Nighttime Potty Training Tips - Fantastic Fun & Learning

Share on X (Twitter)Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email

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?

Share on X (Twitter)Share on FacebookShare on PinterestShare on Email