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When should my daughter be dry at night?

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fizzydrinks2 | 19:55 Sat 15th Jul 2006 | Parenting
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Hi- when should my daughter be dry at night? She's nearly four and she still has a nappy for bed time. In the morning it is always full.

I stick by the thought that it will happen when she's ready.

I was told that if she wakes with three or four dry nappies in a row that she's ready. Someone else suggested I take her to the toilet at eleven o'clock. But his sounded awful- and upsetting for her.

Can you tell me your experiences please? And any advice you may have? Many thanks x
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There could be a number of reasons, she just may have a weak bladder, or she could be worried about something, altenatively, there may actually be something medically wrong.

Thats not much help I know, but have you seen a doctor about it?.
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She's really happy and I know there's nothing worrying her. I've never seen a doctor because I wasn't sure when a child should be dry at night. Thanks for your thoughts x
you are worrying for nothing, really you are.
I have a daughter who was nearer 4 1/2 before being dry at night and we still got her up during the night till she was 6 just to check. My son is 4 1/2 now , and again we get him up before we go to bed. We take a potty into the room, keep the lights off, speak soothingly and he performs, then no wet beds. Its a small price and he does'nt even know we are doing it.
You've ages before it needs to become a worry, remermber what we all say, each child develops differently, and so right that is.
From here if i were you, i'd leave her a few more months then try my get up technique......good luck!
The technique hol5 describes I have heard called "lifting" which is pretty descriptive!
There are pros and cons, but I used it successfully with both my two. I think there is a benefit to getting used to being in a dry nappy, which is what lifting does.
One thing - have you actually told her that the aim is to keep dry during the night? I'm not talking about pressuring her, it's just amazing how many people seem to forget to explain the plan of action to the person most involved! Good luck.
She'll do it when she's ready you're quite right. Ours were dry early because we have no set bedtimes so generally they were up later than most kids that age but 4 isn't that old to not be dry at night anyway. As Solar says keep her clued in as to the aim and it'll all happen when she's ready.
my neice is not yet 3 and my sister keeps a potty and a little touch lamp next to her bed and she goes all by herself . she has had a couple of accidents but has a waterproof bed sheet on
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thank you everyone for your answers x
Sounds like you've got the answers you need, but thought I'd add my experiences too...

My daughter was about 4 when she suddenly said "Mum, I don't want a nappy on tonight" I had asked her a few weeks before if she would like to try a night without it. I decided we'd wait till the pack of nappies was empty and got a waterproof sheet ready. I put a potty in her room, made sure she went to the loo before bed, then would lift her out of bed just before I turned in myself and put her on the potty. She would stay fast asleep, but if I spoke very quietly saying "I'm just putting you on the potty, do a wee" she'd do it. Then I'd ever so gently put her back into bed and she never knew a thing about it, so it's not upsetting for the child at all. She only ever wet the bed twice, and even then it was only a small amount.

I really don't think you have anything to worry about yet. Just explain to her that one day she will want to stop wearing a nappy in bed, and she'll let you know when she's ready to give it a try. Best of luck :o)
I have a friend whose two sons (age 10 and 12) attend a special bed wetting clinic. Apparently the brain produces a chemical (sorry don't know what it is called) which alerts you to the fact that you need to empty your bladder at night, and in bed wetters this chemical is absent, so they empty their bladder whilst being unaware of it. This chemical is not produced by babies but appears as they get older, obvioiusly varying between different children. Bedwetting is not considered a problem until the age of about 7. I think that a child of 3 still sleeping in nappys is not a problem, and I personally wouldn't consider it a problem until they are almost ready to start school.
My friend was informed that 'lifting' a child to go to the toilet at night whilst they are asleep does not help the child in the long run as it can trigger them into emptying their bladder at that particular time after a while, whether they are aware of it or not.
No-one's said anything about what your daughter is drinking before she goes to bed. I was told only milk or water after about 6pm, as other things especially fizzy drinks (!) and citrus drinks can trigger excess urine, but not to to make a fuss about it as you really don't want to create a problem that isn't really there.
I've heard that lifting can work, but also lead to the problems Spudqueen mentions.
Good luck.
When going through potty training with my daughter, there never seemed to come a time when her nappies were dry at night.
When she became dry during the day and I was able to put her in normal knickers, I soon stopped using traditional nappies at night and changed to pull-em-ups. I told her they were her "special bed-time knickers". Got her to pull them down and pee in her potty, then pull them up and tuck her into bed. Like she was getting used to doing with her normal knickers. Ideal cos she thought she was wearing normal knickers during the day, but of course night time accidents didn't soak the bed! It didn't take too long with that technique - I consider myself lucky! She was about 3.

My brother, however, was still wetting at 6. In fact, it was him who was the most upset about it - we just played it down and changed bedding without fuss or making an issue of it. He just grew out of it when the time was right for him. We were never that concerned - it was just the way it was. I don't know how much longer our Mum would have left it before she asked the doctor or anyone, but it didn't come to that. (Didn't have pull-em-ups in those days - so we'll never know if that would have worked or not - maybe not).

As others have said, kids really do develop at such different rates - what's right for one isn't necessarily so for another.

Good Luck!



kids arent all the same some do it sooner and some are later,my 2 and a half year old is dry all day and has been for about 6 mths,but with the weather being nice now ive been putting pull ups on her for bed instead of a nappie,i put her on the toilet before she goes bed and wake her up again when i go up,her pull up hasnt been as wet and sometimes she will wake up herself and shout me if she needs the toilet,dont worry about it she will do it when shes ready.
oh sorry fizzydrinks2 try not to give her any more drinks after 7 thats what ive started doing good luck hun

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