This morning I was so proud of him!! My son woke up fussing. I went to see what was wrong. He said, "I need to do pee pee on the potty." We went right to the potty and he did his pee. My almost three year old had stayed dry all night! Then, he told me he had to go!
Compared to the other day, this is incredible!

Now, he must have been uncomfortable, holding in all that pee. He is still in a crib (we're working on getting him a bed). I don't want him to be uncomfortable. Do I wake him just before I go to be do see if he needs to go to the bathroom? Do I tell him that at night, it's okay to go in his diaper, or is that sending the wrong message?

When he's in his toddler bed, I'll keep the potty in his room at night so if he needs to go he can. Any suggestions of what to do in the meantime?

Ame

By Kaye on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 09:15 am:

I would put him in a pull up and call them his nighttime undies. I just wouldn't tell him he can use them. But I wouldn't scold him if he did. Honestly when they are ready they just are. I would get him in a bed asap. We didn't use a little potty. Kids in general don't have to go potty in the middle of the night. When they wake up in the morning they go. It is natural. If he wakes up dry on a regular basis then ditch the pull ups and double make the bed. We put a waterproof sheet, then a reg sheet, then another waterproof and then another sheet. So in the middle of the night if he does have an accident it is no biggie to just to pull off the top layer.

By Tink on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 12:38 pm:

I hate pull-ups so I say go straight to the waterproof sheet and regular undies. I would make sure my dks had gone potty before bed, then I would get them up right before I went to bed and, if they were ready, they managed to stay dry through the night. Many kids take much longer to stay dry during the night so, if there are too many accidents, I would put him in diapers for the night until he has daytime training down without any problem and try again then.

By Vicki on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 02:25 pm:

We took dd right before before she went to bed at night, and then we took her again right before we went to bed. She was a very sound sleeper and we were worried that if we didn't take her, she would never wake up to go to the potty. I would not tell him to go in his pull up at night though. I do think that sends a very mixed message. I would try to get him into a toddler bed as soon as you can.

By Amecmom on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 03:15 pm:

Maybe my question is confusing ... I don't mind the pull-ups. I don't mind if he wets at night at this stage, I kind of expect it. What I am concerned about is his emotional reaction.

I don't want him to be uncomfortable or in pain because he has to go and can't get to the potty. I don't want him to feel like he "failed" if he goes in his pull up at night.

I guess I will tell him that if he has to go at night and there is no one to take him to the potty, then it's okay to go.

When he's in a regular bed, then we'll work on getting up to go.

Ame

By Missmudd on Saturday, November 20, 2004 - 06:03 pm:

If the room isnt cold I would just take down the crib and put the matress on the floor until you can get a toddler bed.

By Kaye on Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 05:06 pm:

I think that is one of those things that is better just not saying. Deal with it when it happens. I think this really is a non issue. I don't think he was uncomfortable, just recognizing the need to go and needing to go. It is hard for kids to express themselves well, but I wouldn't read to much into. But if you tell him well I know you have control and it is okay to not exhibit that control then you are only hurting yourself. What type of schedule does he have, do you know about when he is going to wake up, if so try to wake up a bit before him and take him to the potty as soon as he makes a peep. I would really just look into making the potty accesible to him to go now.

I never had a three year old in a crib, so I don't have any graet ideas. My children are all very close together so they got kicked out quickly. My youngest was a climber he didn't make it till age 2.

By Karen~moderator on Sunday, November 21, 2004 - 07:25 pm:

Ame, when Jen was potty training, she was dry all day, but had accidents at night. She slept so soundly at night, she just didn't wake up if she had to go to the bathroom. We did the usual limiting liquids after dinner, etc.

So this is what I tried - it may sound weird to some, but it totally worked for us. For a few weeks or months (can't remember exactly how long), before I turned in for the night, I carried her to the potty and sat her on it and even though she was *mostly* asleep, she would go, and then I'd put her back in bed.

I know many will disagree with even getting her up in the first place, but my reason for doing it was, she was just about 4, wasn't staying dry at night, and she was upset about it. This worked for us.

By Tink on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 01:58 am:

Karen, Crystal and I were just talking about this and both of us do it. My dd was having trouble with recurrent UTIs and we wanted to make her as successful as possible. Most of her accidents were in the early morning hours and it just seemed to empty out her bladder one more time so she could make it through the night. She always mostly slept through it and went right back to sleep. After a few weeks, we just started skipping it and she has been fine since then.

By Karen~moderator on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 07:36 am:

Cori, I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one who's ever done this! LOL I actually had people tell me how horrible I was for *waking* her up *just* to go pee.

By Eve on Monday, November 22, 2004 - 08:08 am:

I have a hard enough time getting DD to go to bed and sleep in her own bed, so there is no way I would wake her up to go! LOL!

DD always wakes up dry, but she has had an accident twice, so I just put her in a pull up at night. She still wakes up and yells "Mom! I've got to pee!" and I don't mind getting up to help her go. I usually have her sit on the potty right before going to bed as well.

I would just try some stuff out. If your DS does ok with you waking him up, then go for it. Pull ups have not held my DD back on her training at all. Good luck.

By Kernkate on Friday, November 26, 2004 - 10:50 pm:

Karen I did this with Alissa who just turned 4 in Sept and it worked like a charm. And you know what I don't think they actually wake up but they do stay dry all night. I still do the 11 o'clock time to pee and she goes right back to sleep and stays dry.
And just my opinion I think the pull ups did hold Alissa back on her training. What works for one will not work for all as the old saying goes
Good Luck to all the potty training moms out there!! Glad I am done with it....LOL

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 08:02 am:

Well, they either didn't have pullups when mine were that age, or somehow, I didn't know about them, so it was a diaper or panties. LOL

By Kernkate on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 10:17 am:

As of Friday I stopped waking Alissa up to see what would happen. Sunday night she woke me up during the night to go to the bathroom. Last night she slept all night with no accidents, I guess we are finally fully trained. I am so happy

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - 11:26 am:

Congrats to Alissa!