A lot of parents make the mistake of beginning to potty train their child at night before he’s been fully trained during the day.
The truth is that even after your toddler has been fully potty trained, nighttime accidents will still happen. Bedwetting is something that parents have to deal with even when their child is 6 or 7 years old.
When it happens it happens. All you can do is to make it happen fewer times.
First of all you shouldn’t listen too much to what other parents tell you about their children. Each child is different and behaves differently. For example when I started potty training my daughter I wasn’t decided on getting a potty chair or a potty seat. Get what’s best for you and your toddler. That’s my advice.
But back to night time potty training.
Here’s what you need in order to maintain potty accidents to a minimum.
First of all avoiding big drinks before bed time or naptime is pretty obvious and yet so many parents forget about this.
Ofcourse you should keep your child hydrated during the day, but don’t give him anything to drink 1 or 2 hours before he goes to bed.
Another tip is to wake up your child after an hour or so after he falls asleep and ask him if he needs to go. Some parents find this a little bit cruel but most of the times your child will pee if you put him on the potty. He’ll probably be half asleep though.
The best protection during nighttime and this has helped me a lot during our nighttime toilet training, training pants. Potty training pants are close to regular pants but they’re waterproof and they absorb the pee from one go.
You can also use a waterproof mattress cover just in case. Pee ruins your child’s mattress and they’re pretty expensive. Waterproof mattress covers don’t come too cheap but they’re worth the money considering how much you would pay for a new mattress to replace the ruined one.
We didn’t use one with our child but I’ve heard a lot of parents say how great they are. I’m talking about bedwetting alarms. They have a wetness sensor you attach to your childs underwear and when it goes off it vibrates waking your child up so he can go to the bathroom and not pee in his bed.
I’m not to familiar with bedwetting alarms but hey, whatever works, right? I mean I remember that I would do everything to avoid another one of those bed wetting accidents my daughter had while we were training her.
And last but not least remember to always keep a positive attitude and disposition. Your child is trying very hard to please you and make you proud so make sure you praise him everytime he stays dry or goes to the potty in the middle of night.
And also have patience. Cheers.