It is time for me to admit it...
Harper still wears a diaper to bed.
I feel like this is some deep dark secret we've been keeping. My child is over 4 1/2 years old and still wakes up wearing a soaking wet pull-up each morning. Less than 1/2 a dozen times in the two years that she's been potty trained has the child woken up with a dry pull-up.
Our pediatrician is not worried, since Harper is consistent during the day. And, though she rarely naps anymore, she does stay dry during a nap. There is a general feeling that she'll just figure it out eventually. And yet, I still find it just a little bit worrisome.
I suppose I am open to suggestions on this matter, however, here are the things I am not currently interested in (re)trying:
- waking her up before I go to bed at night to go to the bathroom (it is like waking the dead, and she is not a happy camper if you wake her up, EVER)
- restricting her fluid intake (she has one small cup of milk and dinner and a tiny Dixie cup of water when brushing her teeth occasionally she has some other water after dinner)
- just letting her wet the bed, hoping she'll figure it out eventually
Thoughts?
12 comments:
We don't know what to do about night training. The pediatrician finally recommended a bed alarm, but it's $$$$$ and I hate the idea of spending that much and then having it not work. On the other hand, the nightly pull-ups are adding up.
I think it MUST just be a depth-of-sleep thing combined with a size-of-bladder thing. At least, that's my current theory.
Would it help to know that Colin just started going diaperless at night in June (4 1/2)? Our doctor says it's normal for some kids to take until 6 yrs old, especially heavy sleepers. No worries. She'll get it!
My daughter just turned 6 last week and we STILL have this problem! She has no problem during the day and on the odd chance she takes a nap, but she will still wet the bed (or should I say Pull-up) 2-3 times a week.
Our ped says that it just takes certain kids longer to mature in that way than others. That certain kids take longer than others for that part of the brain to wake up a child and alert them they have to go. There are medications to help but we are going to continue to wait this out and hope she outgrows it soon.
Good luck! I know it can be frustrating! BTW, do you have any tips on thumbsucking?:)
Kelli
I don't have any good ideas to offer although the comments thus far sound reassuring, which is awesome!
Not that I like to hear that other parents struggling with various things BUT... It's good to know that we are all just figuring this stuff out step by step. Harper will get there--thank you for sharing and hope you get some good ideas or at least take comfort in the reassurances.
pretty sure it happened to me on and off until I was in school for a few years, I was just such a sound sleeper that I didnt wake up. the doctors suggested pee pee push ups, basically making me start to go, then stop, then start, and stop, to strengthen the kegel muscles in hopes that that would help it 'stop' when I did wake up...
Well, I have one twin that suddenly started waking in a dry pull-up around her 5th bday. We expected the other twin to follow closely behind, as they've reached so many milestones so close together, but alas, other twin is now 6 1/2 and still SOAKED every night. (She wears a pull-up). She's been dry perhaps 3 times in her life.
We've thought about the alarm that Swistle mentioned, and she's completely for it, but I'm not sure it will work.
Still hoping she'll outgrow it....
I don't think it's anything to worry about. Many children take a while to stay dry at night. When Zachariah potty-trained earlier this year, I was pleasantly surprised that we didn't need pull-ups for naptime. Then in the last month or so, he doesn't usually need them in bed. I'd say 5 or 6 nights a week he's staying dry all night. He just does. I never anticipating night training him. I still am not worrying about it when he does wake up a little wet, since it's only once in a while. But I have thought about ditching the Pull-ups. I figured he'd need them in bed for a long time. He sleeps pretty sound, and he sleeps for a long stretch at night (about 10-11 hours).
If it makes you feel any better, he was a pain to completely potty train. He understood it for quite a while, but it just took him longer to fully grasp it all. So this was a nice surprise for us.
I think that shows just how different each child is. I would NOT worry about it at all. She'll get it eventually.
I've heard many accounts similar to the ones commented here, including my neice who's approaching five and a half, and my sister - my mom said she was almost 7! I'm sure the expense and inconvenience is so frustrating, but I guess it's just something that they eventually figure out?
I'm still working on mastering the day time...so obviously don't have any other suggestions. :) Glad you're home!
I've heard of people trying cloth pullups. Maybe something like that would help her wake up in the middle of the night, but wouldn't leak on the bed?
Just keep doing what you are doing. She is totally normal and will eventually outgrow it.
Here's my confession: My 5-year-old still sucks a pacifier. I sucked my thumb until I was 10. I eventually had to have a special dental appliance made before braces to get me to stop. My kid will either give it up on her own or have a similar dental retainer.
I sometimes feel anxious about it, but if this is the biggest problem I have to deal with, then childrearing is cake.
My son (3) is potty trained during the day but I'd say 50/50 at night. Sometimes his pull-up is soaked and sometimes he's dry. I'm too nervous to take the pull ups away. I guess we just let them work it out in their own time and take away the pull-ups when they are consistely dry?
As for the $, there's usually some pretty good coupons out there for Huggies Pullups.
She's smart, so I'd say don't worry about it.
Try not to worry too much. I know a couple whose daughter was still doing it in 4th grade. If she gets to that point, then i'd be really upset. She eventually had to do the alarm thing. Four, though, is still little. I think this is a lot more common than you would think, because no one talks about it out of some perceived shame factor.
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