Tips? Well, yes and no.
I do have some potty training tips for you, but before sharing them I’ll fully disclose that only one of my children is nighttime potty trained at this point. And it’s not my five year old. When I was asked to share my thoughts on potty training in this sponsored post, I thought maybe our experience could help others who have questions or concerns about nighttime potty training.
Our Experience
Nearly three years ago after Lovey had successfully finished daytime potty training a wonderful teacher told me she should be nighttime potty trained right away. I trusted this teacher, and I knew she had good intentions. But you know what? Lovey was far from being ready for nighttime potty training at the time. And you know what happened? I freaked. I wondered, “What was I doing wrong?” Not to mention I was perfectly happy with her wearing Pampers Easy Ups at night. So was she!
Fast forward another year and add story after story of friends whose children, younger than Lovey, were nighttime potty training almost instantly. I tried not to be anxious. There were times when we tried sleeping with underpants at Lovey’s request, but it didn’t work. We even tried waking up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. That didn’t work either.
Fast forward another year and just this past week Tinker decided she was going to start sleeping in underwear. She decided one day on her own, and that was that.
At first I worried about what Lovey would think of this change, but you know what? She’s perfectly okay with it, and I think some of the tips below have made her that way.
Whether you are just beginning to think about overnight potty training for your little ones or you have an older child who is close (or not so close) to overnight potty training, I hope these tips are helpful.
Tips for Overnight Potty Training
Listen to the advice of others, but don’t let it make you anxious. Your friends and family mean well, and many will have opinions on when/how a child should overnight potty train. Unfortunately people only know what they know. And what they know is limited by their own life experiences. So take those into consideration.
Ask a pediatrician (or three). Talk with your pediatrician about the expectations and facts about overnight potty training. This should help you understand reasonable expectations and differences between children.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 20% of 5-year-olds, 10% of 7-year-olds, and 5% of 10-year-olds may still wet the bed.
Set your child up for nighttime potty training success. You can help by setting up a regular evening routine.
- Limit liquids before bed. Encourage kids to drink a lot of liquids during the day, but after dinner try and limit drinks as much as possible. Also be aware of evening snacks that have a lot of liquid in them. Watermelon is one that always trips us up.
- Use the restroom immediately before bed. Make that restroom stop the very last thing before saying goodnight.
- Buy a good mattress pad. When accidents do happen, you’ll want to be prepared. I like to have two mattress pads so quick clean up and linen changes are as easy as possible. The extra mattress pad is stored with extra sheets.
Trying these steps should help. But also know that you can do all of these things and if your child isn’t ready, they won’t work (yet). Keep doing them though. When your child’s body is ready, you’ll already have a good routine in place.
Handle accidents with compassion and patience—even at 2 am. So you’ve done everything you can, and your child insists she’s ready to sleep overnight in underpants. Then you hear the pitter patter of feet down the hall and a groggy, distressed child wakes you up in the middle of the night.
This is my biggest test! And unfortunately this is the moment that often has a lasting impact on my daughter. How I react during those few moments completely affects her feelings about the accident and potty training in general. {oh man!}
So in those moments I try to be as patient and understanding as possible. I never say, “I knew you weren’t ready,” or any version of I told you so. Instead I say, I’m proud of you for trying. Soon your body will be ready.” Then we work together to quickly change linens and clothes, and I give her a big reassuring hug and kiss as I tuck her back into bed.
Find the right overnight training pants for your child. Training pants like, Pampers Easy Ups, are a great way for your child to self-monitor whether they are ready to sleep in underpants yet. The indicator on the front lets them know as soon as they wake up whether they’ve made it through the night. And training pants will help eliminate those overnight linen changes, too.
Talk with your child. As kids get older and they realize more of their friends and siblings are able to sleep through the night without wetting the bed, they may have questions or feel a bit insecure. Take this time to assure them that our bodies are all different and they are ready for different things at different times.
I like to use the example of when baby teeth start falling out because Lovey started losing teeth early before all of her friends. She understands that her body was ready, so her adult teeth started coming in. Knowing that helps her accept that her body just isn’t ready to make it through the night yet, but she’s confident it will be soon and I am, too.
How has your experience been with overnight potty training? Did your child train at an early age, or was your experience similar to ours? What potty training tips do you have to help other families?
J
Hi, I am so glad I came across your post. My eldest has no problem toilet-trained at night. But my younger one, 6 going on 7, is still not able to have dry diapers when he wakes up in the morning most of the time. (thought most of the time, it is not too heavy) We are working parents and we do have to leave home for work very early (7am.) So letting him wear a underwear is stressful both for him as well as us (I guess our stress will reflect in our frustrations shown).
I am trying my utmost best to be positive and not stress him about it. I think it is great to know from other parents and sources that it is alright.
Melyssa
I’m so glad I came across this on pinterest! My 4yr old daughter is still in nighttime absorbent pants (knock off pullups-she’s big for her age). I’ve been feeling pressure for her to be trained at night. I’m going to try your suggestions but not freak out if she’s not quite ready. It took her forever to get it in the daytime but we went thru some changes (baby sis).
Nikki
im just now starting to potty train my youngest. She turns 3 in November. My first one was quickly and fully potty trained by the time she was 3. But the second one is harder. Not sure why except knowing all children are different. We bought “big girl panties” almost a year ago and it didn’t help. The other week the pediatrician said we have nothing to worry about until she is 4..works for me. Then, a few days latter my neighbor gave me actual training panties. You know, the thick centered ones. Can we say game change?! The last few days she has shown major changes. I also use treats..never thought I would but it works for her and keeps her motivated. Not sure when we try night time, but this post has reassured me not to rush it. Thanks so much and stay encouraged!
Shaunna Evans
Thank you so much for sharing about your experience, Nikki. You’re right, all children are different and you never quite know what will be the game changer for each child. I’m glad you’re seeing some progress now, and good luck with nighttime training when the time comes.
Traci
Thank you! This makes me feel better. My oldest (4) is wearing pull ups at night while my youngest (2) is nighttime trained already. Both girls. My oldest doesn’t seem to mind. We have a routine in place and one day it’ll click and she’ll be ready.
Good Luck!
Shaunna Evans
I’m so glad this helped, Traci! It really does just click one day. Since writing this article my now 6 year old one night asked to sleep in underwear and aside from the occasional accident, she’s been sleeping without training pants ever since.
Dara
It’s nice to see other parents on the same journey. My oldest is in pull ups at night while our youngest has been in panties for almost a year. They are 4 years apart. It doesn’t seem to bother them. They get that they each develop differently. Though I have had family members insist that we push harder for nighttime to be accident free, I am sticking to my guns. As a child I struggled with nighttime accidents until I was ten. My parents put me in therapy where an electronic device was inserted in my underpants and beeped loudly when it got wet. It was completely traumatizing. I could never put my child through that knowing what it did to me. If our pediatrician says it’s okay, that’s good enough for me. My child’s well-being is far more important.
khadheeja
I have 3 kids under the age 7. My eldest one is 6 and is fully pottytrained day and night when she was 2y4m. But my second one still wet her panties during day time while running around,she is 4 years old and now no accidents at night. My son is 2y2m ,and is dat time fully potty trained and he tells me when he want to go. I havent started night time yet. But I see all dry dypers in the morning. Your article is very helpful.
Shaunna Evans
It is interesting to see just how different the experience can be for each child. I’m so glad you found this article helpful.
alex
Hi thanks for Sharing i feel much better especially after reading that 10% of 7yr old still wet the bed. cause I m experiencing this also with my 61/2 yr old boy and his 2yr old brother which is almost night time trained. My eldest still sleeps with pull ups and sometimes they would even leak cause he wouldn t wake up. Its his problem cause when I tried 2potty train him during the night by waking him up it ended in frustration on my part cause he wouldn’t t open his eyes even if a bomb landed next to his ears. So now what I do is I praise him when he manages to stay dry and when he wakes up wet, well we would say that its OK cause he sleeps like a stone like mummy. And he s OK with it but is very shy if someone is present while we are preparing for bed even when its a grandma. In this case what I did is I explained to him that its OK and he can change in d bathroom and no one will know he’s got pull ups even if granny wouldn’t t mind at all about it and that she wouldn’t t love him any less cause after all d people in d world are have different needs….
Kate
Thanks for this great post! I’ve come to a similar decision about my oldest as well. He daytime trained early, before 2 1/2. At 4 1/2 he still needs a nighttime overnight training pant. Like you, many children who trained after him are now nighttime trained. This summer we too tried, unsuccessfully, many of the things you had tried. Finally, after a really positive and supportive talk with our pediatrician we decided not to stress it anymore and just let it happen when it happens. I’m sure the dynamic between your two girls is tricky, but it’s great you’ve been able to be so supportive of both of them.
Shaunna Evans
Thank you so much for sharing about your experience, Kate! It’s good to know we’re not alone here.