5 Tips for Night-Time Potty and Toilet Training

Once your little one has proudly mastered potty training by day they’ll soon be ready to be out of nappies at night. It’s totally normal for night-time potty training to take a bit longer to get the hang of. With these 5 handy tips on how to potty train at night they’ll soon be dry all night, and mum and dad can wave goodbye to middle-of-the-night nappy changes – hooray!

1. Wait until they’re ready for potty training at night

As with most aspects of your child’s development, they’ll take to night time toilet training more easily if you wait until they’re ready. Here are some of the signs your little one is at the right stage to start toilet training at night:

• They ask to stop wearing night nappies
• When they wake they ask to go to the toilet
• Their nappy pants are dry for a few nights in a row
• Their night pants are only slightly damp in the morning

2. Put simple preparations in place for night-time potty training

It’s worth doing a few things in advance to prepare for successful night potty training. Night-time toilet training will inevitably go more smoothly if you’ve thought ahead to potential pitfalls. You might like to try some of these ideas to get on track for comfy dry nights:

• Place a waterproof mattress protector on their bed
• Put a potty by their bed if the toilet is too far to get to in time
• Leave the landing light on, or add a nightlight, to illuminate their path to the bathroom
• Introduce a trip to the toilet to their bedtime routine
• Ask them to use the toilet as soon as they wake up in the morning
• Have some spare bedding and pyjamas ready for any accidents

3. Talk it through

Make time to have lots of relaxed chats with your child just before you start potty training. Night-time toilet trips can seem daunting to little ones, so they’ll look to you for reassurance. They’ll also need to understand why they need to get out of bed when they need the toilet at night, and how it will work in practice. Offer lots of encouragement, and get older siblings to help with this too. The best cheerleader is always the older brother or sister they look up to. 

Can they call you to help them? What should they do if they can’t see well enough? These are the kind of questions your child might have. It’s a great time to go over those hygiene rules they learnt while potty training by day, like wiping, flushing and washing their hands.

Tip: Make their night time toilet trips as comfy as possible by using a soft toilet tissue and flushable moist wipe from Cushelle.

4. See what works for you

Different parents try different approaches to toilet training at night. Some swear by lifting deep sleepers for a ‘dream wee’ when they head up to bed, while others limit the amount of drink before bed. No two children are the same, and it’s all about what works best for your family. Try a variety of methods and you’ll soon settle on the most effective.

5. Keep calm and carry on

Accidents are inevitable when potty training at night, even after it seems like your little one has got the hang of it. There’s no need to worry, though, as this is perfectly normal. Stay relaxed and calmly clear up. If they see that it’s no big deal, they’ll quickly get back to dry nights.

They’ll soon get the hang of night-time potty training and you can all congratulate yourselves on another milestone reached.