What Causes Frequent Urination In Children?

Topic: What Causes Frequent Urination In Children?

Injuries and urinary tract problems are a concern in children. A young child may not be able to talk to you about his symptoms, making it difficult to determine his needs. An older child may be bothered by his symptoms. When your child has an injury or urinary problem, look at all of his symptoms to determine the next action to take. Read the full article on What Causes Frequent Urination In Children? below:

What Causes Frequent Urination In Children?

The urethra, bladder, ureters, and kidneys are the structures that make up the urinary tract.

Painful urination (dysuria) and frequent urination are common symptoms in young children. When your child has only one of these symptoms, or when the symptoms are mild, home treatment may be enough to prevent the problem from getting worse and relieve the symptoms. Mild symptoms include:

• Frequent urination A child’s bladder is small and does not hold as much urine as an adult’s bladder. For this reason, frequent urination is common and isn’t necessarily a symbol of a urinary problem. Your child may urinate more because he drinks more fluids, feels nervous, or just out of habit.
• Burning when urine touches the irritated skin around the vagina or urethra. Painful urination due to skin irritation occurs more often in girls (irritating the skin in the genital area) than in boys.

Painful urination and frequent urination can also mean that your child has a urinary infection. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the second commonest bacterial infection in children. When your child has an infection, bacteria grow in the bladder and irritate the bladder’s wall.

This causes pain as soon as a small amount of urine reaches the bladder. You may see your child trying to urinate more often than usual to ease the pain. But your child urinates very little because the bladder has only accumulated a small amount since the last time she urinated. A urinary tract infection’s symptoms vary depending on the child’s age.

Colour and odour of urine

Many factors can affect urine colour, including fluid balance, diet, medications, and illness. The degree of darkness or lightness of the colour indicates the amount of water in the urine. Vitamin B supplements can make your urine bright yellow. Certain medications, blackberries, beets, rhubarb, or blood in the urine can cause the urine to turn reddish-brown.

Certain foods (like asparagus), vitamins, and antibiotics (like penicillin) can cause urine to smell different. A sweet, fruity smell can be caused by uncontrolled diabetes. A tract infection (UTI) can cause a nasty odour.

Newborns and children under 2 years

Babies and very young children with UTIs often have symptoms that do not appear to be specific to the urinary tract. Symptoms can include:

• Fever, especially without other infection signs, such as a cough or runny nose. A fever could also be the sole symptom of a UTI in babies.
• Frequent or infrequent urination.
• Urine with a strong or unpleasant odour.
• Urine that is dark or streaked with blood. Note: It is common for newborns to urinate pink during the first 3 days of life. Crystals can cause it in the urine. Parents will notice that the urine has a pink colour in the diaper.
• Lack of interest in eating or refusing to eat.
• Diarrhoea
• Vomiting
• Returns and irritability.
• Rash that does not go away.

Children 2 years and older

Young children who have a urinary tract infection often have symptoms more clearly related to the urinary tract. Symptoms can include:

• Burning when urinating (dysuria). It is the foremost common symptom of a tract infection.
• Fever.
• Frequent urination (frequency) without being able to urinate a lot.
• A strong urge to urinate (urge).
• Urine with a strong or unpleasant odour.
• Blood in the urine (hematuria). Note: Your urine may appear pink, red, or brown.
• Pain in the abdomen
• Pain in the side, located just below the rib cage and above the waist, on both sides of the back.
• Vomiting
• Discharge from the vagina
• Have sudden new urinary incontinence episodes during the day after the child learns to use the toilet.

UTIs occur when bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), normally present within the alimentary canal, enter the tract. Two common types of UTI are:

• Bladder infections occur when bacteria enter the bladder and pass through the urethra.
• Kidney infections, which generally occur when bacteria enter a kidney as it passes from the bladder to the ureters. A kidney infection can also occur if bacteria from infection from another part of the body travel to the kidneys through the bloodstream.

With the exception of the first 3 months of life, girls are more likely to have urinary problems than boys. Girls are also more likely to have more UTIs than boys.

Babies and young children who have problems with the urinary tract’s structure or function may be more likely to get a UTI. A problem like vesicoureteral reflux or a urinary tract obstruction can make it difficult to empty the bladder. This will make it easier for bacteria to grow and spread through the urinary tract. These problems may be present at birth (congenital) or mayberesult from a previous operation, injury, or infection.

During the first year of life, boys are more likely to have a structural (anatomical) reason for urinary problems than girls. If your child has a known structural or functional problem with the urinary tract, follow your doctor’s instructions on when to seek care for urinary symptoms.

A urinary tract symptom may indicate a more serious condition, such as diabetes in rare cases.

An injury, such as a blow to the back or genital area, could cause urinary problems. A doctor’s visit is usually necessary if your child has difficulty urinating, cannot urinate, or has blood in the urine.