How to Stop Waking Up to Pee at Night So You Can Get Better Sleep

Erica Sloan

Tue, October 22, 2024 at 7:23 PM UTC

8 min read

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Achieving a full night of sleep can be supremely challenging for reasons that have nothing to do with your bladder—say, the blue light we constantly bathe in or the 24-hour news cycle and its seemingly unending power to elicit existential dread. So you have every right to be peeved about waking up at night to pee, of all things, in this economy.

It’s an all-too-common annoyance; research suggests as many as a third of people in the US over age 30 get up at least twice to pee every night—and that number only ticks up with age. The potential reasons for a regular middle-of-the-night pee habit, or what doctors call nocturia, are pretty wide-ranging. There’s the obvious (and easily fixable): You chug too much liquid right before bed. And then there’s the more complex.

Health conditions like kidney disease, diabetes, heart failure, and those that cause electrolyte imbalances can affect how (and when) your body produces urine. At the same time, neurological diseases and bladder-related issues can give you the urge to go more often , even if you don’t actually have more pee in your system. The latter includes things like interstitial cystitis (inflammation of the bladder wall), overactive bladder (which causes involuntary muscle spasms in the lining of this organ), a urinary tract infection (UTI) , or, less commonly, a stone or tumor, Betsy Greenleaf, DO , a New Jersey–based board-certified urogynecologist and member of the PlusOne wellness collective, tells SELF. Being pregnant can also put pressure on your bladder, triggering the need to pee more often, she adds.

Or there’s a chance that your 2 a.m. toilet runs have zero to do with your urinary system and everything to do with your sleep. Maybe you’re a light snoozer who’s getting roused by the rustling of a bedmate or a blaring siren or waking up in a pool of sweat —only to realize then that you have to pee. Similarly, if you have sleep apnea (which involves pauses in breathing during sleep), your brain could be jolting you into wakefulness so you can get some air, making you suddenly conscious of your full bladder, Kenneth Lee, MD , a board-certified neurologist and medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Chicago, tells SELF. Stress on the heart from lapses in breathing overnight can even trigger the release of a hormone that revs up your urine production, Brandon Peters, MD , a Seattle-based board-certified neurologist, sleep-medicine specialist, and author of The Sleep Apnea Hypothesis , tells SELF.

In any case, your nighttime bathroom trips could really eat into how much shut-eye you’re clocking, especially if you struggle to drift off again—which gets more likely the closer it is to your wake-up time, Dr. Peters says, because your overall sleep drive (the pressure your body feels to doze) will be lower. If that sounds like you, keep reading for expert tips on putting your restless bladder to bed, once and for all.

1. Pee regularly throughout the day and just before you go to sleep.

You might intuitively know that not emptying your bladder during the day can leave that thing overfull come nighttime. But remembering to pee isn’t just about managing the volume of liquid sloshing around in there. You also “have to go with some frequency during the day because the bladder is a muscle that needs to be exercised,” Jamin Brahmbhatt, MD , an Orlando, Florida-based board-certified urologist, tells SELF. It has to contract to push urine out—but if you’re consistently keeping it filled to the brim, it can get “overstretched,” he says. In that state, it can lose its ability to squeeze and fully empty itself when you do go, sending you back to the toilet more often to finish the job.

Bottom line: Don’t put off nature’s calls. There’s no exact number of times that you should pee in a day, as everyone’s a little different—but a good benchmark is going at least every four hours. You should also make one of those trips right before you go to bed, Dr. Brahmbhatt says. This way, you’re starting the night as empty as possible.

2. Front-load your hydration and stop sipping anything within a couple hours of your bedtime.

Taking in less liquid can leave you with less that needs to come out—but you don’t want to risk dehydrating yourself . That’s why all the experts SELF spoke with suggest getting in most of your fluids for the day before nighttime, and then cutting back or not drinking anything, if possible, for two to three hours before you go to bed. This way, you’re not flooding your system right before you snooze.

If you need to drink something closer to your bedtime, Dr. Greenleaf advises at least steering clear of alcohol and caffeinated drinks, which can encourage your kidneys to make even more urine—not ideal before bed. (And that’s to say nothing of both substances’ other sleep-wrecking effects!)

3. Cut down on salty foods.

Going hard on salt-heavy snacks or other sodium-laden meals could make you thirstier, leading you to sip more frequently (and pee more often) than you otherwise would. Indeed, research has shown that a high-sodium diet increases fluid intake and bumps up urinary volume; and one study found that people who lowered their salt intake took fewer nighttime bathroom trips. It’s the reason Dr. Brahmbhatt suggests limiting the salty stuff in general, but especially in the evening.

4. If you take a diuretic, consider doing so in the morning.

Maybe you’re on a drug that’s explicitly designed to make you pee more—and that’s the thing yanking you out of slumber. Diuretics, also called water pills, help to flush excess liquid and salt out of your body by triggering your kidneys to pump out more urine. They’re often prescribed for high blood pressure, edema (swelling caused by fluid retention), and heart failure, among other things. If you’re on one of these meds, Dr. Brahmbhatt suggests checking in with your doctor to see if you can take it earlier in the day, so its pee-producing effect is concentrated then too.

5. Brush up on your sleep hygiene.

The lighter and more fragmented your slumber is, the more likely the urge to pee will wake you up. So do what you can to get deep, restorative sleep by sticking to the basic sleep-hygiene recommendations , Dr. Lee says. Some places to start: Keep your bedroom a crisp, cool temperature (around 60 to 67 degrees Fahrenheit); embrace a calming nighttime ritual that ideally excludes screens; and avoid using your bed for anything that isn’t sleep or sex.

Speaking of, you don’t want to spend too much time tossing and turning at night either, as it can create an association in your brain between your bed and wakefulness, Dr. Lee says. So if you’re struggling to fall back asleep after a middle-of-the-night pee trip, he suggests getting up and relocating to another room for a bit (you could pass the time with a soothing activity, like reading or meditating). Only return to bed once you’re feeling sleepy, he says.

If you’re still having trouble with overnight bathroom trips, give your doctor a call.

It can be tough to tell how much of your nighttime pee habit can be chalked up to your lifestyle or personal biology (some people just have to go more often than others) and when it might point to a deeper health issue. That’s why the general rule is, if it’s still a nuisance despite your efforts to resolve it, or if it’s significantly interfering with your ability to get good sleep, bring it up with a primary care doctor.

Make sure to note any daytime urine-related symptoms too, Dr. Greenleaf says—for instance, if you’re feeling like you also have to pee more often than usual, need to go urgently, or can never fully empty your bladder. These are all potential signs of the bladder issues noted above, as well as an enlarged prostate in folks with a penis. The same goes for non-frequency-related changes in your everyday peeing, like a stream that splits into two directions, is weaker than usual (or starts and stops ), or contains any traces of blood , Dr. Brahmbhatt says.

You’ll also want to flag signs of other sleep-related struggles, like difficulty falling or staying asleep, feeling super fatigued during the day (despite getting plenty of shut-eye), or even having a bedmate who points out that you snore or often wake up gasping for air , Dr. Lee adds. All of the above could point to sleep apnea—which warrants its own diagnosis and treatment.

A doctor can help you sift through these diverse root causes as well as rule out some of the much rarer and more serious conditions that could trigger nocturia. Depending on their findings, they may refer you to a specialist, like a urologist, gynecologist, or sleep neurologist who can craft a treatment plan that fits your scenario, whether that looks like medication to knock out an infection or minimize bladder spasms, or therapy for whatever condition is wresting you from sleep. With time, the list of things that keep you up at night will at least no longer include the ill-timed urge to pee.

Originally Appeared on Self