How To Stop Peeing at NightLocations:||||||SearchAdvertisementAdvertisementNovember 7, 2022/Health Conditions/Urinary & Kidney HealthHow To Stop Frequent Urination at NightTry elevating your legs during the day and stop drinking two hours before bedYou finally get tucked into bed and then it hits you. You have to get up and pee. So, you drag yourself to the bathroom one last time before settling in for the evening. But then hours later, it happens again. And again. And again. If frequent urination is keeping you up late at night and disrupting your ability to sleep, you may be wondering how to stop it from happening.AdvertisementCleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. PolicyThe good news is that if your bladder is waking you up at any hour of the night to urinate, what doctors call nocturia, there are small but effective changes you can make for better sleep. But it’s also important to talk to your doctor because frequent urination can be more than just a nuisance — it could also be a sign of an underlying medical condition, says urologist Emily Slopnick, MD.Why do you pee so much at night?In many cases, frequent urination is a simple side effect of getting older. As we age, our bodies make less of the hormone that allows us to retain fluids. Because of this, our bladders fill more rapidly and are unable to hold a lot of urine as we get older. You’re also more likely to urinate more often if you’re pregnant. But frequent urination can be a symptom of more serious conditions, too, like:DiabetesOveractive bladder syndromeUrinary tract infections (UTIs)Prostate problemsYour frequency of urination can vary based on how much you drink, what kinds of liquids you drink, and what medications you take, as well. For example, taking a diuretic or “water pill” will cause you to urinate more often. Certain foods like alcoholic beverages, coffee, grapes and yogurt can also irritate your bladder and cause you to urinate (or feel like you need to urinate) more often.AdvertisementHow to stop peeing at nightSo, what can you do to lessen your trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night when so many things can cause frequent urination? Here are a few ideas:Keep a voiding (peeing) diaryMonitor how much liquid you drink, what foods you eat, whether you take a diuretic and how often, and tally the number of times and length of time you urinate. Take note of whether you’re urinating too much throughout the day or just at night.“If you’re urinating more than 10 times in 24 hours, that may be too much,” Dr. Slopnick says.Take your diuretic in the afternoonIf you take a diuretic for high blood pressure, leg swelling or congestive heart disease, it might be helpful to take this in the afternoon. That way, the medication will cause your body to make more urine in the afternoon and evening, possibly resulting in less urine production overnight. Check in with your doctor first to make sure it’s OK to take this medication at a different time of day.Limit your intake of fluids two hours before bedtimeDrinking too close to bedtime can lead to urinating at night. You’ll also want to limit alcohol and caffeine, which are bladder stimulants, throughout the day. If you’re struggling with nighttime urination, cut back to just one alcoholic beverage, or none at all, and decrease your current caffeine intake.Check for sleep apneaDuring deep sleep, our bodies produce antidiuretic hormones. This allows us to retain more fluid overnight. People with sleep apnea don’t get into the deep stages of sleep, so their bodies don’t make enough of this hormone. In addition, the drops in oxygen levels during apnea episodes trigger kidneys to excrete more water. In this case, treating sleep apnea should also help lessen your frequent trips to the bathroom at night.Exercise and wear support hose for swelling in your feet or legsIf you experience swelling in your feet or legs, you’ll probably wake more often overnight to urinate. That’s because the fluid pooling in your extremities during the day will be reabsorbed into your system once you lie down if your feet are level with your heart. Then, the fluid will head to your kidneys to be processed. To help with this issue, exercise and wear support hose to try to get that fluid processed before bedtime.Elevate your legs earlier in the dayIn the late afternoon and evening, if you prop up your legs for an hour at the level of your heart, this can help you urinate during the day (rather than at night).How often should you go to the bathroom at night?It’s normal to pee four to eight times in one day, but if you’re visiting the bathroom more than that — or if you’re getting up to go to the bathroom several times in one evening — you may want to talk to your healthcare provider who can help determine if there’s an underlying medical issue that’s causing it.If your frequent urination is a factor of aging, it’s good to keep in mind that adults older than 60 should expect to use the bathroom at least once every night. If you’re between 65 and 70 and going more than twice a night, you should make an appointment with your doctor. Also, see a doctor if you’re older than 70 and urinating more than three times each night.AdvertisementLearn more about our .AdvertisementRelated ArticlesJune 25, 2025/Urinary & Kidney HealthUrine can contain bacteria, viruses and more — don’t drink it or use it to clean woundsJune 24, 2025/Urinary & Kidney HealthDon’t ‘go with the flow’ if you have issues with urge incontinence or a contagious infectionOctober 18, 2024/Urinary & Kidney HealthGoing seven times a day is average, but more or less can be OK, too, as long as you’re not experiencing drastic changesSeptember 11, 2024/Urinary & Kidney HealthPee is usually odorless, but if it’s stinky, your diet is the most likely culpritDecember 20, 2022/Men's HealthAn enlarged prostate, diuretics and bladder irritants can all contributeJune 17, 2022/Men's HealthWhy you need to get it checkedFebruary 1, 2022/Urinary & Kidney HealthFind out whether you should head to the bathroom after the bedroomNovember 8, 2021/Urinary & Kidney HealthIt’s completely normal for the color of your urine to vary a little day by day, but it should stay within a certain range of yellowTrending TopicsSleepIf you’re feeling short of breath, sleep can be tough — propping yourself up or sleeping on your side may helpMental HealthIf you fear the unknown or find yourself needing reassurance often, you may identify with this attachment styleNutritionIf you’re looking to boost your gut health, it’s better to get fiber from whole foodsHealth Categories to ExploreBrain & Nervous SystemChildren's HealthExercise & FitnessHeart HealthMen's HealthMental HealthNutritionOrthopaedicsPrimary CareSkin Care & BeautyWellnessWomen's HealthOther Popular CategoriesAging WellAllergiesCancer Care & PreventionChronic PainCold, Flu & Respiratory IllnessesDiabetes & EndocrinologyDigestiveEar, Nose & ThroatEye CareInfectious DiseaseLungOral HealthParentingPregnancy & ChildbirthRecipesRheumatology & ImmunologySenior HealthSex & RelationshipsSleepUrinary & Kidney HealthWeight LossAdRendered: Thu Sep 18 2025 05:51:15 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)Cleveland ClinicSite Information & PoliciesResources9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44195 | 800.223.2273 | © 2025 Cleveland Clinic. All Rights Reserved., If late-night urinating is keeping you up, there may be several causes — as well as ways to stop it from happening., About 25% of all the falls in older adults happen in the middle of the night and some are due to nocturia. 3 Tips to Help You Reduce Nighttime Urination Dr. Tsambarlis shares these three behavioral modifications to help you eliminate nighttime bathroom breaks: Regulate how much liquid you drink before bedtime..