Do we need a bed for DC if potty training at night? So that he can get out if he needs the loo

[MmmNutella]

Hello!

DH and myself are gearing up for potty training during lockdown (almost finished reading the Oh Crap! Potty training book).

I know for night training we're supposed to monitor DS's fluid intake and at night initially offer DS the chance to go twice, then once a night, but is the expectation that eventually it will then be no weeing or pooing at night?

DS is 22 months and seems ready (pats his nappy when he does a wee, has that look when he's doing a poo). He's currently in a cot but I wonder if a bed would be sensible so that if in a few months time he's got the knack that he also has the option to go to the loo if he really needs? (I know I need a wee occasionally in the middle of the night).

Or is that introducing too many new things at once? What did you do?

TIA

It does seem a lot at once but if you want him dry in the night too then you do need to provide the option for him to go to the loo at night which in a cot wouldn't work.
I'm in a similar predicament myself, I have a 2 year old but I don't think she's showing the potty training signs yet, so we are doing the bed first because I'm due her baby brother in 5 weeks and I want her out of the cot in enough time that she doesn't see it as him taking her bed.

Would he be able to get out of bed independently, pull trousers down and back up etc anyway? If not, could keep him in the cot for a bit and lift him out if he asks?

No. My recently potty trained almost-3-year old is still in night nappies (just in case), but he does sometimes wake up and cry for us if he needs a wee. Even though he has a bed, there’s no way he’d get out of it by himself

I wouldn’t worry about that yet. Keep him in a nappy at night for now, once he’s dry at night for a two week stretch you can take the nappy off, though tbh I can’t remember my kids ever waking for a wee as small children. Be prepared for dry at night to take longer than day time training.

Don't even bother with night training. There is literally zero point as it's something you can't train - they'll be dry at night when they're dry at night. Which is when the hormones needed to keep the kidneys from producing urine during sleep are produced in sufficient quantities and when the bladder has developed sufficiently to hold in urine even when unconscious.

In terms of order though, a proper bed should come before removing night nappies or pull ups IMO in case they need to go to the toilet.

I have a nearly 10 year old that wets nightly when not on medication to prevent it and a nearly 3 year old that's been dry at night for 6 months.

There's no telling which one your dc will turn out to be so just keep them in a nappy at night until it's been dry every morning for several weeks, then stop putting it on at night. There's no need to do anything else.

I wouldn't do both not at once

I would see if he's dry during the day. Then start the night

My eldest took about 4 months to be dry during the day. My youngest took 24 hrs. My youngest the. Took another 6 month a or so to be dry at night

Wait until he's been dry during the day. You'll know he's ready at night. As the nappy will be dry.

We potty trained DD at about 27 months. A year later she still isn't reliably dry at night - despite really wanting to be. We did take the sides off her cot 6 months ago but only because she was starting to climb out in the morning.

Given your DS is only 22 months I suspect he's a long way off being dry at night. Putting him in a big bed can mess up their sleep badly. Given that risk, I wouldn't do it at the same time as potty training. Either do it first by several months, or leave him in the cot and get on with potty training and worry about the bed at the point at which he starts climbing out / is reliably dry in the morning.

I potty trained my son at 18 months using Oh Crap but ignored the night stuff. He’s 23 months now and still in a nappy at night. Everything I’ve read suggests it’s just something they get with age/bladder size/hormones and if you try to do it sooner you’ll have to be responsible for waking them and making them do it which sounds like a nightmare to me! Just focus on the day and leave him in his cot.

It's not at all usual for children to be dry at night this young. Often it takes much, much longer. As others have said, it's not something you can 'train', it's hormonal.

DS wasn't dry until he was 7. DD was dry at night at the same time as during the day, we kept putting a nappy on at bed time for a good month but she never actually had a wee in it. It wasn't anything we did, I was prepared for her to be similar to her big brother!

Don’t bother with night training. Just focus on the daytime. Children often take a lot longer to be ready for night time, and they have to have a certain amount of hormone in their body to be able to stay dry overnight. At 22 months it will probably be a challenge just to do daytimes. Is he able to pull his own trousers down? And can he communicate to tell you he needs a wee or poo? Of course give it a try but don’t worry if he doesn’t grasp it yet.
I trained my boy just before he turned 3, had tried earlier but he wasn’t ready. And purely by chance he’s been dry at night ever since. Which was strange because he used to wake up with a soaking wet nappy every morning! But as soon as we did daytime he did night time too. But I would say that’s probably a fluke and very unusual.