Potty Training and Pullups

Updated on March 09, 2011
A.T. asks from New Lenox, IL
19 answers

We have been potty training my almost 3 year old daughter for the last few days. It started it off with some resistance and a lot of accidents! Once she knew she would not be getting any diapers she started going. She's had a great couple of days and now seems to enjoy using the potty. My question is what to do at night? I don't want to give her pullups at all just because I'm afraid she might start to beg for them during the day. I used them with her a few months ago but she just treated them like diapers. I would like to just use underwear but she can't stay dry all night. Any suggestions on any alternatives to pullups? I just want to avoid any confusion and keep the day training on track. Thanks!!

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C.G.

answers from Chicago on

She is old enough to have control, just be brave and do underwear! We trained my daughter at the same age and put her in panties for bed. She wet the bed ONE time, then it never happened again. She learned from it and even would talk about it. We could see she understood what had happened. And we were diaper free, pull ups free, from then on. It was so worth it!

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K.L.

answers from Washington DC on

My son has been potty trained since Nov but he still wears a pull-up for nap/bedtime. He doesn't have any confusion.

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K.M.

answers from Kansas City on

Both of my boys slept in diapers for up to a few months after they were completely day trained. They had no trouble switching back to underwear during the day. My almost 3 year old was day trained last month. Last week he really started fighting me on wearing a diaper at night. So, he wears underwear all day and all night. He's only had 1 night accident. Try to cut off fluids about 1 hour before bed, then take her to pee before you go to bed.

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C.D.

answers from Chicago on

You're on the right track! Pull ups are very convenient for parents but they are diapers. We never used them for the same reason you stated-our daughter just treated them like diapers. We used a technique from the 3 day potty training method. Our daughter's bedtime is 8:00 pm. At the time we did this she was two months shy of 3. We would limit her fluids after 6:00 pm and have her go potty right before getting in bed. My husband would then take her to the potty after about an hour and a half (eventually lengthening it to 2 hours) after she had been asleep. He would also offer to take her before he left for work (this didn't last long because she never had to go). Don't worry this does not disturb their sleep, half the time she was barely awake. After about a year we stopped waking her to go and she hasn't had one accident since. The body cannot learn control if it is never given a chance. Give it a try, I bet she'll do great!!

C.

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K.W.

answers from Lincoln on

A couple good waterproof mattress pads, laundry detergent, and lots of patience!

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S.B.

answers from Kansas City on

we used the huggies overnight pullups for about 6 months. She's been fully daytime trained since 3 1/2, now she's finally fully night time trained at 4. We had no problem with her having pullups for night time and regular panties for daytime, she just called her pullups her "night night" panties.

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L.B.

answers from San Francisco on

Sorry, being day time potty trained and staying dry at night do not always go hand in hand. During the day they consciously control it, at night however, no choice, just the body doing its thing. I would stick with the night time pull ups until she can stay dry overnight, might be soon, might be a long time. No need to put her and yourself through the discomfort of wet bedsheets and clothes every night.

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K.M.

answers from Chicago on

once my son was READY to train he had dry nights ... but you could think about using a panty liner maybe. Once they pee enough during the day they will have dry nights and they will learn how to hold it longer.

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R.W.

answers from Chicago on

I had this problem too, but I do use a pullup at night. My daughter knows that she uses panties during the day and a pullup at night because sometimes she just doesn't wake up at all at night too pee. She has never been confused with diapers and pullups. She turned 3 in Dec. and has been fully day potty trained since a little before then. I did have to stop using the pullups during the day because she used them as a crutch, as soon as I did she had 0 day accidents. If someone asks my daughter about wearing diapers she will tell them "I don't wear diapers, I wear panties!" She most nights will keep her pullup dry, but there are nights that she doesn't and I have no problem keeping her in a pullup at night until she goes longer than 7 consecutive nights dry. My daughter would never go back to wearing a pullup during the day and never asked for one, the bottom line is every child is different and you have to decide what works best for both of you. Good luck!

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M.R.

answers from Chicago on

I used pull-ups for my daughter at night for a few months after she was potty-trained during the day because she wasn't waking up to go.

I found that just making it very clear that they are only for bed time and not available during the day she was fine (as long as you stick to it).

If you know she will fight for them during they day than it seems the only option is to buy a plastic water-proof mattress cover, accept that you will be waking up a lot in the middle of the night and doing a lot of laundry. Maybe keep the bathroom light on (or a nightlight in there) and make sure she knows what to do if she wakes up in the middle of the night needing to go.

Good luck!

S.H.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter was day potty trained right at turning 2. We used pullups at night because she did not wake to go. She still wet without waking until she was 4. We would even wake her up to go before we went to bed, a few hours after she had gone to bed and she would still have accidents. For some kids it just takes longer to stay dry at night and that is ok. There is nothing wrong with using pullups at night until they are no longer needed. We tried often to keep her panties at night but she would wet her bed every night and all it did was upset her. It caused her no confusion during daytime when she was in panties.

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N.P.

answers from Chicago on

put her in pullups at night and explain that they are because when you sleep your body doesn't control your pee like it does when you are awake.

My older daughter needed pull ups at night till she was almost 6, she was day trained at 3 yrs 3 months old. My younger daughter was trained at 27 mos day, needed pull ups till she turned 8. (literally till her 8th birthday on the dot)

There is a chemical that keeps us from peeing at night, until the body starts producing the chemical there is almost NOTHING that you can do that will make her stop peeing at night. All you will do is ruin everyone's sleep. It's not worth it. Tell her that after she is dry for a whole week at night you'll try without pull ups.

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J.W.

answers from Chicago on

Being able to hold it during the night is a developmental milestone, just like sleeping through the night or potty readiness during the day. Many kids don't awaken with the urge to go to the bathroom and can't hold it for 8+ hrs straight. We used pull-ups with our daughter, who was potty trained at 2-1/2, and when she finally started waking up dry, she could stay in underwear. That probably happened when she was 3-1/2. Potty training never was a battle and when she was ready, she was ready! Good luck!

T.B.

answers from Bloomington on

My son (3 1/2) wears pullups at night just in case and hasn't asked for them during the day. You could buy pullups that have a nighttime design and tell her they only work at nighttime. If you didn't cloth diaper, you could use a cloth diaper for nighttime. They also have padded cotton "training" pants and you could put the plastic pants over. Good Luck!

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J.G.

answers from Rockford on

I couldn't use pull-ups on my daughter either, for the same reason, she just treated it like a diaper. (I have a theory that it's the diaper companies just trying to keep kids in diapers for as long as possible. *LAUGH*) I was a little resistant to just letting her sleep with out anything diaper-like, but I found out that she was completely able to stay dry when she was wearing underwear. It took a lot of faith in my little lady, but she hasn't had an accident over night yet. Now that I've said that I will probably be changing sheets at night for the rest of the month. There are things that are more like cloth diapers, but made sort of like a pull-up, so they would still feel the wet, if she did have an accident. you might want to check out http://pinstripesandpolkadots.com/products/pc/viewCategor... I am actually a cloth diaper momma (now anyway with my second), and that is where I got my shells from, but the training pants might be something that is not a diaper or pull-up, but have more protection than just underwear.

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D.B.

answers from Los Angeles on

Out of three kids I've had one that just went dry overnight on her own, another who still isn't dry at nights, and the third is dry expect when exhausted (long busy day) or is growing through a growth spurt.

If your not opposed to buying cloth, you might go that route and buy cloth trainers with diaper "doublers" and cover it all with a waterproof cover to catch any leaks. Or you can just do the pullups OVER her panties for night only (explain that once she can stay dry over night she won't have to wear them any more, and that its better then waking up wet and cold)

Or you can buy the waterproof mattress pads or covers (I'd recommend covers only because kids tend to empty full bladders and wiggle around in bed which lead to "spillage" or accidents that aren't caught at all). But if you go that route, be prepared to wake her at night a few hours after she's asleep to make a potty trip. You might find you need to wake her twice durning the night (one a few hours after she's asleep and then again a few hours after that - probably after you've been asleep, if your like most parents and can put the kids in bed before you go to bed).

Of my one who isn't dry at nights still... we've decided that he had the bad luck to inherit the bed-wetting issues that had plagued other family members as kids. He's also a deep sleeper. So you might ask your spouse and family if anyone had troubles with bed-wetting past age 6.
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/bedwetting-causes

Best of luck!

A.G.

answers from Houston on

Just use a regular diaper at night, pull ups are so different they mold panties with diapers and it confuses the child and regresses potty training IMO.

You could also try a sleep pad that catches pee and put her in regular panties, if you are on the fast track to night training the sensation of peeing onto the bed might speed up the process.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

I know several kids who are great during the day, but wear diapers or pull ups for several months longer at night. Let her know this isn't a setback, but because it's harder to wake up to pee, she'll be in pull ups/diapers til she is dry all night -and then make that your next goal. Maybe reward a week of dryness with a special set of PJs or something nighttime related.

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S.R.

answers from San Francisco on

Our son wore "goodnites" and we called them night time underwear. We didn't buy pullups even when he potty trained. He wore them a little over 1 year and then finally one day he said he didn't want to wear them anymore, that he wanted to wear his regular underwear. We let him and he has never had an accident. We did talk about regular underwear at night and would tell him to let us know when he's ready. Good luck.

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