thread: night toilet training and waking them for trips to the toilet

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  1. #1
    Registered User

    Nov 2005
    Where the heart is
    4,360

    Being 'psychologically ready' for TT, night or day, is not really supported by science, and is more a popular construct we've created after nappying took over from the child's natural awareness of the urge to let go, and, next, the ability to 'hold on'. They are two different things. With DS I started with the awareness of 'letting go' at night, THEN let him grow into his ability to 'hold on'.
    An important thing is not to use dehydration as the method for 'night training', though. This is not training anything, just, well, dehydrating. It's a popular method, but I was never comfortable with using it - DS was still breastfed before sleep, and often through the night after 2.5 years, so I can attest to being able to learn night-continence without dehydration. In fact, DD has been night-continent and continence-aware for a long time now, and has just turned two - she stirs into light sleep and if she needs to wee she gets up and goes to the potty (in our set up it's too hard to ask her to climb up the step into the shed where the composting loo is, which is too high up for a step seat!!). And, definitely breastfed over night and breastfed to sleep - no dehydration required.
    Brauer goes through all of this, making it a lot easier to understand and seem quite achievable
    Aldo, it didn't take long with DS before I wasn't carrying him anymore and was just guiding him, then just whispering to him to go to the loo. We also went through bouts of resistance that we just rode through - it's not so much about the end result as the process that ensures a more lasting and happy outcome

  2. #2

    Mar 2004
    Sparta
    12,662

    An important thing is not to use dehydration as the method for 'night training', though. This is not training anything, just, well, dehydrating.
    Lots of children are so busy during the day that they don't remember to drink so by the evening they are dehydrated and thirsty as hell. You can set yourself up for dry nights by making sure that they drink throughout the day.

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Nov 2005
    Where the heart is
    4,360

    That's true, too.
    I would have thought it preferable, though, to help activate awareness and reconnect the messages between the sphincter and conscious mind (being that babies are born knowing they need to go and we train them out of it by putting nappies on them - no individual judgment, I did it with my first, because of cultural assumption!), rather than to delay this internal communication by achieving dryness through withholding of liquids.
    I'm so sorry for the factual rendering of my explanations, I am firmly in academic-writing style-mode after completing two assignments this week and it will be a while before my stylised writing mojo comes out from hiding again!!
    Anyway, you can take the liquid withholding route and hope for the best over a longer period of time (because he will eventually want a drink before bed and need to figure out staying dry), or take a more intense learning period of helping him gain awareness of his body and its processes. It's not the easy way, but then, having done both ways, neither is easy and one made a lot more sense, with greater longitudinal benefit. Just sayin'
    Keeping it positive and achievable is the key to however you do it.
    ETA: Onyx, your move
    Last edited by Smoke Jaguar; October 21st, 2011 at 12:48 PM.

  4. #4

    Mar 2004
    Sparta
    12,662

    Onyx, your move
    Lol, I'm not disagreeing with you. I agree that dehydration isn't a good way to achieve dry nights which is why it is good to tackle hydration throughout the day to reduce the demand for water at night.

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Mar 2011
    Sydney, Australia
    1,240

    My mum just woke me up each night till my bed wetting stopped, I tell you that training stayed with me until I was about 20 haha. I was so proficient at it I would do it sleep walking.