When to stop wearing nappies at night

Even if your child has good bladder control in the daytime, it can be unclear when to tackle their night time wetting. Wearing nappies or pull ups for as long as possible can seem the best option, but when should your child stop wearing nappies to bed at night?

Under 5 Years Old

A good sign that your child is ready to remove their nappy at night is when they start waking up with a dry or very nearly dry nappy in the morning. This is a sign that they have control of their bladder whilst sleeping and they are ready to be dry at night. This might happen soon after they are potty trained in the daytime, or might occur quite a few weeks/months later. Every child is different.

Over 5 Years Old

If your child is over 5, try removing their nappy anyway. Nappies send the message to your child that “it’s ok” to wet at night. They might surprise you and become dry at night quickly without their nappy – although you might like to use a waterproof bed sheet to protect the mattress. As with daytime training, a little patience might be required until dry nights are fully achieved.

If they are over 5 and their bedwetting upsets them, tackle the issue with a bedwetting alarm to help them to speed up the development of their brain-bladder link.

Over 7 Years Old                                                                

If they are 7 or older, again wearing nappies is telling your child that it is ok for them to wet at night. National guidelines recommend that their bedwetting is addressed with a bedwetting alarm.

Conclusion

In younger children, it is best to wait until they are ready to become dry at night. A good sign to look for is their nappy is dry when they wake up in the morning. Removing it too soon might upset them if they then wake up to a wet bed every morning. For older children, wearing a nappy sends the message that it is ok to wet the bed at night. Try removing their nappy. If wetting continues without a nappy or pull-up, consider using a bedwetting alarm to address their bedwetting and speed up the development of the brain-bladder link.