Today I'm tackling one of the toughest parts of parenting a toddler – Potty Training. Well, specifically Nighttime Potty Training.
I would almost guarantee that every parent would list Potty Training on a list of Tough Parts of Parenting {well, that is until they reach the teenage years} and although there are a ton of methods of Potty Training out there – one doesn't work for everybody.
Luckily, Sophia started potty training very early. She was wearing panties at 18 months, but still had occasional accidents and actually still does. It's really hard for a 2.5 year old to pause in play to take a potty break. But now we're dealing with Nighttime Potty Training.
Nighttime Potty Training
Nighttime Potty Training isn't quite as predictable as day potty training {is any of it predictable, though?}. Training at nighttime is all about waiting for your child to be physically ready to be able to hold their bladder for the entire night, rather than cognitively knowing how to use the potty.
This is exactly where we're at. We've tried panties two different sets of times and with some success. BUT I simply think Sophia's little bladder isn't ready. She does pretty well from 2-7 am, but she's always wet at 2 if I don't wake her up to go around 12. I was getting up in the middle of the night, at least twice, taking her, but it exhausted us both. And then when she had accidents, I felt like it was in vain. So, we've put nighttime potty training on hold for now.
While we were still trying panties at night, I would double layer her bed.
Under the bottom fitted sheet would go a mattress protector {the pad type that they use in hospitals}, then a fitted sheet, then a full waterproof mattress cover {bought at Walmart} then another fitted sheet. This works great because if the top sheet is wet in the middle of the night, you just take it off and there's a dry sheet underneath.
The only problem? The mattress protector I bought from Walmart didn't last 2 months. We washed it – a lot and the material was flimsy and began ripping. So – I decided to DIY!
Since I've been enjoying my sewing machine lately, I decided to make Sophia her own Mattress Pad Covers.
You could easily do this diy project with upcycled materials or all new. Mine was a mixture of both. I had a set of flannel sheets that had seen better days and a brand new vinyl tablecloth that had been in our garage for forever {a camping purchase}. I had the idea of topping the cover with fleece. Because of my experience with cloth diapers, I know that fleece repels liquids, so instead of Sophia laying on a sheet that will be saturated with urine, she'll be laying on pretty, dry Princesses.
The idea of the Princess fleece works for a few different reasons – including the "You don't want to pee pee on the Princesses."
You can use the pad on top of your child's sheets or underneath – either works fine!
DIY Waterproof Mattress Pad Cover
Materials Needed:
- Sewing Machine
- Vinyl Tablecloth with Felt/Flannel backing {the vinyl backing is what keeps the pad waterproof}
- Flannel/Terry Cloth material for extra absorbency {optional}
- Flannel/Fleece material for top layer
This is in no way a tutorial as in do it this way. This is a tutorial as in If I did it, you can do it. I'm just a beginner at sewing, so I threw this together after I bought a yard of fleece. I simply cut it in half and cut my other materials to match the size of the fleece that I had.
Cut all of your layers to the same size.
Pin layers in this order – your Top and Bottom Layer {fleece and tablecloth} right sides together and the flannel middle layer on top.
I sewed all the layers together, leaving about 3 inches so that I could turn the cover inside out. Once I did that, I went around and closed the opening, as well as the entire project, with a more decorative stitch.
I ended up making 2 Mattress Covers and one I decided to put extra stitches in to see if it makes a difference in bunching. So far, it seems like my materials are heavy enough so neither will have bunching issues.
Since it has the layer of vinyl, I'd recommend washing on a low temperature setting and line drying.
Although the cover won't exactly solve nighttime potty training issues – it DOES make the life of a mother a lot easier – less sheet changing in the middle of the night, protected mattresses, and dry-er pajamas for the little ones.
I love that the cover is small enough that I can fold it up and take it on trips with us too! This will alleviate my fears of accidents on hotel beds for sure!
4 Days Left 
Awesome tutorial! Found you on Pinterest (of course) because I was trying to come up with a DIY Puppy Pad. I was brainstorming but wasn’t sure how well the vinyl table cloths do in a washer?
Anyway, idk why I didn’t think of this for a nighttime pad for my daughter! We are currently trying to cut out night time pull ups. She is 3 & 1/2 and has been potty trained since her 2nd birthday, but we just can’t knock the nighttime accidents. This pad is perfect! I was fighting myself on whether or not to buy the Brolly Sheets but couldn’t pay this price. Thanks so much for sharing!
Thank you! It’s not a pad that could take a LOT of abuse. I think if you plan on washing it a lot – say every day or so – then you’ll want to use a sturdier PUL fabric. The vinyl is holding up nicely, but I do line dry {which I would do with any type of waterproof fabric to make it last longer}, but the design has faded so I realize it’s taking some abuse.
Even using a PUL fabric would still keep this project at a great price!
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I don’t have any night-time training tips because we’re not quite there yet, but I do appreciate the tutorial for the DIY mattress pad cover! I’ll have to bookmark this for when we get to that point.
This is definitely an amazing idea! My youngest still has some accidents, and if we can keep at least the mattress dry, that would save tons of money!
This is an awesome idea! My boys love cars so princesses wouldn’t be ideal but we will def use this!
Oh I so hear you – I do take both, the 3 and 5 yo at midnight just to avoid the morning nighmare
This is such a great idea! We are on hold with potty training right now. Our son is 29 months old but he’s just not ready yet. When he is ready, I’d like to make some of these, for sure!
What a cute idea! How much liquid can those mattress pads hold?
Thank you! I haven’t tested it yet, but they easily hold 1 or 2 small accidents by adding the middle flannel layer.
This looks super easy = I literally slapped my head and was like “why didn’t I think of that?”
Yay! I’m usually the one that is slapping my head.
It WAS easy!
I am so making a few of these up. I have mattress covers and we dread putting them on. We always double and sometimes triple sheet our beds and it can get tight getting them all on. With the pads that will take an extra layer off the sides and make it easier to get them on. Thank you for the tutorial.
Yes! Those covers make it hard to make your bed too – ours just ripped to shreds too.
Awesome idea! This is a tutorial I will actually make!!
I am potty training my 28 month old now. He is finally getting it and going regularly on the potty but for naps and nights he still soaks through pull ups so I am waiting until he can start making it through the night without peeing to start nighttime training.
Love this idea! We are struggling with night time accidents as well and we have been spending money on goodnights pull up diapers and we’ve been cleaning our share of sheets. I just received my first sewing machine (I used to sew a lot back in the day but it’s been a very long time) so this seems easy enough that I can pull it off and sounds like its going to save me time and money!
Thanks for sharing!
If I can do it, you can do it!
Paired with a cloth trainer {to save you money from the disposables}, these would be perfect.