Peeing Through Pullups

Updated on May 30, 2010
A.C. asks from Atlanta, GA
15 answers

My son is 16-months old, and weighs almost 26 pounds. He has been wearing Huggies-brand overnight pullups at night for a little over two months. We usually use cloth diapers during the day, unless we are going to be out of the house for several hours and then we put him in Huggie's Naturals or Earth's Best disposables. My son pees so much at night that he has needed the heavier overnight-style disposables since he was probably about 8 months old so that he wouldn't pee out and wake up in the middle of the night. We are not potty-training him yet - he's in pullups because he's so tired and fussy after his nighttime bath that getting him to lie still to put a diaper on him was a nightly battle with him thrashing around and both of us cross and exhausted by the end of it. The pullups have been wonderful - so easy, no more battles, we just slip them on after his bath!

The problem is that, for the last three nights, my son has been peeing through his overnight pullups. It isn't an aim-thing or something like that - the diapers are completely saturated in the middle of the night. Normally, we would go up a diaper size when something like this happens, but he is wearing the pullups for 16-36 pounds, and the next size up is MUCH too big for him. Do I have to go back to standard night-time disposables? Would that even solve the problem? Does anyone have another solution?

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So What Happened?

Well, I haven't found a permanent solution yet. For now, my husband and I have gone back to fighting the nightly battle and putting our son in regular night-time diapers. I'm keeping my eyes open for diaper doublers that will fit in pullups, but in the meantime, I'm done changing sheets in the middle of the night for a while! Thank you to everyone for your advice! If the diaper wars become overwhelming again, I will try out some of the other ideas here. Thanks again!

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T.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

Pull ups are really more for when he is training, like the other post mentioned. It sounds like he really does still need diapers.

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C.M.

answers from Austin on

Pull ups aren't meant to be "diapers". They are protection for when you potty train. You would probably be better off using regular diapers.

2 moms found this helpful
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L.

answers from Cleveland on

I had a friend who used poise pads (for adult incontinence) in the front of the diaper for her son. Maybe worth a try?

2 moms found this helpful
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K.F.

answers from New York on

I had this problem with my son and the only thing I found to work was restricting fluids after dinner and cutting back on his milk before bed.

It has helped a lot and is still well hydrated throughout the day

1 mom found this helpful
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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

My son would do that. And in our exp. the overnight pullups have the BEST absorption rate. As in they hold the most. At the time I think they were called "Goodnites". Yeah... and swimming in pee, with a diaper the size of a basketball (how is that even physically possible???) by 2am.

What we did was just to change him right before going to bed at night. If his diaper wasn't wet yet, we'd wake him up enough to "go potty".... he'd pee... we'd switch 'em out.

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R.Y.

answers from New York on

My son has always been big for his age and at 4 still wears Goodnights at night--he is in the smallest size which is 35-65 lbs.. We switched from the overnight pull-ups as soon as he was big enough (about 30 lbs and between 2 and 2.5 for him). The pullups are much less absorbent than the diapers and we ended up with him wearing the nighttime pull ups in the daytime and Goodnights at night. The Goodnights are very absorbent as they are made for older, bigger children who still wet at night. He had to wear pullups at 2.5 because the largest size diapers were too small. He was not potty trained until after 3.5. Overnight diapers have a good absorbency but if you want to use the pullups at night you need a Diaper Doubler or something similar (I used the leftover huge maxis from the hospital when I ran out of Diaper Doublers).

1 mom found this helpful
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S.D.

answers from Indianapolis on

You could buy some diaper covers or vinyl pants (the simple Gerber kind) and cover the diaper.
Make sure he doesn't drink anything after dinner, that should help the amount of liquid in his body.

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P.M.

answers from Portland on

I don't know whether there are any other products specifically targeted to this problem, but I would experiment with adding absorbency. Tucking a folded diaper or washcloth into his pull-up? Sticking in a high-absorbency maxi pad in the front? I doubt that there will be a cheap fix if you use modern gel-based products, but you might find something that works well enough to be worth some extra expense.

As your son approaches readiness for potty-training in another year or so, he may well do less of his peeing during his sleep. Until then, I hope you find a workable solution.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.S.

answers from New London on

My son is 3 and still wears a regular diaper at night He wore pull-ups for naps and trips up until a few weeks a go. Pull-ups just don't hold as much.

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M.M.

answers from Cincinnati on

My son soaked through the overnights as well. He has always been a sound sleeper and just didn't wake up to go even when he was soaked. We ended up having my husband get him up before he went to work (around 6am) and having him potty. He was so sleepy that he went right back to sleep. I know your son is a bit young to have him get up and potty, but maybe you can slip the wet overnight off later in the night and put a fresh one on. Good luck.

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M.W.

answers from St. Cloud on

I've found that pull-ups DO NOT hold as much as diapers. They are truly just a money pit. Never helped with the training of either of our kids OR any of the daycare kids I had in the 5 years I did daycare. I would just switch back to diapers and when he's old enough to potty train forget the pull-ups. Go straight to underwear.

Updated

I've found that pull-ups DO NOT hold as much as diapers. They are truly just a money pit. Never helped with the training of either of our kids OR any of the daycare kids I had in the 5 years I did daycare. I would just switch back to diapers and when he's old enough to potty train forget the pull-ups. Go straight to underwear.

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S.P.

answers from Indianapolis on

You might try putting a sanitary napkin in the front of his pullup when he goes to bed.
This might absorb the overflow.

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B.R.

answers from Milwaukee on

There are overnight diapers, and there are goodnites. If he is wetting through goodnights, then I guess it's time to hold him down and get the diaper on him.

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D.P.

answers from Pittsburgh on

There are things called diaper doublers you could look into.

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C.O.

answers from Sacramento on

As another poster mentione, the depends or poise pads (not the full underpant) could be laid in the pullups as added protection...

Another option is midnight pullup/diaper changes

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