how long without a drink?

[ethanryan]

hi i am trying to get my son who is 3 in may out of his nappy of a night. he is dry in the day and only wears one for bed. i still have to change the nappy during the night sometimes as he wees too much. he wakes in the night still wanting a drink. i know is hould stop this but is 12 hours too long for him to go without a drink. he goes to bed at 7 and wakes around 7. even i get up in the night for a drink some nights. i know giving him a drink will not help with getting him off his nappy but i feel i am been cruel when all he wants is a drink.

what do you think?
is 12 hours too long for him to go?

[daffy654]

12 hours is not too long to go without a drink. It sounds like your son has gotten into a habit of waking for a drink more than he actually needs one. You could try reducing the amount of drink he gets over a few nights until he is getting a tiny amount.He may not want to wake up for such small amounts then.

[ethanryan]

hi daffy. i think you are right about it been a habbit, i just feel so cruel saying no when it is just a drink. he wont go to bed without a drink either, he will have water and isnt fussed about what is in his cup, but wont go up without it. any tips on how to get this off him aswell awithout world war 3 brakin out. i have a younger son who is the same, he is 2 next month so would be better to take it off them both at the same time

[daffy654]

I think the best way would be to reduce the amount in the cup over a week or two,tell them that its an extra special magical drink that big boys have and that they don't need as much as a normal drink. I know a lot of people say you shouldn't lie to kids in this way but they are only little white lies and it's no worse than telling them that santa brings their christmas presents or the tooth fairy takes their teeth from under the pillow. As with any habit once the routine is broken it is much easier to deal with. I wish you luck,it's not going to be easy but you will have to be resolute.If you give in they will realise they have you wrapped around their little fingers.lol.

[tigwig]

Is he waking you to give him a drink or does he have one at the side of the bed to get himself? If not I would suggest that you put a small amount in a cup he can reach himself then if his real reason for waking is to get your attention rather than being thirsty that will hopefully work for you. In regards to the nappy problem I have exactly the same situation with my daughter only she is even older 4 in June. Her nappies are very wet but she sleeps till late in the morning about 12-14 hours a night. It used to bother me at one point but after reading up about it doctors do not seeit as a problem until the child is over 5 so my advice is to not worry and just keep using nappies. No one else needs to know and hopefully he and my daughter will grow out of it in their own time

[ethanryan]

hi tigwig, yes he does wake up and when i go in and c what is wrong he just says pop. as soon as he has had a drink he goes back off. i put his cup on his pillow for him to get but he dont even open his eyes when he wakes so cant see it.

but i sent them both to bed with a drink last night and when they woke told them pop was all gone, they cried for a while but then just went back off. the younger one woke about 5 times for a drink but i didnt give him one. it took him a while to go to sleep but he did in the end. even though the older one had no pop in night his nappy was still very full when he woke up. i was told to wake him during the night and sit him on the potty. have you tried this yet?

[tigwig]

Hi, I have not tried this because I don't think it is fair to wake children up when they are asleep. It is ok if they are the sort that won't notice and will go straight back to sleep but my daughter wouldn't do that. You could always try it yourself though. I have tried a sticker chart and reducing the night time milk cup right down and making her use the toilet before bed and this reduced the wee in the nappy alot but after a week and a half she was still doing around 2 wees in the night and I knew this was when she was in a deep sleep because she used to get up in the morning to use the potty when she woke up. I honestly now don't worry about it. I am sure she won't do it forever and there will come a day when she decides herself to stop wanting the nappies on. Until then I can't see how I can force her to wake up when she needs a wee when she sleeps so deeply

[ethanryan]

hi tig my son is a light sleeper to so not sure if this will work with him. he takes his nappy off during the night so i know he is ready. he just wee's so much, even through the day he has about 3 wee's per hour. even when i limit his drinks.

[daffidazey]

Hi ethanryan! When trying to get my 2 dry at night I used to get them to wee before they got their pyjamas on, then clean their teeth, then story and cuddle, then wee again. Then when I went to bed I got them up for another wee. After a few days or so I got them up a little bit earlier each time til I wasn't getting them up at all. It did take over a month or so to get them dry but I got them into the routine, they got used to it and they got there in the end. They both go from 7pm-7am now without needing a wee. Daffi x

[diamonds78]

Im having similar issues at the mo and my son will also be 3 in May. He is also dry during the day but still wetting at night. For months now he has been getting really upset putting his bedtime nappy on cause he says they are only for babies, In the last fortnight i have struck a deal with him, he doesnt have to wear a nappy so long as he gives up the juice cup he takes to bed. He now goes to bed with either just pants or a pull up and i have put the pampers bed mats on his bed, also doing the previous suggestion of taking him to toilet approx 3 times in the hour leading up to bedtime, I have since had 2 dry nights although most mornings he is wet but the mats protect his matress, but its a starting point and he is much happier, i however think my washing machine is going to burn out!!!

[spudqueen]

Maybe he's just too young yet to be dry at night. It might be better to wait a few more months until he's really ready then there won't be any accidents. There's no rush, it will happen, but when he's ready, not you!

[lnknprkbabe]

try letting him go to the toilet only if he wakes up too, that should train him to wee during the night if he needs it