becoming dry at night

11 replies

DeeDee012

Hi,

I have a question. My daughter is three years old and is daytime potty trained. For some reason, she refuses to poop on the toilet and does it in her diaper instead. She does know when she needs to go, because the diaper has to be on. We are working on this.

Now I want to get her night-trained too, and I've had her sleep without a diaper for 4 nights now. The first night she was wet around 10:30 PM, I changed the sheets, cleaned her up, and had her pee again, and she was dry until the next morning. The next day, I had her pee at 9 PM, and she was also dry until the next day. On the third night, she didn't want to pee, and she was wet around 2:30 AM. On the fourth and last night, she was wet at 10 PM and again later around 6:30 AM.

Now I'm wondering whether I should just keep going, or am I creating a problem here? Or should I just wait a bit longer and put the diapers back in the closet?

Replies

:-) #2

Tricky, DeeDee.... night-time potty training isn't your daughter's choice. My kids were just dry at night, yeah, and then you just don't put the diaper on anymore. My son was day and night trained at 2.5.
My daughter was daytime trained at 13 months and night-time at just 3 years old. So she wore diapers at night for another 2 years.

I would wait myself, at night she doesn't need to go to daycare/playgroup/school.
In that regard, I would just wait until she is naturally dry at night. And believe me, that day will come!

Good luck!
DeeDee012 started this #3

Yeah, I was actually thinking the same thing. It shouldn't become an issue, like her feeling insecure about it or anything. She really wants to, because she's already so big, right.. hehe, that's what she thinks. I'll just put a diaper on her tonight. Thanks!
:-) #4

No, just what you said.
You indeed don't want it to become a problem.
I can imagine she doesn't want it on when she's going to sleep, or is that not a problem?
Because if she doesn't fuss about it, I'd just wait until there are a few dry diapers at night. And yes, just give her a good wee on the potty before bedtime and maybe one more before you go to sleep in her bedroom with the light off and the hallway light on (so you can see a bit). She'll just go back to sleep.
It won't be long anymore
DeeDee012 started this #5

Hi Debby, thanks for your reply.

Diaper-free isn't an option. She won't sit on the toilet or potty to poop. I've already tried what you suggested. She refuses to poop on the toilet or potty. I've managed to get her to sit on the toilet with her diaper on for now, and the ultimate goal is to get rid of the diaper. Pooping on the toilet without a diaper right now causes her a lot of stress. She gets overwhelmed and upset, which doesn't seem like a good situation either.

I've also decided to tackle this issue first before moving on to nighttime. I'll keep it to one thing at a time.
Monkey #6

My son had long-term issues with bowel movements on the potty.
Anyway, it was always in his pants... Getting angry didn't help at all, because he'd go into a mild panic if he'd had another accident in his pants.
So, a different approach: calm reaction, explaining that mom now has to wash his pants and that's not so nice, but also adding that it's not a big deal. Things like that happen.
And suddenly, out of nowhere, after 5 months in his pants, he did it on the potty.
Yes, accidents still happen (if he has loose stools, he can't hold it in), but then I just tell him it's not a big deal and that sometimes that happens.

At night he still wears a diaper; sometimes it's dry in the morning, sometimes it's soaking wet.
I'd bring the diapers back, especially since she only wears them at night now. Maybe she's not ready for that yet? What you could maybe try is not letting her drink too much in the evening. Then she'll have to pee less at night.
Madelene #7

My oldest daughter, 6, still wears diapers every night.
If we don't put a diaper on her for one night, her bed is immediately wet.
It's enough to make you feel discouraged.
There's absolutely no point in not putting the diaper on her, because she just wets the bed every night anyway.
So now we took her to the hospital
and got a referral for bladder training with a pelvic therapist for children.
So yes, hoping that we can gradually get her dry at night.
I'd also like to stop buying those diapers every week,
but for now, there's no other way.
I personally think that for every child, like my daughter for example, it doesn't make sense to let them sleep without a diaper and get used to it that way.
Some children feel the wetness and will naturally start to dislike it,
while others don't care at all.
You eventually get annoyed because you're constantly changing the sheets.
My husband said he was going crazy having to change her bed every morning because of the urine.
So after 4 days, we stopped doing that.
Maybe it's not nice buying diapers every week,
but it's more relaxing than constantly changing the sheets.
Maybe see the GP who might be able to help further.
Madelene #8

Now my little girl also gets bladder infections a lot.
So the doctor thinks she has a weak bladder.
That's also why potty training at night has been difficult.
But now she's been referred to bladder training for kids.
kruimel #9

Madelene, maybe a bedwetting alarm is an idea. No personal experience with it, but I sell them at the care shop where I work, and many parents and children benefit from them.
Madelene #10

Hi Crumb, thank you for your advice
I’d never heard of that before.
I’ll give it a try then.
DeeDee012 started this #11

I wanted to keep you all updated on our trip.. The question is really old by now..

At one point, I stopped putting a diaper on my daughter. I explained to her that if she needs to poop, we do it on the toilet. She held it in for 3 days, and then while she was in the bath, she had to go. Up to the toilet she went, and sure enough, she couldn't hold it anymore. For a week, she pooped every other day, still crying a little on the toilet. Suddenly, that was over, and now she sometimes goes twice a day. No problems, and she communicates it well. In the end, persistence paid off, but I gave her the choice of when she wanted to go.

She's also been dry at night for 2 weeks now. She still wants to wear her diaper pants, just to be safe, and I give her that choice. However, she's dry every morning. I ask her every evening if she wants to go without a diaper, and she hasn't wanted to yet. I'm giving her the choice for now, but after a while, the diapers will just run out
madelene #12

Nice Deedee, glad it worked out for you!
Unfortunately, no success for us yet.
The youngest is happy though. The cause was always a bladder infection. Now that she's over it, she doesn't wet the bed at night anymore.
I actually don't dare to say it too loudly
But still.
Only Yara, our oldest princess, still wears diapers at night. She also had a bladder infection, it turned out. And now her antibiotics are completely finished.
Now we wait to see if she's dry in the morning.
The health center also advised not to stop using diapers for the night right away
Because, she said, children are usually not dry at night that quickly, it takes more time.
During the day you can tackle it first, that's easier.
My husband and I also got sick from it
Changing a wet bed every morning
It also caused stress.
That's why we just continued with diapers.
Saves us a lot of stress.
But well, now we wait and see.
Great Deedee that it worked out for you
And nice that you want to share it with us here.

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