We’ve finally had success in potty training. I can’t tell you how long I fought with my daughter and even still we have a few issues but we are out of diapers and I feel like we have reached success. One of the most confusing parts of potty training to me was night time training. How do you help your child go all through the night? I asked friends, looked on-line, and in the end let Zoe decide.
Here are a few tips.
Turn on the light in the bathroom or get a night light: My daughter is terrified of the shadows at night so at night I turn the bathroom light on and tell her that she will be safe in the bathroom at night. The light comforts her and she’s been going in.
Use a toilet paper they prefer or something that excites them: Thanks to Mom Bloggers Club, we received the new Cottonelle Toilet paper and my daughter loves it. She was upset with me when the roll ended and I went back to Charmin, so I actually switched it back to Cottenelle until I’m sure she’s going to go at night as well as during the day. It is something small that means so much to her. Stickers in the morning, and a chocolate chip if she goes number 2 also inspire great things.
Use Pull Ups for going through the night: Pull ups will help them to feel cool and wake up to finish going potty in the bathroom while keeping the bed dry. My daughter looses it whenever she has an accident and I know that the Pull Ups are helping her self esteem. When she wakes up dry she is so proud of herself and tells both mommy and daddy her good news.
Still great tips, but didn’t work for us:
Limit the water at night: we never did this one. My kids are such big drinkers that I never wanted to discourage water. They even take their water to bed with them. But this was one of the tips given to me. I’m sure it helps some parents
Wake them up at night: when you get up at night to take a potty break you should wake them up and tell them it is time to go potty. This one never worked for us. I did try it, but every time she would say no, or throw a fit. It wasn’t worth it to us to have a fight in the middle of the night.
The Reality
She did it all on her own. I tried this and that, but Zoe made the choice to potty train. She decided she was ready and is very proud of her decision. As a mother who has fought the battle, my biggest piece of advice is to be patient.
I really NEED to start working on night time training. Sigh, I keep hoping she’ll just start waking up dry — hasn’t happened yet.
Thanks for the tips. I finally got through to my 3 year old daughter I thought she would never finish potty training. She kept having accidents during the day and about 2 months ago she decided she was ready and now is fully potty trained during the day but at night she is still having accidents. I do wake her up during the night and she goes and I limit her drinking water at night before bed, but still I find myself washing the sheets every morning.
Color me jealous. I have an almost 2 year old lil’ dude. Guess I have a while to go huh? Darn boys. HA!
When I was younger, I used to babysit 2 boys while their parents went to Lake Powell for a week in the summer. The parents offered to give me a bonus if the youngest boy was potty trained by the time they got back because they were just fed up and out of hope. All I did was tell him I was gonna put the diapers in the top of the closet and he didn’t need them any more. He watched me do it. He wet the bed the first night, but after that he was done. Each time he went to the toilet I grabbed a photo of the family that was nearby and said, “Mommy says ‘you can do it!’ Daddy says ‘you can do it!’ and brother says ‘you can do it’ “in their respective voices to the best of my ability of course. He loved it and laughed and even asked for it when he was running to the toilet. It was that simple. Maybe it’s a good idea to see if someone outside of the family who puts less pressure on them can help fight the cause. I dunno.
xoxoxo
I also use to put a Flsher Price flashlight right by their bed in case they have to go in the middle of the night.
I had the hardest time potty training one of my daughters, especially at night. She actually still has accidents sometimes, even at six. But one thing that I agree with is that limiting the drinks before bed does not work. My husband insisted that we do that and I just felt bad because she was thirsty. I did make sure she went right before bedtime and sometimes even tried to take her in her sleep and make her go. Not real restful sleep, but a dry bed in the morning!