On a social media group, a woman was asking for advice on how to stop her three years old daughter from peeing on the bed.

Many comments from other women told her the child is still too young but that cannot be completely true.

As a mother to three children, 7, 5 and 3 who no longer wee on the bed, there must be something I did differently.

Almost every homes in Nigeria experience children bed wetting. This does not have anything to do with being able to buy diapers at all times. There will be a time when you will want your child to stop wearing diapers and that time is when you will experience bed wetting because at this stage in every child’s life, they have not learned how their body works. They find it difficult to wake up when they are pressed and as children that are already used to diapers, they believe they are still wearing one and relive themselves while sleeping.

This is where the parents job starts. As a mother, you are also a watchman especially if you have children that are still at the peeing age.

Start Early to potty train: The first thing I did differently was start potty training once the child clocks one year old. Some wait till one year and three months but I did not have the luxury of time since I was already pregnant with the second. At every opportunity, put the baby on a potty, especially at bed time.

Timing is key: I timed her potty times at every two hours. So, if I put her in potty by 8pm, then I must repeat at 10pm and 12 midnight till 2am and I stop. Its a lot of work but pays off very well.

Consistency: its a process that needs to be done constantly for as long as two to three months for the baby to get used to it. His or her subconscious will tell her relieving themselves on the bed is not right.

Look out for their bathroom signals: once a baby is used to peeing in the potty even at odd hours, they will naturally develop a sign that will show when they are pressed especially while sleeping. My son would toss and turn several times and make whimpering sounds like he is crying. Or he kneels on the bed and cry until u wake up. These signs are not to be ignored. Take them to the bathroom immediately. If you ignore the signs, you may end up destroying your hard work and you are back to square one.

As time goes on, the two hours interval will change to like three to four hours as they grow.

Also note that there are health conditions associated with bed wetting. If you put in this amount of work and the child still pees on the bed, then seek medical advise.