Potty Training at Night: 7 Steps to Success!

Potty training at night brings all kinds of new problems (and some of the same) that you’re probably already encountering with your little one. But while there needs to be some tweaks here and there, you’ll find that the road to success isn’t all that different.

Read on for the 7 steps to potty training at night!

potty training at night

1. Have Lots of Patience

Potty training in the day can be hard enough but things tend to get even more challenging at night. Those little daytime accidents are just as likely in the night, especially when you’re first getting started with nighttime potty training.

If you’re using disposable underwear or training pants, you won’t have to worry so much about accidents but when you get to the stage where you actually want your child to be aware of them and wake up when it happens, be prepared for some interrupted nights!

This can be a bit of a shock if you weren’t prepared for it but if you know to expect it, it should be less daunting.

2. Limit Pre-Bed Drinks

One of the ways that you can help your child’s chances of staying dry at night is to limit how much they drink in the run up to bedtime.

Ideally, they won’t drink very much at all in the 3 hours before they go to bed so there’s less chance of them needing to go to the toilet during the night. To put it bluntly, the less that goes in, the less there is to come out!

If they do have to drink a bit of something, milk is the best option as it’s not as likely to go “straight through” them compared to other liquids.

3. Avoid Caffeinated Drinks

If your little one drinks anything containing caffeine in the hours before bed, there’s a much bigger chance that they’ll have accidents during the night  – and this can be the case even if they drink caffeine in the afternoon (which usually feels safer than in the evening!).

It seem like it won’t make a lot of difference if it’s just the odd sip but it’s better not to take the chance when you’re trying to get your child to stay dry all night!

4. Have a Handy Supply of Changes

Despite your best efforts, accidents will happen and this is par for the course with potty training at night! Seeing as you can’t expect overnight miracles, it’s best to prepared for the inevitable with some spare bedding and nightwear so that your child can quickly get back to bed without them feeling like it’s a big deal.

5. Use Mattress Pad and Sheet Protectors

On a similar note, it’s a good idea to invest in some pads and sheet protectors to save your mattress from being ruined after an accident. This way, you might have to change the sheets but you won’t need a whole new mattress after an accident.

6. Get “Big Kid” Undies

If your child hasn’t got to grips with potty training at night yet, you might be tempted to avoid having sleepovers in case they have accidents while they’re there.

This can be upsetting for them as they ‘ll probably feel left out so here’s a solution that can let them get involved without any fear of being mortified if the worst happens: disposable underwear for boys or girls. This can be the perfect option as it looks just like underwear and no one will be able to tell that it actually contains built-in protection against accidents.

Pack them off with a spare pair of these and you can both feel confident that any night time incidents won’t be obvious.

RELATED: How to Throw a Potty Training Party

7. Use Praise and Rewards

Night time potty training can be a hard and your child may feel that they’re not making any real progress when they have accidents during the night, especially if they’re doing fine during the day.

You can help them to feel proud of dry nights through praise and rewards. Each time they have a successful dry night, let them choose a potty training reward like a piece of candy or small toy, or give them a star on their potty training chart.

They’ll fall in love with the success and want to rack up as many good nights as they can!

But if you’re still having trouble, don’t worry — you’re not alone. Mommy blogger Carol had trouble getting her child trained and was feeling all the frustrations you’re probably feeling right now. Watch this video where she explains how she finally found success.

BTW, make sure to pin this in case you have any slip-ups down the road and need a refresher! Best of luck!!

potty train at night

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