Does Potty Training Impact Sleep?
Do you have a little one 18+ months and the pressure of potty training is starting… or has been for awhile?
Are you afraid to begin the journey because you are nervous about interrupted sleep?
I want you to KNOW that potty training DOES impact sleep, but it doesn’t need to be a chaotic disaster, either.
Here are 5- Ways Potty Training Impacts Sleep
NEW SKILL-
Just as crawling, rolling and walking disrupt sleep the new skill of using the potty, can too!
This new skill that is creating new brain developments should not impact sleep more than 14-days. If you are struggling more than 2 weeks… it’s sleep that is an issue and not the actual potty training.
SENSATION-
Your little one now knows the feeling of, “it’s time to pee.”
This new feeling can cause them to be anxious and they immediately think they need to pee.
TEST BOUNDARIES-
Hey mom, I gotta pee…
oh man, mom came and got me out of bed. let’s do that again!
Let’s stall bedtime and say “I need to pee” right before I get into bed.
Disruption of sleep total-
Now that the new skill has began, it begins to cause wakings, and this can create a sleep debt.
If naps are disrupted we get into the phases of overtired.
Parental Pressure-
Now that we have began the journey of potty training we can fall into wanting it to go perfectly, moving fast or high expecations.
This can then, create our little one’s to want to withhold their pee.
How to ensure that potty training is not impacting sleep to where, you are constantly in a battle of bedtime stalling and night wakings?
Three Tips Below:
Be prepared- Know that the above reasons for potty training impacting sleep and put steps in place to decrease the chaos.
Have the “Last Call” in place. After the bedtime routine is complete and your little one is about to hop in the bed, state, “this is the last call for potty breaks. if you need to pee you must now because mommy is not re-entering once the door is shut.”
Place the potty picture on the bedtime routine chart and ensure they mark it off with a sticker or check-mark.
Role Play- Kids learn by watching us or their toys.
Have the potty set up and ensure that you are letting them see their animals practicing the last call routine, and praising the animals for using the bathroom before bed.
First.. Then, boundary.
First potty. Then, sleep.
Keep the words simple. Overcomplicating can create chaos.
The biggest tip for ensuring potty training doesn’t cause too much of a disruption of sleep, is to ensure they have independent sleeping skills.
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