How to potty train a sleeping child?

May 2, 2006 5:21 PM

Kidfilter: My 4 year old niece has a problem of peeing in random places around the house while sleepwalking. Any experiences or ideas on how to stop her.

After many puzzling puddles my sister caught my niece using a rocking chair as a toilet while being dead asleep.She has always sleepwalked but this is an upsetting discovery. It seems this has been going on for awhile. She mostly goes in her own room but throughout the house as well. Pullups don't work since she pulls down her panties like she were really using the toilet. Some nights she does use the bathroom so she can't be confined to her room. We're looking for any help and ideas. Thanks for your time.

posted by arruns to health & fitness (4 comments total)

I just got out of a lecture about sleep disorders and sleepwalking. A couple of suggestions:

A motion alarm on the doorknob of her room (for when she leaves the room); this is more to alert the adults, not necessarily to wake up the sleepwalker.

Also suggested: small trays of water around the bed or wet towels around the bed, often this is enough to wake the sleepwalker up.

Possibly also just making sure that she's fully emptied her bladder before bed, and cutting off food/drink before bedtime.
posted by gramcracker at 5:34 PM on May 2, 2006

Seems like some relevant info:
http://www.sleepeducation.com/D...

Also

http://www.intelihealth.com/I...

Hope that helps.
posted by tiamat at 6:03 PM on May 2, 2006

I think (from experience) that this is most likely just a short 'phase'. What worked for us was that if we happened to catch the moment (she'd often wake up mid-pee, get worried, and start calling for help), we'd just whisk her off into the bathtub for a rinse while reassuring her (she was usually awake by then) that nothing was wrong.

And really, at that age, they've only just learned to use the toilet, and it's a VERY BIG DEAL for them, so it's no wonder that it might keep them awake (or semi-awake) at night, and possibly disorient them.

In other words, just a part of their learning experience. Deal with it calmly and reassuringly, as you do with the rest of their adjustments.
posted by trip and a half at 11:25 PM on May 2, 2006

Are there lights on in the places she's going? My younger brother was a sleepwalking pee-er at about that age, but after he walked in on midnight snacks a couple times we guessed he was heading toward nearby lights. We started making certain there was a light on in the bathroom and nowhere else, and the problem ceased. (Maybe I'm just a slave to my disconcerting memories, but to this day I prefer to take my late-night toast/hot chocolate breaks in the dark.)
posted by eritain at 12:52 AM on May 3, 2006