Toddler refusing to get off potty in the middle of the night

[bez91]

Hi all

I'm not even sure if this is potty or sleep related. DD is 3 in a couple of months. A few occasions before now and now twice in the last 3 nights she has woken early in the night and has said yes when asked if she needs to go to potty. She's sat on it and not done anything (I genuinely don't think she needs it, she might be half asleep) but she repeats she needs a wee wee until about 45 mins has passed and we end up having to take her off it for her to stay awake for the next hour having an epic meltdown kicking out, she's generally not like this.

We've been are staying away from home for a few days and will be for a while so she's a bit unsettled but this is just odd and we're really at a loss as what to do. We say we're giving you 5 minutes but she would literally sit there all night and its just disturbing the whole house and there is just no reasoning with her. Any ideas?

I should have added, she is fully potty trained and trained so so well with no problems, no accidents and this only happens at night.

Is she weeing okay during the day? Just wondering if it could be a UTI or dehydration (given the heat) so she thinks she needs a wee but can't actually go?

@Lurchermom thank you - I thought this but it has happened on the odd occasion before now (pre heat-wave) she's definitely not dehydrated today. I think she'd tell us if she was unable to go.
She'll literally just repeat herself about needing to go then not, I'm more airing to the side that she's half asleep/sleepwalking but still have no idea how to address that especially because the issue is wanting to sit on the potty all night 🤷‍♀️

That is still very young.

I know you said she doesn’t have accidents but I wonder if the staying on the potty thing is anxiety about wetting the bed?

Perhaps if you put down a protective sheet for her and explain why it’s there, or let her wear pull-ups for a bit and explain that they’re for accidents, this might alleviate her anxiety?

It might be worth talking to her about it (in the daytime) to see if it’s anything else.

Could it possibly be attention seeking. She wants to spend time with you in the middle of the night and she knows telling you she knows she needs to go to the potty will get your attention?

Hi all,

Thought I'd pop back with an update. Thanks for all your suggestions. I wasn't going to put her in a nappy at any stage, she's been dry at night for 5 months so anything like that would be a backward step plus she'd have really hated it - she's so fiercely independent 🙈

It lasted a few more nights after this post and has happened once since but we think we've concluded she's asleep when doing it so sleep walking and possibly a night terror which would explain the 'tantrum'

Fingers crossed that's it or if it does happened they're very infrequent 😊