Another Stride Forward in Potty Training

Usually I would not be thrilled to find a child awake at 5:30; but in this case I’ll make an exception.

Recently I bought a package of Target brand pull-ups for Bella (she wears them for naps and at bedtime). I’m generally a huge fan of their diapers and they are about half the price of name brands. But we discovered that the pull-ups, unlike the diapers, are an inferior product. A couple of times this past week Bella has woken up with pajamas soaked through.

The other night I hadn’t had a chance to buy more so we decided to wake Bella to use the bathroom right before I went to bed, around 11. I told her this before we tucked her in. Five minutes after I shut her door, we heard it open and she headed to the bathroom. Then about ten minutes after she went back to bed she was up again. She must have got up about five times in the hour after she went to bed. Needless to say, I didn’t go get her at 11. And while she wasn’t completely dry in the morning, neither was she soaked.

And so it has continued most nights since. She gets up once or twice before she settles in for the night. But last night was the first time I’ve had evidence of a middle of the night waking.

I woke at 5:30, thinking I’d heard Dom’s alarm and poking him in the back. Then I realized there was no alarm but the bathroom was calling me. I was a bit surprised at that hour to find the bathroom light on but figured maybe my sister was working an early shift. I tapped at the door to let her know I was waiting. And heard a different voice than I expected. I opened the door to find Bella finishing up. I helped her wash her hands and sent her on her way back to bed.

We’d initially tried no pull-ups at bedtime when she was first toilet trained but after about twenty sheet changes, I gave up on it and decided she’d be ready later. I am so excited that she is finally starting to wake up on her own in the night. Maybe those inferior pull-ups were not such a bad buy after all.