My 2yr old is potty trained during tha day but how do I potty train him during the night?

Question

My 2yr old is potty trained during tha day but how do I potty train him during the night?

Answer 1

Nighttime dryness is NOT a potty training issue.  That is something that a child's body needs to be ready for.  Most kids at 2 years old still need a diaper/pullup at night because their body cannot yet hold an entire night's worth of pee and their brain hasn't yet learned to send a signal to them to wake up to pee.  Many kids will begin staying dry at night around 3-4 years old.  However, kids do tend to have accidents up to around age 6.  The only thing you can do to help is to limit liquids after dinner, have him go potty before bed, and have lots of patience  :)

Answer 2

I agree that you really can't 'train' them for nighttime. With my son, I just kept putting him in pull-ups at night until I started noticing that they were dry almost every day, and then even he started asking not to wear them at night. He is 4 now, and stays dry at night, though there are times where he still has an occasional accident. I would try not push the issue on him to hard, cause it could make it worse. I know there are some kids who have nighttime bladder problems past age 6.  Just go day by day, and most likely he will be the one to tell you when he is ready.  

Answer 3

Put him on the potty before bed, and limit his liquid intake a few hours before hand.  

Answer 4

You can't, you have to wait until his body is feeling the urge to go at night enough that it wakes him up.  Sometimes that takes a while.

Answer 5

This is not really an issue to worry about. Stick to diapers or pull-ups and teach him how to put them on and dispose of them, put a protective sheet over the mattress, and just let him grow. Time is the cure to this "problem".

At two, his body is far from being matured. His bladder is smaller, he may sleep more soundly, and his body may not yet produce enough of the hormone that regulates urine production while sleeping (anti-diuretic hormone or vasopressin, for those who want to look it up.). Furthermore, the development of his nervous system is incomplete.

When you take these factors, it is easy to see that his bladder won't hold more than a few hours of urine; his body is producing urine as it does during the day; he sleeps through the signals meant to tell him it is time to pee; and his body allows the normal mictrition reflex to kick in, and then he pee's.

It is not a problem, and is actually considered normal until five or six years old. Even then, it is not so much "abnormal", but would be evaluated medically to ensure there are no other problems.

No worries here, mate. Just give him time to grow out of it. In the mean time, teach him to keep himself clean by using diapers or pull ups, keep the mattress clean by covering it with a protective sheet, and give him a hug or two to tell him he is doing good.

Cheers!