Dream Wee Toilet Training Method Explained
If your child is staying dry all day, but you still wake up to wet sheets every morning, it can be a little frustrating. It's not their fault, of course, it's not, but that doesn't stop it from trying any parent's patience when you're doing ANOTHER load of laundry at 7am every day.
Even if your kid isn't staying dry throughout the day too, it's often the inconvenience of wet sheets that feels like a more pressing matter to parents. Sure, you can take spare clothes in case they have an accident in the daytime, but accidents at night require a more thorough cleanup.
But is there a way to stop it? Well, if you believe some parents, then the dream wee toilet training method might be the answer to your prayers! Let's find out more below!
What Is The 'Dream Wee Toilet Training' Method?
Simply put, the dream wee toilet training method is where you 'lift' your child at night time (more on this below) and take them to the toilet so they can do a wee at night. The basic idea is that you'll help prevent them from peeing the bed by letting them wee at night in the toilet, rather than their bed.
This can be especially useful in the first days after taking your child out of diapers for bed, because they may need reminding that they need to wake up and use the bathroom now, instead of just 'going' in their sleep as they have been doing all their life.
'Lifting' Explained
Lifting is the act of taking your child out of bed and putting them on the toilet for a dream wee. The act itself sounds simple, but in practice it can be like trying to defuse a bomb - especially if your child doesn't take well to being woken up in the middle of the night.
Some parents suggest that it's better for your child (and for your eardrums, because you'll be avoiding tantrums) if you undress them in their bed so they're ready to just wee as soon as you place them on the toilet.
It's also a good idea not to place too many lights on if you're trying to avoid waking your kid entirely. So again, it sounds simple, but it's really not. Once your child has had a dream wee, you can then take them back to bed and keep your fingers crossed that all your efforts weren't in vain, and they wake up dry and you don't need to change any sheets!
When Is It Best To Lift Your Child?
There's some debate surrounding this. Some parents find that, just by taking them for a dream wee as they're heading up to bed themselves as parents, that's enough to keep their kid dry all night.
Others find that leaving it as late as possible (around midnight and after) is best because it doesn't give your child enough time between their dream wee and waking to have an accident. And yet more parents think their child needs multiple dream wees a night to avoid accidents.
Really, the point you should take away from that isn't that there is a best time to lift your child based on any sort of science, but just on your own experience of doing it with your child.
After all, every kid is different, and what works for one won't necessarily work for another. If you try doing it once, around 10pm and find they're still wet in the morning, then either do it multiple times or leave it a little later. You're their parent, so you'll figure out what's best for them.
How It Works
After reading the above sections, you're probably wondering how it all works then, right? Well, there isn't necessarily a straight answer to that.
Some will tell you it works simply because your kid needs time to develop natural bladder control at night time, and they'll need to develop a little more before their bodies can wake them up at night to use the bathroom.
As toddlers, it might just be that they're physically incapable of controlling their bladder for such a long time while in bed, so for some parents dream wees are just preventative methods to stop accidents from occurring.
For others, though, it becomes a matter of scientific debate. Some parents argue that by taking your child for dream wees one of two things must be happening. Either they must learn that they need to wee at night sometimes, so by training them to get used to dream wees, their bodies learn to wake up at night naturally to go for a wee.
Or, we activate hormones in the brain when weeing at night, and subconsciously your child's body will learn to send signals from the brain to wake up because it's time to wee.
Which theory you believe is up to you, but if you find the dream wee toilet training method to be useful, you probably don't care how it works, just so long as it does, right?
The Light vs No Light Debate
There is some debate about whether your child needs to be fully awake and conscious, or still pretty much asleep when dream wees take place. And honestly, there's no right or wrong answer here. Because nobody knows exactly _why _the dream wee method works (there are theories, of course, but nothing has been categorically proven), there's no telling whether the light being on or off makes a difference.
For us, we'd recommend going with the light off if your child is someone who will be furious at being woken in the night, and leave the light on if your child is someone who can wake up briefly and be right back to dreaming a minute later.
Again, it's all about finding what works for you and your child, and if the dream wee method works with the light on or the light off, it doesn't matter!
The Controversy Surrounding Dream Wees
Now, throughout this post we've discussed the dream wee toilet training method as though it works - but it doesn't for every child.
Some kids simply don't have the bladder control at the age they're at to stay dry all night, no matter, if you wake up for dream, wees every hour on the hour. Think about it, they've been going to sleep since they were born, so it's difficult to reverse that.
Some parents also find that while dream wees work and keep their child dry all night, the tantrums, arguments, screaming, and crying that occurs when they wake their kid up just isn't worth it, and so they try a different night time toilet training method instead (of which there are many, by the way).
So although dream wees work for some kids, they certainly don't work for all of them!
A Final Word
Before you leave, remember this: Not every method works for every child, so by all means give the dream wee method a try, but if it doesn't work for you and your kid, then research a different night time toilet training method.
And remember, every kid will get there in their own time - they won't be wet at night always. So remain calm, and try something new if it doesn't work. But if our guide has been helpful and dream wees are helping your child stay dry and keeping you sane, then we're glad we could help and we wish you continued success!