4 year old DD holding herself for 12-24 hours becuase it hurts to wee

[merryandmad]

DD1 is on her second lot of anti-botics (since xmas eve) because of a unrinary tract infection. Today she weed herself at 10am (in painful tears because she could not hold it in any longer- previous wee had been 1130am on yesterday.
We have tried upping her fluid levels (though she has cottoned on this makes her wee- so has started to refuse drinks), tap running, putting her in the bath, holding a cold compress down there,forcing her to stay on toilet, gently rubbing her tummy, letting her wear pull ups.
I don't think she/ or i can take much more- advise please on what to do, has anyone had any similar experience?

my dd is 5 and I don't think she wees enough in the day and consequently is wet at night. I put her in the bath the other day and told her to relax and just wee in the bath. She didn't understand what relax meant and couldn't wee. I have bought her some cranberry and some other fruit juice but she hasn't had it yet.

Oh bless her.
My 3 yr old is on her 2nd lot of antibiotics for the same thing I guess because she's only just turned 3 she's not thought to hold onto her wee and thankfully her antibiotics seem to have had an immediate effect, although she still has another 87 days worth to go.

Can't think how to get your DD not to hold the wee in though

I know nab that's my dd aswell- she knows it is going to hurt so can't relax (but at the same time how do we know she is getting any better if she won't wee. She has been dry at night for a while- but we had problems when potty training that she would hold herself all day whilst in knickers until she had a pull up/nappy on at bedtime. She does drink- though not large portions, ie only a few sips of a drink if she is thirsty. we have even let her have coke/lemonde (usually forbidden) over xmas to up her drinking

87 days worth Thomcat? We were just given the usual 7/10 days dose?

I don't think the coke will help with the infection tbh and you run the risk that she might refuse water and milk completely. How about soups? They count as liquid, or make some home made fruit lollies, try ice cubes in her drink?

1. Fruit juice or acidic drinks make the problem more painful - cranberry juice will not help with the pain directly, but it does help the bladder to become more resistant to infection, and thus to recover.

2. The less she drinks, the more concentrated the wee, and the more painful.

3. weeing in the bath will help a little - but the key thing is to try and get her to understand that the more she drinks the less it will hurt

Talk to the doctor/pharmacist to see if there are any pH buffering drinks suitable for a 4 year old - they really help to stop it hurting, but often contain a lot of sodium (as does salt), which young children are not so good at excreting safely.

i would def try things like ice lollies which she won't twig as being drinky type things.

have you explained that if she holds it in it'll hurt even more??? and that the more she drinks the less it'll hurt?
i know she's still going to be scared of it hurting, but it's worth discussing it with her too, so that she knows

i you can get her to sit on the toilet, try giving her a balloon to blow up. the blowing will make her go, trust me. may only work the once though lol

Also let her eat jelly and ice-cream. It's liquid in disguise!

And I DO appreciate that reasoning with a 4 year old hysterical with fear about the pain of weeing to persuade her to drink more is probably impossible (I remember being 4 with cystitis. It was terrifying.)

Coke was just to tempt her.
She has been on apple juice/weak orange squash/ water (in a sports bottle), bedtime milk/hot choc mainly.
She is not keen on any soup- though will try ice cubes thanks
It is just she is so miserable when she needs a wee, hopping about not comfortable, then after ten minutes of going she is a different girl- you can tell she is not in pain again for the moment

is there anywhere she LIKES to wee e.g. the garden / potty / favourite cafe?!

how did I type 87 days worth? LOL! It was meant to say 7 days left on her course!

I've been giving DD2 Cranberry juice and standing over her as I give her half a glass of juice or water and saying she can't have any grapes until she has drunk all her juice!

I would stear clear of orange squash as i find that gives me cystitis.

She doesn't have a favourite place to wee, we have tried the potty, sitting it in front of tv etc.
It is the though of how will she get better if she is not weeing? The doctor said she would see an improvement within 24 hours (that was xmas eve!!!)
I have had to stop dp stripping her off though (she stands up mid-wee because it hurts and she wants to stop and subsequently wets her trousers/socks etc.) But I think it is upsetting her to much to be stripped off when she is not feeling well

Are you giving her calpol and double dropping nerifen in-between to help with the pain? Might be worth a try tomorrow if not.

make Cranberry Juice lollies.

Put a night nappy on her in day and let her just do little wees when she needs to? Might stop her holding it in. Or use a panty liner?

If she is still feeling bad it might be because she is taking the wrong antibiotic. Will you be taking her back to the GP?

Thomcat- She is on nurofen and calpol.
She had a pull-up on this morning until after her wee,
27- She has had her antiboitics changed once after the results of a urine sample- she is now on amoxocyllin, was on tramilopin (sp?)

Will now still clear of orange squash and fruit juice and stick with water with ice cubes (she enjoys this anyhow)

Thanks for all your advice

What about going back to pull ups. Ity will iether take the pressure off or she will not like it and hopefully prefer using the loo. It might also break the cycle of not wanting to wee.

If she hasn't peed by morning, how about putting her in the bath til she has her wee, then hopefully she'll make the connection that it hurts less there, and you can make progress that way?