Navigating the Challenges of Nighttime Potty Training: A Parent's Honest Tale of Personal Struggles
Having already potty trained my daughter at the age of 2, I thought I’d done all the hard work. Daytime potty training had been a massively talked-about subject in my circle of friends and my NCT group. For me, it almost felt like this trophy milestone that you needed to get your child achieving faster than everyone else’s child (…If you have ever seen the Bluey episode – ‘The Baby Race’ you'll know what I mean). I don’t have a clue why I felt this way, and I hope I’m not alone here. So, after a failed first attempt at daytime potty training, we were successful on attempt number 2. During this phase, though, there was lots of help online from her nursery and a lot of reassurance to try later when she was a bit older. So, it didn’t really worry me.
The overlooked Milestone
After daytime potty training, I kind of thought I was done; I totally forgot about pull-ups at night until family members started asking me, “Have you had any luck with nighttime yet?” To be honest, it’s not something I had considered until my daughter was 4 and older relatives started to ask. It hadn’t been something that my group of mummy friends had spoken about… and did make me feel worried that my daughter had been left behind.
I started Googling, worrying, and wondering if something was wrong.
At the age of 5, my daughter started to have the odd dry night. Again, searching the internet, I tried to find a decent mattress protector to put on the bed. Unfortunately, at the time, most were very clinical, and I remember researching for ages and not being completely happy with what I eventually bought.
A silent Struggle
What followed was a period of confusion and lack of confidence in what I was meant to be doing. My daughter would be dry a few nights and then wet again… and then dry for a week, and then at one point, she was wet again for a whole month, and we returned to pull-ups at night. I didn’t know why it was happening (I’m someone who always likes to understand the science), and what I find even more strange is that I didn’t reach out to anyone for help or even when having coffee with other mums I would never bring it up. It was almost like an unspoken phase that my daughter went through that for some reason I never spoke to anyone about.
Fast forward 2 and a half years, I am now designing and selling our own mattress protectors for children - ‘Hygge Sheets,’ which are specifically designed to support nighttime potty training and bedwetting. I also now understand the reasons for why we don’t talk about the topic, which coincides with the history associated with bedwetting and the embarrassment linked to it and so I’m opening this topic more online through social media to foster some open and honest conversations.
For me, although a tricky milestone to accomplish, it was okay in the end. But for other parents, it isn’t as straightforward due to many issues such as constipation, a small bladder, an overactive bladder, not producing enough of the vasopressin hormone (the hormone that reduces the amount of wee produced at night), etc. So, navigating through these issues alone can be very tricky. Luckily, many people find Eric Charity, who have a wealth of support on this topic, and now as we continue to talk more openly about it, it’s becoming easier to navigate.
And just like Hygge Sheets, there are many other products out there that can help. Bedwetting alarms like dri sleeper and the incredible whizzers that can be used in your child’s bedroom in case they need a wee at night. And if in doubt - please come and see on our instagram page and join in the conversation.
The overlooked Milestone
After daytime potty training, I kind of thought I was done; I totally forgot about pull-ups at night until family members started asking me, “Have you had any luck with nighttime yet?” To be honest, it’s not something I had considered until my daughter was 4 and older relatives started to ask. It hadn’t been something that my group of mummy friends had spoken about… and did make me feel worried that my daughter had been left behind.
I started Googling, worrying, and wondering if something was wrong.
At the age of 5, my daughter started to have the odd dry night. Again, searching the internet, I tried to find a decent mattress protector to put on the bed. Unfortunately, at the time, most were very clinical, and I remember researching for ages and not being completely happy with what I eventually bought.
A silent Struggle
What followed was a period of confusion and lack of confidence in what I was meant to be doing. My daughter would be dry a few nights and then wet again… and then dry for a week, and then at one point, she was wet again for a whole month, and we returned to pull-ups at night. I didn’t know why it was happening (I’m someone who always likes to understand the science), and what I find even more strange is that I didn’t reach out to anyone for help or even when having coffee with other mums I would never bring it up. It was almost like an unspoken phase that my daughter went through that for some reason I never spoke to anyone about.
Fast forward 2 and a half years, I am now designing and selling our own mattress protectors for children - ‘Hygge Sheets,’ which are specifically designed to support nighttime potty training and bedwetting. I also now understand the reasons for why we don’t talk about the topic, which coincides with the history associated with bedwetting and the embarrassment linked to it and so I’m opening this topic more online through social media to foster some open and honest conversations.
For me, although a tricky milestone to accomplish, it was okay in the end. But for other parents, it isn’t as straightforward due to many issues such as constipation, a small bladder, an overactive bladder, not producing enough of the vasopressin hormone (the hormone that reduces the amount of wee produced at night), etc. So, navigating through these issues alone can be very tricky. Luckily, many people find Eric Charity, who have a wealth of support on this topic, and now as we continue to talk more openly about it, it’s becoming easier to navigate.
And just like Hygge Sheets, there are many other products out there that can help. Bedwetting alarms like dri sleeper and the incredible whizzers that can be used in your child’s bedroom in case they need a wee at night. And if in doubt - please come and see on our instagram page and join in the conversation.
