Up at Three AM
Last night, I was up at three…well, this morning, I guess. And it wasn’t the baby. He was snoozing away. Peanut called to me, “I peed in my bed.” This has happened several times lately. We phased out diapers at night…I think we’ll have to phase them back in. I’m not sure what the problem is - probably she just wakes up too late? Whenever she does this, she always goes to the toilet and finishes. She gets really upset and cries. Her father didn’t make it better the other day - waking up at midnight to deal with a pee-soaked child is not fun! He was a bit cranky. Anyway, last night, I put her in a diaper and moved her to my bed - I confess I was too lazy and too tired to change her sheets and remake her bed. In my defense, that involves moving and rearranging a billion stuffed animals, none of whom she can sleep without. (I’ll tell you what I do with all these stuffed animals when she’s not looking in another post LOL).
Anyway, I gave her a hug and reassured her that accidents happen. So we’re back to diapers at night. Is this a step backward? I know other kids still wear diapers at night…but for how long? When do you expect your toddler to be out of diapers? I’m just curious…this is my first go-around at this. I’m sure I’ll have it all figured out when the baby is ready for potty training. Right. This is one of those things you just have to wait out, I think. Any suggestions though? I’m glad she’s out of diapers during the day, and she does very well on car trips and everything. I can definately deal with one diaper at night. The funny thing is that when she has a diaper, she almost always wakes up dry.
Potty training is a long road, I’m finding out. We got over the initial hurdle very quickly once she was ready; now it’s just a matter of patience. Right?? I have no idea!
Once I got myself settled back into bed, guess who woke up and wanted to eat? It’s fun having kids!!
November 19th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Katie - I can totally relate. I think my oldest daughter was completely out of diapers by about the age of 3, although I could be wrong, maybe it was a few months later, but definitely by 3 1/2.
Here is what we did. First, we knew to expect night time accidents and we prepared her by letting her know that accidents are ok and nobody will ever get mad at her for accidents.
Then we got those pads at Walmart that lie over her fitted sheet. The pad is absorbent, washable, and fairly large (3×3 feet?). So long as she didn’t scrunch it up and push it out of the way while sleeping (with her feet usually), the only thing that got wet were the pajamas and the pad. We have 2 of the pads (2-pack at Walmart).
We also put her potty in her room. We knew she would just be more comfortable getting up to pee if she didn’t have to creep down a dark hallway (and we prefer it since we would rather she didn’t wake up her younger sister).
She had a phase where she wet her bed almost every night for a week or so. We were tempted to do diapers again, but did not. She resolved this issue on her own completely.
Get the pads if you can. They are great. Then tell your daughter that you are happy that she is making really good progress. Encourage her to be proud of herself for asking for help when she has an accident. This will hopefully reduce her anxiety and level of upset when he does have accidents.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Yes. Pads. Totally agree. I also don’t know if you should put her back in diapers or not. We never did for either of our children, and even though there were a few night accidents, they were fine after awhile.
There are some things that you can do - get the pads. They’re seriously great and save your mattress. Next, stop letting her drink about an hour or so before she goes to bed. If she does have to drink, make sure it’s something small, like a little bit of water. This way her bladder won’t be working so hard at night. Also, make sure she goes potty before she goes to bed - NEVER settle for the “I just went” - I don’t care of my kids went 30 minutes prior, they have to go potty (and they always have something that comes out).
If I were you I’d be tempted to go back to diapers for the convienence, but I’ll bet that this goes away fairly quickly.
November 21st, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Chris and Randi, you’ve convinced me to buy some pads. I will definately do that next time we go. I agree that maybe going back to diapers isn’t the best idea…maybe she’s just becoming used to the security of them when she goes to bed. And Randi, about drinking before bed…I read that and said “Why didn’t I think of that! I haven’t been watching what she’s drinking.” And that makes total sense…no more beverages before bed. And I do have her go potty, which she resists every time, and yet every time, she has to go. The joy of a three year old. Thanks both of you for some very very good advice.