Young children may know not to wet their underwear. But that's not the same as having the discipline to take themselves to the bathroom. If your child is only urinating two or three times per day, that's not enough. Holding urine too long can cause urinary tract infections, especially in girls.
Holding is likely to overstretch the bladder, it also makes the child more likely to develop a urinary tract infection. The more concentrated and painful their wee is to pass, the more a child tries to avoid weeing all together.
More often as a potty training consultant, I see that holding of the pee relates to a level of anxiety. The child is scared to let out the pee. Those sphincter muscles lock. And with potty training, you want to be sure you're not treating something as behavior, if it's physical.
Call your doctor if your baby or child has a dry mouth, fewer tears than usual, and no wet diapers or hasn't urinated in more than 6 hours. Get emergency help right away if your child or baby is very sleepy and hard to wake up, or if your baby or child hasn't had any wet diapers or hasn't urinated in 12 or more hours.
Little or no urination for six hours or more, or a minimum of 3 wet diapers in a 24-hour period for young children. If your child is producing less than that, you should seek medical care. Dry mouth (no saliva) and other dry mucus membranes. Crying without tears.
Your child may be dehydrated if they are not urinating (peeing) often enough or if they have dark- colored urine. A baby younger than 1 year should have 6 to 8 wet diapers in a 24-hour period. An older child usually urinates every 6 to 8 hours.
Most toddlers urinate four to eight times each day, usually about every two hours or so. Most toddlers have one or two bowel movements each day, some have three, and others skip a day or two in between movements. In general, each child has a regular pattern.
Holding in pee may cause a urinary tract infection (UTI), pain, bladder stretching, and more. The urinary bladder is a hollow, pear-shaped organ that forms part of the urinary system. The bladder's role is to store urine until a person is ready to use the restroom.
Uncoordinated voiding
The inability to fully empty the bladder can lead to infections, more wetting, and even kidney damage. A child who suffers from uncoordinated voiding may also hold feces and become constipated, but will periodically soil his or her underwear.
Lower your expectations.
Most kids aren't able to stay dry through the night until they're 5 or 6 years old or older — either because their bladders are too small, they're genetically predisposed to wet the bed, they're constipated, or they sleep very deeply and aren't able to wake up in time.
Babies will never stop peeing at night; potty training doesn't typically start until toddlerhood, at around the age of 2. For toddlers, bed-wetting typically goes away gradually, but it's still common for 5- and 6-year-olds to wet the bed occasionally, even after nighttime potty training.
Holding your urine for extremely long periods of time can also cause urinary tract infections due to bacteria build-up. In addition, it can increase your risk of kidney disease and in rare cases even risk your bladder bursting—a condition that can be deadly. There are plenty of reasons to hold back a bowel movement.
You can also include some water play, either by keeping the sink running or letting them play with some water toys in a bowl of water, which can really help! At the end of the 15 minutes, they will get up (regardless of if they peed or not) and you start over again with the 30 minute timer. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Repeated infections could be caused by a physical condition, such as a birth abnormality called vesicoureteral reflux, that makes a child predisposed to UTIs. They could also be caused by behavior, such as “holding it” for too long or not fully emptying their bladder when they go to the bathroom.
Increases Risk for Kidney Disease
In fact, having the following health conditions and holding your urine for long periods can result in kidney disease: Having an enlarged prostate. Other kidney disorders. Urinary retention.
“Usually I recommend that you empty your bladder every three hours, whether you have the urge to go or not,” says Nazia Bandukwala, D.O., a urologist at Piedmont. “It's important to do that so you're not retaining too much urine in your bladder.”
Most children urinate within an hour after having a large drink. Use these times to watch for signals that your child needs to urinate or have a bowel movement. In addition, place your child on the potty at regular intervals. This may be as often as every 1½ to 2 hours.
Children with an underactive bladder are able to go for more than 6-8 hours without urinating. These children sometimes have to strain to urinate because the bladder muscle itself can become “weak” from being overstretched and may not respond to the brain's signal that it is time to go.
There may not be any noticeable symptoms with chronic urinary retention, but symptoms can include urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections, an increased urge to wee more frequently, difficulty getting started and producing a weak or interrupted stream of urine when weeing.
Dehydration: How to Tell
It is a reason to see a doctor right away. Your child may have dehydration if not drinking much fluid and: The urine is dark yellow and has not passed any in more than 8 hours. Inside of the mouth and tongue are dry.