This is a sponsored post for Acorn. However, al opinions stated here are 100% my own or those of my family, as always.

Potty training is probably one of the biggest challenges that parents will face – at least in the early years. I remember being completely stressed out over when, how, where and how often my kids went to the bathroom and at times despaired of ever being completely diaper-free. With the advantage of hindsight, six years past our last potty trainer, there really wasn’t a huge reason to worry. Kids eventually get it. Right?

Not always. And especially – not always at night. Daytime Potty Training ended up being a breeze for two of my kids, the oldest and youngest, once they put really put their minds to it. However, my middle child was stubborn about it and regressed a couple of times before finally being daytime trained. Nights – well nights have been a bigger issue. And for a longer time than I ever thought possible.

For many years, we used products such as Pampers Underjams – and they worked great. The bed was dry in the mornings and nobody could tell by looking at my daughter in her cute pajamas or nightgown, that she wasn’t simply wearing underwear underneath. Even sleepovers were easier – she simply discretely took care of the used product in the morning. Most often, I’d had a chat with the other mom beforehand and they would show her where the trash was so she could find it easily after waking up.

Nowadays nights are a bigger challenge, for many reasons. She has outgrown UnderJams now, so we end up doing plenty of laundry. And while undergoing chemotherapy, they give her a lot of IV hydration at the hospital when she’s inpatient, so there’s really no way to avoid nighttime accidents. Even kids who are normally night-trained often have issues during chemo – but at least there the nurses are used to this happening and know how to easily deal with it. It doesn’t make it easier to work on nighttime training at home either though, so for now we’re in a holding pattern until chemo finishes later this year.

In general, there are a few things that we’ve found can help at home, so if your child is getting Older, outgrowing the UnderJams, and nights are becoming a lot damper than you’d prefer, here are some things that are worth a try:

1. Avoid drinks before bedtime. I know – this one is kind of a no-brainer. But sometimes you have to look hours ahead and start restricting liquids right after dinner. It’s a challenge when kids are thirsty before bedtime, and this doesn’t work for everyone, or even always for us. But it’s worth a try for the nights that it does make a difference.
2. Try waking them up to use the bathroom. This is another one that can be hit or miss for us, especially since she’s a very deep sleeper and it takes considerable effort to wake her up enough to get up and go to the bathroom. But, if we make the effort, it will work for a few weeks at a time, so definitely worth a try. We usually wake her up between midnight and 1:00am – this tends to be her ‘magic’ hour where if we catch her then and get her up to the bathroom, more often than not, she’s dry in the morning.
3. Make sure you have them checked out. There can be physical or medical reasons why a child has difficulty staying dry at night, so make sure you let your child’s doctor know what’s going on and see if any tests are warranted. There are some medications that can help too – not necessarily a good fit for everyone, but maybe worth a try if nothing else has worked. Just do what’s best for you and your family.

Bedwetting is a lot more common, even at older ages, than I ever knew. It’s something that doesn’t generally get talked about since it can be an embarrassing subject for both kids and parents. Just in the past week though, following the #ConquerBedwetting hashtag on Twitter connected me with several other parents with kids around my daughter’s age, who all still struggle with this issue. Hearing that we’re not alone – that’s a huge help.

I know there adult incontinence products that we could try for my daughter now that she’s older, but they aren’t really made with bedtime in mind. We miss the features of UnderJams that made them so easy and discrete to use. The lower waistband that didn’t stick up over the edge of her pajama pants, the quiet material that felt and sounded more like cloth, and the ultra-absorbent Night-Lock core that kept leaks from happening are all things you don’t find elsewhere once kids outgrow their UnderJams.

Just like with daytime potty training, I know that this too shall pass. Someday, after chemo is done and our lives are back to what used to be normal, we’ll look back and remember those days when bedwetting seemed like such a huge deal. Her body will finally ‘get it’ and she will be ready.

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