Ask parents to make a list of some of the biggest challenges they have faced with their children, and chances are, potty training will be somewhere up near the top. Teaching your child to be toilet trained is a huge developmental step, and something for which every child’s experience is different. Having mastered the daytime potty training when Erin was about two and a half, gaining dry overnight status was somewhat more challenging. We are now totally dry at night, and are super proud of how Erin has done.
How do you know your child is ready?
You will know if you child is ready for Night Time Toilet training is they are waking with a dry pull up or nappy on a regular basis, or if your child starts waking up and asking to go the toilet.
We had Erin wearing ‘big girl’ pants during the day, but still kept a pull up on at night just incase. After a while we were finding that the pull ups were completely bone dry in the morning, and therefore made the jump to being ‘protection free’ overnight.
We’ve removed the pull ups…. then what?… Here’s what worked for us…
Lots of praise and support for the toilet…
You want you child to feel like they are doing something really really amazing, and give them lots of praise and encouragement. We continually told Erin what a clever girl she was, and how proud we were of her using the toilet like a big girl. You could see in her face she was super chuffed with herself, and this inevitably reinforced the message.
Incorporate toilet visits into the bedtime routine…
Get into habit of taking your child to the toilet just before bed, and again as soon as they wake up in the morning. They will soon learn that this is part of their normal bedtime routine, and help them remember to empty their bladder before they settle for the night.
Some parents advocate lifting your child out of bed around 11pm and taking them to the loo again before you go to bed yourself. This one doesn’t sit well with us personally, as I didn’t want to encourage Erin to pee when she wasn’t fully awake – to me that could inevitably lead to bed wetting accidents. I also am not one for disturbing good sleeping patterns, but that may be because we’ve taken a bloody long time to get there!
Remove Obstacles
Remove any mental and literal obstacles and ensure their route to the toilet is an easy one if you are expecting them to venture to the toilet unassisted.
Night lights on the landing and in their bedroom are useful.
We also are big fans of the Illumibowl in the bathroom itself – a motion sensor toilet light that illuminates the entire toilet bowl in a bold colour, perfect for guiding little ones to the loo (whilst also being handy for Daddy who after nights out with the boys sometimes struggles with his aim!! 😂). You can even pick your child’s favourite colour to make the experience just that little more enticing!
Invest in a Mattress protector
Accept that accidents inevitably do happen, and that occasionally your child may wet the bed during the transitional period. Invest in a good quality mattress protector to pop under the sheets, and consider layering up the sheets for easy bedtime linen changes in the early hours.
Avoid too much liquid before bed…
We try and limit the amount of fluid Erin has just before bed, and if she wakes in the night wanting a drink we encourage ‘little sips’. If she wakes up in the night and has drunk a lot (e.g when she has a cough), I take her to the toilet with me before returning her to bed.
Patience
Finally, don’t expect overnight dryness to happen straight away. As with most things, the process takes time. We found the more relaxed and calm we were, and the less pressure we placed on Erin, the easier the change took place.
GOOD LUCK!
Want to get your hands on your very own Illumibowl to help your child’s toilet training? We have one to give away to a lucky reader! Use the GLEAM app to enter below.
*This is a collaborative post.
I love the pink!
Love the red
Love green
I like the blue
Purple would be great
the red
Like the purple
I love this suggestions, night time is a whole other worrld to day time, that’s for sure!
green please
Oh those look like so much fun!
I’ll keep these tips in mind when the time comes with us haha, it’s a long way there, though. Well done, Erin!
I like the purple the best.
i love the purple x
I have seen these Ilumin bowls around and I love them. My daughter is only three, even though fully potty trained, I would dread for her to get up throughout the night, but we o keep her potty in the bedroom, so this would be nifty. x
I like the blue.
Bookmarked this! We’re going to be starting potty training soon enough so all the hints I can find, the better!
Both of my older 2 were dry at night way before they were dry during the day. We have an Illumibowl and it really helps as we don’t need to noisy bathroom light. Not even thought about potty training for our youngest yet…
red
We have the illumibowl but the only thing annoys me is it lights up half the house at night hahah. Fab tips.
Good tips. We found cutting down the bedtime milk and leaving a light on helped.
I like the blue , brilliant idea ! My little Grandson would love it
i love these x my fav is the blue
Loving the pink xx
I love the green & I know my son would too. These are such a great idea!
Love the blue for my little man. Thanks for the chance
I really like the purple one, I like the concept of these its really unique
Blue
I love the green one 🙂 that has to be my favourite – anything green always is!
The light blue colour looks amazing 🙂
the blue
The darker blue
Green would be fab for me
I like the red colour best
Blue, I think that in the middle of the night the green might look too alien-like
red please my son s fave colour fingers crossed x
Red please.x this is such a great idea.x
I really like the blue one
Blue my son would love it x
I’d love blue please for my sons
I love the blue one
id love the blue one
Blue for the boys in my family
the pink for my girl
I love the blue.
Pink is my favourite
The green is very calming. These are such a good idea.
Like the Purple
The green one….it looks spooky!
Love the blue! 🙂
I love the red colour the best, these are such a great idea. Thank you
I like the purple
I love the purple and who knows it might just stop my other half from peeing on the seat half asleep in the middle of the night too lol.
I love the purple one .x
Purple would be great xx
I love the blue colour its a calming colour
I love the pink
I like the blue colour best.
green – such fun on Halloween.
Purple is my favourite!
I love all things purple -such a regal colour 😉 x
I like the blue one.
i really like the blue
OOh the green, my boys would love one!
I like the blue
I like the green
my favourite is the blue
Purple
Blue
Blue
My favourite is the blue.
Green
These are a fantastic idea, I love the blue one. Thanks for the lovely giveaway.
Love the green
blue would be great
I like the green…it’s somehow a little ‘other-wordly’ which is exactly what visiting the toilet in the small ‘wee’ hours always seems to be? 😉
green would be fab!
The green one is my favourite, such a good idea!
Blue is my favourite!
I love all the colours but pink and purple are my favs.
Would love to try this with my 5 year old step son as he misses the toilet every single time! grrrr
fed up of buying bleach lol
Pink 🙂
I’d like purple xx
I like the purple
Blue 🙂