Most kids aren't able to stay dry through the night until they're 5 or 6 years old or older — either because their bladders are too small, they're genetically predisposed to wet the bed, they're constipated, or they sleep very deeply and aren't able to wake up in time. So manage your expectations.
Mostly it is simply maturation of the urinary system. For most children, around the time that they are trained to use the toilet, they naturally fall into the practice of staying dry through the night too.
Potty Training and Pull Ups, DO:
Set your child up for success: limit fluids after bedtime, consider waking them to pee at 10 or 11pm, and light the path to the potty so they know how to get there in a hurry. Tell your child it's not their fault for wetting the bed.
Yes, it is normal and expected for your child to keep wearing diapers at night and during naptime while potty training. Daytime training is typically achieved before nighttime training. This is because the ability to control one's bladder overnight is typically not achieved until closer to age 4 or 5, sometimes even 6.
The age at which a parent should stop using "pull-ups" or nighttime diapers can vary for each child. While most children are typically potty trained during the day by the age of 3 or 4, nighttime dryness may take longer to develop.
Your toddler can wear diapers or pull-ups until he or she is ready and receptive to begin daytime toilet training or until he or she becomes dry at night. There is really no reason to eliminate diapers or pull-ups during the day until s/he is developmentally ready for successful potty training.
By age four years, most children are reliably dry in the day. It's normal for night-time potty training to take longer. Most children learn how to stay dry at night when they are between three and five years old.
Some children don't stay dry at night regularly before age 7. Bedwetting up to that time is not unusual, even though it may be frustrating to parents. Call your family doctor if: Your child is 5 or older and wets the bed 2 to 3 times a week.
Waking your child to go to the toilet can affect sleep
Therefore, waking your child to pee may be counterproductive to becoming dry at night, and may additionally lead to a very tired and grumpy child, on top of all the stresses of bedwetting.
Misconception #3: Using nighttime diapers and pull-ups only prolongs bed wetting. Taylor hears this a lot, too, but says there have been studies showing this isn't the case. It goes back to maturation. “Kids are not aware of what they're wearing once they're asleep,” she said.
Explain to your child what they'll need to do in the night now they no longer have night nappies/pants. Talk about going to the toilet – be encouraging and offer lots of praise and support. Let it be an adventure – let your child feel excited about being grown-up! Try not to apply too much pressure.
Remember that 15 percent of children still wet the bed at age 5, while 10 percent wet the bed at age 7. By their teenage years, only 1 to 2 percent of the population continues to have problems staying dry at night, a condition known as nocturnal enuresis.
At 5 years old, 1 in 5 children still wets overnight. At 6 years old, it's 1 in 10 children. Bedwetting is also called nocturnal enuresis. Most children who wet the bed are healthy and naturally stop wetting the bed as they get older.
Most kids are fully toilet trained by age 5, but there's really no target date for developing complete bladder control. Between the ages of 5 and 7, bed-wetting remains a problem for some children. After 7 years of age, a small number of children still wet the bed.
You may be more at risk of nocturnal enuresis if you have severe emotional trauma or stress. Bedwetting can also be genetic and runs in families if a parent or sibling also had or has this issue.
Most older children who wet the bed are very sound sleepers, so the signals of a full bladder aren't strong enough to wake them. Some children have small bladders or don't produce enough of a hormone (vasopressin) that reduces urine production during sleep.
Some of the causes of bed-wetting include the following: Genetic factors (it tends to run in families) Difficulties waking up from sleep. Slower than normal development of the central nervous system—this reduces the child's ability to stop the bladder from emptying at night.
There's no need to restrict water and other fluids excessively, but tapering your child's consumption of fluids during and after dinner is worth trying. Remember that bedwetting is not caused simply by having a full bladder overnight, but by failing to wake up to urinate when the bladder needs to be emptied.
ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Child Continence) do not discourage 'lifting' (picking your child up during the night and taking him or her to the toilet), but say that it will not help your child to learn when they have a full bladder and wake up or hold on.
Get your child on a regular urination schedule (every two to three hours) and right before bedtime. Be encouraging and positive. Make your child feel good about progress by consistently rewarding successes. Eliminate bladder irritants.
It can be many months, even years, before children stay dry overnight. Most children, but not all, stop bedwetting between the ages of 5 and 6 years old. Bedwetting is more common in deep sleepers.