"C. Gregory" ) writes:
( is it just me or is a not quite 2 year old a little bit young to be doing
the whole "go potty!!!" "want drink" "go potty" routine before bed? just
curious!!)

I'm not sure what you mean -- are you wondering whether
other children that age do that? I think so. Or whether
it's too early to encourage toilet training? I really
don't know. There's a wide range of experience on that.

Sorry I got the age wrong in my other posts.

If a child (of any age) doesn't want to go to bed
and wants your attention, and can get your attention
by asking for drinks, they will tend to ask for
drinks. (Over and over and over again.) Of course,
sometimes they really are thirsty.

Maybe he's afraid of peeing in the bed. Maybe he
tends to pee just as he's falling asleep. Maybe he
can't help it. I don't know.

You can try to make it into a finite routine:
a certain number (preferably one or two) of
trips to the potty and of fetching drinks,
the same number each time.
It can all be part of the ritual you play
over, exactly the same each time, so he knows
exactly when it will be time to go to sleep.
You can figure out what you'll do if he
asks for a drink after the last drink
has been fetched: a little laugh maybe,
saying, "no, drink time is finished, now
it's story time", or giving him a pretend
drink while you also pretend to drink an
imaginary drink, quickly read an imaginary
story and then lean your head against your
hands to indicate sleep, or whatever.

Again, if you do the same thing every
time, soon he'll learn that there's no
use asking for a third drink.

You can put two large glasses of water
on a table near his bed, for him to
help himself. Or even for you to hand
to him. He may not be as keen on the
water if it doesn't gain him much of
a delay.

I think my son was about that age when,
for a while, I used to put snacks on plates
for him at the bottom of the fridge, and
encourage him to get up and get them
during naptime. (Yes, I'm thinking of age 1
now.)
--
Cathy