Hi all. For about a week now my almost 8 year old daughter keeps feeling like she has to pee even though she already has. It happens mostly at night but it does happen during the day sometimes. She has no burning or any other symptoms. She drinks plenty of water. She had a urine test that was negative for UTI and they are sending it off for a culture, but the doctor says that she thinks it will also be negative and that she may not be emptying her bladder (ya think?) but I want to know why all of the sudden...nothing has changed. The doctor also told her to try sitting on the toilet backwards. Any ideas on what this could be?
Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply!!! The urine culture came back negative. She seems to be doing better now! I did have her sit on the toilet backwards a few times so I don't know if that helped or if it was just a coincidence!
Often with UTI's there is no burning sensation or pain during urination. I'd wait to see what the culture said. The last 3 UTI's I've had did not show up on the initial urine test at the doctor's office, but when the culture came back, it was positive. Try limiting her liquids several hours before bedtime as well to see if that stops it. Good luck!
It could also be a kidney and/or bladder infection. I had those when I was around her age. Have her drink cranberry juice!
Sorry for the delayed response. My daughter went through the same thing at the exact same age. I went through the same process with her as far as the doctors all with negative results...they could not detect anything. Then from one day to the next the so called Pee urge was gone.
Trust me it was some sort of phase of uncertainty and self control. After doing my research at the library with all the experts the conclusion was that they are truly going through some sort of body and mental changes, but in a positive way. Some just go through it in different ways.
I would not be alarmed, but if any advice that I would give is just remain positive for your sake as well as your daughters and lay off the water before she goes to bed.
Hope this helps a bit!
A grateful Dad!
make sure she drinks lots of water to flush things out, this sounds like a bladder infection. If it is, don't do antibiotics, it just weakens the system and sets you up for the next infection. I have had fantastic success with D-Mannose. And have her go off all sugar during the treatment because that just feeds the infection and brings you back to square one.
Feeling like I can't empty my bladder is always a first and sure sign for me of a UTI.
If everything comes back negative, you will have to try to get your daughter in the habit of just sitting still and relaxing on the commode and letting it all out. Little kids get busy wanting to do other things. Heck...I'm guilty of that, myself. I find that when I'm super busy at work, I will race to hurry up and pee because I have so much to do. That's not good.
Sitting on the toilet backwards might sound crazy, but let me tell you, the first time I got shingles, I could not pee so save myself. The only way I could even get a dribble was backwards on the toilet. Don't ask me why, but it's worth a try. My not being able to pee became such a problem that I had to be catheterized. Not fun, but I felt such relief after filling up two catheter bags. Obviously, I had an extenuating health condition and I just could NOT pee for myself.
At home, make sure your daughter sits for at least 5 minutes. Clear the back of the toilet off so she can sit backwards and rest her head on her arm and just relax. You can also try running some water in the faucet so she hears the sound of the trickling. Let her take a nice, long, very warm shower before bed and tell her it's okay to pee in the shower. It may sound gross, but I pee in the shower often. I can relax and just let it out. You can spray the shower down with a diluted bleach solution and rinse afterwards. No big deal. It's better than getting a UTI that could progress into a kidney infection. That's no fun, trust me.
Hopefully you can just find some easy ways for her to completely empty her bladder and get into the habit of doing it now before other problems have a chance to occur.
Best wishes.
