how often do you cath?

[altshauf]

just curious. we were told that when baby Gracie gets here that it would be every 3 hours. Will this change at a certain age? or does it always stay the same? thanks, brad

[XoBLoNDiE85]

It can change....we started out cathing every 6hrs (started at 2 days old in NICU) Then around 4 months about went to every 4hrs which lasted about a month then went to every 3hrs and has been at 3hrs for a year and a half...she's 2 now. It just depends...she's cathed every 3hrs during the day and sleeps thru the night without it although when she didn't sleep thru the night I cathed her when she woke up. It becomes part of your routine.

[smoop]

We cath my 5 year old daughter every 3 hours... so 5x/day. We started with 3 times a day but the Ditropan worked so well that when I cathed her I would get 400ccs (and she was only 2). So the uro increased it to 4 and we dealt with high volumes still. That's why we increased to every 3 hours. It just depends on your child's situation..

[leigh828]

We also cath 5 times a day. Between 3-3.5 hours.

[Jill]

We do it 4 times a day, so 4 times in 12 hours. I always thought it was rather arbitrary. Not sure what the rationale, just what we were told to do. Roughly 7am, noon, 3:30, and 7pm.

[LillyPie]

every 3 to 3 1/2 hours so about 5 times a day

[Dodger67]

About 6 times a day.

[elisaacd]

My son caths every 2-3 hours and has a foley in at night. He is also on Ditropan 3x a day.

[dahliafaolan]

Every four hours as long as I'm awake since I was about 2. Though now, I'm trying to do it ever 3.5 hours to try to prevent UTIs from urine retention

[bcain]

Sarah is a good sleeper, 9:30, lunch time, before supper, before bed. usually about 4x day, unless she wakes up early, then it's 5x day.

[LaceyRae]

We cath our son 2 times during the day and leave one in over night. When we first got home it was twice per day, then 3 and now the overnight one. It really does just become routine and after a while you become really good at it, you can do it anywhere :) Our family also learned how to so they can still babysit him, it helps give you breaks. Good luck with everything!!! God bless

[LysetteOlmeda]

I cath Lyla every 4 hours and I was told not to go more than 6-8 hours at night, which kinda sucks because I can get her to sleep for 10 hours or more at night. And now I feel like I hardly sleep. She's a late riser so I cath at 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, & 2am. I'm usually a night owl so the 2am doesn't bother me, but having to wake up in the morning does. lol I know everyone is going 10am? That's not morning! lol But I've always stayed up late and woke up late, as a child I was home schooled, so I had that advantage :) My mom aslo learned how to cath her, so I can feel comfortable leaving and not rushing to get back while doing errands.

[matoro]

I cath my little girl every 3 hrs. 6x per day. 7am,10,1pm,4,7,10pm i don't cath at night.

[abbysmum]

We only cath to remove residual urine, Abby voids mainly into her nappy by herself. I typically cath 3-4x per day. Together with prophylactic antibiotics at bedtime, she's infection-free for over 6 months now. I gather from the doc that he will be discontinuing the ABX at next visit.

[Avocado Baby]

Every 2 hours. My parents were told that when I was a baby. It's a nuisance having to do it so often though!

[Dodger67]

Why do you still need to do it so often, is your bladder unusually small?
Three to four hours is the more usual interval for adults.

[Lifeisgood]

My first urologist told me to cath every 4 hours, but when I switched urologists, he told me that I could cut back to 2x a day. So I cath before bed and right when I wake up. If I feel like I am retaining, I will cath more frequently. I can usually by how easily I void if I need to cath more frequently.

[lsanchez]

I cath every 4 hours during the day, overnight we just let it go. He use to have very wet diapers in between caths, but as soon as we took him off the bottle he is practically dry all day.

I had a question also about this, Danny sleeps about 9-10 hrs at night, is this too long to go without cathing? Also to those of you that actually cath yourself can you feel when you are retaining urine, is it uncomfortable? I ask because while i am at work his grandma usually caths him and sometimes she will let him go up to 5-6 hrs when she forgets!.DOesnt happen to often and I try to stay on top of it because I know how important it is, but just wondering how serious is this?

[LisaJoy]

lsanchez - you should check with your urologist about this. I think it really depends on whether he has reflux to his kidneys. However, I will say that I have enough sensation to be quite uncomfortable if my bladder is full. My functional level is sacral. It is possible that your son experiences some discomfort.

[Avocado Baby]

Why do you still need to do it so often, is your bladder unusually small?
Three to four hours is the more usual interval for adults.

I leaks otherwise so maybe my bladder is small. I'm going to be having investigations soon, so I shall let you know.

[LisaJoy]

I usually can't go more than 3 hrs between caths, except at night -- and if I'm drinking lots (coffee, diet coke), it's more like 2 hours. I have an exceptionally small bladder, so I can sympathize.

Do let us know what you learn.

[Lifeisgood]

Also to those of you that actually cath yourself can you feel when you are retaining urine, is it uncomfortable?

For me, it depends on the day. Some days I have sensation, others (more often) my sensation is pretty minimal. However, if I am REALLY full, I feel it.

[LulusMom]

Lourdes is only 25 days old, so I am not sure how indicative this is of her future needs, but right now we only have to cath her once per day to test her volume. Because I only get drops, I have been advised by her pediatrician to stop altogether so as not to unnecessarily risk UTI. In the hospital, we were originally told that she didn't need to be cath'd at all, but the the Urologist wanted us to test for a month just to be on the "safe side." I find the process to be a real emotional challenge because I, too, am convinced she doesn't need it (for now), but I am also afraid that her kidneys could be damaged if I don't test her thoroughly. She fights me (kicks and scoots away) while I'm doing it as well. That makes it so much more difficult!

[dahliafaolan]

Also to those of you that actually cath yourself can you feel when you are retaining urine, is it uncomfortable? I ask because while i am at work his grandma usually caths him and sometimes she will let him go up to 5-6 hrs when she forgets!.DOesnt happen to often and I try to stay on top of it because I know how important it is, but just wondering how serious is this?

I don't know about anyone else, but I have absolutely no sensation of "retaining". However, when I do cath, I do get a sense of relief. I'm not sure how serious it is in your son's case, but for me, if I let myself go that long while awake, I usually end up getting a UTI soon after.

[petiteblond]

I only cath to remove residual urine.

I usually cath right before bed, and have forgotten one too many times.