Bito is starting to wake up when he needs to go potty in the middle of the night. That’s great! We’re on our way to being completely potty-trained! Yay!
Well, no, not quite. Bito wakes, but he does not get up and actually go to the bathroom. Instead, he sits in his bed and whimpers. And calls out. And then screams. Until someone gives him permission to get out of bed. Yeah. Apparently we taught him too well when he moved into his Big Boy Bed–he stayed put until someone went to get him in the mornings or after naptime.
So anyway. Imagine how happy we are in the wee hours of the morning to be roused from deep sleep by a screaming five year old. Not only are The Husband and I wakened, Bito manages to get us all up since Cupcake and he share a room, and BabyMuffin’s room is between ours. Party of five in the middle of the night! What joy. It’s family bonding I never imagined.
We’ve told Bito that he should just Get Up and Go! Night-lights have been placed to illuminate his way. We’ve role-played his actions. We’ve used Little People as models. And yet, he continues to call family meetings nearly every night. *sigh*
Maybe we should just teach Cupcake to be the one to give Bito permission to get up as soon as he starts whimper. At least some of the family could get some sleep that way!
Same thing happens here. We thought we were being smart by telling them not to get out of bed…that worked for a bit until they got smart and “needed” something. It’s gotten better but they still call and always seems to be in those early morning hours.
Have you tried just leaving the bathroom light on? Another idea is to take Bito to the bathroom one last time right before you’re ready to go to bed. He might be half out of it but that’s what we did with our daughter and it helped with the middle-of-the night bathroom visits.