Potty training was actually pretty simple here. I just waited until I thought Sophia was really ready. Or more precisely, I waited until I was really, really ready (I am a cloth diaper blogger after all). She was potty trained around 2.5 during the day. Night was a different story. I didn’t stop putting a diaper on her until maybe 3.5. And it was mostly because of my fear of having to change sheets every night at 2 am.
Sophia’s actually doing really well, but we don’t have a quite a perfect track record yet. The problem seems to be that she is sleeping so soundly that she just doesn’t know when she has to go. So she sometimes pees in her sleep. Then come the middle of the night cries, “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!”
I don’t want to put her into trainers as she really is potty trained.
But these wet sheets are driving me NUTS! Everything has to get washed…
…Waterproof pad, fitted sheet, comforter, little blankie, Bunny, even Girafee (that is what we call him).
Sophia goes many nights no issues. Then sometimes all the way until 5:30 am and just floods the bed!
HELP!!
I’d rather be washing cloth diapers than fitted sheets any day. But since we are done for now, I don’t want take the trainer route.
This time I am asking for your advice. What should I do? I’ll try anything!
Jenn is a long-time cloth diaper educator and a passionate small business advocate. She has worked in the reusable diaper industry for over a decade, helping millions of families via her websites All About Cloth Diapers, Thinking About Cloth Diapers and Cloth Diaper Geek as well as hundreds of small businesses during that time. Her goal always to provide simple, reliable information.
Corinne Young says
Some children won’t be night trained until they reach puberty. Be PATIENT this is embarrassing for them. When my son was born a nurse told me that his plumbing is half the size it should be. I could expect him to wet the bed longer than other children. When he was older we could choose between surgery or just accepting that he would need to get up several times a night to use the washroom. Having a nephew who is a type 1 diabetic I came to realize that most children who wet the bed. Will be diagnosed with a chronic illness at some point. Count your blessings and enjoy your child while they are healthy.
I’ve found epilepsy, type 1 diabetes, kidney disease (first surgery age 2)… these are just a few of the ailments. My grandmother’s bladder was half the size of a normal bladder. This can run in families and can be corrected surgically when the child is 10 years or older. It’s easier on the child if you wait until puberty. Normally puberty eliminates the problem without putting your child through the testing and trauma associated with surgery.
Keep in mind that the child will likely start doing their own laundry. In the hope that their friends don’t learn they wet the bed. Hospitals use diapers on patients of all ages. Consider doing the same and you won’t have to wash the bedding daily. Some parents learn their child has a rare disease that doctors can’t cure or treat. Love your children, for you never know how long they will be with you. Our children are only on loan to us, God can call them home at any time.
Sandra Caballero says
Love this ! I’m preparing my toddler to potty! I’m so done with diapers.
Amber Ludwig says
I would absolutely cut off water and hour before bed at least and have you tried one of those sheet protectors?!? At least then you wouldn’t have to be washing EVERYTHING so often! Good luck!!
Lisa W says
I heard waking the kid at midnight to go potty works. You have to have an old enough kid for them to understand this is going to happen. My DD is day PT and 2 yrs old. Im scared for nights and going out. Ive tried and pee is everywhere! Good luck!
Dandi D says
We always made sure our son used the potty before he went to bed, even if he said he didn’t need to. And sometimes, if we knew he’d had a lot to drink in the evening, we’d wake him up to go before we went to bed a couple hours later.
Jessica Cooper says
I have a 5 year old son that has been fully day trained since 2 and STILL wets the bed pretty much every single night. I just keep putting a good fitted and the only cover that still fits on him. He’ll get it one day. Eventually. And so will Sophia :)
Jennifer Reinhardt says
Thanks Jessica! <3
Kari Paintin says
I have the same problem with my four year old. We “solve” it by putting her in pull ups at night and also getting her up around midnight to go potty. Honestly, four nights out of seven, even with getting up at night and no drinking after 6:30, she still has a pull-up full of pee, or a bed full of pee if she didnt want to sleep in a pull-up. I guess I have come to the conclusion that even though I think she should be ready to not pee at night…she just isnt. There isnt anything I can do to make her ready faster. So, I am just trying to be patient and remember that its not a reflection on my parenting or on her personality, and keep buying pull-ups.
Lindsey says
My pediatrician explained that it is nothing to do with potty training. Nighttime is a whole different ball game. It just means that the child gets into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, he said that it can be common until age 7 (at least for boys). So nothing to stress about it will click eventually. The others comments has some helpful suggestions for making your nighttime easier.
Carolyn Allen Russell says
Have you tried waking her up at night to pee, at all? When my oldest was first nighttime training we’d go in before our bedtime at night and take him to the bathroom. He generally didn’t even wake up all the way (convenient for his sleep, less convenient when he was on the top bunk!) so we’d just plop him on the toilet, wait for him to pee, then carry him back to bed for the night. I didn’t like disturbing his sleep but it didn’t seem to bother him. It could be something to try!
But I’m totally with you on the extra laundry diasters, though. My oldest at 5 developed fecal incontinence (NO history of constipation, until it snuck up without my realizing it and lingered long enough to destroy his sensation of needing to poop. So now it just leaks out into his underwear and he has ZERO awareness of it having happened. He’s been potty trained for years, so this really sucks! Apparently it can take a year or more to regain sensation, so I’m super hoping we can get it under control before he starts kindergarten). My middle child is totally capable of being potty trained but has frequent pee accidents for no apparent reason (her preschool teachers said it looks like she actually sits down on the floor sometimes and then pees? Or pees and then sits in it? Who knows!). We put a reward system back in place and that’s helped at least, but still. At least when it’s diapers it just all goes right in the diaper pail. Now I have separate wet bags for pooped on clothing and pee clothing always hanging up to dry on the bathtub before I put it in the hamper (wet clothes in the clothes hamper isn’t a good idea!) ;)
Judith Martinez says
Have her try and use the potty every 2 hours all day long. I’ll bet she’s holding it because she’s busy playing. The urologist at the dry time clinic (I’ve had two bedwetters so far) says that holding it over develops the sphincter between the bladder and the urethra and then when they fall asleep everything relaxes and they urinate. Doing that and limiting drinks after dinner could be all that it takes to get her dry at night.
Dawn M Jesse says
I don’t have a ton of advice but making the bed with an extra set of everything made underneath makes the changing go faster and I always had an extra blanket made up. Then you can go in, whip off the sheets, move all the dirty into the hallway to deal with when you are really awake, take off her clothes (unless she sleeps naked) and let her perhaps go back to bed.
You can also try having a little kid potty in her room so if she wakes up and suddenly has to go there is a toilet sitting there.
Carolyn Allen Russell says
I was going to suggest this, too (except I do at LEAST three layers on each bed!) ;) My friend called it something like bedding lasagna, and while you still have to do laundry in the morning, at least all you have to do at night is remove the wet stuff and grab a clean blanket or something (the peed on toys is a bummer, though).
Jennifer Reinhardt says
We have two layers, so it easy to change at night…it’s just all the laundry! She will be 4 in August. She really isn’t doing so bad with all of it, just wondering if there is anything else we can do. I’m not ready to start waking her up in the night to pee. She is a mess when she does wake up so I feel like that might be a disaster. But give me more time and I’m sure I’ll try almost anything lol
Kayla says
We still have our 4 year in diapers overnight because he sleeps so soundly. He is not easy to wake up and convince to use the bathroom. I don’t really want to keep him in diapers as the “lazy” option, but I’m not fully convinced he’s ready either. He rarely wakes up dry. Whether he pees in the middle of the night or right when he wakes up / before he’s coherent, I have no idea.
I also like to sleep so there’s that, too. I don’t have any answers but I can totally understand the struggle!
Sarah says
I had a similar issue when my daughter was this age, I found that the most helpful thing we tried was making sure she didn’t drink anything after 6:30pm and always using the potty right before bed even if she didn’t think she needed to go.