[MadreLoca]

I wasn't sure where to post this. I hope someone can offer some advice.

My 5 year old was dashing off to the toilet a lot yesterday at daycare to trickle a little bit of wee. Once he was in bed last night, he was up 3 times to wee before I went to bed (so 3 tiny trickles in 3 hours). He did sleep through the night & was dry on waking but then today he's been an insane amount of times.

I had his urine tested this afternoon for any infections (negative) & our GP took a look at his penis for any obvious signs (of what?). He's almost fully retracted (but GP wasn't to know this, I'm upset about the next part) & when she was checking his penis she pulled his foreskin back a fair way & I gasped so loud she jumped. I could see straight away that the glans was bright red (? is that what the thin line is that attaches the forskin to the penis?) DS didn't complain of it hurting & hasn't since. He continued to trickle constantly all evening & was so worried about wetting the bed that he's in a pullup tonight.

Maybe I'm making something out of nothing but has anyone had any experiece of anything similar? He's had no fever, not been off his food or fluids. I'm keeping on him lately about the importance of hand washing/general hygiene. Is it possible that it's a symptom of anxiety?

Thanks for any input. I'd hate to be missing anything so any replies are appreciated.

[torito]

I've been having a similar problem with my DS4. I have taken him to the drs twice and they have tested negative. He seemed to be holding on a lot and then doing a wee, but having to go again within a few minutes. We put it down to him not wanting to miss anything and now he has messed with the signal to the brain that tells him when to go.

The thing that strikes me about your post is that DS has had a very red tip of his penis which was particularly bad tonight, and when I pulled it back I thought I saw white discharge. He had a bath yesterday and again tonight. I am assuming it's just poor hygiene but it comes and goes and no one seems to know why.

So I feel your frustration, sorry I can't help.

[MadreLoca]

Thanks for your reply, torito. It's so frustrating! I was so sure it was a UTI. I'm also annoyed with myself for caving in & putting him in a pullup tonight, talk about messing up signals.

With your DS, could the discharge just be smegma? If it doesn't smell funky I'm pretty sure that's normal secretions.

[foxhill]

My DS5 had this problem at the end of last year. I assumed he had a UTI due to the frequent urination and initially the tests did not show any markers for an infection but the head of his penis (esp the tip) was bright red so the GP told us to come back the next day.

His urine was cloudy by the next morning and the test showed up an infection this time around, so it might be worth your while to take him back again if the symptoms continue. We were ultimately referred to a specialist and they took it from there.

[Sinister Bonnet]

Is there any chance he is constipated? If it goes too far, they can have trouble urinating.

[MadreLoca]

Hmm seems it's more common than I've realised.

Thanks foxhill, I'll do that if the symptoms persist.

Really, smallwordsplease?? I didn't know that. Pretty sure he's on track with his poos but will double check with him if he went yesterday at daycare.

This post has been edited by MadreLoca: 26/07/2012, 10:18 PM

[dj26]

Wow - we've been going through this with our 5 almost 6 year old son. This year he's had 3 UTIs...we've recently had him to a Pediactric Surgeon - as his foreskin isn't opening enough and that's where the bacteria is forming we're thinking...he's got steroid cream to put on the end of his penis for 2 months and then we're back to the Surgeon...last week we went for an ultrasound just to double check everything inside was ok and it was...hopefully the cream will work and our little guy won't need a circumcision - but at the end of the day so long as he's health and happy...it's frustrating though going through all the processes - hang in there!

[PreciousPetal]

Its definitely worth thinking about constipation, its the first thought that came to mind for me. Constipation is very easily overlooked in young kids for a bunch of reasons; they can still go to the toilet despite essentially being chockers, they might get overflow so look like they have diarrhoea, and they may simply not realise that straining or pain are not normal. If your child has pebbly poo, or the opposite with very large calibre poo (from stretching of the constipated bowel on the inside), or strains a lot then its definitely worth checking out, assuming other causes have also been considered.

Oops, just realised my favourite guru suggested constipation first, always worth listening to her .

ETA This post is quite old, how are things going OP?

This post has been edited by PreciousPetal: 10/10/2012, 11:45 PM

[Renam]

My son also went through this about 6 months ago. He spent one day urinating often and crying when he tried. He sometimes stood there at the toilet, crying but taking up to 10 mins to produce a few drops. The dr also tested for UTI which came back neg but head of his uncirc'd penis was quite red. A day of cream and it improved greatly. Dr said to be careful to always dry (and not just wash) under the foreskin, and we have now taught DS to pull back the foreskin and give it a little shake, after weeing nad after his bath.

Funny thing is that my friend with DD said she has also been through this experience several times... lots of weeing for a day or 2 but no obvious UTI found, so its not just a penis and hygiene issue. .