How To Tackle Nighttime Potty Training
After you have successfully potty trained your child during the day, the real test begins – potty training at night. This is a critical step to continuing your child’s newfound independence.
In this article, we’ll comprehensively guide you on how to potty train your child at night. But before that, we’ll begin by understanding the right time to start nighttime potty training. We’ll also discuss some challenges parents commonly face when trying to train their children at night and some helpful tips that might help.
When to Start Nighttime Potty Training
If you want to succeed with nighttime potty training, you must understand the right time to begin. Unfortunately, this is not easy to determine, particularly for first-time parents. There are various signs to indicate that your little one is ready for nighttime potty training.
Some of them include:
- Your toddler’s diapers are slightly damp or completely dry in the morning
- They’re reluctant to wear diapers at night
- They might try and take off their diaper at night
- They ask you to help them use the toilet in the morning after waking up
- Their diapers are completely dry for three or more nights in a row
Getting Started With Nighttime Potty Training
If you’ve witnessed any of the above, then it might be time to give it a go! Here are some of our top tips in approaching nighttime potty training:
1. Limit Drinks At Night
One of the most important things to try first is limiting drinks at night. We suggest giving your toddlers their final drink at least 1 hour before their bedtime.
2. Encourage Your Little One To Pee Before Sleeping
Encourage your toddler to use the toilet or potty as part of their bedtime routine, before they have a bath. You want to make sure they go to bed with an empty bladder to reduce their chances of wetting the bed.
3. Ensure There’s A Potty Near Them
Even though you’ve limited their nighttime drinks and have had them pee before bed, they may still need to go during the night. When starting out, it might be good to leave a potty near their bed so they can go during the night if they need to.
Tip: Get a night light or leave some lights on overnight so they’ll have an easier time finding the potty.
4. Wake Your Toddler To Use The Potty/Toilet During The Night
Some professionals suggest gently waking your toddler during the night and sitting them on the potty so they can empty their bladder, whilst remaining half asleep. It’s a twist on the previously known ‘dream feed’ you might have done when they were a
This can help them prevent bedwetting whilst they are starting out and still getting used to feeling the urge to go during the night.
5. Encourage Them To Use Potty Or Toilet In The Morning
Another tip that will significantly contribute to your nighttime potty training success is encouraging your young ones to use the potty as soon as they wake up. This will go a long way to teaching them how to hold and pee in the morning when they wake up.
6. Praise Your Kids Instead Of Punishing Them
Remember, your child is still learning. They will have accidents! How you treat them after each instance really matters.
We encourage praising them when they wake up dry and not making a big deal when they have accidents. Don’t be tempted to scold, blame or punish them – doing so will only cause fear or stress, which can tamper with their progress.
7. Encourage Frequent Water Consumption And Potty Use During The Day
When trying to succeed with nighttime potty training, you should encourage your kids to drink a lot of water during the day. That way, they will want to pee more frequently, enabling them to understand the signs when they must use the toilet.
8. Use Easy-To-Remove Clothes
When doing nighttime potty training, refrain from using clothes that are too hard to remove – they will make it hard for your child to use the potty in case they wake up at night.
Experienced parents use easy-to-remove clothes that their kids can remove on their own and use the potty.
9. Ensure You Have Enough Spare Clothes
As we’ve already stated, your kids are learning and will need time to succeed. It’s common for them to have accidents. For this reason, you should always ensure you’ve got enough spare clothes for them.
10. Use Pull-Ups Before Underwear
Since accidents are unavoidable in the training stage, you can start your toddler in pull-ups and later switch to underwear once you’ve noticed significant improvements, for instance, when they don’t wet the bed for three or more days.
11. Remember, Patience Pays!
Don’t expect to achieve results too fast when you begin nighttime potty training. If you do, you will be frustrated, and when you pass that frustration to your young one, chances of success will be minimal.
With that said, it is wise to practice patience, knowing that sooner or later, you and your little one will celebrate success.
Nighttime Potty Training Challenges
As you probably know, achieving success will not be a walk in the park. Your might experience problems such as;
- Your toddler refuses to use the potty and asks to use training pants or diapers instead
- Refusing or being unable to use any other potty – can only use the one at home
- Having too many accidents amongst kids who were progressing well
- Saying “NO” whenever you suggest that they should use the potty
Solutions To Nighttime Potty Training Challenges
- Lots of support and encouragement – don’t get too stressed about the timeline to success. Take it one day at a time and provide lots of support to your little one along the way
- Use rewards – you can give a small treat or sticker when they wake up dry
- Wait it out. Remember, this isn’t a race to the finish line. Some children do not achieve complete dryness at night until the age of 6 or 7. Go with the flow and try not to let it affect your everyday life.
Final Thoughts
With all the above tips, it should be easy for you to succeed with your nighttime potty training. Remember, the most important thing is understanding that kids grow and develop at different rates – so there’s no way they will succeed simultaneously. Just be patient and stay determined until the desired results are achieved.
