When is it time for night time potty training ?
Night time potty training should only be done once your toddler has gotten the day time potty training routine down. If your child is still not too sure in the day, it’ll be better to wait. At least, your own sleep will not be interrupted to engage in exercises in futility.
There will always be some children who accept potty training more readily than others. That’s just the way things are and you should not compare your child to other people’s children. Each child has his/her own pace of learning and while one child may be a potty independent at 18 months, another may only be ready for it at 24 months.
When doing potty training at night, make sure your child is in a pull-up or training pants with barrier protection such as a plastic over-pant. Just in case you sleep off, your child will not wet the sheets. It goes without saying that you should encourage him/her often and shower them with praise when they manage to keep themselves dry and clean.
What should you do?
Children respond very well to positive affirmations from their parents. Since your child has been wearing training pants during the day, tell your child that it is fine to wear a pull-up at night and that they are not doing anything wrong. There are a few steps that you can take to assist your child to stay dry at night.
You should limit their fluid consumption after 6 pm and make sure they go potty just before going to bed. Just before you sleep, wake them up and bring them to the potty to go again.
This will be heartbreaking to parents who do not wish to wake a peacefully sleeping child. Nevertheless, it should be done and this will only be done for a few weeks and you can help them into the bathroom. Most children are able to stay dry throughout the night after a few weeks of this process.
Some children may have restless sleep or nightmares. Sometimes this is a sign that they may need to go potty. Wake them up and bring them to the bathroom.
Night time potty training is more difficult because some children have difficulty waking and wet the bed without being aware of what is going on. You must be understanding and patient. There are children who are 8 to 10 years old who have the same problem. So, it’s not unique to your child.
Don’t scold or embarrass your child if they wet the bed. They feel bad enough as it is. Have them help you to clean the sheets and make them do more of the work. When they see the amount of effort involved due to their mistake, they will be more alert and proactive at night.
When to get help
If despite your best efforts the problem persists for a long time, you should bring your child to the doctor to check if there might be other issues that you need to be aware of. Bedwetting may be a symptom for some underlying physical problem. For the majority of children, this will not be the case. However, it doesn’t hurt to check and be sure.
Try the above mentioned tips for night time potty training. Just remember that night time potty training will take time and you will need to be consistent and patient during the process.
P.S. What tips do you have for night time potty training?
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Do you think that waiting to begin potty training until the child naturally stays dry throughout the night is an ok option? I have a friend who did this and it only took a week and a half to potty train her son. However he was not potty trained until over 2.5 years old and I wonder if it is ok to wait that long or if it is better to start the process during the day even if they are waking up with wet pull-ups.
Hi Olivia,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your input. I think your friend was doing what she thought was best at the time and we learn from our experiences. I believe it is better to start the process during the daytime so the child gets used to going to the bathroom. Then taking him to the potty before bedtime and getting him into that routine, he will naturally flow into the ability to stay dry during the night. You will find out your child’s elimination pattern this way. Not giving fluids before bedtime and taking them to the potty before they sleep will reduce the chances of night time accidents. And if they have a pull up or training pants with a waterproof cover, even if they have an accident,it’s not a major failure. The accidents will lessen over time until they sleep through the night.