5 ways to Encourage your children to Night Potty Training!

The process of potty training your child is challenging. After your child has mastered staying dry during the day, it’s time to start toilet training him or her to use the bathroom at night. This can be particularly difficult, but there are some techniques you can use to help your children master this last step of potty training.

Using the potty right before bed can help children stay dry, as they will be less likely to need to go in the middle of the night. If your child is old enough to use the bathroom during the day but has accidents at night, make this a part of the bedtime routine. It’ll seem natural to children to do this if you make it a daily habit. If your child is brushing his or her teeth, going potty right afterwards makes sense because he or she is already in the bathroom, so this might be a good place to insert it into the routine.

Some young children may fear the dark. Even though they are capable of going to the bathroom to relieve themselves, they stay put and hold it for as long as they can or wet the bed because they think there are monsters lurking in the dark hallway between their bedroom and the bathroom. To encourage these children to use the potty, get three small night lights. Put one in your child’s room, one in the hallway and one in the bathroom. Leave these lights on at night so that your child can feel confident about going to the bathroom at night.

If your child has a hard time taking off his or her pajama bottoms to use the toilet, accidents are far more likely to occur. Make sure your child can pull off pajamas quickly by having him or her practice before bed. After your child has changed into pajamas, ask him or her to use the potty. Check to make sure the child isn’t having any problems. If the child is struggling to take off the pajama bottoms, figure out why. If it’s because of a snap or drawstring, consider leaving those open so that the child can more easily take the pajamas off if he or she needs to use the restroom. Alternatively, have the child practice going potty until he or she can easily remove pajama bottoms and pull them back up.

Don’t make a big deal out of potty training; it’ll make your child feel awkward and embarrassed. Mild and specific praise can help your child stay motivated to use the potty at night. For example, you might say, “I like how dry your pants and the sheets on your bed are this morning. You are really learning to use the potty at night.” Avoid saying things like, “What a big boy/girl you are.” If the child has an accident, you don’t want him or her to think they are no longer “big.”If a child does have an accident, you should never punish him for it. The child can’t control the behavior and will only learn to fear the potty if you do this. Instead, get waterproof mattress pads so that you can easily clean up the mess. Stay calm while cleaning and allow your child to help by taking off the soiled clothes and putting them in the washing machine himself. If the idea of washing soiled clothes frustrates you too much, get pull-ups for your child to wear at night until he is trained.

Some children feel uncomfortable using the potty at night for a variety of reasons. You can offer to help your child at night. Tell her to wake you up if she needs to go potty so that you can accompany her to the bathroom. If your child wakes you up for other reasons–for example, she has a bad dream–ask her if she needs to use the potty after you resolve the other issue.While nighttime potty training can be challenging, if you are creative and pay attention to why your child is having problems you can find a way to get him or her potty trained.