Daddy, can I sleep in just my underwear tonight?
I knew the question was coming soon. Namine has, for nearly a week now, spent her days in underwear – yes, that’s right, no diaper. Her mind is ready to be rid of the diaper, even if her body is not.
It amazes me that Namine has been as diligent as she has with going to the bathroom. She has not had an accident in three days, and she’s been in underwear from the moment she gets up in the morning to right before getting into her bath at night. In her mind, she’s ready to be in underwear all the time. And who can blame her for wanting to be rid of diapers altogether?
I don’t know if Namine will be able to hold her bladder while asleep. Of course anyone has to learn how to do it; obviously, we’re not born knowing. That’s why parents have to potty train their kids (or, as I prefer to think of it, parents help their kids potty train themselves) in the first place. But with Namine’s limited bladder control, it becomes even more of a question.
So how much control does Namine have? We don’t know. Urology believed she didn’t have much control at all, but Namine has held her bladder for more than a half hour after telling me that she needed to go. And yesterday Namine, still feeling sick from her cough, fell asleep on Jessica’s lap. She slept for at least an hour, maybe even an hour and a half, and when she woke up she said she needed to go to the bathroom. So she obviously has some measure of control — even while sleeping — and certainly more than urology led us to believe.
So anyway, I explained to Namine that in order to wear only underwear beneath her pajamas at night, she first needed to get to the point where she wasn’t peeing in her sleep. She nodded, looking downcast.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, you know,” I said. “It will take time, but I believe you can do it.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “Daddy, I know I can do it.”
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