24 month old's bedwetting

My 24 month old has decided to give up diapers, and it's going remarkably well. The biggest problem is nighttime. She's too little, I think, to get all the way through the night, and I don't mind taking her to the bathroom a couple of hours after she goes to sleep. She really objects to diapers and pull-ups,and I'm afraid that she will get confused or rebellious if I try to put them on her at night.

Here's the biggest obstacle to her getting through the night: she absolutely LOSES IT if I tell her she can't have her sippy cup of milk at bedtime. She melts down completely. I don't want to traumatize her as she is just learning to use the potty consistently in the daytime; I'm afraid she'll rebel.

Should I just put up with changing sheets 1-3 times per night? Should I put pull-ups on her after she falls asleep? Should I just take away the bedtime milk and put up with the screaming until she gets used to it?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Sarah

Sarah-
I would let her have the milk. That sippy cup is important right now. It is not the only thing causing her to wet her sheets at night. Many kids wet even without a drink at bedtime. In my opinion, it is not worth the trauma of taking her bedtime milk away. If you do, she will be so angry she will almost certainly wet her bed.

AND you should not have to change sheets during the night. That is simply not a sustainable situation for any parent.

Most kids do fine with pullups at night even though they use the toilet during the day. They understand that pullups are "nighttime underwear" just in case. Are you sure you can't talk her into pullups at night? You could suggest to her that big girls usually use pullups at night until they are almost three.

If she adamantly refuses to wear pullups at night, then one choice is to get her out of bed and hold her over the toilet every three hours all night. But that is also not a sustainable situation and I am not sure it would train her to wake at night to pee. She is, after all, very young.

There is another choice, usually used with older kids: a bedwetter alarm. The reason I think this might work for your daughter is that I hear her wanting desperately to be in charge of her own body and toileting and this would allow her that. It is not impossible for two year olds to learn to control their bodies at night, and she might be able to do it with the help of a tool like this.

My only reservation in suggesting it is that she might find it hard to go back to sleep after she pees. On the other hand, that would be true if her bed was wet, also.

Please let me know how this works out for you. I will be very curious to hear!

All my best,
Dr. Laura

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