What is urinary frequency?

Urinary frequency is the need to go to the bathroom more often than normal given your child’s age and health. While the frequency varies for each child, most children use the bathroom (or void) no more than eight times per day.

Causes

A new onset of urinary frequency could be a urinary tract infection. If your child does not experience daytime wetting and their urine test shows no sign of infection, they might have benign urinary frequency. 

Usually, a little time and patience is all it takes for this condition to resolve on its own. If it has been a few months, however, and your child has not gotten better, the DOVE Center is here to help. We treat more than 325 children for urinary frequency each year.

Signs and symptoms

Urinary frequency generally occurs in children ages 4 to 5 who are already toilet trained. Some children may experience something we call “sensory urgency,” where they feel the urge to use the bathroom even when their bladder isn’t full. These children may use the bathroom as often as every 10 to 30 minutes — sometimes 30 or more times per day — expelling only small amounts of urine each time.

Overnight, they are usually able to sleep without waking to use the bathroom. Underlying physical abnormalities are rare. Children with urinary frequency usually have a normal physical exam, a normal urinalysis and a normal renal bladder ultrasound (if ordered).

Treatment

During your office visit, we will take a detailed history of your child’s urinary habits, bowel habits and their diet. If your child has a urinary tract infection or an overactive bladder, our team will work with you and your child to determine whether medications or other treatments are appropriate. 

When there are no accompanying symptoms, benign urinary frequency may be frustrating, but it is generally harmless. We understand how challenging it can be for the families and children who are dealing with these symptoms. Children with benign frequency certainly feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom and can become quite upset when told they should “just wait.” Our DOVE Center team will work with you and your child on strategies to manage the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom until the condition resolves on its own.