How Do You Potty Train A 4 Year Old At Night?

Potty training is often considered a challenging stage for young children. But with the right preparation, getting your little one potty trained will be a much calmer, positive experience. Here, we’ll provide helpful information and tips to answer a common question many parents ask: How do you potty train a 4 year old at night?

At what age should you start potty training a child at night?

Many children stay dry throughout the day between 2-4 years old. However, potty training at night often takes a little longer. Bedwetting in 4 year olds is completely normal. The NHS states that one in five 5 year olds sometimes wet the bed.

There is no fixed age to potty train a child at night. The most important consideration is whether your child is ready. 

Signs of readiness for potty training at night

Here are a few signs that your child is ready to potty train at night:

• They may wake up to use the toilet at night or call out for you to take them to the toilet.
• They stay dry when they take a nap.
• Their pull-ups/pyjama pants are often still dry when they wake up.

Useful Items for Potty Training Your 4 Year Old at Night

Preparation and patience are key to successful night time potty training. Ensuring you have everything you need before you start will make the potty training process so much easier for yourself and your little one. 

Here are some handy items to make potty training at night simple:

• Waterproof Mattress Protector 

Protective bedding for kids will help to keep your child’s mattress clean and dry if an accident happens. Putting a waterproof sheet on the bed will make it much simpler to quickly clean up any accidents and get your child back to sleep faster.

You can make night time potty training fun while keeping your child’s bed dry with help from our Hygge Sheets Bed Pads for Bed Wetting. Kids love the colourful designs on our bed mats, and parents love that they can be machine washed and tumble dried on a low heat.

• Potty in Your Child’s Room

A potty may sound like an obvious piece of equipment for your toilet training. However, it’s where you put the potty we’re focused on here. Your child will need a potty close by and ready for them to use it if they need to go to the toilet during the night. 

Making it as easy as you can for your child to get up and go to the toilet should speed up the night time potty training process. Bed wetting accidents can happen if your child wakes up desperate to use the toilet but cannot make it to the bathroom on time. Knowing that the potty is there and ready to use solves this issue.

• Gentle Night Light

If your child wakes in the night to use the toilet, they need to be able to see what they’re doing. Putting on the main light in the room can leave kids feeling wide awake. So, a gentle night light that gives off a soft glow is the ideal alternative. This should provide just enough light for your little one to go to toilet on the potty. You can also place a night light in the bathroom or hallway on route to the bathroom.

• Practical Night Clothes

What your child wears to bed is also essential for night time potty training success. While onesies and other all-in-ones look super cute, they’re not practical for night time potty visits. So, it’s best to keep things simple with regular pyjamas or a nightie while your child potty trains at night.

Be Patient

Your child may take many weeks to become potty trained at night. It’s normal for accidents to happen during this process. So, it’s essential to remain patient and remember that it’s not your child’s fault if they do wet the bed.

If you find that your child is having more wet beds than dry after a week, and you or your child is finding it stressful -  you might consider going back to night time nappies or pull-ups and trying again later down the line. 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, approaching night time potty training in a positive way will go a long way to making it a success. 

Being prepared with all the items you need to make potty training at night a comfortable experience for your four year old will mean less disruption in the middle of the night, and relieve any worries they may have about this new experience.

Remember, every child is different, and it’s entirely normal for a four year old to have accidents during the night, but these will soon become a thing of the past.

Happy night time potty training!