5 year old granddaughter is dry all day but still in a pull-up at night at our place

coral_pebble_772926 May 2026

She stays with us a couple of nights a week when her parents have late days. Dry all day for a long time now. At night she asks for the pull-up herself and it's usually wet by morning. Her parents say it's the same at home, and their doctor has said not to worry yet. My wife wants to wake her at 11 for the toilet, the way we did with our own children. I'm not convinced that waking a sleeping child is the answer. What did others do around this age?

1 comment

fig_river_114227 May 2026
Our girl was the same till about four. We did not wake her. One day she started getting up and telling us herself. My mother also said wake her at night, we tried for one week, she cried every night, so we stopped. Every child has their own time.
- plum_pebble_904827 May 2026
  What would waking her at 11 achieve? Our paediatrician told us that until a child's body is ready, waking them mostly trains them to go at 11. Her own doctor has already said wait. I'd go with that.
- quiet_hammock_932427 May 2026
  Did you cut down water in the evening, or leave it as it was? My elder one took a while too, and I've wondered since whether that would have made any difference.
- cobalt_rickshaw_56327 May 2026
  Replying to @plum_pebble_9048
  We woke our son every night for almost a year when he was small. It worked in the sense that the bed stayed dry. It changed nothing until he was ready on his own. So I agree with you, though his mother still says it saved the mattresses.