How do you full Potty Train an (almost) 4 year old Girl?

Question

Emma will be 4 in Dec. She has been potty trained for over a year now- except for at bedtime. She still wears a pull-up to bed- and in the morning it is wet. She is not allowed anything to drink after 7pm- unless it is a little sip to take away a dry mouth- so it is not an issue of too much to drink b4 bed. She goes all day w/o any accidents. When we go on vacation (over a four hour drive) she doen't require one on. It is purely a night time thing. I am wondering if it is a "baby" thing she is trying to hold onto, becuase she has a baby sister Ava Rose who s 1 1/2 years old. I have tried everything under the moon- even putting down the soaker pads- but then she wakes my up to change it and her sheets because they are wet. And I CANNOT ALLOW HER TO SLEEP IN IT ALL NIGHT. After all, it may not be her "choice" to wet the bed, her body just may not be ready for the over night dry hawl. Thanks so much.

Answer 1

There are bed wetting alarms you can get (chemist, doctor referral, child health nurse) which go off when they sense wetness and this will cause the child to wake up and go to the toilet. Eventually they should start to recognise the feeling in their sleep and wake up naturally to go, or better still, hang on till morning. My 5 year old daughter always gets up to go pee during the night still.

One thing I did with her was to pick her up out of bed when i was going to bed (around 9-10pm) and sit her on the toilet. Its amazing how they will go even though they are half asleep! Its so sweet and they remember nothing of it in the morning, but hey presto, no wet nappies or sheets!!! This worked in a week or so and have only had a few accidents since.

A tip about wet sheets is to double sheet the bed. Put down a mattress protector then a fitted sheet. Then another waterproof mattress protector and another fitted sheet (then quilt or blanket as normal). When they wet the bed, you just rip off the soiled sheet and protector and the bed is already made underneath. Its a lot quicker and easier in the middle of the night.

I really think taking her to the toilet before you go even if she has already peed in her pull-up is a great idea and worth doing for two weeks to see if it makes a difference.

Best of luck

Answer 2

I agree, it may not be her choice but let's just say it is, let's pretend we know that she wakes up in the middle of the night and makes the decision to wet the bed. Here's something that will let you know for sure. Make a FUN schedule with her that allows her to participate fully and earns her points. Only make her earn a couple points before you give her a huge reward. (two nights without peeing the bed) A huge reward to a child might be getting to go somewhere really cool. Whatever you offer her, make sure to remind her right before she goes to bed, that way when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she'll remember and get excited about it. I know this will work for those first few days, after that it's up to you to find a system that KEEPS working. I am not a parent, I am a dog owner, an Uncle of 7 and my mom owned a Daycare for the first 20 years of my life. I may know a lot about kids, their psychology, their behaviors and many things that WORK but I have never been in your situation where I actually had to be the roll model for a child completely., where I had to wake up everyday and do everything for them. Yeah, I've taken care of lots of kids but then I get a few days off. You don't get very many days off. You have a big job and I give you tons of credit for coming on here and trying your darndest to make things better. You love your children madly and I respect that so much.
I agree "to a certain point" that dicipline is important but in this case I know praise is the answer.

Answer 3

I would explain to your daughter that you are going to wake her to potty at night but you will also set an alarm clock for her to hear. Then reward her in the morning. Give her a sticker of a star to place on her chart or poster board. That says Iam a Big Girl! Give her a star everytime she does not we the bed at night. If she does. say it is okay and we will try again tomorrow night. Do not get mad at her.

Don't forget to get up with her and make sure she does go at night. One to two times a night should be good. Get an alarm clock and the bell of the alarm with get her somewhat awake and then she can go to the potty with you. Show her how to shut it off too. After about a week then do not get up with her but let her do it on her own. Good Luck!

Answer 4

When a friend of mine recommended a potty training step stool, I was skeptical it would make a difference. I could not believe my kids reaction to The Potty Stool http://www.thepottystool.com I started by just setting it at the toilet. This stool makes every toilet kid-sized. My kids immediately climbed up on this stool and discovered that they could safely and securely use the toilet. This got them very interested in using the toilet and they were potty trained very quickly. My kids like to use what they know mommy and daddy use. And it really is wonderful having your kids independently use the toilet on their own. The handles make all the difference --both felt comfortable and were relaxed enough to have easy bowel movements.

I like that I don't have to double the steps of potty training by training them first in a potty and then training them to stop using a potty. And not dumping and cleaning a potty each time is great. The best thing is that kids use it for years. I hope this helps you

Answer 5

Before you go to bed, take her to the potty. If you wake up during the night, take her. Oh, and ma sure she potties before going to bed. Don't ask her if she has to go, take her. Kids this age are sure they are going to miss something while they are in the potty. LOL Throw away the pull ups. They are too hard to get up and down when they are half asleep.