starting sleep potty training

soo.....the twins are day potty trained since 2 years old, was real easy, in one week.

they still sleep in their cribs and even though we lowered the bars to the very bottom ,they never ever attempt to get out. we don't want to wait too long with the sleep potty training so hubby is taking out the front rail of the cribs this weekend. just not sure how to handle it, we have no side rails, kids have their own room and bathroom is fairly close but no plugs in the hallway for them to walk to bathroom in the dark.
I never did pull ups, don't want to go there...so should we just go cold turkey and put them to sleep without diapers? I have 2 potties I could put in their rooms so they could go there. but then, they usually take diaper, pants and everything off, so they just go pee and go naked butt back to bed?

I am hoping with cutting down on their liquid intake, that they just pee before sleep and stay dry? of course it's a process and there will be accidents, I am thinking of getting the crib matress protectors from onesthepahead.

also, we have toddler beds ready just in case but we wanted to wait with that cause we are moving to AZ in a new (one level this time) house in jan or feb 2011.

they wake up only now and then dry, I think as long as they have the diaper on for sleep, they go in it. they pretty much have no accidents in day time and outings.....they go easily on reg toilet without step stool.

thanks any tips appreciated.
alexa

 

I did the 3 day potty training method-and did daytime and night time training together. I know people thought I was nuts-including myself-for putting my kids in underwear from there on out-but boy am I glad I did! But, that's also to say-maybe they were just ready? I don't know. They would wake DRENCHED in the morning in their diapers. Soaked through to the sheets. There was never a dry morning before doing this method...

Anyways-here's what I did:

My boys are still in cribs. We went and got mattress pads-two each. And I had two each of the waterproof pads from the hospital. So, in total, four waterproof __________ for their mattresses. When we first started out, we stopped the drinks 2-3 hours before bedtime. That was an adjustment, but they ended up doing fine. If they were thirsty, then they got a tiny sip of water/milk right before bed. We went to the bathroom downstairs first. Then went upstairs and used the potty again. Then we put on pj's, read books, etc. Then we went to the bathroom again. In the very begining, it was quite tedious, as they HAD to go to the bathroom two seconds after they went. Or five minutes after I shut the door...but that quickly wore off...

As for in the middle of the night... We would wake them either an hour(what the method recommends) after they went down, or right before dh/myself went to bed. We didn't do it for very long-maybe 2-3 days. They needed to learn to wake up if need be, or hold it. Then, we would wake them an hour before they normally woke up(I did it even earlier-so that it was dark outside and they didn't think they could start their day). And at the very FIRST sound from them waking in the am, dh or myself bolted upstairs and quickly grabbed them to put them on the toilet. Most wetting is going to happen upon waking up. So the quicker you get in there, the better it will hopefully be. And when we got there, it may have already been too late, but we still put them right on the toilet.

And I am happy to say, that within one week-they were night trained. And in two weeks time-they were fully potty trained(pee was fine in one to two days, poop was the issue)-day/night, out and about. It's been awesome. Now I only have one in diapers instead of three!

Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. The KEY is going to be limiting their drinks in the beginning. They are still in cribs, so we have to go up there and help them to the bathroom, but it hasn't been a problem at all. Let us know how it goes!

 

You cannot "train" a child to stay dry at night. When they are ready, they will stay dry at night. There is a hormone that the body activates (for most children between 3 and 5), which controls the ability of the autonomic system to hold the bladder for the entire night. Wait until they stay dry at night for a week, then they are ready for no more diapers. For one of my boys, he had been dry long before he was fully trained during the day. So, the day he pooped on the toilet was the last day he wore anything but underwear. My other boy had trained during the day 6 months earlier, but was a full year after his brother had been diaper free, before he was able to go without one at night.

The reason besides the hormone, is that training for anything requires conscience thought. During sleep, the unconscience is in control, and you cannot train the unconscience. There is no reason to rush staying dry at night, because it will end in frustration and lots of middle of the night laundry.

 

What she said!

 

Another one that agrees with ^^ !

 

I also agree with Sharon. With my DD, she just started staying dry at night on her own, this has been going on for about 2 months and I think she's only wet her sleepy time pull up once in that time. With my DS, we did do the 3 day PT method and it worked wonders for getting him to go on the potty (he was resistant and would hold his poo and pee in a diaper until nap or bedtime) but he is not night trained. He can stay dry 4 to 5 nights out of the week but at least wets him at night 2-3 x a week, so he is definitely not ready to be night trained. If he was not such a notorious holder, I'd still have him in a diaper at night. But knowing my son, he would hold it all day and wait for the diaper to pee, so that is the only reason why he's in underwear during the night time.
With my DD, because she is in underwear during her nap and also has a toddler bed, we do put her potty in her room and she will use it during her nap time. Most of the time when I go in to get her, she's usually naked from the waist down and laying down on her bed. So you can always try that and see how it works.

 

I completely agree with Sharon. :good:

With that being said, I accidentally PT'd one of mine through the night a couple months back. We were staying at Grandma's house, and right before bedtime I realized I was out of pull ups for bedtime. It was really late, and I didn't feel like going all the way up to the store so I just decided to give it a whirl and put them both in panties for the night and see what happens. The next morning, they both woke up Dry!! Kylee has been dry ever since and in panties with no issues, but shortly thereafter it was obvious that Kaylyn was not yet ready so I put her back in pull ups. I definitely don't think I "trained" her to stay dry all night, I think I just stumbled upon it at the right time. We will try with Kaylyn in a couple months and see how it goes.

 

My girls are almost 5 -- one is dry at night and the other isn't. Amy started waking up dry around age 4.5 -- we waited until it had been 5 days in a row, then switched her to underpants. (If she'd been younger, I would have waited longer on the chance that it was a fluke). Sarah is still not dry. We do encourage her to go potty before bed and to go to the bathroom if she wakes up, but she's such a deep sleeper that I don't think she wakes up at all during the night. If she starts feeling like she is embarrassed about being in a pull-up at night, we'll work on it harder, but as long as she doesn't care, neither do I.

 

Another one in favor of waiting here. The kids still wake up wet, and I am in absolutely no hurry to night train them. If I wait until they're ready, it will be easy!

 

Jessy was night trained at 2.5 before she was fully potty trained. I to agree that it is a readiness thing. On jazz (about 4 yrs old) after seven nights dry in a row we went to panties with just a few accidents. Jessy has never had an accident. Inane never woke them up to go potty either and find this practice bizarre

 

I potty trained my boys in one day at age 2 years 5 months. I knew they were ready. I thought they were night ready at age 2 years 6 months. I told them that pull ups were underwear for sleeping ( they always slept in diapers.) So, this was PERFECT!! They have not fully peed in their pull ups but they have WOKEN when beginning to pee in them and gotten us up to say "I have to go pee!!!!"

So, they DO know when they have to pee but have not pained us with changing bedsheets and clothing etc.

I think we've got it going on!!!

GL!

 

We did a similar method of 3 day potty training around 27 months old like Meaghan did. For the most part they are night trained. I do find the KEY is to limit their liquid intake before going to bed. Some night I do go in and take them potty before going to bed and those nights they are definitely dry in the morning. Some other nights that I don't go it they are dry too... My dd has a bladder of steel and doesn't usually need me to take her in the middle of the night.

anyway, I would definitely try limiting their intake and getting them to pee several times before bedtime. I always figured you don't have anything to lose... you can always go back to what you're doing.

I also think that in a lot of things that we do or don't do for kids... it seems we do things that are easier for ourselves instead of giving the kids a chance to show us that they can do it... good luck with figuring out what's right for your family.

 

thank you all for your helpful tips....so we had a super easy transition to the converted cribs, well we don't have side rails for the cribs so we just took out the whole front. they nap and night sleep like that exactly like before and don't even attempt to get out! they climb in when ready for sleep and when they wake, they just call for me but don't go out, that is really amazing to me, but then again, they never attempted climbing out of cribs either and always liked to go to bed.
I still have them in diapers for sleep, sometimes they wake up dry from nap, sometimes not, night they are still mostly wet in the am. I also put a potty in each room and nightlights so if they want to go themselves, they can, but they haven't yet.

I do agree also with you can't night potty train, especially cause I do not like to do that 3 day thing.

we'll be moving in a 1 level home and change them to their toddler beds then. I might try the pull ups before we move and see if that makes a difference for them in getting up themselves and go on potty.

so I guess we just wait and see...