Your Child And Nighttime Potty
Training
For some children, nighttime potty training can be an
easy and smooth transition from their daytime routine. For
these kids, simply being able to conquer bladder control during
the day develops their nighttime habits enough that they are
able to stay dry the majority of the time. However, about
one third of kids under the age of three still have accidents.
Proper Bladder Control—Give It
Time
You may feel frustrated if your child is one of the many who
have difficulty maintaining bladder control. But it’s not
your fault, and certainly not your child’s fault. While
they may have properly applied daytime bladder control, keep in
mind that this is in large part a voluntary process. At
night, however, despite the child’s best intentions, sometimes
the signal from the bladder to the brain indicating that it is
full simply doesn’t come through.
For this reason, a positive attitude is a must during
nighttime potty training, just as it is during the day.
Having a low-stress environment where the child's self-esteem
and well being are cared for facilitates the process of
developing this communication from bladder to brain in the
child. This means being ready to give positive feedback
for every dry night and not holding them responsible for
accidents—remember, children have no more conscious control
over nighttime potty training than you have over snoring or
turning over when you sleep. It simply takes time.
What Can I
Do?
As a parent, you can create a positive atmosphere where both
you and the child are taking action while the child is
awake. This means limiting evening fluid consumption and
checking to make sure they make a final bathroom stop before
going to sleep. Synthetic sheets are also very useful for
this as they make cleaning up after an accident a simple
matter.
Having a no-fuss attitude about accidents—even if it’s in
the middle of the night—is an essential aspect of proper
nighttime potty training. You may not be thrilled to be
up at 4AM changing sheets, but just remember that the child
doesn’t want to be in that situation anymore than you do.
You can mitigate any feelings of shame or embarrassment by
staying cool and collected. Simply change the sheets,
help them go to the bathroom one more time, and go back to
bed. No big deal.
Nighttime Potty Training vs.
Bedwetting
Did you know that it is considered a part of normal
development to deal with nighttime potty training until age
five? Because it is a matter of neurological development,
most medical practitioners tend to distinguish between
age-appropriate nighttime bladder control development and
actual bedwetting. Bedwetting becomes the term used only
when issues with nighttime potty training persist after age
five, when you may want to explore other age-appropriate
options.
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