I need advice on night time toilet training my 4 yr old son?

Question

I am having some issues with getting my son to get up in the night and use the bathroom. He sleeps so soundly that he will wet the bed and not wake up. He will be 5 in March.

HE is big for his age, and very very smart. I try to explain to him that he needs to get up when he feels like he is going to go pee, and use the potty (it is across the hall from his room). I leave the bathroom light on and a light in the hallway on also.

I have been trying waking himi up at night to go potty, and it works pretty well, but then I am tired from waking up every 2 or 3 hours to take him to the bathroom...

I have also tried setting an alarm in his room to go off every 3 hours to wake him up so he goes on his own with no luck.

I have him wearing pull ups at night because we dont have a washer and dryer in our home yet, and doing laundry every day was getting to be a bit too much for me...

any advice???

Answer 1

Have you taken him to the Drs? Some kids' nerves aren't fully developed so they can't tell if they need the toilet or not (especially at night!

Have a chat with your Dr or Health Visitor (if you're in the UK)

Answer 2

http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2...

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/toddler...

http://www.toilettimetargets.com/

http://www.come-over.to/FAS/ToiletTrain....

Answer 3

I went thru the same thing with my own son. He did fine all day long but then at night, it was another story. He slept in Pull-ups well into elementary school. But once he started doing sleep-overs with his buddies, he became more aware of fact that the Pull-ups were not underwear and he quit them on his own. He still had a few accidents after that but they eventually stopped happening.

Until the accidents stopped, I would put those clothy-rubber pads under his sheet to protect the mattress. They are washable and come in like a 3 feet by 4 feet or so size. You could even use them now and both of you could get a good night's sleep! Twelve years ago when my son was 4, those pads were pretty cheap so I bought several to save on always having to wash them. (But I did rinse them out in the tub so the hamper would not stink! I would offer to mail them to you but they were donated long ago!)

If he is healthy otherwise, I would stop the liquids several hours before he goes to bed and just wait for him to figure out on his own what he needs to do to stop the Pull-ups and the bed wetting.

It seems like a tough problem but he'll out-grow it, soon hopefully!! Good Luck!

Answer 4

If your son is a very sound sleeper, he may have Deep Sleep Disorder. My 6-year-old son has this. Talk to your pediatrician about it. You can do a search on the disorder, but in a nutshell, the person (usually a child, but adults can have this, too) spends most of his sleeping time in Stage 4 sleep, instead of Stage 5 (REM) like most of us do. Stage 4 lasts about 30 minutes at a stretch for most people (we go between Stages 4 and 5 during our sleep time) During Stage 4, the body is very relaxed, nerves and muscles don't communicate effectively, and because of this, it is very difficult to wake up, even if your body tells you that you need to use the toilet or if you hear an alarm. So talk to your pediatrician and see if this could be what's going on. But don't stress yourself out getting up with him repeatedly at night. If he can wear Pull-Ups, let him. I know it's frustrating, but we're all pulling for you. Good luck--

Answer 5

Don't let him drink before bed time. Stop drinks two hours before bed time. When it is bed time have him go to the bathroom. Give him some consequences because sometimes it is not medical it is laziness.

Answer 6

I think you should use "NEW" the diapers. They're really cool. As soon as he feels the liuid, he'll go to the toilet. It worked on my baby brother.

Hope it helps!

-Katie ;)

Answer 7

I advise you discuss this with a Dr. it may be a development issue or it could be a stress issue. My son had a lot of this same problem when his father and I went through our divorce and his father came to see him which upset him and sleep was his only sanction from the real world therefore he didn't get up to go potty.

Answer 8

In my view, the very very smart is said because he is your son. I was 1 1/2 when I was "potty" trained. I walked, talked, and fed myself early so I am not sure if I am truly that much ahead. Regardless, If he doesn't understand the concept of going to the bathroom he cannot be as intelligent as you conveyed. To the issue of the bathroom. Making him use the bathroom before going to bed should help.