*Disclaimer: I am not a urologist or a potty training expert. But I do want to share what I've seen and experienced in working with toddlers' and preschoolers' sleep.
If you follow me, you know that I am a HUGE proponent for keeping your child in their crib until AT LEAST 3 years of age. (I also practice what I preach. My 3 year old is napping in his crib as I type this. 😉 )
Read this blog to see my reasoning behind this as well as all my tips and tricks for those crib climbers!
With that being said, it begs the question, "What about potty training?"
If you are potty training your child, you CAN day potty train them without having to night potty train at the same time!
Let me say this again. It is OK to potty train your child and have them learn to stay dry during the day but still keep them in pull ups or diapers overnight.
Now let's dig in a little more and look at what happens for us adults when we stay dry overnight:
1. Our bladder sends a signal to our brain letting it know that the bladder is full. This wakes us up and we can get to the toilet in time.
2. Our body secretes an antidiuretic hormone (ADH) in the evening that slows the production of urine overnight, keeping our bladders from becoming uncomfortably full and helping us to go all night most nights without needing to empty the bladder.
With our young toddlers and preschoolers we see a couple different things happening that can cause bed wetting or their inability to stay dry overnight:
1. The signal from bladder to brain is not strong enough and therefore doesn't wake them up enough, resulting in an accidental emptying of the bladder.
2. Their body does not produce enough ADH at night yet, meaning that their bladder is filling more than us adults overnight and they have a need to empty their bladder frequently (as opposed to once or not at all overnight).
As you can guess, both of these points are not really "train-able." It's much more a matter of development and maturity. And, here's the kicker, genetics seem to play a role in this as well. So if you were a bed-wetter, your child is much more likely to be a bed-wetter as well.
*Sorry to my 2 children! I wet the bed until I was in 1st grade!*
Now what does all of this have to do with SLEEP?
Since it is much more difficult to night potty train at a young age, I suggest holding off. If we attempt it too early, there are several things that will happen to negatively impact sleep:
A. You'll move your toddler out of their crib before they are mature enough for it. This may result in new bedtime battles, frequent night wakings where they come get you just because they can, and overall less sleep at an age when it is SO integral to their learning. Oftentimes I see naps totally go away, night sleep decrease significantly, and nighttime fears increase when children are moved too soon out of their cribs.
B. Maybe your child has a strong enough signal from their bladder to brain waking them up, but isn't producing enough ADH to slow the production of urine overnight. That means you are encouraging them to get out of bed multiple times a night to pee, and again, this causes them to miss out on some very crucial sleep!
C. Lastly, if you already have a troubled sleep who struggles with staying in their room, or sleeping alone, etc., now you've just given them an amazing excuse to get out of bed whenever they want and go use the potty or ask for help on the potty.
If we simply waited until their diapers were consistently dry in the mornings to night train, then we don't risk introducing poor sleep habits in the first place!
Want to get sleep under control before potty training?
I repeat: Don't let sleep take a backseat to potty training.
Is night time potty training important? You bet!
Is it more important than sleep? No.
If your child is not developmentally ready to be dry overnight, don't compromise sleep just for the sake of being night time potty trained. Wait until you see their diapers consistently dry each morning before you start. And if you're worried that they are getting older and still bed-wetting, talk to your pediatrician about it!
Sleep > Staying dry overnight