cm@unc.UUCP (Chuck Mosher) (06/21/85)
>The question was why not just take the not-quite-trained kid to the bathroom >when I go to bed, instead of asking her and then diapering if she doesn't >respond. > >The answer: it's pretty hard to get her to wake up enough to pee (unless she >is already awake enough to tell me she wants to go) without setting off a >crying spell. > We have had this problem with 2 of our three boys. With Todd (the oldest, now 11 yrs old) we thought he HAD to pee at night, since he would definately wet the bed if he didn't. We (I am ashamed to say) _forced_ him to pee just before we went to bed (after he had been asleep about two or three hours). He would sometimes cooperate, but usually it turned into a screaming nightmare. Part of our urgency about the matter was that if he peed it soaked the mattress (we didn't know about plastic sheets!!). Also we lived in an apt at the time and had to do all our laundry at a laundromat. When we moved into our house we 1) got him a new mattress, 2) got plastic sheets to go under the regular ones, 3) stopped bothering him. It took about a _year_ for him to be able to get up by himself (he was now about 6). He has had intermittant trouble ever since although it has almost completely disappeared. We are sure it is because of the awful associations acquired when he was little. As a contrast, our 2 1/2 year old Trannon started staying dry all through the night about 4 months ago. After a month of a totally dry diaper in the morning we stopped putting them on him at night. Since then he has had ONE accident! A month ago he TOTALLY astonished us by getting up by himself in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, then put himself back to bed! I think this is probably the exception, however. Shad, our 4 yr old is probably more typical. He sometimes stays dry but more often wets at night. We did not want to repeat the experience we had with Todd so we have not even tried to take him at night unless he is totally awake (which is virtually never). We put a diaper on him at night, and don't worry about it. He will eventually grow out of it and we are willing to wait. We occaisionally remind him that when he goes for a while without wetting he doesn't have to wear it anymore, but we try not to push it. >Anyone else have young kids (under 3) who are very unhappy when woken up >before they want to be? Joellen is particularly unhappy when she's been >asleep for less than an hour (i.e., fell asleep in the car) and cries without >undertanding why. I feel sure it's not a "voluntary" fit of crying - she >starts crying before she's fully awake and can cry for 10 to 15 mintues before >getting herself under control. > >This behavior has lessened as she gets older, so I wonder if it's some kind of >age dependent thing. It is definately an age-dependent thing and they will grow out of it. Also you are right when you say it is not voluntary, they cannot help themselves. I hope I have been of some help. Parenting is the most challenging job I could ever imagine, and you have to do it all on the job! Good luck. Chuck Mosher UNC-Chapel Hill !decvax!mcnc!unc!cm