Change The Diaper Before You Sleep
I have no idea how many families this will actually help, but this one frequently lets my daughter sleep in 30-60 extra minutes. Which is solid gold.
We finally got to the point where our 14 month-old daughter was "sleeping through the night" (which means, waking the typical 3-5 times per night but settling herself back to sleep). But she seemed to be waking with a bulging water balloon of a diaper, occasionally with leakage. Not good.
After getting over my irrational fear that even looking into her room would wake her, I finally girded up the courage to try changing her diaper before we parents went to bed. Given all the prebed fluids she is wont to take, it's often quite wet by that point. And guess what - she never fully wakes up, even if I have to flip her right-side up (I have since perfected the upside-down diaper switch). And she sleeps in. And doesn't wake to soggy pants.
Life is good.
Your child may not be quite the nocturnal urinator that ours is. Or is perhaps a lighter sleeper. But do try this if you think that morning wetness is a factor.
Jul 23, 2008
Reader Comments (3)
Good suggestion! I did this for years, my Mom was stunned the baby wouldn't wake.
I used to even feed her a pre-emptive bottle while she slept if I was going to bed a little late. It saved her waking up hungry about the time I was dozing off!
I still do this with my 21 month old son! I just change him right in his bed when I go to sleep at around midnight. If he wakes up, he usually makes some comment like, "Mama, diaper all done, sleepy." :)
Before I started doing this, he'd often crawl into bed with us in the morning and that's when his diaper would leak. Figures!
I got a tip from my brother that was awesome- for night time, use the next size up in diapers (and possibly a higher quality as well). They more absorbant and less likely to leak, and more likely to prolong everyone's sleep.