribe!). My approach was not being in nappy was a good enough reason. He never used a potty. I didn’t even buy one. Just one of those seats that go on top.

Honestly it worked a treat. No fuss. No drama

Hey Computer125. What home office did you apply for? I applied at Sheffield Home office in January. I am now on a reserve list too!!

I would do one at a time. Focus on day times first and then naps and night times in a few months once she is really confident xx