Night Time Advice 4 year old

Beckabooney · September 2012

DD1 is nearly 4 and she wears a pull up at night. She is completely potty trained during the day and has been since a little before she was 2. I haven't been in any kind of huge hurry to make her get out of them... she's still MY baby. With another baby on the way DH thinks that DD should be completely out of diapers. What is a normal age for kids to stop wearing diapers at night?

ldmessing · September 2012

my granddaughter is 2 1/2 and doesn't wear a diaper or pull up at night

tiffanysbride · September 2012

If the pull ups are dry then she does not need them. You have not said if she is having issues holding it through the night.

caroljosh · September 2012

We don't let our 4 year old have any liquids a couple hours prior to bed time.

Beckabooney · September 2012

They are wet 70% of the time. Mostly I think that it's because she wakes up at about 5 am and goes in her diaper. The problem I have is if she actually gets us to go to the bathroom at 5 am; then she's up for the day and cranky with it. If she has the diaper on she'll sleep until 6 - 6:30 am. She goes to bed at 7:30 - 8:00 pm but doesn't often fall asleep until 8:30 pm.

Here's my problem with really cutting liquids 2 hours prior to her 7:30 bedtime. I'm a FT WM and after I get off work at 5 pm, pick her up at 5:20 we get home at 5:40 (at best). Now its 15 - 20 minutes (at best) to make dinner (6:00 pm) I pretty much restrict liquids after dinner but with dinner at 6:00 - 6:30 pm, she needs something to drink. No sugar at dinner, milk or water only to drink... but again..

We have a waterproof mattress cover and I don't care about doing the laundry. I guess my question is more along the lines of how common it is for my almost 4 year old to still need a diaper at night?

tiffanysbride · September 2012

I say go for it if she is waking at 5 am. If she didn't have the diaper then it sounds like she would go us the potty. Even if she gets up at 5, she should go back to her room until the correct wake up time. DS has a clock in his room and he knows anytime before 7:00 is too early. The first couple of days he was awake playing but eventually he started sleeping.

I would say it is not very common, but I know all kids had different rates with night time training. DS was PT at 2.5 and by 3 he was night time trained. We still have occasional accidents b/c he is sleeping too deeply, but nothing major. If you do it for a week and it does not work then talk to your pedi about your concerns.

Jim&Jaime · September 2012

Beckabooney:
They are wet 70% of the time. Mostly I think that it's because she wakes up at about 5 am and goes in her diaper. The problem I have is if she actually gets us to go to the bathroom at 5 am; then she's up for the day and cranky with it. If she has the diaper on she'll sleep until 6 - 6:30 am. She goes to bed at 7:30 - 8:00 pm but doesn't often fall asleep until 8:30 pm.

Do you think, on some level, she goes in the diaper because she can?

smjones_4 · September 2012

I'm new to the boards in general, but my DS is 4 and wears a pull-up at night. I too work FT out of the house and tend to eat dinner around 6 then goes to bed at 8. My niece wore a pull-up till she was 5. I don't think you have anything to worry about just yet. My own rule of thumb if DS is dry when he wakes up, whatever the time, i take him to the bathroom. If DS does this for 3 days in a row, i try 1 night without the pullup. It's been back and forth for a while. Good luck

MsJen · September 2012

My DD was 3 1/2 when she was completely trained. Partly I think because we just made her. We finally drew the line and apparently she was ready.

You might try a week and say "no more pull-up! you will need to get up to go potty." But if that is too difficult or she wets the bed, you can always go back.

Following the same advice of no liquids before bed, potty before bed etc will help.

Ultimately it goes to your and her comfort level.

ootmother2 · September 2012

Potty trained and used pullups with a chart at 4 years.

Pull up chart got a sticky for a dry wakeup. 5 stickies got a treat (decided at the start of each 5 days)

worked completely in about 6 months. Relax, I've never seen a kid go to college with pull ups

WeAreSmalls · September 2012

I am mostly a lurker but wanted to chime in on this. I do not think it is uncommon at all for a 4 year old to still need a pull-up at night. My daughter was probably just about 4 - maybe a few months older - when she was consistantly dry through the night. I have 2 nieces who used pull ups into kindergarten. Daytime potty training and staying dry through the night do not always happen at the same time. I would not worry about it if your child is unable to stay dry. However, if you think she will get up at 5 to go to the bathroom if she's not wearing a pull-up, I would encourage you to try that. My daughter often gets up around 4 or 5 and I walk her right back into her bedroom and tuck her into bed so she understands it is still "nighttime" and not time to wake up. I don't think children should be pushed too agressively if they are not ready, but I think we should follow their queues if they are ready. Good luck!

Night Time Advice 4 year old

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