I am the new co-ordinator for Real Nappies for London. I thought I'd revamp this page with a personal story from my own experience of being a real nappy mum. Please, if you have stories you'd like to share send them in.
Has your child stopped using nappies during the day and now you are just using a disposable at night? Are you wondering whether s/he is ready to go without a nappy but afraid of being woken in the night with wet clothes and wet sheets?
This happened to me. Then I got fed up when I found myself chasing my daughter round the flat to get her horrible sodden disposable nappy off. I guess she thought it was fun, it certainly got her a lot of attention!
At this point I decided to put her back into cloth nappies at night. That way she took the nappy off herself in the morning. But there was another benefit of her going back to cotton nappies. When I woke up earlier than her I checked her nappy and found that it was still dry. This happened a few times and I knew that she was holding her bladder through the night. At that point I introduced a reward system. I told her that if she could keep the nappy dry for 7 nights in a row she could have the thing she most wanted in the World - a Tinky Winky hot water bottle.
I thought it would be a bit of stop and start to get the consecutive bit, but no, within 7 days she had the Tinky Winky hot water bottle. When she needed to go to the toilet in the night she didn't wake me up, she just took herself there. She was just over 3 years old.
So my advice to you: it's a good idea to have your child in cotton nappies at nights - pre-folds will be great, you may need to use two for sufficient absorbency. You may need a bigger wrap. It shouldn't really matter if it's a bit bulky as long as s/he's comfortable. It is very likely that while s/he sleeps s/he will try to keep the nappy dry. You may even find that s/he is already holding her bladder through the night.
When you wake early (before s/he does) check the nappy to see if it is dry. If it happens a few times, you know s/he is holding her/his bladder through the night and only releasing it when s/he wakes. That means it's time to go nappy free. It's warm and cosy in bed, why should your child want to make the effort to get out of bed to go to the toilet rather than just staying there and doing it in the bed/nappy. So you may need to introduce a reward system to keep the bed dry to give your child focus. You may want to use some mattress protection
If your child likes to drink before going to bed you might want to try 'lifting' her/him. This is where you put them on the toilet while they are asleep. Some children will release their bladder others won't. My first wouldn't, my second did.
Washing wet night nappies is easy. Just rinse them out in the shower in the morning and then you can put it in with the rest of your washing.
I hope this helps. It saves you money and it saves waste. My theory, from my own experience, is that if a child wears a nappy that gives them the cause and effect sensations of wet and dry the child develops the feeling of holding their bladder and releasing it while they sleep. Disposable nappies and fleece nappies don't give the child those sensations and so can extend the time children need nappies at night (often by years). In addition children go through developmental phases and you need to be able to spot them so you can help. Some children, especially boys, especially deep sleepers don't seem to be able to go without a nappy until they are 10 years old. However, it seems to me that potty training and night training are a bit like language. Children have the ability to develop these skills if they get the stimulation, and possibly some intervention.