A Guide to Nighttime Potty Training for Heavy Sleepers

Potty training at night can feel like a nightmare sometimes, even if this isn’t your first child!

Some children are such heavy sleepers, that they will sleep right through anything. Combine that with a small bladder or lots of liquids before sleep, and you may just find yourself throwing sheets into the washing machine in the middle of the night.

Not to worry, though, because we have all the tips you need to successfully potty train even the heaviest of sleepers!

5 Tips for Nighttime Potty Training for Heavy Sleepers

Here are five tips you can try to potty train your baby – no matter how heavy a sleeper they are!

1. Select a Low-Stress Moment to Begin Nighttime Potty Training

The moment to start shouldn’t be when your child is sick, when you’ve just moved into a new home, or during their first week back to school. You want it to be a time when they (and you!) already have stability in their lives. 

If you’re feeling stressed, you’re more likely to react in a way that’s less than ideal when you have to deal with extra wake-ups and cleaning. This can then result in your child feeling more stressed and worried, which does not make for the best environment for changing behaviors. 

2. Keep in Mind a Heavy Sleeper Can’t Wake Themselves Up

This kind of goes hand-in-hand with our last point, in trying to avoid feeling frustrated or stressed out.

Yes, it can absolutely be frustrating, but try to understand that heavy sleepers really can’t help having an accident. Please, no shaming or embarrassing them as we know with certainty that it does anything but help. 

3. Reduce Liquid Intake Before Bed

This one is probably more common sense, but can also be easy to miss. After all, many kids get thirsty around bedtime and you don’t want to restrict them from having some water. Use your discretion here when monitoring quantities - after all, having a few sips vs. a few glasses of water is a big difference. 

If you do decide to allow them to drink a bit before bed, we recommend making sure they visit the potty before heading off to sleep. 

4. Try Waking Them

If your child has an easy time going back to sleep, this could be an option for them. Before you go to bed, you can try waking them and having them go to the bathroom. Of course, this will depend on how compliant they are, and you don’t want to scare them, either. 

5. Have a Bedtime Routine

We’ve said so many times, but having a routine can make a huge difference in a child’s life. Consistency and reliability are huge and make it much easier to identify challenges and fix them. Bedtime potty training is included. 

If there’s a big change in bedtime, you may notice that your child has more accidents than usual. Try your best to make sure they are going to bed at the same time every night.

5 Tools for Nighttime Potty Training

Potty training is a lot easier when you have all the right supplies at your disposal. Here are some items to stock up on!

1. Waterproof Mattress Protectors

While having one is better than nothing, we recommend grabbing 2 to 4 if you can. Quality is very important, as the cheaply-made products don’t seem to have a very reliable waterproof barrier. Putting them in the washing machine can also cause leaks due to the high heat. The good ones will last you for a very long time!

2. Extra Sheets and Blankets

You don’t want your child to be without comfortable blankets and sheets if it turns out you have to throw everything in the wash. If they are fine without using a top sheet, it’s more convenient to stop using it. It takes up a ton of space in the washing machine and only creates more laundry for you to do. 

Keep some extra bottom sheets and blankets handy if an accident does happen. With kids, you can never have enough!

3. Extra Laundry Baskets

While you’re stocking up on extra bedclothes, you may as well toss a couple of additional laundry baskets in your shopping cart. After all, you don’t want to have wet sheets just sitting on the bedroom floor while you’re getting everything cleaned up. Plus, after your child has moved past this stage, they’ll still be handy to have around other parts of the house. 

4. Extra Underwear and PJs

You also want your child to have enough underwear and pajamas so that they’re never without, throughout this potty training period. The small cost is more than worth it, and the worst case scenario is that they end up training quickly and don’t need them! 

5. Nightlight

It’s a great idea to have one in your child’s room and in the bathroom. It’s bad enough that they’re dealing with the discomfort of a wet bed and clothes, but even more challenging trying to navigate in the dark or with a blinding bright bathroom light.

Fortunately, there are plenty of cool options out there that will light the way with a soft glow. There are even some motion-sensor lights that stay off until someone walks by them!

Potty Training with the Baby Connect App

This app can be a lifesaver when it comes to figuring out the most effective practices and routines for children. You can log your child’s sleep time, behaviors around sleep (such as how much they drank), and more. Baby Connect can help identify patterns and figure out what to change. Oftentimes, it’s an easy fix!

Having a positive attitude isn’t always easy, but it can make a huge difference in the way you and your child experience nighttime potty training. We know it can really test your patience, but try to keep your chin up and know that this won’t last much longer. Soon enough, you and your child will both be able to sleep through the night without interruption!