Toddler Does Not Pee Much

when he DOES pee, what color is it?

If it's dark yellow, then pump more liquids into him! I will tell my 4 yr old often "Water break!" and we'll both go to the kitchen. Often he'll down at least 4 or 5 oz of water. Or he'll take one sip and I'll say "You're 4 yrs old. Take 4 more big boy gulps."

If it's fairly clear, then he likely just has a large bladder. He's getting enough fluids, but his bladder is doing well holding it all.

Better start getting him to drink more fluids before he ends up with a kidney or bladder infection. Or dehydrated. Dehydration can end him up in the hospital with IV fluids.

If the issue is that he is holding his bladder and pees forever when he finally pees, then he can distend his bladder and cause real problems with it. Give him more to drink so that he HAS to go more offten.

At the age of 4, he can learn to stand up and pee. Have daddy show him how. Give him cheerios and tell him to aim at the cheerios. Every hour, tell him it's time to go to the potty and take him there with a few cheerios. It will help him get used to it.

It's a matter of habit, and a matter of listening to mommy. And he needs to drink fluids for good health and not let his bladder get extended.

Go for it, mom!!

Dawn

Hi S.S. Take your son to the doctor for a professional answer. When it comes to children the internet is no place to get answers for their health. I would said you should be concern about it. See what answer the doctor gives you.

My son is never ready to pee when he first wakes up. I just wait until he's eaten breakfast, about 30 minutes, and then have him go to the bathroom as part of his "getting ready to go out the door" routine.

If we are going to be outdoors, I really push him to drink more. Otherwise, I just offer plenty of drinks to try to find one that he likes. He is picky, and wants filtered ice water instead of tap, whole milk instead of skim, pomegranate juice blend instead of blueberry.
I'm not able to control how much he drinks at school. I send a water bottle every day- he doesn't drink it. I put a juice pouch in his lunch- he doesn't open it. He will drink some water from the water fountains. I have mentioned this to the pediatrician several times because it worries me, but he brushes it off and says that putting lots of high water content food in his lunch, such as fruit or soup, may be enough.

Is he drinking enough liquids during the day? Peeing and drinking go hand in hand.

If it doesn't hurt, he drinks plenty, and there doesn't seem to be a medical cause for concern...I wouldn't worry about it too much. For peace of mind, check with your pediatrician.
There is a hormone everyone has that slows down urine production (I don't know what it's called). This is actually the reason why so many kids have bed wetting until they are around 10 or so, because they aren't producing enough at night to slow down urinie production at night.
Now, I don't know for sure, but I would assume that the same can be for the opposite...maybe he just has plenty of it and doesn't produce as much urine as what a "normal" person does.
As for rewarding him when he is "forced" to sit on the toilet...if he truly doesn't have to go, then he may see that as a type of "failure" and feel like he is doing somethings wrong or feel like there is something wrong with him. Unfortunately, using the bathroom is not something we can force to happen when we don't have anything to expel.

Ditto what everyone says about having him drink a LOT. Make sure it's water and not sugary drinks -- and yes, juice is still sugar if it's 100 percent pure fruit juice. Limit it. Check the color of the urine as others say. If he likes popsicles, make your own out of half water and half juice and have him eat those; they are the same as fluid. You can get popsicle molds all over the place now, even at the grocery store.

My idea to add: He is still young enough to think it's great to get little rewards.Tell him that every time he successfully pees in a day (not just sits but actually produces urine, even a trickle) he will get a bead that he can put in a special jar. When he has four beads in one day, he gets a very tiny reward gift. When he has two whole days of four beads each day, he gets a slightly larger reward. Four whole days of four beads each day, still larger reward. If he gets five beads in any one day -- have something else special for him.

Yes, it is bribery, and it's perfectly fine. He will not always require the rewards in order to pee. If it's too much to keep up with, make it one reward for going two days with peeing four times a day or whatever instead of doing it daily. I would not make him wait a whole week for any reward, though; he is too young to wait that long for the reward and will not connect the reward with the behavior after that long.

The reward can be really tiny! A mini-packet of gummies if that's his thing. Or a tiny notepad and pencil. Or a tiny magnifying glass. You can get things at the local dollar store, and party favors make great little reward gifts.

Also, do you have books or other things he can occupy himself with while he sits on the toilet? He may hate sitting there because he wants to be busy and playing constantly. Have new books that he's never seen before and keep them JUST for toilet time. Really talk up how these are new and he's going to love them but can only have them when he sits on the toilet. You can get a ton of books at any thrift store or yard sale. Put away a bunch of them so you always have a new one to pull out and say "Here's a new book for toilet time!"

don't be concerned, it's totally normal. My daughter is also 4, and goes on average 3 times a day, also not going after waking in the morning for a good amount of time. I stopped worrying about it, and stopped asking if she had to go all of the time, she was getting annoyed! Lol... Now, I only force her to sit and pee (or at least try to) just before bed, if she's gone a few hours before-hand, she won't be able to pee again. Like the others said, check the color, make sure he's getting enough liquids, and when he has to pee, he'll pee! :)

Is he dehydrated? Pump the fluids into him and see if he begins to go more. really try over a couple of days to get him to drink lots and lots. i make sure my kids get at least 12 ounces of water a day, on top of their juice drinks.

if that doesn't help, see the doc

I remember this with my daughter at the same age. She also would go all day without peeing. All I can say is that is passes. Probably normal for an active toddler that doesn't want to stop. I also remember her not peeing in the morning and going until 1 or 2 or 3 pm before peeing for the first time of the day.

Is he avoiding it b/c it hurts? If not, there probably isn't a problem. Just make sure he's getting lots of water to drink so he's not dehydrated, esp as the hot Chicago summer is approaching.

I only go 2 or 3 times a day to. I have since I was little. My mom tells me that I would say in the morning I already went last night!