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Behaviour/development

how long after child was dry at night did you stop using a nappy?

29 replies

ChazDingle · 08/11/2013 09:34

DS was a slightly late potty trainer at 3.3. At the same time as becoming dry in the day he has more or less become dry at night (that is since august). I have still been putting a pull up on him at night but since August there has probably only been 3 ocassions when the pullup has been wet in the morning (one was earlier this week when he was ill with a tummy bug so i think that would be a one off).

There about about 4 pullups left in the pack so when i go shopping should i buy another pack or just stop putting a pullup on at night. I only buy the supermarket own brand so its not really a cost issue.

Due to the late day training, night training hadn't even crossed my mind and i would have been quite ok if he'd have needed a night nappy till 5 or 6 but being as he seems to be dry wondering if i should just go for it.

for info, he usually holds his wee all night, a couple of times when he has woken up he has asked for a wee in the night.

OP posts:
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ilovepowerhoop · 08/11/2013 13:46

I probably waited a couple of months and then bit the bullet and didnt put a nappy on. I would get a waterproof mattress protector before gong nappy free. I also use a disposable pampers bed mat on top of the mattress protector (both are under the top sheet) as that can save having to change the whole bed.

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Hersetta · 08/11/2013 13:54

less than a week. She potty trained at 2.4 and was dry at night almost immediately. I forgot to put her in a pull up for bed one night, she was dry the next day so never bothered again. I sold the 5 packs of pulls ups that i had left as I expected it to take much longer!

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mejon · 08/11/2013 14:05

DD1 was still in pull-ups at gone 5 iirc and they were wet every morning. I decided to go cold turkey and she had 1 or two accidents the first week and after that she's been completely dry since (now 7). I'd say go for it, sounds like he's more than ready.

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Janek · 08/11/2013 14:14

I would have stopped long ago if i were you. Dd1 was dry about a week before we stopped using a night time nappy, but we were on holiday at the time, which was why. Dd2 is just five and if she had one dry night i'd take off her nappy, it's getting silly now and i'd love for her to be dry at night.

But both of mine have waterproof sheets on their beds, the 'cloth' kind, not the uncomfortable crinkly kind and i can't see a time when they ever won't. Recently the waterproof sheet protected the bed from a vom-fest to prove they are necessary!

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NellyTheElephant · 08/11/2013 21:01

I would have stopped ages ago. By this stage I'd say night nappy is counter productive - i.e. hard to get up and down so if he does need a wee he either needs to call you to help or else just use the nappy. If he doesn't have it on he can more easily use the loo (or leave a potty by his bed for a while until he's used to it in case he wakes in the night and needs it).

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Hippychickster · 08/11/2013 21:57

When I had my children (ages ago!) I did everything by a book I had by Sheila Kitzinger, because I didn't really know much about babies.

She said when they had had 2 dry nights, never put a nappy on them at night again. I didn't and neither of them ever wet the bed!

I don't know how I dared now! But it was all fine

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Hippychickster · 08/11/2013 21:58

I meant 2 consecutive dry nights btw

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fififrog · 09/11/2013 18:14

About 2 nights here too - after advice from a friend. DD was 2.5, nights sorted instantly, days we are still a bit hit and miss with the number twos at 2.8

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LittleSiouxieSue · 09/11/2013 18:42

A nappy at 5 or 6 would have been ok? No it would not! A few days of consecutive dry nappies then go for it. I would have been embarrassed if mine had started school needing a nappy at night.

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Janek · 09/11/2013 18:46

What would you have done about siouxiesue, to save your embarrassment?

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Mrsmindcontrol · 09/11/2013 18:55

ODFOD LittleSiouxsie.... embarrassed, really??

What a nasty thing to say.

My DS1 was in pull ups at night until he was 6. Through no fault of his own. Why on earth would I be embarrassed by him??

FWIW, my DS2 was dry at night by his 3rd birthday and DS3 is currently 3.5 and has never had a dry night yet. They're all different.

But, embarrassed.....no! That's horrible.

Oh- and OP DEFINITELY ditch the pull ups!

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ilovepowerhoop · 09/11/2013 18:56

there are lots of children who still need a nappy at night at age 5/6/7 and even older as you cant train night dryness - it is linked to producing a hormone to suppress urine production at night plus the ability to wake up when you have a full bladder.

How would anyone else at the school know if a child needed a nappy at night, its not something you would broadcast to everyone.

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mejon · 09/11/2013 18:58

Whether your child needs a nappy at night at 5 or 6 is no-one else's business so hardly cause for embarrassment LittleSiouxieSue. I was under the impression that it was perfectly normal at that age and isn't considered a 'problem' until 7 or so. DD1 did not have any dry mornings hence the pull-ups at night at 5. In hindsight as she was dry immediately after stopping then I could have tried sooner but it's a bit late to worry about that now. I'll definitely try sooner with DD2 though unless she does it of her own accord.

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lljkk · 09/11/2013 19:03

Between 2 weeks & 3 months of always dry before I braved it. I'd go nappy free if I were OP. Get a PVC cover for mattress, too.

With mine wearing nappy or not didn't make a diff to when they went reliably dry. It was all hard-wired physiological response for 3/4. 4th child was curious case; loved wet nappies, I guess! but also couldn't quite do the nights either, I reckon, until nearly 6.

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ChazDingle · 09/11/2013 20:38

When i said i would have been happy for him to wear a nappy to 5 or 6 my thinking was, he'd been that late day training and then just done it overnight that i expected he would do the same with night training at some point so wasn't going to let myself get stressed about it, however it was a total shock that he's more or less done at the same time as day training.

OP posts:
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lljkk · 09/11/2013 20:49

DS1 went dry at same time as day training, too.
DS3 was almost the same.
Others not until about 6-7yo!

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Whereisegg · 09/11/2013 20:55

Little, my ds is 7 next month and still wets almost every night.
It has never occurred to me to be embarrassed by that.

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CharlotteBronteSaurus · 09/11/2013 21:00

dd1 was nearly 5 and halfway though reception year at school before she was dry at night. she was very keen to be out of pull ups, and so we did it straight away.

dd2 was dry by day and night at 2.8, but we left it 3 months before getting rid of pull ups, mainly as we were in a state of disbelief after our experience with dd1. she's been great though. no wet beds.

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Meglet · 09/11/2013 21:01

I left mine in pull ups dry at night for 4/5 months, they were dry in the spring, but I wanted to wait until after our summer holiday to stop with pull ups all together. It was more me worrying, and not wanting a disturbed sleep on a work night, than them being fussed about it.

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Wandastartup · 09/11/2013 21:16

3/12 with DD1 as waited till she went into a bed. 1/52 with DD2 as promised her she could dispense with pull ups once she'd been dry for a week- so she was!

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Mintyy · 09/11/2013 21:22

I stopped with the pull up at night more or less as soon as I realised that they were dry nearly every morning. So I guess about a month or two after potty training?

Ds (10) has only wet the bed once. We were staying in a holiday cottage ffs! So had to get all the bedding and undersheet (thankfully waterproof) washed and dried during our stay.

Dd (12) has had about 3 or 4 wee accidents in the night.

I know we have been incredibly lucky.

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NoNoNoMYDoIt · 09/11/2013 21:45

DS was 5 before out of night nappies permanently. Dry during the day from 3 days after 2nd birthday. First dry night time nappy at 3. Then periods of being dry. One period lasted 3 months. So stopped nappies. Thought we had it cracked. Then back to wetting most nights so back on with the nappy. Then weeks dry, no nappy. Then more constant wetting. You get the idea. Anyway by the end of reception he was pretty dry. He still wets occasionally (he is 7). Say a handful of times a year. No big deal. He sleeps through it.

DD dry in the day at 2.6. Dry in the day at 3. Only wets the bed when we camp. Literally.

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Jiltedjohnsjulie · 10/11/2013 09:58

I stopped straightaway but did fold up a big towel and put it under the sheet and leave a potty in their rooms. Nobly ever had one accident when DS was ill.

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thegreylady · 10/11/2013 12:07

Dgs1 wasn't reliably dry at night till he was 5 whereas his brother was completely dry day and night by 2.3.
In op's position I wouldn't buy more pullups now. See how you go with layered sheets and lots of positive reinforcement.

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CatWithKittens · 10/11/2013 17:47

LittleSiouxieSue, that is exactly the type of thinking my poor DH had to put with from a sadistic prep school matron thirty years ago when he was 7! I am amazed that some people still simply do not understand that night time dryness varies form child to child, that there may be a hereditary or genetic component to it and is at least partly hormone dependent. I suspect that the quickest way to embed the problem, if you will excuse that expression, is to react as you do to it.

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