Bed wetting & Night potty training

We had a bit of a debacle with Edith and potty training through the night. The short story: She decided that she was ready to sleep with no nap-nap (nappy/diaper) and I disagreed… as did the COPIOUSLY washed sheets and washing machine.

Long story for those who like a wee bit o’background to a blog post… Edith went up to my in laws house and I didn’t put any nappies in her bag because I thought they already had some up there – turns out, they didn’t but my MIL assumed that meant Edith was dry on a night and just popped her in bed – where she stayed dry all night. Despite this we put her in her nappy at home and got away with much protests but at my in-laws they decided to stick without because if she could do it why not? Well why not is because she then came home all sassy and pissy and wouldn’t put her nappy on. Hence, debacle at home with the night time potty training. It took a time and I simply couldn’t work out WHY she was dry up there but not here – turns out a few psychology boffins that follow me on IG could answer this one – she wasn’t in as deep a sleep when on a sleepover because she wasn’t as content as she is in her own bed, where everyone sleeps best.

The other thing to note here is that bed-wetting and being in pull ups until the child is much older is perfectly normal. I really think we rush kids here, we try to encourage them to get sorted so early but really it’s not an issue for them to still be in pulls up until they are older and it doesn’t become something that you should worry about until the age of around 7-9 apparently! So if your toddler has been put in the position Edith is in then fear not – it’s perfectly normal for them to bed wet. Ask your GP if you are at all concerned about your child and want medical advice.

So what did we do about it and what are our tips for bed wetting and potty training at night.

1. Pull ups – if you can’t get them to wear nappies then you *might* be able to get them to wear pull ups. I was never a fan of pull ups during potty training – they defeated the object for me of transferring from a nappy where you don’t feel the wet to pull ups where… you don’t feel the wet. We always skipped the “pull up phase” in potty training and just went with a few days of nothing at all and trying to watch for accidents and be pre-emptive. That being said I have become a huge champion for pull up pants at bedtime! Edith was won over by the fun designs on Huggies pull ups (Cinderella and Minnie Mouse) and Asda (Peppa pig!) and would eventually give in and put her pull ups on despite being under the impression she didn’t have to!
2. A potty in the room – Miss Edith has a potty in her bedroom that she refers to as her en-suite. I’m not joking. Edith is really good at going to the potty before bedtime, and then again when she wakes up – I think as she grows if she wakes up in the night she would be able to hold it long enough to get up and go to the toilet.
3. Pick them up and put them on the potty at your bedtime – this has been a life saver for us, and I didn’t realise that it was something that isn’t recommended anymore apparently for helping to train children – it’s not something that we did with the boys (because they weren’t encouraged to have no nappy too early…) but it is something that has worked with Edith. I will note that the main issue is that the child won’t wake themselves up, or learn to wake themselves up, but they will just rely on that “dream wee”. We actually properly wake Edith up, talk to her and get her to tell us that she has done her wee and is happy to get back into bed. She’s not 100% awake up she’s awake enough to know what is happening.
4. B-Sensible sheets – I discovered these at the baby show in Birmingham last week and they are AMAZE! I love love love them. They come in a range of sizes but they are an eco-friendly, hypoallergenic and super soft with a totally waterproof protective layer underneath. Unlike EVERY other sheet (and bare in mind I worked for Mothercare for years) these are actually soft, actually breathable and they don’t make the kiddos (or you – they come in superking sizes too) sweaty. I am thrilled I discovered these, they are pricey but 100% worth it, everything from sickness to potty training is covered.
5. Don’t limit drinks before bed too much – this is such an unhealthy practice and one that makes me cringe. Your kids can have their normal drinks at dinner but then if they want a drink just before bed I really urge people not to say no! Its just not ok to deny a child a drink – instead I say to Edith that she can have a little drink and then go for another wee wee if she can. It means I’m not telling her she can’t have a drink (which we all know makes you all the thirstier) but giving her a smaller drink.
6. Don’t make it a big deal – Edith would get so embarrassed when she was wet and I would feel exasperated that we had been pushed into this position and it was every. single. day. It certainly wasn’t fun to begin with but we started to chill out a it more once we found a groove that worked for us, so now there is no big deal if she has an accident. There wasn’t a big deal before but it is so hard that if you are dealing with it every single day.

And those are my tips! It’s still a work in progress here, we’re still not dry every night but there is now no worry about the sheets, the arguments and squabbles with her and we’re feeling much happier!

H 🙂