Once children graduate from diapers, many parents assume they can stop monitoring daily urination habits. But the frequency with which your child urinates can play a key role in helping you identify potential health problems before they become serious. Learn the facts about urination frequency in children, including what's normal, what's not normal and when your child may need to visit the doctor.
The Facts
Normal urination in children varies greatly, depending upon each child's age and urological history. Infants and young children could urinate as frequently as every two to three hours or as infrequently as four to six times daily and still be healthy. According to Dr. Max Maizels, Northwestern University Medical School urology professor and coauthor of the book "Getting to Dry," the average child urinates six times daily. As a rule, most older children typically void upon getting up in the morning, then every two to four hours thereafter until going to bed for the night.
Factors
Various factors may contribute to temporary changes in your child's daily urination frequency. Increased daily fluid intake could cause a short-term uptick in the number of times your child needs to go trotting to the restroom, but it typically won't produce long-term changes. Chemicals--often found in bubble baths, soaps and laundry detergents--may irritate the skin around a young girl's vagina, which could lead to changes in urination frequency, often as a result of painful burning when voiding. Stress or other emotional causes could also contribute to altered urinary habits, typically resulting in increased bedwetting or daytime urination accidents.
Time Frame
Increased urination that occurs gradually over the course of several weeks or months could indicate the progression of diabetes, a chronic health condition characterized by the inability to regulate blood sugar levels. Also called juvenile diabetes, type 1 diabetes occurs more frequently in children and requires lifetime treatment in the form of blood sugar monitoring and insulin shots. Increased thirst, hunger and fatigue are classic signs that often accompany more frequent trips to the bathroom. Talk to your doctor as soon as you notice increased urination accompanied by any other symptom of stage 1 diabetes, as Dr. Michael Crocetti, coauthor of "Oski's Essential Pediatrics," points out that a child suffering from this health condition could develop clinical dehydration.
Warning
Changes in urination frequency may be a sign of a urinary tract infection, which could quickly lead to potentially life-threatening complications if left untreated. Arising as a result of bacteria in the bladder, urinary tract infections may produce multiple symptoms, including irritability, fever, pain during urination and bedwetting. Often, children with a urinary tract infection make more frequent trips to the bathroom but produce decreased urine output when they void. Upon examination, the urine may appear cloudy. Prompt medical attention and treatment is necessary to avoid having the infection extend to the kidneys.
Identification
It's often hard for parents to determine whether or not their child is urinating more or less frequently than normal, so your best option is to get a clear idea of your child's normal urinary habits when she's healthy. Monitor--at least once monthly--how many times your child normally goes to the bathroom in a 24-hour period. Dr. Maizels recommends that you keep a three-day diary, recording each daytime urination and the amount of urine, to get a clear picture of your child's urological habits. Keep the information accessible, preferably with your child's medical or health records, so you have it available for reference at home or during a visit to the doctor.
References
- "Your Baby's First Year"; Dr. Stephen P. Shelov; 2004
- "Getting to Dry"; Dr. Max Maizels et al; 1999
- "Pediatric Decision Making"; Dr. Stephen Berman; 2003
- "Oski's Essential Pediatrics"; Dr. Michael Crocetti & Dr. Michael Barone; 2004
