If your child pees more than 2 liters a day, regardless of how many times he or she goes to the bathroom, you could be suffering from polyuria and the immediate recommendation is to consult the child’s pediatrician to rule out this condition, which may be a symptom of a significant condition or disease.
According to the Argentine Society of Pediatrics, The school-age child urinates on average between 1 and 2 liters per daydivided into about 3 or 4 urinations daily, but “if the volume of urine is greater, it is called polyuria.”
However, it is clarified that peeing many times a day is not necessarily a symptom of polyuria if the amount of urine produced is within the normal volume.
“This situation may reflect other conditions that also deserve attention, even if they do not present polyuria. A very common cause of frequent urination without polyuria is cystitis.that is, the bacterial or viral infection of the urinary tract,” points out the Argentine Society of Pediatrics on its portal.
Polyuria can be a symptom of kidney diseases; congenital obstruction of the urinary tract; that the kidneys are very small or poorly developed; chronic renal failure of different causes; rare kidney problems, such as tubular diseases.
In addition, This condition can also be due to different types of diseases that do not start in the kidney. such as diabetes Mellitus (the most common): the presence of “a lot of sugar in the blood”; diabetes insipidus (more rarely): disease in which the kidney cannot concentrate urine due to lack of a hormone called antidiuretic; and potomania: a behavioral disorder in which the child compulsively drinks water with polyuria secondary to excessive intake, says the Argentine Society of Pediatrics.
Can parents detect that their child has polyuria by seeing them pee every five minutes?
The Argentine Society of Pediatrics recommends paying attention to the amount of liquid the child drinks. Drinking more than two liters a day may indicate polyuria. In turn, leaking urine during the day, or wetting the bed during the night or during a nap, may indicate polyuria or a very active bladder. You can also measure 24-hour urine by consulting a pediatrician when the child eliminates more than 2 liters.
It is very important to consult a pediatrician in case of polyuria, since it can be the presentation of many important diseases. Parents should be alert to investigate the child’s excess fluid intake and urine output and consult early to establish early treatment that can slow the progression of the disease or prevent its complications.