My son has been off nappies for nearly a year now but still wearing a pull up at night . How do I get him off

Question

He goes to the toilet before bed and gets up for the toilet during the night but his pull up is still soaking in the morning

Answer 1

My son basically potty trained himself within a week at the age of 2, he is now 4and ahalf and still wears pull ups at night. We have tried all the tricks, no drinks an hour before bed, 'lifting' him to do a wee in the night, bribing him with a new bed if he can do it. But nothing was working, so I spoke to my health visitor and she said that it was'nt anything to worry about, it isn't considered a medical problem until they are 9. Apparently it takes along time for their bladder to mature and get bigger, so if the bladder isn't big enough, it can't stretch all night, you just need to let it mature anf grow in its own time. We have since given him his new bed, put him back in pull ups and stopped worrying about it. Might give it another go in six months.

Answer 2

Pull ups are so well made that the child doesn't feel the wetness inside the nappy. So I would use cheaper nappies but ones which have a good elastic around the legs - Morrisons sell great nappies and they are very cheap. Or something really not very absorbant inside but plasticy on the outside.

He must be drinking a lot to go to the toilet before bed and then getting up during the night and for it to be soaking in the morning. I think you might try to reduce the amount drunk after dinner may-be?

Or just before you go to bed I don't know what time of-course, but say 11pm or so, lift him from his bed and take him to the toilet again - even if he is half asleep he may do something?

Pampers sell 'magic mats' as I call them - don't know their real name, but they are plastic backed sheets with an absorbant quilt on the top which you place under the sheet on the mattress to protect it from being soaked with urine leaks. These have been great for me as I bought an expensive luxury mattress for my child's new big bed and really didn't want it to be ruined. As you get more confident that he's staying dry I would still use a magic mat as that takes the distress out of the event for the child too. I always said - not to worry the magic mat has taking it away!!! My child was dry for a year and then started a few weeks of bed wetting and I was so grateful for these mats!

Answer 3

Sorting out the night time nappy takes longer than the day time ones. Make sure he goes last thing at night and first thing in the morning. There is nothing much more you can do than wait. Lots of praise if you get a dry one over night & once you've had a run of a fornight or so of dry ones - you should have cracked it (I would suggest a waterproof sheet for a bit though). My daughter is 3 and 8 months & she still has soggy nappies in the morning & it is sometimes a problem for her during the day. My other 4 kids were out of all nappies by the age of 3 so it shows it's just an individual thing.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Boys can take ages to stop weeing in the night, just let him wear them as long as he needs and dont make a scene about it. doctors only consider it a problem if he is still wetting the bed after 9 years of age so its really not a problem yet.

Obvious things are avoid drinks before bed and make sure he is totally relaxed about the toilet situation, as any anxiety can make things worse. just pretend that it doesnt bother you and make him feel like its ok and that in time it will go away by itself.

Most boys do this when young, but i do not know any men who still wet the bed so its obviously not something that stays forever.

Answer 5

my son was the same he was dry during day i would put pull up on at night and it would be wet in morning i feel that it is just them being lazy as they know the nappy is on . My advice would be to ditch the nappy at bed time sure you will have a few wet nights but they learn as they dont like being wet. that is what i did and after a week he was dry at night too . hope this helps x

Answer 6

If your child can get out of bed, leave a potty beside his bed, explain that he can go there if he wakes up, and leave the pull ups off. Or put him in a terry nappy, and be prepared to get up and change him if he's wet.

With my youngest daughter, I used a rubber sheet, with a normal sheet to waist level and a towel below the waist. It was summer, and she was just sleeping in a vest, so there was a minimum of fuss and clean up if she had an accident.

Answer 7

try not giving him much to drink before bed time, talk about with him going out and buying big boys pants. that will help him feel grow up as he is at the age where he likes to think he can be grown up. let him choose the pants he wants and explain they are going to be for bed times. he may just go through the night dry he may not but whatever you do dont ever tell him of he he wakes the bed as this will make him worry about it and may make it harder for him. just say dont worry and make him feel ok about it. most children dont like to feel wet so once he knows they dont work like pull up he may be able to hold it in all night or he may wake up to go to the loo. good luck and encourage him to be a big boy.

Answer 8

Expect a lot of sheet changing.

Just tell him he's a big boy now, and leave off the pull-ups. His confidence will grow, and within a week he should have dry sheets. Having the pull-up on gives him the security to be "lazier".

It's worth the tired days.

Answer 9

You should put this on the back burner for a while. He is obviously not physiologically mature enough for his body to wake him to pee during the light part of his sleep cycle. My 5 year old daughter is the same. The pediatrician said not to worry, that she'll mature out of it sooner or later (hopefully sooner) and not to make an issue of it. So she wears a "GoodNite" pullup to bed, changes in the morning, and it's a non-issue at our house.

Answer 10

Dont take him out of the pull ups until he can stay dry all night. Why have to do all that washing up? When he is dry most mornings then you could try to go without.