[faith_amom]

My friend's little girl is 2 (~ 28 months), and she is not yet potty-trained. Each day, when the girl goes down for her nap in her crib, she strips off all of her clothes, including her diaper, and then frequently wets the bed in her sleep. My friend is at a loss as to how to stop this. Any suggestions?

- Faith

[debsdone]

I am not a huge fan of early potty training, although all kids are different. If she is taking off her diaper, it is time to try the potty, or at very least, get pull-ups. There are rubberized mattress protecters. The important thing is not to have her feel bad about her body functions. Not the most fun part of parenting, but this too shall pass! Good Luck, Love, Debi

[lovestory]

28 months really isn't that old. I know many children who don't potty train until 3 years old. My son is 27 months old, and he is 'kinda' getting the consept of using the toilet. What I have had to do is let him go around in his underwear, while we are at home...this way he can quickly use the toilet, when necessary. At this age, it is hard for them to 'hold it', when they gotta go, they gotta go.

Also, the issue with the naps. Well, even when my son is potty trained, I will probably put pull-ups on him during his nap...it's a little much to expect a 2 year old to wake up from a sleep to go to the bathroom. About her taking her clothes off...try putting on an outfit that she can't get off. Like overalls, or p.j's (though my son is starting to learn to take his p.j's off.)

Best of luck,

Stephanie

[campbekk2002]

I saw something on tv the other night that suggested putting diapers on backwards for children who take there diapers off. I decided to try it with my youngest son (1yr) and it really seemed to work he couldn't figure out how to take it off.

[jlcwc92300]

i aggree w/ the others it might not be her time just yet and try ways of not "letting" her get her diaper off. i'm working on it w/ my 20 month old. she will go potty before she gets in the tub and when i take her in w/ me. but other than that she will tell us after the fact. other than putting in on backwards, use duck tape. i know that sounds weird but i've had to do it. and you only need to cover the tabs. my girl has been takeing hers off sence she was 9 months.
well i wish you all luck in the potty training area and if you have any more ideas i would love to hear them as i'm in that boat now.
thanks Joy

My daughter is 19 months and is constantly taking off her diaper, I know she is too young to start potty training, she lacks the verbal skills. She knows how to pull her pants down so I have started leaving a onsie on her all the time. It seems to help, she can't figure out how to unsnap it!

[pdq]

I'm going to go out on a limb here! I don't think its too young to start toiltet training at 19 m if the child can pull their own pants down. I am a HUGE fan of John Rosemond's toilet training techniques. Basically, tell your child they should now use the potty (child size) like mommy and daddy do. Show them where the potty is and have them sit on it regularly. Let your child run naked on their lower half for the first week or so until they get the hang it. Never yell/get upset when they have an accident. Have the child help clean it up. We used this technique for my youngest son. He was completely day trained at 26 months and I know I could have started sooner. I didn't because I had morning sickness with my youngest daughter.

I truly would try young toilet training. Your child will be much less resistant to using the potty at this age than when they get older.

Pat

[vicrose]

Every child is different with respect to potty training, but if she is taking off her diapers, she is definitely exerting her independence here!! I have 3 children and with each of them, we made potty training a game. I gave rewards at the end of the day for they're hard work. Some people get frustrated too fast with the potty training, but with a little encouragement, kids will learn to like going to the potty on their own!! Sincerely, Brenda

We went through this with a foster child at thirteen months old.

We started putting him in tights - they kept everything very snugly in place!

I had a friend who would buy sleepers without feet then put them on backwards. However our foster son would also pick the diaper tabs open while dressed so that didn't solve our dilemma!

And no, he wasn't bothered by diapers - just proud he could do it!

[ladyjubilee]

Seems to me the little girl is just learning she can control her environment.....I'd just get a plastic mattress cover and go with it under her bladder catches up to her independence.

At this age, kids really like experimenting with self-dressing (and undressing). I can't really speak about the bed-wetting, since it sounds like she's kinda young for potty-training anyway. I think the solution would be to make her keep her diaper on. Dressing and undressing is an independence issue. This child should be allowed to help dress herself in the morning and help undress herself at night, which will add to her feelings of autonomy. She should be allowed to help diaper herself (diaper her standing, not lying down; let her fasten the tapes and throw away her own wet diaper). Provide her with "dress-up" clothes and costumes that she can slip on and off easily over her regular clothes. Help her learn about and explore different types of fastenings; buttons, zippers, snaps, etc... If you give her all these outlets for independent and autonomous dressing, then you can explain firmly to her that she is NOT to remove her diaper at naptime, and maybe she'll accept that. Hope this helps, ivy

[DenaMarie]

I recall my oldest daughter going through a "strip off your clothes" phase that passed over not too long of a period of time. My youngest is going through it now. She wants to be nude and has recenty been sitting on the potty while nude. I would say if the child is taking her naps in her crib after undressing and is frequently wetting the bed then there could be some changes made. First, I would try to change the location of the nap on occasion so that naptime doesn't automatically mean taking off your clothes to go to sleep in the crib. Perhaps rock the child to sleep or find a different place to put the child down for their nap. Sometimes just a change of routine helps stop the repetitive action. Also, try an undershirt with snaps to help keep undressing from being such a quick and successful event at naptime. A sheet protector is always a good fallback plan so that if the child does undress during nap, the bed/crib will be protected from germs.