2-year-old asking to go on potty in the night - is this normal?

[parakeet]

I have just started potty training my two and three-quarter-year-old and so far it's gone very well, she's just having occasional accidents now. I was planning to keep her in nappies at night-time for ages yet, but tonight to my surprise, about half an hour after I had put her to bed, I heard her calling to do a wee on the potty.

I tried to persuade her to wee in her nappy but she insisted on getting up to use the potty. If she continues doing this, it will be a major inconvenience as she currently sleeps in a cot, in a sleeping bag, so there is no way she can go to the potty in her room independently.

So my question is, is this common - for them to WANT to become dry at night so soon, and do you think it could cause problems if I try to persuade her out of it?

Thanks for any replies.

DS1 started shouting to go on the potty during the night about a month after he was dry in the day (he was about the same age as your DD). We decided that there was no point in keeping him in night time nappies if he was going to shout to go to the potty anyway.

He is now 4.5 and has only just got the nack of getting himself to the toilet during the night. Up until now he would either shout for us or come and wake us up.

If she's ready then you may as well give it a go. You can always go back to night nappies if you end up with too many soggy sleeping sacks!

Not sure if that is any help to you at all best of luck.

Hello Parakeet
I am just going through similar with my DD who potty trained at 2 and is now nearly 3. I was going to leave her in nappies at night until she is dry in the morning but I am now thinking that some of us just need to have a wee in the night so maybe we just go cold turkey on it.... I think that if they are ready then you should go with it.
When I had just started potty training we did have quite a few shouts shortly after going to bed just as you described - a combination of novelty, avoidance technique for not going to bed and also because I'd not made sure she'd done a wee before I put the nappy on.
Would a bed and a torch help you with not having to get up with her?
Hope this helps.

Like JoeJoe's DS, my DD went dry at night a month after going dry in the day. She was the one who insisted on no nappies, and as I had just bought a waterproof sheet I thought what the heck, and we haven't looked back since - she was 23 months!

She did have the occasional accident, no more than a handful though and mostly damp PJs rather than soaking bed.

She is 3y4m now and often still gets up to use the toilet in the night. However we don't restrict her drinking, and she goes to bed with a cup of water.

Oh mine does this too. (she's 2 years 5 months). We started potty training about 3 weeks ago and she's dry now during the day. She ALWAYS asks for a wee after going to bed (despite going 2 seconds prior to getting in bed), and also when we go in the car. The worst thing though is that she does it about 4/5am and won't go back to bed. It's killing us. She wears a nappy at night, as pull ups leak. We don't feel we can say that she should wee in her nappy, as that seems to be a mixed message. (She's also in a bed/duvet so can actually get up). I honestly don't know what to do, and I don't mean to hijack the thread but would love any advice!

In answer to the OP - yes it does seem normal!

At age two and three quaters it's perfectly normal for the child to be sleeping in a toddler bed and being out of nappies as well. One of my girls was dry at night from the age of about two.

If she wants to use the potty, then let her, it will save on her having to sleep in a sodden nappy all night. Saves on the cost of nappies too. You might have to move her out of the cot though!

And it's normal to need the toilet quite soon after going to bed as this is when the body relaxes and urine is produced.

DD was dry at 2. She was in a bed though. Got up, used her potty, went back to bed.

I think it is v v normal for a newly potty trained child to procrastinate like crazy at bedtime and constantly ask to go to the loo. Mine did anyway. It doesn't necessarily mean they are ready to ditch night nappies, just that they like the extra bedtime attention. Grit your teeth and get on with it (maybe use pull ups to make the whole process slightly less annoying, you can keep the sleeping bag on, just unzip it and hold it up), the novelty will soon wear off if you don't make a big deal of it. I really wouldn't tell her to use the nappy. The nappy should be there in case of accidents, not an alternative to the potty - so yes I do think it may cause problems if you actively tell her to use a nappy rather than treating it as a safety net.

Both my girls were out of night nappies at about 2.6, a few months after being day dry (in a bed though and out of sleeping bags so not quite your situation).

Don't tell her to use her nappy - sit her on the toilet/potty before bed and if she asks do it again but with no talking etc.

Totally normal - and it can be difficult for them to do it in their nappy at night if they don't want to. DD stopped night nappies of her own volition at 2.5 - earlier than I was expecting, too, but it's best just to go with it.

Although DD was sleeping in a bed when she stopped wearing night nappies, for about six or eight months she would still shout for us if she needed a wee in the night (she didn't even get out of bed by herself in the morning for a long time). It's only recently, at just over 3, that she's started to get out of bed by herself full stop. Sometimes they can be readier to give up their night nappies than they are to get out of bed by themselves in the middle of the night, regardless of what sort of bed they're in.

Don't encourage her to wee in her nappy, this will undo all the obviously brilliant work you have already done.

MY dcs were all dry at night the same week they potty trained , dd2 (dc3) did call out in the early hours of the morning to go to the toilet for the first month or so, which was a pain but I would never have put her back in nappies.

keep the night time nappies on her for awhile and once she has went a few nights in a row with a dry nappy take it off

dd potty trained at 22 months and was dry at night 4 days after being dry during the day. We kept the nappies on for 4 days (2 of those she woke up dry, 2 she asked for the potty during the night) then took them off and she's been fine, very few accidents.

Don't know how I'd have done it if she was in a cot in a grobag though . By that time dd was in a bed.

all 3 of mine were dry at night and out of night nappies a couple of weeks after they were out of nappies in the daytime, I suppose some just are.

And it was not a problem, quite the opposite, they all just came out of night nappies at that point. We had very few wet beds.

Both my dc stopped wearing the nappy at night on the same day they stopped wearing one during the day.
In fact, I had noticed that their nappy had been dry for a while when they woke up and that made me decide to start encouraging them to go on the potty during the day.

Mine were still sleeping in a cot in a grobag too, they just used the potty before going to sleep.

DD was dry at night a week after being dry in the day, she was 3.1 though and has been in a bed for ages.

We also have the getting up for a last wee or poo just after being tucked in, but have only had a 3 or 4 wet beds in about 3 months.

She shouts to tell me she needs a wee in the night, even though she can take herself to bathroom and use it on her own