advice needed - when to stop using nappies at night?

[samstopit]

Our nearly three year old has been out of nappies in the day time for the past few weeks.

At bed time he asks me why he needs a nappy and seems confused to have to wear it. I have noticed a few times that his nappy is dry in the morning and when I take it off him he runs to the loo straight away.

How soon can I drop the night time nappies? At his age will he bed able to make it through the night or does he need longer?

We have waited a long time for both our children to sleep through so I am nervous about the idea of broken nights again.

Thanks!

[capt_birdseye]

Try ditching the nappies and putting him on the toilet when you go to bed. We did that with our daughter and it worked a treat. She was so drowsy that she would comply easily and go straight back to sleep afterwards. We kept it up for a couple of months before stopping completely. You can get some disposable pampers sheets just in case, but we never ended up needing them.

Good luck.

[BeccaL]

Sounds like you could try soon - we found the pampers bed sheets great as if you do have 'accidents' it's much quicker to change the bed. Good luck!

[Coach Beth]

I have to be honest and say that our son was in nappies at night till just a couple of months ago - and he is 4.5 years old! He was out of nappies by 3 years old in the daytime but everything I read suggesting waiting till later (but not saying exactly how much later!) to do the night time thing. Anyway, it is very variable whether the bed sheets stay dry - invest in a bed protector sheet!!! Amongst my friends, it's been a wide variety of experiences - some people did this much earlier some as late as us.

[Bellenden Jo]

My wee man is just coming up on 4 and is still in a night time nappy. He wants to get rid of it and I've told him if it's dry in the morning for a week then we will try. He hasn't managed one day yet, so don't think he's quite ready!

[snss75]

I think it's all very individual, some kids are ready before other but if he's waking up with dry nappies and seems to be able to hold it I would give it a try. That's what I did my son and it worked well. Accident may still happen sometimes so I'd get a bed protector sheet like Coach Bet suggested and give it a go. Just make sure you take him to the toilet last thing before putting him to bed and limit the amount of liquids he has in the evening. Having said that, my son always asks for a drink of water when he goes to bed and it hasn't made any difference to him keeping dry.

[Gubodge]

I think the general rule of thumb is that if his nappy is dry at night for a week then it's worth going without. Dryness at night tends to be triggered by the production of a hormone which means less urine is produced when sleeping. This hormone can kick in at anytime, so some kids will be ready at 2, some not till 7.

Right from the start my eldest would take herself off to the loo in the middle of the night without us even being aware of it. It did mean we started needing nightlights or to leave the landing light on, so if he doesn't already have a light on at bedtime you may want to do the same. We know our younger (just three and still in pull-ups at night) is unlikely to go to the loo without waking us up to accompany her, so we've put a potty beside her bed to try and get her in the habit of going in that if she wakes. It's been used once, but I think that was first thing in the morning.

[Jessie]

My son night-trained himself at about 3. Had the same experience as you - noticed his nappy was completely dry every morning so just seemed silly to putting on nappies.

[emc]

I agree with above - my little girl's nappies were always dry in the morning from about 2 and three quarters (about 4 months after potty training) so I just stopped bothering. Didn't use any special sheets (she's had one accident) but she does get up sometimes at night for a wee but gets straight back into bed (not that she sleeps through, but that's another story!)

Glad of not spending on nappies anymore too!

[samstopit]

Thanks everyone for such great advice. I think I'll wait a week or so to see if he keeps having dry nappies in the mornings.

We thought we might reward him with a nice chair for his room to go in the space where we currently have his horrid changing table.

[nunheadmum]

We had the same question with our DD1 at 3.25yrs. Her nappy was occasionally dry in the morning but not consistently. One night she said she didn't want a nappy on and daddy went along with it (much to my annoyance, I knew better, I thought!). We'd 2 or 3 nights of waking with a wet bed in the morning but she was clearly doing it just before she got up as she wasn't waking in the night and things were very wet in the morning. It didn't take long though - a matter of days - before she learned to hold it in till she got up. A potty in her room helped abd a couple of days of going in the moment we heard her wake to get her onto the potty double quick. But within a week or so it was fine.

I would be tempted to go with your son if he shows interest. If it doesn't work out then at least he has a reason why he has to wear nappies.

[samstopit]

He told me tonight that he didn't want to wear a nappy so I said ok. We didn't have time to put a waterproof undersheet on as he caught us by surprise! But we've told him if he wakes up and needs to go he can go to the big toilet (he doesn't like the potty much) and we've left his bedroom door open and the landing light on.

How did this happen so quickly?!