According to Potty Training Concepts, ‘Achieving night time potty control is not simply a learned skill, but rather a physiological development and the control is largely involuntary.’ So how do you know if your child is ready for night time potty training, and how do you help her achieve that family wellness milestone?
1. Make sure she’s ready – Is it easy for her to stay dry throughout the day, and is she waking up with a dry nappy more often than not? This mean your child is probably ready to start night time potty training. This often comes down to your child’s age, because, over time, the body develops the ability to hold urine for long periods of time plus the nerve signal from the bladder to the brain to wake up to pee. Night time control occurs in 66% of kids under three years old, and almost 75% have it under the age of four years.
2. Prepare the area – While your kid may have the strongest bladder of all time, she is still going to have an accident. This is a learning process, but that doesn’t mean that your child’s mattress has to suffer. Protect the mattress with a waterproof mattress pad and have dry underwear and pyjamas on hand for a fast change if (or when) she wets the bed.
3. Prepare your child – Logic dictates that what goes in must come out, so even your child’s odds of night time success by limiting her fluid intake a few hours before bedtime. This may mean no drink after dinner time and only one small sip of water before bed, but what ever you decide, make sure your child uses the toilet right before bedtime.
4. Wake her up – This is an old trick but it has lasted for a reason! Each night before you go to bed, wake your child up and take her to the toilet. This gives your child a few more hours of space in her bladder, allowing her to empty anything that had been filtered in the few hours between her bedtime and 11 PM. Chances are that your child will still be half-asleep, so you might have to prop her up, but she’ll have no problem getting right back into bed.
5. Celebrate – While accidents are going to happen, and you shouldn’t reprimand your child for a natural bodily occurrence, you might want to consider giving small treats for each morning she wakes up dry. She may respond well!
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