flushing toilet in the middle of the night

well this has astonished me.
no one in my close or extended family would ever dream of leaving a loo unflushed, and any time of day or night, after any usage. it is unthinkable.
ok, making some allowances for those of you who are worried about using water, before this was a concern, what did you do. where did you get this habit from. is it how you were brought up.
now I remember in some houses, the mad dash ahead of a visitor to get to the loo first.
I have got a theory. only about 3 people on here are of my custom and practice. I think we were/ are of working class/ small crofter type background, ie not middle class. am I right. the mad dash to the loo before visitors always happened in middle class houses. I had not realised what the purpose or necessity of it was.
I shall go on flushing.
and by the way if you have no water to wash hands, baby wipes or similar are more hygienic than hand gel, as you dispose of the germs, rather than merely moving them around, covering them over, trying to neutralise them.

It repulses me to find the loo unflushed. Really turns my stomach!

I’m giggling away at the deadpan line there were elks in the wood ‼️ Love it, best giggle of my day, thank you Grammaretto!

Do flush during the day, but do not at night because if I wake up completely when I go the the loo, I can then be awake for three or four hours,

If I can get there and back while still effectively remaining asleep, I sleep so much better. The art is getting up as soon as you feel the slightest desire to have a pee, finding your way to the loo in the dark, doing what you do and reversing the journey back to bed , all without waking. I am really good at it.

It's not unhealthy to leave urine in the WC
but it is unhealthy to not wash your hands, especially if you re cooking for others.

Even with water shortages/trying to save water, the practice of hand washing is essential.

So yes, as some Gransnetters have said "If it's brown, flush it down" but no matter what - wash our hands afterwards, even if it is after a pee. Or if no water - use hand sanitiser (I carry a small bottle with me).

If it’s brown flush it down, day or night.

It wouldn't occur to me not to flush.
I never realised people don't flush the toilet at night.
I could perhaps understand if the toilet was extremely noisy and you would wake someone up.BUT
What is the difference between day and night, do you not flush in the day, is it once a day, once every two days.
Do you not wash your hands because you are using water.

We don't flush unless it is necessary. All in the name of water conservation.

During water shortages, where I used to live, we used to use the bathwater for flushing. And dad put a brick in the water cistern to artificially raise the water level for the ballcock.

I always flush the loo. Unflushed loos are horrible. I wouldn't dream of leaving them.

We have a light thing plugged in the hall wall socket which comes on automatically in the dark. Enough light to see your way to the bathroom, but no need to switch on other lights. Very useful, had the same one for years.
Now I’ve posted this, no doubt it will conk out tonight!

Another non-flusher here as well, even though there's only me and no-one except the cats to wake up. Always wait till morning unless necessary.

I don't flush during the night but when staying away I check the house rules.
One family has the flushing mantra above the pan. If it's yellow etc

When staying in a remote summer house in Sweden, we were provided with a potty to save us visiting the earth closet outside. I was very grateful. There were elks in the woods.

Me too maggiemaybe ??
monica I live alone so don’t wake anyone? I don’t put lights on as without my contacts in I can’t see anything anyway?
To be honest I m not too worried one wee a night will cause much difference to my water meter price I suppose it’s habit Ive just always flushed after using the loo whether wee or poo

When it comes to the environment I’d rather have one or two flushes a night than all the massive buildings that are lit up like Christmas trees now there does lie a huge problem We as a nation must waste millions on all the buildings fully lit I might start a thread on that It’s awful

Oh! Halfway through your post I was thinking what a good idea, but I’d assumed you were going to say she fills the jug from the tap afterwards and pours it into the loo to flush away what’s in there (quietly)....

Well I never!
I was telling a neighbour about this thread. She said that as she visits the bathroom several times a night, when she visits friends or family , she takes a plastic jug . ( can you see where this is going?) If she needs a wee in the night, she goes to the bathroom, uses the jug and pours contents down the sink. A silent visit !!

We only flush when necessary when at home (bit different when staying with family). We're also on a meter so want to save money as well as water.

As for getting up in the night, one of us nearly always does - at which point, the other says 'Leave the light on!'

Only if essential and we don't put the light on either in case we waken each other up.
Loo never stains. We clean it first thing.
Its also a waste of water.
We flush during the day.

Definitely don’t put any lights on, have been known to nod back off whilst still on the toilet!

Bluebelle No, we do it, and no lights, to make sure that the effort to make the visit wakes us as little as possible so that we quickly get back to sleep.

If I turned on all the lights, flushed the loo etc I wouldn't get back to sleep for an hour and if it was after 4.00am I wouldn't get back to sleep at all.

Don’t flush at night either. Also share bath water- have done for past 39 years when there was a water shortage. I always go in the bath first though.

Gosh never heard of this what’s different from night to day
I flush every time I go if there’s a family going to the loo in the night isn’t it smelly by morning

Not only do we not flush, we do not turn the light on either. The bathroom door is directly opposite the bedroom door and about 5 foot away.

That way we do not even wake when we go to the loo in the night, so no long wakeful sessions trying to get back to sleep.

This is weird! We were having this conversation less than a week ago, with our daughter and fiancé. We have started flushing more since we got new toilets that put a beaker full of water down. Even the long flushes are too short most of the time! However, for the last thirty years, we’ve been very diligent about our use of water, only flushing straight away if it’s brown?! because of droughts etc. Usually what happens at night, is if one of us gets up, the other usually wakes, so we flush then. I don’t really like it sitting in the bowl at night, because we don’t have bathroom window open. In the evening, watching tv, we can go several times in the downstairs toilet, but just flush when we go to bed!

I have never flushed at night. We were brought up not to, as the upstairs bathroom was adjacent to our parents' bedroom.

As a teenager I tried desperately to be the first into the bathroom in the morning when I had a period, as the thought of the entire family seeing the condition of the bowl embarrassed me.