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| Main > Symptom Guide > Frequent Urination
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Frequent Urination
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| Frequent urination, also called frequency, is sometimes a sign of an abnormality in a child's urine, such as having bacteria (urinary tract infection), blood (hematuria), or sugar (which can be a sign of diabetes). Children with frequent urination should be seen by their Pediatrician for an evaluation, which will usually include a urinalysis, which is an examination of his urine.
Common causes include:
- Urinary Tract Infection: signs of a urinary tract infection can include frequency, urgency (feeling the need to urinate very quickly), burning or pain with urination (dysuria), fever and abdominal pain. Testing with a urinalysis and urine culture is necessary to diagnose this common infection. Treatment is with antibiotics.
- Vulvovaginitis: Irritation of the skin in and around the vaginal area (vulvovaginitis) or at the opening of the urethra (urethritis) can cause symptoms similar to a UTI, including frequency and dysuria. Before puberty, the skin around the vaginal area can be very sensitive, and it can easily become red and inflamed when it comes in contact with common irritants, such as soap or shampoo. Bubble baths are also a common irritant that can cause itching in the vaginal area. Another cause of vulvovaginitis is poor toilet hygiene, which is usually secondary to not wiping or wiping incorrectly after urinating.
- Pollakiuria: Mostly affects children between the age of 3-8 years, and causes frequent daytime urination, sometimes up to 10-30 times a day, usually with very small amounts of urine being produced at each time. Children with pollakiuria usually do not have other symptoms, and it is not known what causes it, although it may be linked to stress. No treatment is necessary and symptoms usually go away after about 3 months. It is also called Extraordinary Daytime Urinary Frequency Syndrome.
- Voiding Dysfunction: some children just do not take the time to empty their bladder, usually because they are afraid they are going to miss something. These children may empty their bladder just enough to relieve pressure, but not enough to really empty all of the urine. Over time, the sphincter muscle that allows you to hold your urine may become overactive making it even harder to completely empty the bladder. If you suspect this is occurring with your child, you can encourage him to try and fully empty his bladder and take his time when he urinates and put him on a voiding schedule so that he urinates every 2-4 hours.
- Diabetes Mellitus: The main symptoms of diabetes in children include polyuria (urinating large amounts more frequently than usual), polydipsia (drinking more fluids than usual), polyphagia (eating more than usual), and unexplained weight loss. The urine of children with diabetes will have glucose and sometimes ketones in it, which can be detected by a simple urinalysis. A blood test to check the sugar level may also be done if diabetes is suspected.
- Diabetes Insipidus: an uncommon disorder that causes increased urination (polyuria) and increased thirst. Other symptoms can include irritability, poor growth, nocturnal enuresis (wetting the bed at night), and if your child is not able to drink enough fluids to keep up with the large amount of fluid being lost from excessive urination, then your child may develop dehydration. Testing can show a dilute urine, a high level of sodium in the blood (hypernatremia), and concentrated serum with a high osmolarilty. In children that have been drinking enough to keep up with losses, blood testing may be normal.
Question: What is the difference between frequency and polyuria?
Answer: Polyuria means that your child is producing a large amount of urine. Frequency just means that you are urinating more frequently than usual, however it may be either large or small volumes of urine each time.
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