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Alyssamd24 posted 5/12/2014 19:39 PM

DD is five and still wears a pullup at bedtime. I have been waiting until I thought she was ready before starting night time training....but she still wakes up soaking wet every morning so I haven't started it yet.

I should mention my DD is the type of child who has done everything in her own time, which is my way of saying she reached many milestones late...she sat up late, rolled over late, never crawled, and started walking and talking late...she also potty trained later than other kids her age (not terribly late...she was potty trained before her third bday).

So since she has a history of doing things in her own time I thought it would be the same with night time training....and I have read that kids bodies simply have to be ready for nighttime training....they can't control it as easy as they can when awake.

I have read that when potty training at night you should wake kids up during the night to have them go pee....i haven't wanted to do that because if I am waking her up to go pee she is only doing it cuz of me....not because she is waking up on her own and realizing she needs to go....I feel like she needs to do it on her own.

Now I am wondering if it is time to just go for it and see how she does...maybe by taking the pullups away it will help her realize what it feels like....I feel like by not trying I am making it worse.

Just hoping to hear what other parents have experienced when potty training at night! Thanks

tushnurse posted 5/13/2014 08:10 AM

OH BTDT. My son was super easy to potty train, and the old adage is boys are harder than girls. Well my DD took that and threw it out the window!!!!

She was impossible to potty train, had a long difficult road for getting daytime down. Once we finally had that we started working toward night time. She was about 6 when she didn't wake up wet everyday, and probably about 8 before she completely stopped.

She slept so hard when she slept that she just didn't wake up. Often times waking up in the morning with a very wet bed. The pediatrician assured me that was normal stuff, and to just be patient.

Things we tried:
Nothing to drink after 6 pm.
Making sure she went to the bathroom prior to bed.
Used a pad on her bed with normal panties, so she could feel the wet (all this did was get me up in the middle of the night to change sheets).
Tried waking her up at 10pm just prior to going to bed ourselves, she often wouldn't go, and would get upset because we woke her.

They do make an alarm thingy that senses the wet, that beeps when they wet the bed, again alerting them to when it happens, and the idea behind waking them up every night in the middle of the night is to build the habit of waking, and going. After time they will arouse on their own get up and go, and return to bed.

For us it just took time.

Hang in there mom.

betrayedfriend posted 5/13/2014 08:13 AM

My dd8 still has occasional night time accidents, but I'm a big believer in when their bodies are ready, they will stop having accidents. What we do is a very low key approach, no liquids after 6 pm, in the hour before bed pee three times, waterproof mattress cover. I wouldn't wake her at night because my dd is one of those people, once she is awake, she can't go back to sleep.

I would suggest having her pee multiple times ( every 20-30 minutes for the hour or two before bed, no liquids after dinner or if dinner is early nothing the two and a half hours before bed. And continue with the pull ups, if after all of that she's still having issues in a couple of months, then start waking her up twice at night, once about 2-3 hours after falling asleep and then again 2-3 hours after that. Do that for a month or two consistently and you'll probably see a change.

As far as waking her up in the night and if she's only doing it for you or because her body recognizes it, it doesn't matter, the goal is to teach her body what those sensations feel like, so her brain will learn to wake up.

Lalagirl posted 5/14/2014 07:40 AM

Both of my DDs were bedwetters until the age of 8 - and then one day...they were not. We tried all of the methods listed in the posts to no avail. For both girls, we just dealt with it as it was not their fault nor did they do it on purpose.

They did not have PullUps when oldest DD was going through this, so we put a plastic cover on the mattress and would just change the sheets.

PullUps (or GoodNites they were called in the 80s) came out when youngest DD turned 4. She wore them until she was 8. A doctor prescribed a nasal spray for her, which worked, but we did not have insurance at the time and it was $100 a month. So we had to stop. And the bedwetting resumed. Doc said that the reason for this is their bodies are not creating the hormone that has your body make less urine during the night - in other words, there's just too much urine for their little bladders to hold all night. That nasal spray had that hormone, and honestly, I don't know if they still make it, if it's safe, etc...this was so long ago.

Sorry for the long post...I guess what I am trying to say is to ride it out. She cannot help it.

Hugs!

tushnurse posted 5/14/2014 09:33 AM

Lala - It is still available, but is still expensive, and is not a great idea. Any time you start jacking with the Endocrine (hormone) system it can effect all the other stuff it does from regulating blood sugars to thyroid. Not a great idea.

It's just frustrating and like many other things the real answer is T-I-M-E.

purplejacket4 posted 5/14/2014 10:16 AM

The nasal spray is desmopressin. It works great but doesn't solve the problem (which is not waking up). We now usually only give this if the patient has a sleep over or going to grandmas or vacation. It's nice to have on hand to use when a wet bed would be humiliating (sleepivee( or you can't change sheets (vacation).

lilacs40 posted 5/14/2014 11:19 AM

Hope it's okay I'm chiming in...

DD12 did not stay dry through the night until she was 8 or a little after. DS6 seems to be headed in that same direction.

WH and I were not ones to try and "train" for nighttime g as I (and my brother until he was almost a teen) were nighttime bed wetters. I've heard it's genetic so that's why we didn't bother.

I don't believe by not trying its worse. We did try just not using anything at night and it did not help. And almost two full weeks on changing sheets in the middle of the night it was no loner worth it. Her self-esteem was taking a hit and I was getting crabby. No sense for all of that.

I plan to do the same with DS although if it goes as long as my brothers did I may try something else.

Good luck I know it can be aggravating and disheartening for the child.

Lalagirl posted 5/14/2014 11:44 AM

Lala - It is still available, but is still expensive, and is not a great idea. Any time you start jacking with the Endocrine (hormone) system it can effect all the other stuff it does from regulating blood sugars to thyroid. Not a great idea.

I totally understand and am glad I didn't have the money to keep her on it. Goodness knows it may be part of the reason for some endocrine issues from which she currently suffers. Those were the days when I was young and did not question doctors. Not the case now as I step forward to provide info for my DDs so they can advocate for their children - which in a couple of cases, thank god I did...but don't want to jack this thread with details.

the real answer is T-I-M-E.

Amen.

Lostinthismess posted 5/14/2014 22:02 PM

I would just wait it out. My second didn't stop night wetting until he was 8. And refused to wear pull-ups or anything after about 6. He grew out of it. Doctors wouldn't really consider intervening until he was 9-10. Basically the answer was time, maturity, development and patience 😁. Now with 5 kids, as long as they are sleeping at night, I couldn't care less lol.

Alyssamd24 posted 5/15/2014 20:15 PM

I am so sorry that I have not replied to any of your comments; I forgot to go back and check. But I do appreciate all your comments and feedback.

I am glad to see my DD is not the only one who is older than 4 and still wearing pull ups. Its good to know that it is something that is common.

I think at this point I will just try to limit her drinks and take away the pull ups when her body is letting us know she is ready.