losing nappies at nighttime

[Grotty]

We've been a little lazy with getting rid of night time nappies. We stopped day time nappies last May, just after my daughter turned 2. Other than a horrid first week of excruciatingly claustrophobic days stuck at home, it was relatively painless. Since then we've come up with a number of excuses to avoid tackling night time (starting new nursery, moving house, multiple plane trips) but decided to go for it now.

Any tips on how to manage greatly appreciated thank you...

[Pickle]

Leave it to the child - I switched to pull ups for nights when we daytime potty trained (2.5 for son, just 2 for daughter). By 2.5 my daughters pull up was dry every morning so we switched to pants with no fuss (and she had never wet the bed!). At 6 my son has only just become dry at night.

I really don't think there is anything we could have done to change this, it's hormonal, so other than restricting evening fluids etc. you can't really drive the process.

[Grotty]

She's been in pull ups since we started potty training last year, so do you think we shouldn't push it until dry in the morning? She definitely isn't dry in the morning but does have fluids with dinner and milk before bed. Oops...

[Mrs TP]

Really don't stress it but use them to the bare minimum i.e. try toilet then nappy on v. last thing before bed and take it off as soon as up - don't leave it on so she thinks she can pee in it first thing. My eldest was 4.5 when out of night nappies, middle 2yrs and last one just turned 4 and we still use them - v. rarely dry over-night. She sneaks in our bed occasionally and she has been lying next to me and I can hear her peeing in the nappy (freaky quiet drumming sound in the middle of the night which it took me a while to work out) and is truly deeply asleep. If she is awake in bed she will shout for someone to go to the loo with her but I know most of the time it just doesn't wake her up. Sometimes I flap that I'm being rubbish but then I hear stories of her friends wetting the bed a couple of times a week and I prefer my way - we have more than enough washing to deal with as it is.

[Pickle]

Grotty, that's how I approach it, but I guess others will differ. My kids have drinks with dinner, and daughter was still having milk before bed when she became dry at night. Get into a good routine - like Mrs TP says, the pull up should be the last thing to gon on before bed. After bedtime stories my kids both go to the toilet before bed, and we leave a potty in the room for them (although now they are both old enough to et up and go to the toilet in the night).

For a while we lifted our son before we went to bed and took him to the toilet, but it didn't really make a difference. With him it just suddenly happened, albeit nearly 4 years later than his little sister!

[Indiana]

Our daughter was also potty trained just after she was two, we then put her in pull-ups at night when she was 3 but they kept leaking so we went back to nappies. We delayed tackling it too as we had a new baby 4 months ago, however we started it last week by letting her have her last drink with tea (and converting this from water to milk). She then has a wee after her stories, and just before she goes to sleep. Only one accident in almost 2 weeks (and she didn't even wake - we just noticed a wet patch in the morning!)

It helps that she is 3 and a bit so we were able to have a conversation about it, and she was keen to be dry to be a 'big girl'!

[susyp]

i started a post about this subject back in october and was stressing about my daughter aged 4 not being dry at night. We did try it but she continuously wet the bed to such an extent i gave up after about 4 days. She is still in night nappies at 4.5 years. So no advice but 2 isn't that old to be in them I suppose. The other night she took her nappy off in the middle of the night as it was uncomfortable. So i have now put a bed mat under her sheet and left to her - she can take it off if she wants and feels able to. Giving it until the summer holidays when she will be 5 and we will definitely go cold turkey!

susypx

[GinaG3]

I left it all completely up to my daughter and its been a fantastic experience for us all. She so proud of herself, gives herself a lot of praise and receives a lot from us also. She had just turned 3 when she stopped wearing nappies during the day, we had minimum amount of accidents (about 5 in total during days). With nights she was never dry, she did most of her urine output, nappies would be soaked like a brick in the morning always! We used pull ups from the age of 2.5ish as she preferred that. One day out of the blue about 3 months after toilet training started my daughter turned around and said she wants to be grown up and wear knickers at night, from that night she did and has only wet the bed twice in the year that has followed. I honestly think going with what they want is best. Talk to them about YOU wearing knickers to bed often, weeing on the toilet before bed, allow them to make choices and try, don't get annoyed if they end up with a wet bed, talk about being grown up and saying bye bye to nappies etc. It will come eventually.

[Grotty]

thanks for the advice. The first night we just went cold turkey and she wet the bed. Twice. Last night I tried the no-milk before bed and "putting her on the toilet asleep when I go to bed" thing and she pee'd then and was dry in the morning, so i'm off to try that again tonight. Fingers crossed...

[ClareC]

We swapped from pull ups at night to training pants, called them night time knickers.

My daughter was dry at night just over age 2, she was dry daytime a few weeks previous although too be fair I think she was ready earlier, I delayed due to moving house and starting a new job!

[Sol]

Good Luck! I didn't take my child's nappy in the evening until 5 years old. I tried a couple of times before, but he had accidents and with a second child I did not want to bother getting up to change the bed/pyjama during he night. Once he left them at 5, there was no accidents at all. I know I wet the bed until quite late, so I thought he was the same. I know some children who are ready around 2 yeas old. My theory is that if the child is having lots of accidents then he/she is not ready

[etta166]

I'd tend towards letting it happen naturally. With my first is happened within about 2 days of stopping day-time nappies. With my second we're 6/7 months out of nappies and there's no sign of a dry night yet. It will happen all by itself with time, usually by 6 years old.

[Grotty]

Thanks for the advice. We've never had dry nappies in the morning, and most nights now since stopping nappies we've had wet beds. Not worth the disturbed sleep for either her or us. Will just let it happen when it happens now...