restricting drinks before bedtime?

Hi all, I think it is safe to say that my girls are completely day trained. Overnight however is another story, and DH and I disagree about how to proceed. I still give the girls their bedtime milk while we read stories, then we brush teeth and go to bed. Sometimes they wake up in the middle of the night to pee, but not consistently so I still put them in night time diapers for bed. This morning Meara's diaper was so full that it exploded (literally- those damn little bead things were EVERYWHERE!).

DH thinks I should cut out the night time milk and make sure they don't drink anything after dinner (around 6:30pm). I'm worried about doing that 1) because its a soothing night time routine that we've done for their whole lives and 2) Ana had some constipation issues recently and I don't want to deny her access to water ever.

What do you guys do now that your little ones are trained? Incidentally I know from my MIL that DH had night time accidents until he was 7 so I'm not worried that they still pee at night at 3. I just want to minimize exploding night time diapers because OMG I hate those little bead things!

 

I limit fluids even with my almost 10 yr old son. He would have accidents still if I didn't. Unless they are having trouble growing, there's nothing wrong with limiting their fluids at night. I do allow water, but in a very small amount. I give them a sippy with it maybe 1/3 full. Just in case they get thirsty.
If you don't want to limit fluids, you can always set an alarm to wake them up and take them to the bathroom. That way if they have an accident the diaper won't explode. I switched out of pullups and am so glad I don't have those chemical pellets to deal with anymore. YUCK!

 

My parents used to limit liquids with me from after dinner I was only allowed 1/2 cup of liquids. I could drink as much as I wanted with dinner, but 1/2 cup max (4 oz) until 1/2 hour before bed. Then nothing from 1/2 hour prebed until the morning. That seemed to work better with my pee/bed issues.

I wouldn't leave water with them in the middle of the night. Can you move the milk back to an hour before bed?

 

If I were you, I might try diaper doublers (or even maxi pads inside the diaper -- I always wondered if that would work just as well). I know it seems weird to be using those on PT'd kids, but it would solve the immediate problem without changing your routine.

We've had the same discussions in our house, since neither of my DDs is dry at night and often the first thing we hear in the morning is "Mommy, I have a leaky diaper!" But we've had some success with encouraging them to pee right before bedtime. There's also an hour or more between bedtime and when they actually fall asleep, and we let them go potty whenever they want during that time as long as they don't bother us!

We don't limit fluids -- they drink about 4 oz of milk during storytime, plus as much water as they want at bedtime. Our only rule about that (which we just instituted) is that if they empty their water cup and want more, they have to pee in the potty before we'll refill the cup.

If they continue to have leaky/exploding diapers even with all this being encouraged to pee, we probably will have to limit fluids, but I'd really rather not.

 

We never restricted drinks before bed with the twins, but then mine aren't huge drinkers anyway. They would have one cup of drink with dinner (about 2hrs before bedtime) and then 4-5oz of milk as part of their bedtime routine (although N & L dropped this not long after being daytime potty trained of their own accord). They did/do get to have a sippy of water next to their beds throughout the night.

How much milk do they get at bedtime? If it's a large amount you could always cut it down without cutting it out compleately. You could also try getting them up and sitting them on the potty just before you go to bed, if you can get them to pee then you might not get exploding diapers.

 

For us, it's the only way to make sure ds doesn't have an accident. If he drinks anything after dinner, he'll wet the bed. Guaranteed. It's hard sometimes, but he's had so many accidents that I just remind him what happens & he's ok with it. I try to make sure he gets plenty to drink the rest of the day & at dinner. DD, on the other hand, could drink a huge cup & be fine. Just depends on the child, I guess.

 

We fill a full cup of milk at dinner (probably 6oz) & they have until 6:30 to drink it (we leave it at the table). After that, NOTHING. They get 1/3 of a Dixie Cup of water after brushing teeth, but that's it. And they pee immediately before bed.

Conner has been dry at night for months, Aiden still occasionally blows out (I hate those beads, too!) but is at least WET about 90% of the time (we just put him in a regular pull up so he can pee independently at night if he wants to).

Prior to our 'no drinks after dinner' rule, we always did a sippy of milk before bed. A FULL sippy...like 8-10 oz. I freaked thinking it'd effect our nighttime routine, but the boys did GREAT with it. You can always try it & go from there.

I wasn't pushing them being dry at night (since it's a maturity thing anyway), but I also didn't want the nighttime sippies to hinder their own progress. I also worried about their liquid/milk intake (since that was the only sippy they'd fully finish in a day), but they've made up for it in other ways.

We are SLIGHTLY lenient some nights in that if we're playing really rough outside, we allow them to have a few swigs of water. After all, they're probably dehydrated & even it out anyway.

I know, as an adult, I limit my fluid intake before bed to prevent night wakings to pee...so I figure it's the same for them (only they may not wake like we do!).

Good luck...I wouldn't rush it. You can try it & see how it goes and go from there, maybe?

 

I still give my girls sippies of water for bedtime, but instead of filling them full, I fill them about 1/4 of the way, just enough that they still have their sippie because it is such a routine for us. I have done this all the way through potty training and we never had too big of an issue with it. I just always make sure that they use the potty before they get into bed, even if they tell me they don't need to go I make them sit on the potty to see if their pee is "hiding".

 

Jessy can drink a 9 oz cup and be dry in the morning but then she'd have dry night when still in diapers. Jazz however is a mystery, sometimes she's dry some ties shes not somtimes she drinks some times not. i just think her bladder isnt ready yet

 

This has been a discussion for some time in our house. We haven't started full on training yet, but my theory is we should start limiting liquids now in preparation. One of the boys will sometimes drink about 12oz before bedtime if you let him. The other one doesn't care so much. DH is not in agreement at all with limiting drinks because it's such a routine.
We have water with supper and then milk around 6-6:30 (later on nights when DH is home). I don't want to move the milk to supper time because they have a history of filling up on milk and not eating. We still have very wet diapers in the morning.

 

I personally would cut back on the milk and then cut it out. You might be surprised that they dont miss it. Maybe replace it with a new stuffed lovey or doll (if they are into those yet) that they can hold while you read stories??

 

Thanks everyone for the responses. I gave them less milk last night (1/2 sippie full) and they didn't even notice. Then Meara woke up around 11pm to pee, and when I went into their room at 7:15 they were both sitting on their little potties reading books. Meara's diaper was completely dry and Ana's was wet, but both peed in the potty. So I think I'm going to slowly reduce the milk at night and then eventually switch the bedtime routine. Right now they pee before bath and thats it. I'm going to start having them pee right after brushing their teeth and getting into bed, along with reducing the milk.

Thanks again! Sometimes I feel like I'm totally overthinking everything, and then I come on here and realize that I'm not alone in overthinking everything :blbl:

 

I have never limited fluids before bed, I feel when their bladder is mature enough to hold it they will.

 

We cut out giving them milk before bathtime (they can drink milk anytime in the day but we used to give it to them as 'part of bedtime routine') and it helped to stop the night nappies from getting to exploding levels hahahahaa They have sippy cups by their beds so they can drink water at night.