Night time potty training

[swamp]

OK all you parents.  I need your collective wisdom and ideas.

DD is 5, she will be 6 in October.  She still wears a pull up at night.  She sleeps like the dead, and I assumed she didn't get up to pee because she slept through it.

This morning, she tells me that she knows she is peeing at night, but it's OK because she's wearing a diaper.   This was after she wet the pull up so much that it leaked.   This is a problem because I currently do not have a washer, but the new one should be delivered tomorrow.

I told her since she knows she is peeing, every time she wets the bed, she gets to change the sheets and do the laundry and remake the bed.  Yes, it will take me much longer to do it this way, but it's the only way I can think of for her to see what kind of work it creates.  She is not happy with me.

What would you do?

[Deleted]

make sure she pees before bed every night and take off the dang pull ups.

[Formerly SK]

I'd probably take away the pullups and let her sleep in her pee if she has an accident.  Then let her change the bedding in the morning.  BUT that is predicated on the point she's doing it on purpose. 

I assume you've done all the other nighttime stuff like no liquids past 6pm, etc?

[Abby Normal]

If she seems to be ok with going in the diaper, get rid of the diaper. The feeling may wake her up faster so she can use the bathroom, or maybe she'll just start caring because she won't want to change the sheets in the middle of the night or sleep in a wet bed.  Also make sure she isn't drinking a lot of liquid in the last few hours before bedtime and have her go just before she goes to sleep.  (Ie after story time)

[swamp]

1.  we do that
2.  I will.

I tried putting underwear under the pullups so it would be uncomfortable.  that didn't work. I just had more underwear to wash.

[Deleted]

Hard work is a GREAT motivator! 

I was a bedwetter and I can assure you that I did not do it on purpose. Since DD says she knows she's going in her pull-up, I think your punishment is just. 


DS still has accidents and he's almost 7. If he told me he was knowingly going in his pull-up instead of getting up and going to the bathroom I would also make him responsible for his bedding.

[swamp]

Aug 23, 2013 11:29:39 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

 

I assume you've done all the other nighttime stuff like no liquids past 6pm, etc?

yes.

[swamp]

Aug 23, 2013 11:30:23 GMT -5 @beerwench said:

Hard work is a GREAT motivator! 

I was a bedwetter and I can assure you that I did not do it on purpose. Since DD says she knows she's going in her pull-up, I think your punishment is just. 


DS still has accidents and he's almost 7. If he told me he was knowingly going in his pull-up instead of getting up and going to the bathroom I would also make him responsible for his bedding.

I wasn't even mentioning anything about it because I thought she had no control over it.  when she told me she knew what she was doing, then I decided I needed to address the issue.

[Deleted]

I would not punish her for wetting the bed, though.

[Angel!]

Aug 23, 2013 11:29:39 GMT -5 Formerly SK said:

I'd probably take away the pullups and let her sleep in her pee if she has an accident.  Then let her change the bedding in the morning.  BUT that is predicated on the point she's doing it on purpose. 

I assume you've done all the other nighttime stuff like no liquids past 6pm, etc?

Unless there are other issues causing the nighttime peeing, then I would go this route.  I think there is some awareness that if they are wearing a pullup therefore they are ok to pee.  Just take them away and make her responsible for accidents. 

DS was always waking up with a wet pullup, then one day he told me he didn't want to wear them to bed anymore.  Somehow he didn't have an accident that night or for most nights since.  I was amazed because he never woke up with a dry pullup prior to that.  But, taking away the pullups kept him from peeing at night.

[mmhmm]

Sounds fair to me, Swamp.  She's old enough to take responsibility for something like this.  I might be that she doesn't really wake up until the "peeing" has already started, but this exercise will help you get more information on what's actually causing the problem.  If unmaking and remaking her own bed and doing the laundry doesn't result in a change, you can talk to her pediatrician about the problem.

[Abby Normal]

Does she go often during the day?  It could also be a small bladder.  At six I could see where she ins't quite awake enough to get up so she chooses to go in the pullup.  Maybe you could wake her up just before you go to bed and make her go again.

[Deleted]

That's what my Mom used to do with me, agile. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. 

[swamp]

Aug 23, 2013 11:35:47 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

Does she go often during the day?  It could also be a small bladder.  At six I could see where she ins't quite awake enough to get up so she chooses to go in the pullup.  Maybe you could wake her up just before you go to bed and make her go again.

LOL.  I go to bed a half hour after she goes to bed.  I can't wait to get my kids in bed so I can sleep.

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2013 11:34:46 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

Sounds fair to me, Swamp.  She's old enough to take responsibility for something like this.  I might be that she doesn't really wake up until the "peeing" has already started, but this exercise will help you get more information on what's actually causing the problem.  If unmaking and remaking her own bed and doing the laundry doesn't result in a change, you can talk to her pediatrician about the problem.

That's what I was thinking.  I wet the bed for a long time and I knew it was happening, but by then it was too late.

I'd try taking the pullups away and seeing how she does, and make her help with cleanup, but if that doesn't work after a reasonable trial period, I'd let her have them back.  My older son needed them until 7 or so.  But my 3 year old has been waking up dry for the past 6 months already.  I'm considering dumping his pullups after this box is gone.

[Deleted]

My uncle wet the bed, so my parents just figured it was hereditary (lucky me being the only one out of 6 kids  ). Anyhow, their pediatrician and mine as well figures kids grow out of if. And I did so I have no worries that DS will as well.


I used to have to strip my bed and change the sheets once I got old enough to handle the task. I wonder if that has anything to do with my disdain for laundry... 

[mmhmm]

My son was a bedwetter, as well, and he, too, slept like a rock.  It took him until he was 10 to be able to control it, and even then it wasn't a sure thing.  Now, there are treatments that can help.

[Deleted]

I was seriously 11 or 12 before I quit wetting the bed.  Same thing with my ex.  I was sure our son would be doomed to the same fate but thankfully he is doing a lot better than we were.  Still very occasionally he'll have an accident and he strips his bed and puts everything in the laundry. 

[zibazinski]

Swamp, does your husband stay up later? Both my kids would not have made it through the night if they had gone to bed when I did. But I taught school and had to get to bed early because I got up early. He would potty them before he went to bed which was usually around 11 pm. I'd go to bed around 8:30 which was also about a half hour after they did. No way could they go 12-13 hours without peeing at their age.  But they could go 6-7 hours which they did after being pottied again. Neither child remembers being taken to the bathroom at 11pm but both remember they never wet the bed.

[swamp]

Aug 23, 2013 12:52:00 GMT -5 zibazinski said:

Swamp, does your husband stay up later? Both my kids would not have made it through the night if they had gone to bed when I did. But I taught school and had to get to bed early because I got up early. He would potty them before he went to bed which was usually around 11 pm. I'd go to bed around 8:30 which was also about a half hour after they did. No way could they go 12-13 hours without peeing at their age.  But they could go 6-7 hours which they did after being pottied again. Neither child remembers being taken to the bathroom at 11pm but both remember they never wet the bed.

No, he usually goes to bed the same time I do.

[zibazinski]

Crap. Well, that's what worked for us.

[Angel!]

Could you buy some sort of bed covers that make it much easier to clean up?  I know I have some waterproof cloth pads that I got when the kids were little.  It would be nearly enough for an older child because they are small.  But maybe something bigger that is either washable or thrown out.  That could save a lot of hassle if it doesn't go well, but you want to give it a try for a few weeks to see if she adjusts.

[yogiii]

Maybe getting rid of the pullup will alert her to the pee.  So she'll pee a little in her underwear and then wake up to finish in the bathroom.  So sometimes that could mean stripping the whole bed, other times maybe just a change of undies and pjs.  Good luck, I'm sure she'll keep improving.

[Abby Normal]

not to mention that if she's that heavy of a sleeper she could be dreaming she's on the toilet.

[giramomma]

Aug 23, 2013 15:06:19 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

not to mention that if she's that heavy of a sleeper she could be dreaming she's on the toilet.

DH's brother got up once in the middle of the night and walked to the top of the stairs (on the second floor) thinking he was in the bathroom. I guess DH's dad got to BIL just in time before he let loose.

[Phoenix84]

Just have her not drink any liquids after 6 p.m. and pee before she goes to bed.  Then she won't have any pee to pee in the bed with.

[kittensaver]

I remember a similar situation with my baby brother (5 years behind me). Once he went to school, my parents announced to him that because of his lack of bladder control, there would be no overnight camp and no sleepovers with friends if he continued to wet the bed at night (he knew about this things and wanted them because us older sibs did them).

The problem not-so-mysteriously went away.

[mmhmm]

Aug 23, 2013 15:25:57 GMT -5 @lonewolf said:

Aug 23, 2013 15:06:19 GMT -5 Abby Normal said:

not to mention that if she's that heavy of a sleeper she could be dreaming she's on the toilet.

I've done that.  Thankfully, I woke in time.

I've done that, as well.  Once, I didn't wake up on time.  

[swamp]

So I just but her to bed without a diaper. Wish me luck. And her. And my washer better show up tomorrow because I don't have any more queen sized sheets. 

[geenamercile]

Your daughter has a queen size bed.  Well shoot that is big enough just put her on one side, and if she pees tell her to roll over to the other side.  By the next night all should be dry for another go.  








But seriously good luck.