My three year old still wets his pull ups at night

Janis - posted on 02/04/2009

Our son and daughter were both potty-trained but were in pull-ups at night. Our son was 5 years old and still waking up with a completely full pull-up EVERY morning, and our daughter didn't start wetting at night until we put a pull-up on her. I had pretty much figured that we were going to be in for the long haul with the kids wetting their pull-ups until they grew out of it. Another mom told me about "night training" her kids and it helped us so much! My husband and I set our alarm clock to wake us up at midnight, and then every hour or two after that, and we would take turns getting up and getting each child up to sit on the toilet until they went. The first week you're going to be real tired getting up so often at night. After a few days you can see if the child can go longer and wake them up every 2-3 hours. If they wet between then, you'll have to go back to waking them up sooner. Soon you'll notice a pattern of when your child seems to wet the most. Some don't pee much until a few hours before they wake up. When we woke the kids up, I carried them to the toilet (leaving all lights off), pulled down their pants and sat them down on the toilet (sometimes holding them up so they didn't fall in or over 'cuz they are still sleeping/y). We seemed to have to sit the longest with our daughter waiting for her to "go." It helped to turn the sink on very lighty so we could hear a "trickle" sound, or to wipe her first, and this seemed to help her to focus on "going". This whole training took maybe a month at most. The first week is the hardest, but we don't regret it a second. We are now free and clear of having to spend money on the pull-ups, and the kids very rarely ever have an accident in bed. They both wake up on their own and go during the night now. It is a huge blessing! I hope this is as much of a help to you as it was to me.

Mindy - posted on 02/04/2009

Night time wetting is a very common thing. I have a nephew that is seven that just stopped wearing diapers at night. The rest of his family never had to. Every kid is different and some just take longer or sleep so deeply that they just don't notice. It may take time but he will resolve it himself.

Jennifer - posted on 02/04/2009

You know most kids still have accidents at 3. Make sure he empties his bladder before bed and nothing to drink 3 hrs before bed. Some kids take longer for the muscles to get strong enough to hold it and some kids don't wake up.

Maureen - posted on 02/03/2009

My daughter just stopped wearing pull ups at night. She is five. I found that she was using them as a diaper and wasn't interested in going at night. I know that it is not uncommon to not be free of pull ups until 6. The doctor suggested that I make sure she uses the bathroom every 3-4 hours during the day so that she will feel the need to use the bathroom at night. I have put my daughter on the potty when I go to bed. If she doesn't seem to go, I run the water for a few seconds to see if that will start anything. My son was still in pull ups until almost 3.5.

Courtney - posted on 02/03/2009

I would put him in his undewear and a waterproof sheet on his bed. It took me a while to train my son at night but it did it's job. When he did make a mistake we woke up and sat and talked about it for about 10 minutes. It was kind of a lesson for him since he reallly wanted to go back to bed. So he tried not to wet the bed again that way we would not have to stay up for 10 minutes. He would remember to go to the bathroom instead going in his bed.

Emily - posted on 02/03/2009

We've tried just underwear with our oldest also... but 9 times out of 10 she still wakes up soaking wet... and then I have to wash another set of sheets. We even tried putting a waterproof pad on top of her fitted sheet, but somehow she wriggled off of it and the pad was the only thing that was still dry in the morning. I do have a plastic sheet under her fitted sheet, so I don't have to wash the mattress cover or the mattress every day, but it gets a bit ridiculous. I'm just going to have to wait until she's ready on her own... maybe before her 4th birthday (which is only another 4 months).

Pamela - posted on 02/03/2009

I just took my daughter, also 3yrs. out of her pull-up this week. She was only wearing them at night but also waking soaking wet in them. I didn't realize that I had no more so I told her she would have to sleep in her underwear. She looked at me and said "good now I can be a big girl, big girls don't wear pull-ups". She hasn't had a acident yet. I think that she loved the feeling of being a big girl and we make a really big deal when she wakes up dry.

Emily - posted on 02/03/2009

My 2 1/2 year old is usually dry at night (she has about one accident per week), but my 3 1/2 year old still soaks through her "night-diaper" every night. We found the best thing to do with our 2 1/2 year old was just to make sure she went right before bed and immediately after waking... with our older one though... I think it's just going to have to be her choice.

Nikki - posted on 02/03/2009

HI, I have a suggestion. I would try putting your child to bed in an underwear. It could be the security of the pull up that is throwing your child off. I wouldn't worry two much though. I know mothers now  like to have their kids trained by three, but they really do become fully trained in their own time. Trust me, the child really makes the decision to do it...not the mom:)