The Tale of Two Pee Pees

So, we really tried to wean Gillian completely from her dependence on diapers at sleep time. She has been potty trained during the day since about May of last year. And, somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas she had started getting up 2 or 3 times a night to change her own pull-ups, so we figured, "hey, she's probably ready to just get up and pee in the potty instead of changing her own diaper". Silly me. So, for the entire month of January and into February we gave it a try. We even got her up to pee sometimes in the middle of the night if we were up anyway. But, after about 5 weeks of her shamefully telling us "I pee peed in my underpants" 1-3 times a night, we decided it wasn't working for any of us. I'd say our efforts were Hurculean...we literally washed sheets daily, and had a stash, along with PJ changes, on standby for the inevitable wetting incident. She has the best of intentions, but truth be told, she just isn't ready. I have lots of friends who tell me their child took a few nights and voila, like magic, the child was night potty trained. You know, a few accidents here and there but otherwise no issues.

I was bemoaning what was going on with my girlfriends, and they all looked at me like "what are you worrying about?" Most of their kids, Gillian's age, still pee in diapers at night. One of them said, "well, at least she's in underpants during the day..." because her child still isn't willing to go there at three and a half. And she's not pushing. This parent told me about an article that posits, from real research, that some kids just biologically don't recognize the need to urinate until after the fact when they are asleep (missing a vital hormone that triggers that association). It also suggests that some kids sleep like bricks and just don't interrupt a deep sleep with the need to use the toilet. The hormone is potentially genetic, and Gillian (who looks like Sean, had the same first word at the same age as Sean, who walked at the same age as Sean, etc.) has a Papa who wet the bed until he was 5. She also sleeps like she's dead, and has a hearty snore, so it could be a double whammy.

At any rate, we are back to pull-ups. And not just any pull-ups, but PRINCESS pull-ups. We are no longer awoken by Gillian at night, embarrassed by her own incontinence. Everyone is happier, and happy is Good.