Frequent Urination / Pollakiuria
by Dr Brown
From time to time, children may have periods when they seem to want to urinate frequently. Children can urinate several times an hour and may urinate as many as 40 times in a day! Oftentimes they feel the need to urinate right after they just finished, only to pass a few drops into the toilet. Parents get alarmed thinking that their child has a urine infection, diabetes, or something else. Without anything else going on, this condition is called Pollakiuria, or frequent urination. This condition tends to peak at around 4-6 years of age, but can appear anywhere form 3-14 years of age.
The cause of pollakiuria is unknown, although doctors think that is most likely a response to some sort of unknown (usually trivial) stress. This condition can last days, weeks, even months and is quite frustrating to parents, teachers, and the child. It’s peculiar, but sometimes the child doesn’t even seem to be bothered by the frequency.
If your child is otherwise not having symptoms of fever, abdominal pain or back pain, or burning with urination - it’s unlikely to be a urinary infection causing these symptoms. As long as your child is not drinking lots of fluids, eating like crazy, or losing weight - its unlikely to be diabetes causing these symptoms. But most importantly to observe: if your child is normally dry at night (doesn’t wear a diaper or pull-up) and isn’t getting up to use that bathroom or getting up to drink fluids - it’s unlikely to be anything serious. If your child isn’t normally dry at night and he or she is not getting up at night to drink, its probably nothing serious either. It’s peculiar, but “accidents” usually don’t occur with pollakiuria.
What to Do:
Nothing, except reassure your child and see if he or she can “hold it” a little longer. Sometimes teachers need to be made aware of the situation and allow children to use the bathroom as needed. Its felt that stress triggers Pollakiura, so stressing a child can make it worse, or prolong the condition.
If you are unsure or just want to double check, bring your child into the office for an evaluation and a urine test so that we can rule out any serious cause. Sometimes this is reassuring to the child to know that there’s “nothing wrong” and things often improve. Usually, pollakiuria comes and goes, although a child can have recurrent episodes.
by Dr Brown
From time to time, children may have periods when they seem to want to urinate frequently. Children can urinate several times an hour and may urinate as many as 40 times in a day! Oftentimes they feel the need to urinate right after they just finished, only to pass a few drops into the toilet. Parents get alarmed thinking that their child has a urine infection, diabetes, or something else. Without anything else going on, this condition is called Pollakiuria, or frequent urination. This condition tends to peak at around 4-6 years of age, but can appear anywhere form 3-14 years of age.
The cause of pollakiuria is unknown, although doctors think that is most likely a response to some sort of unknown (usually trivial) stress. This condition can last days, weeks, even months and is quite frustrating to parents, teachers, and the child. It’s peculiar, but sometimes the child doesn’t even seem to be bothered by the frequency.
If your child is otherwise not having symptoms of fever, abdominal pain or back pain, or burning with urination - it’s unlikely to be a urinary infection causing these symptoms. As long as your child is not drinking lots of fluids, eating like crazy, or losing weight - its unlikely to be diabetes causing these symptoms. But most importantly to observe: if your child is normally dry at night (doesn’t wear a diaper or pull-up) and isn’t getting up to use that bathroom or getting up to drink fluids - it’s unlikely to be anything serious. If your child isn’t normally dry at night and he or she is not getting up at night to drink, its probably nothing serious either. It’s peculiar, but “accidents” usually don’t occur with pollakiuria.
What to Do:
Nothing, except reassure your child and see if he or she can “hold it” a little longer. Sometimes teachers need to be made aware of the situation and allow children to use the bathroom as needed. Its felt that stress triggers Pollakiura, so stressing a child can make it worse, or prolong the condition.
If you are unsure or just want to double check, bring your child into the office for an evaluation and a urine test so that we can rule out any serious cause. Sometimes this is reassuring to the child to know that there’s “nothing wrong” and things often improve. Usually, pollakiuria comes and goes, although a child can have recurrent episodes.