help- 3 yr. (almost 4), going to bathroom 20 times a day?!

Bubsie1020

I'm really hoping someone can shed some light on the situation going on with my daughter. Since Friday she's been going to the bathroom 20 or more times a day. Of those times, she pees about 80% of the time, poops a couple times and the rest of the time, feels like she has to do something, but nothing comes out. We took her to pediatrician over the weekend who did a urine culture - which was negative. Yesterday they suggested it could be constipation causing pressure on her bladder so she can't completely empty it. They advised us to give her a suppository which we did, and she pooped a bit last night, but she is still running to the bathroom today. The full urine panel they took also came back normal, so no diabetes, kidney issues, etc. Today she is home with my mom and she had a large amount of mucus come out when she was trying to pee (it came from the vagina). I am beyond scared that something is really wrong. Pediatrician said to give her another suppository tonight since she didn't poop too much with the first one yesterday. I hate to do that to her because she screams and hates it, and deep down I feel like this is not a constipation issue. She's eating, drinking and acting normally other than running to the bathroom constantly. Please let me know if you've ever heard of or experienced anything like this.

Bubsie1020

tas1883 said:

My first guess would be UTI.  Does she complain that it hurts?  I would probably be going back to the pediatrician and having repeat lab work and another check up. 

Nope.  We've asked and she said it doesn't hurt when she goes.  They've done the test twice and nothing.  At this point, we'd welcome that diagnosis because at least we'd know and they could prescribe something.  The pediatrician assures us it's not an infection.

Jessica+Penny

Can she get an abdominal x-ray to confirm constipation?

I would be concerned with the mucus coming from her vagina. Maybe a yeast infection? Is she complaining about any pain? Any weird smells?

Bubsie1020

Jessica+Penny said:

Can she get an abdominal x-ray to confirm constipation?

I would be concerned with the mucus coming from her vagina. Maybe a yeast infection? Is she complaining about any pain? Any weird smells?

I will ask the pediatrician about an exray.  They did take an external vaginal swab yesterday to check, but no smells, no pain from that area.  We gave her a stool softener last night because she absolutely had a meltdown with the suppository.  I'm wondering if this could be Colitis since she had an ear infection about 2 weeks ago and was on antibiotics for the first time. 

tbmadeamistake

Go the natural route. Try some yogurt and cranberry juice. The yogurt would help with tummy issues, the cranberry with any potential uti issues. Sorry your babe is unhappy!

Ya Never Know

Constipation can cause them to go the bathroom more frequently. If DD ever has accidents anymore it's because she is either constipated or holding poop. If they're really backed up, sometimes they can't tell they need to pee because they can't identify the feeling properly, and when they do go pee, they don't fully empty their bladders, which results in them going frequently. If your doctor thinks it's constipation, just keep her on stool softeners for a few days (because it takes them that long to really work anyway), and when she can pass the stool fully, then the other symptom will likely go away on its own. If the doctor isn't sure that it's constipation though, they really should be looking in to further testing, or at least an x-ray as others have suggested.