What to do at night

[Rowlie]

My DS 3.5 has been potty trained for nearly a year. He is still in pull-ups at night and I want to try removing them. I think he knows when he needs a wee and is waking up but does it in his nappy as he knows he has one on… and we’re having a lot of leaks because of this so I’m thinking it’s time. When he sometimes has a daytime nap I don’t put a nappy on and we have no wetting.

My question is, I think he will need a wee in the night so what do people do, do you just get up and take them to the toilet at this age and then back to bed? He’s obviously too young to manage this on his own but then I’m reluctant to do it in a way as he sleeps through so we will be going back to disturbed nights when he needs to get up for a wee but I know leaving him in nappies at night is just lazy parenting on my part as I don’t want to have to get up.

Just wanted to see how other people manage it, or do your children typically not need to get up for a wee in the night?

TIA

Try a ‘sleepy-time’ pee before you go to bed. I bring a potty into little ones room and keep it as dark as possible.

Nighttime nappies isn’t lazy partnering! Night potty training involves a chemical/ hormonal change and your little one might just not be there yet.

I just go in and tell him it's 'Wee time', get him up, guide him to the bathroom (at 3 a potty is fine) and put him back to bed.

I'd maybe do it twice if he was younger.

Have a potty in his room for nighttime, make sure he can pull his pyjamas down independently. Also encourage first morning wee in potty or toilet. The only way to know if it’s going to work is to try it, maybe do a few nights and if he stays dry great, if he’s wetting the bed a lot then he’s obviously weeing in his sleep so not ready yet, you can go back into pull ups until they’re dry most mornings.
Being dry overnight just takes longer for some DC and it’s not something you can train them to do so it’s not actually lazy parenting. 3.5 is still very young so I wouldn’t be stressing about waiting a while

Thanks all, the reason I’m saying it’s lazy is because I don’t think he is weeing in his sleep, I think he’s waking up and doing it in his nappy as he knows he has it on. I’ve been reluctant to remove nappies as I don’t want to have to get up in the night to take him to the toilet. But keeping a potty in his room is a good idea, I think he’ll wake up and tell me if he needs to go

I used to wake up before we went to bed around 11pm for a wee and left a potty in his room.

Brolly sheets are very effective if you want to go without nappy

Are you 100% sure that the wees are being done when awake?

I thought this might be the case when DD8 was about your DS’s age but she was adamant that she was not doing it on purpose.

We did without the DryNites for a week and put down those absorbent disposable bed mats that they do instead to see if that had an effect.

She was still wet every night and got very upset when she woke up wet (she is mildly ASD high-functioning).

She’s still in them now (13+ size as she’s big for her age).

I don’t want to worry you but at 3.5 I’d be surprised if the wees are being done on purpose.

Most GPs won’t even consider it abnormal at that age.

Of course if you know it’s laziness because DS has said so, then that’s different.