3yr DS constantly getting up to wee at night - doctor says no infection so is it behavioural?

[NobbyD]

My 3.yr old Ds has been constantly getting up throughout the night to go for a wee. Its been going on for over two weeks now and we are all exhausted!

It started with him needed lots more wees than normal during the day and night so we suspected an infection and took him to docs. DS isn't unwell, doesn't have temp nor any pain or discharge etc but the doc put him on antibiotics anyway. He has completed the course of antibiotics but no improvement!!! He will get up about 10 times a night to go for a wee. At first he would cry and call for me but after a while he stopped calling and now does go off to the loo by himself and back to bed but after about 6 times he will get upset about it and cry and then give up going back to bed, which is usually about 4am!

I took him back to the doctors yesterday and he has confirmed there is no infection but reluctantly gave him a different course of antibiotics which we are trying but I am now concerned that it's a behavioral thing. Has he been told he has an infection and so he is playing up to it? If he was getting lots of attention for it I might believe it was just behavioral but I do generally think he feels like he needs a wee that often but without an infection I don't know how to stop it!

Any ideas/advice??

I would think that his bladder might need a bit of stretching to accommodate more volume, thus increasing holding capacity - does he drink lots in the daytime?

Try to increase his fluid intake, milk or water are best, red/brown drinks can irritate the bladder

At bedtime, do wee/teeth/wee (this is known as double-voiding)

Good luck

Mine does this too. He's 4. I did this:

(1) cut down drinks before bed

(2) leave light on landing so he can go to the loo by himself

Once he'd realised that (2) was a bit dull, he stopped...

Thanks for these responses. I thought I'd give it time on his new set of antibiotics to see if any improvement before re posting but its only getting worse!

He's nearly finished his second course of antibiotics and still getting up constantly through the night to wee. We are doing the double wee thing and making sure he completely empties himself each time but it isn't helping.

He doesn't drink much before bed and we have cut out any sugary puddings (he actually stopped wanting yoghurts and anything after dinner himself). We have increased his water intake during the day and not giving anything but water (no fruit juices or squash). Nothing seems to make any difference.

Last night he couldn't go to sleep until gone midnight due to him constantly (and I am talking once every 15 minutes) going to the loo. He eventually passed out in our bed but was up at 4am doing the same thing again. He is so tired that he is being especially naughty and throwing tantrums which is all linked to the frustration of constantly needing to wee and being so tired.

The doctor mentioned circumcision but reading up on it, it would only cure him if he had a urinary infection which he doesn't have (as the antibiotics would have cured it and he has not other symptoms).

Just to add - we also leave the light on and he will go by himself the majority of the time but then I think he gets frustrated and scared and so will call out because he can't sleep.

Anyone offer any help?

I am amazed a gp would give you more anti biotics if no evidence of infection!
poor chap. hope you get some wise advice

Thanks coccyx - I think it was because I insisted in not leaving the surgery until I had something as after the examination he did just say there was nothing wrong and left it at that. The antibiotics were to get rid of me!

So, there's no sign of anything odd in his urine at all, then? No extra sugars, protein, blood, etc? Is it a normal colour (ie as clear as possible, rather than yellow or orange)? Does he say it hurts to pee at all, or that his willy is sore or itchy? Is he any thirstier than usual? Is the tip of his penis red at all (even if only a tiny area)? How often is he weeing during the day? When did he stop wetting the bed at night? Did he have a wet bed at all in the recent past which might have made him more hypersensitive to the thought of going to sleep with even the slightest sensation that he might have urine accumulating in his bladder? Have you changed washing powder recently? Has his diet changed at all, recently? Has he been cycling a lot, recently (always guaranteed to give my ds1 a sore willy, which provokes him to go little and more often!)?..... Of course it could be mainly psychological - once you've got into the habit of thinking you need the loo all the time, it's hard to stop thinking like that, particularly since peeing more than you need to tends to irritate the bladder anyway, so you probably do genuinely start feeling like you need to go more often after a while, even though your bladder should be able to hold on for much longer. It's not uncommon for people to get urge incontinence, for example, after a bladder infection.

My DD1 went through a vary similar stage when she was around 3, it was kicked off by her wetting the bed one night and getting paranoid about it. Even if your DS hasn't had a wet bed incident are you sure that that isn't maybe worrying him? With my DD1 it went on for about 10 days and we were all completely exhausted. What helped her was a lot of time reassuring her that it didn't matter if she wet the bed and also stripping the bed down and showing her the plastic sheet at the bottom to emphasis the fact that if she wet the bed it wouldn't ruin the bed and I could easily wash sheets. She soon returned to normal and never did wet the bed again.