How to handle puppy night potty breaks in a two story house
Puppies sleeping upstairs in a two-story home cannot reach the outside door in time to prevent overnight accidents, making bedroom sleeping risky. Without a properly managed crate or sleep routine, midnight potty breaks often trigger unwanted wake-ups and middle-of-the-night play sessions.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Sleeping downstairs on the couch near the exit door
- 2Placing the crate in the bedroom next to the bed
- 3Carrying the puppy directly to the door for nighttime potty trips
- 4Using washable pee blankets over comforters for bed-sharing
- 5Setting up a playpen or fenced area inside the bedroom
- 6Sleeping through the night and letting the puppy sleep
- 7Taking the puppy out for a bathroom break once during the night
- 8Trying different crate setups like blankets, beds, mats, or nothing at all
- 9Taking the dog out before putting her in the crate
- 10Switching to a playpen instead of a crate
- 11taking turns sleeping on the couch downstairs
- 12letting the puppy cry a little
- 13creating an apartment setup with a pen connected to the crate
- 14Shortening walk durations
- 15Saving refused breakfast meals in the fridge until the puppy wakes up
- 16taking the puppy out to potty again
- 17sitting with the puppy on the sofa until fast asleep before transferring back to the crate
- 18braving it out through the fear period
- 19Using a puppy play den
- 20Using a leash indoors
- 21Puppy proofing an open concept main floor and using baby gates
- 22allowing the puppy to roam a puppy-proofed room
- 23letting the puppy sleep in the human bed
- 24having the puppy nap on the couch on a blanket
- 25using a place command
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Our bedroom is upstairs but its not doable to have his kennel upstairs. We've been taking turns sleeping on the couch and our backs are feeling it.”source ↗
“Would love to transition her to sleeping upstairs with both of us in the bedroom, but concerned about overnight accidents with being upstairs in a two story house without being close to a door to the outside”source ↗
“We have not crated her overnight since she didn’t do very well with the crate but I’m not opposed to trying again.”source ↗
“I'm just wondering the 6hr naps are normal? She plays energetically, but doesn't eat breakfast (eats lunch and dinner). I just didn't expect this level of napping as she's supposed to be a high energy breed and in need of a lot of stimulation.”source ↗
“Really struggling with our 12 week old English cocker spaniel.”source ↗
“Today I couldn’t watch him while I got my kids ready for school so I crated him and he lost his damn mind.”source ↗
“Recently she stopped putting herself down for sleep and wanted to play around at 3am after she went to the bathroom so it was time to switch to crate training.”source ↗
“So, I shouldn't be worried, but I read almost everywhere that pups can't hold their pee for that long. Should I get up at night? Or am I doing okay?”source ↗
“However the past 5 nights when we put her in her crate she’s cried, we leave her for about 30 minutes to see if she settles but she never does so we take her out to potty again and put her back in, she’ll cry again and we would leave her 30 minutes until one of us eventually goes down and sits with her on the sofa until she’s fast asleep and transfer her back. She will then wake up at 1am and the entire process repeats itself. She will then wake up at 5am and refuse to sleep any further. We are exhausted.”source ↗
“she still won’t hold her bladder in her crate she will hold it outside of her crate for hours and then tell us when she has to go”source ↗
“if we go somewhere or put her in her crate for bed she will immediately pee in there”source ↗
“every morning she’s covered in pee again”source ↗
“I can’t keep doing laundry 2 times a day for just her it’s getting to the point where I’m just throwing out everything that she pees on in her crate.”source ↗
“The thing I do want to change though is he sleeps in our bed at night and has done since basically day one. I do kind of love it but I want him to grow up to be an independent doggy.”source ↗
“He has taken a nap in his bed approx once for like 30 min, the rest of the time he naps on the couch on his blanket.”source ↗
“We have taught him place command but he doesn’t stay there for more than one second and I’m not sure how to make him settle in his bed and nap there.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3House-trained dog won't go to the bathroom outside after moving
- 15How to get a puppy to settle down indoors without barking
- 2Why did my dog suddenly stop sleeping in my bed?
- 12How to handle a young puppy alone during sudden schedule changes