Why does a child pee often and a lot: causes and norms of urination for newborns and children older than a year. Causes of cloudy urine in a child What urine does a child have at 2 months

With the advent of a child, new parents have many questions. Moms and dads, paying attention to the fact that the urine of the baby changes color, begin to worry. Babies often urinate frequently at first, so asking your pediatrician about the color and frequency of urination is a normal practice. How older child, the more his urine should resemble an adult. Experienced parents know that a deviation can be recognized in time by color and aroma.

The color of urine in a baby can periodically change color, but do not panic prematurely.

What color is considered normal?

The color of urine is influenced by the foods that the child eats, medication, and what the mother eats.

For each age, the color of urine is different. At first, the urine of a newborn is clear. Starting from the 2nd week of life, in newborns it becomes a brick shade. This is explained by the fact that from the 7th day the children's genitourinary system is actively developing. Such a transformation with the baby's urine is short-lived. Over time, the indicator of the norm is yellowish (straw) urine. However, if a baby or mother (concerning breastfeeding) ate beets, the masses will darken to a pale purple color, and when they eat a lot of carrots, they will turn to light orange. With the restriction of these foods, the urine becomes yellow again. These facts are not deviations. The following colors of children's urine are considered abnormal:

  • saturated: yellow, orange;
  • dark: brown, green;
  • bright: pink, red;
  • pale: transparent, white.

What can be said about the color of urine in a baby?

If the color is yellow


Yellow urine is a normal visual indicator in healthy baby.

The reference shade of infant urine is yellow, closer to light straw. Other colors of baby urine should alert parents. Dark yellow urine is due to the increased accumulation of bile pigment in the child's body. Saturated yellow urine appears in an infant with dehydration due to intestinal infections or gastric upset, as well as infectious disease liver. When such urine appears in children, you should immediately seek help, because in some cases there is a threat to life.

Is dark urine a cause for concern?

It happens that in children the color of urine changes from light to dark. This is because the bilirubin index increases in the secreted masses. Such manifestations indicate an increased concentration of bile pigment. The baby may have neonatal jaundice. Brown-red discoloration of urine indicates problems with the kidneys. Therefore, if a child has such urine when urinating, consult a doctor and, until recovery, be under his supervision.

orange urine

A change in children's urine should cause parents to sound the alarm. If bright yellow, pink or dark urine appears, children have inflammation or infection. This is a direct threat to the life of the child.

If orange urine appears, this indicates an excessive salt content in the child's body or dehydration. With hyperthermia, stool disorder and vomiting in children, saturated urine is also excreted. This coloring is bad, and needs immediate treatment by a pediatrician. But sometimes such a transformation of the color of children's urine is the norm. After all, the color of urine in infants varies depending on food. The excreted urinary masses also become orange if the baby ate carrots the day before. The same rule applies to the mother if the child is breastfeeding. Such a change in shade is not dangerous for the health of babies.


Colorless urine in infants occurs during breastfeeding or in the presence of diabetes.

What if it's transparent?

Colorless urine is typical for young children. Also, if an older baby is breastfed, clear urine indicates that the mother is eating a lot of high water foods. Clear urine occurs in patients who are sick with diabetes and diabetes insipidus, renal failure, or used diuretics.

What other staining can be seen?

If the shade of urine in children becomes green, then this indicates obstructive jaundice. Pink urine in babies up to a month old can also be. As soon as the baby is born, uric acid crystals come out when he urinates. Such dusty spots in newborns are not uncommon. They should not be considered deviations, since the crystals are not dangerous to the life of the baby. If the child's urine is bright, closer to a red tint, then the baby may have a large number of red blood cells: heart attack, kidney injury.

Analyzes: norm indicators


A routine urine test of the baby is carried out at three months, but if a pathology is suspected, this can be done earlier.

For the first time, the pediatrician will prescribe to collect urine for general analysis when the baby is 3 months old, then at 9 months. After conducting a laboratory test, parents receive the results in their hands. If the child is healthy, then based on the physicochemical properties, the sample should not contain:

  • glucose;
  • protein;
  • ketone bodies;
  • bile acid;
  • urobilin bodies.

Urine must be collected 1-1.5 hours before delivery to the laboratory, otherwise the result will be unreliable.

The reference color of urine in infants and in older babies is light yellow, colorless in small ones is also the norm. Microscopic studies show the content in children's urine.

A basic set of tests often helps to identify deviations from the norm and begin to search for the root cause of all problems. So yellow urine in infants is sometimes perceived by young parents as an abnormal phenomenon. Everyone should understand the basic characteristics of urine in order to consult a doctor in a timely manner, in case there are significant deviations.

Infant urine color

Ideally, an infant's urine should be light yellow or amber in color. The first 10 days of a newborn's life, urine can change its shade.

Initially colorless biological material (najat) may suddenly acquire a rich carrot or red tone. The color changes due to the fact that the baby's urinary system is just beginning to adapt to new conditions, and such "interruptions" are normal.

The main parameters of the norm

A healthy baby excretes urine of a light yellow hue, without any smell. Urine begins to smell with age. Normally, the odor is mild. A sharp, distinct smell of urine indicates elevated acetone, diabetes mellitus, or the presence of bacterial flora in the bladder.

Normal, but quickly returns to normal. Light, pink, yellow urine in a newborn should in any case be transparent. Turbidity can only appear if the biomaterial is stored for a long time. Urine of a newborn without impurities is the norm.

The study of the urine of a child by indicators

Each parent should be guided by the main indicators that a urine test gives. The following table shows the main parameters by which urine is studied. A description of each is also included.

Parameter Norm Deviation
Protein Normally, there is no protein or no more than 0.08 A large amount of protein indicates inflammatory reactions. Urination becomes painful, the boy or girl complains of general discomfort. The color of the urine may be light, but always cloudy.
Glucose 0 In the first days of life, a child may urinate with urine that is high in sugar. But as you get older, your glucose levels should drop to zero.
Bilirubin 0 If a child has bilirubin in the urine, this indicator may indicate problems with the kidneys and urinary tract. The color of the urine may be clear or pink.
Ketone bodies (ammonia, acetone) 0 A high level indicates problems with the metabolic status, indicate diabetes mellitus and liver pathology.
Leukocytes No more than 5 in sight The more white blood cells, the stronger the inflammatory process
red blood cells Not 2 in sight erythrocytes in in large numbers indicate poisoning with toxins, hyperthermia, viral disease. Blood in urine can be caused by any infection
Cylindrical bodies 0 The presence of cylinders indicates an infection in the body

Video: How to easily collect urine for analysis from a child

What affects the color of urine

Urination and urine counts return to normal only 10 days after birth. If a month-old baby can hardly pee, and his urine takes on an unusual color, you should pay attention to this. The table shows the main variations in the color of urine.

shade of urine Likely Causes
Dark orange High concentration of urine associated with a lack of moisture in the body. Orange blossom can cause a large amount of carrots in the diet
Brown, green A sign of obstructive jaundice or progressive hemolytic anemia
Red "dirty" Indicates that there is blood in the urine. Causes: porphyria, hemolytic crisis. In older children - glomerulonephritis
Blue undertone Indicates putrefaction in the intestines
Black color Advanced hemolytic anemia, melanoma, melanosarcoma
Pink The body has phenolphthalein
Greenish Pus stains urine of any base shade green

Urine color and nutrition


Knowing what color and smell the urine of the baby is normal, each parent monitors his condition. However, it is the diet of the baby that can slightly adjust the main indicators.

Bright yellowish urine can occur in children who actively consume foods with dyes. This is typical for babies who are older than 2 years. Pumpkin, carrots, beets, currants give the urine a specific yellowish tone. If these products are in complementary foods, the baby is given juices, teas and decoctions with "natural dyes", the urine may change its color. Yellow urine in a baby can only be because the child's diet is not entirely correct.

Special reasons

The urine of a newborn changes as the child adapts to new living conditions. Since the introduction of complementary foods, it will also change, due to the same adaptive mechanisms. At about 1 year old, the baby is no longer dependent on outside influences, and deviations indicate specific health problems.

The urine of a monthly and newborn baby can also change for the following reasons:

  1. fluid deficiency;
  2. High physical activity;
  3. infections;
  4. A large amount of a particular product in the diet (fish, carrots, beets, pumpkin, currants)
  5. Pathologies causing edema;
  6. Liver pathologies (they may occur as the baby grows up, or the child may be born already with the disease);
  7. Viruses complicated by intense sweating;
  8. The breakdown of hemoglobin;
  9. Stagnation in the kidneys;
  10. Systemic pathologies (the whole body suffers from joints to muscle tissue);
  11. Bladder anomalies;
  12. Hypervitaminosis (any vitamin in excess can change the color of urine, even a banal ascorbic acid).

What should parents do


If the urine has become an intense yellow color, you need to pay attention to the child's menu and adjust it drinking regimen. The doctor should be visited if the color has changed radically, and the smell of urine has become frankly unpleasant and very pronounced.

During the examination, the doctor will decide which tests to take. Standard set - general analysis blood and urine, urine for sugar and detailed biochemistry. The sampling of biological material takes place only in the morning.

Further treatment tactics and prognosis for the future will depend on the diagnosis, the age of the child, individual features baby. As a rule, correct timely treatment will allow the small patient to return to normal life.

Video: The best diet for a newborn

Most parents believe that the urine of the baby should always be normal, believing that when the baby is born, everything works properly in his formed body. Few people know that urine in a newborn can appear only on the second or third day.

healthy baby born naturally, in the first three to four days allocates approximately one hundred and eighty milliliters of urine. Such a small amount indicates that during fetal development, the fetus released moisture not only through the urinary system, but also through the surface of its body. At the same time, he did not consume much liquid. In a few days, this amount will increase to two hundred and twenty milliliters. If there is little urine in the second week, then the baby may have gotten sick. At the end of the first month of the baby, the volume of urine reaches nine hundred milliliters. Supervision of this process is very responsible and can early dates prevent various diseases. The color of urine, its smell, frequency and volume will tell about them.

For many young parents, collecting urine from a crumb sometimes becomes an insoluble problem, and even if it works out, the results of the analysis can be distorted due to non-compliance with the rules or little knowledge.

Before proceeding with the collection of analysis, you need to bathe the child so that the result is free of impurities. Wash the groin area with a special cosmetic or baby soap. Analyzes are usually taken in the morning, so start water procedures immediately after waking up. In the pharmacy you can buy special urinals. They are different for boys and girls. They are fastened with hypoallergenic Velcro between the legs of the baby, so do not worry about allergies. Just in case, get a few at once. To make things happen faster, turn on the water. The baby should not be in a supine position. He needs to be picked up. At the end of the procedure, pour the contents into a special jar for analysis. You can also collect urine directly into a container for analysis, but you need to wait for a certain moment. It's easier for a boy. For a girl, you will need another pair of hands to hold the jar.

General analysis of urine in infants

Complex research methods for infants are rarely prescribed. Basically, these are mass and simple tests that are used to screen and identify health problems. The most common is a general urine test. Its indicators are identical to an adult, but there are some norms and variations. General settings include:

  1. Physical properties (smell, color, transparency, reaction and density of the urinary environment).
  2. The presence and concentration of biological substances (protein, bile acids, glucose, urobilinogen, bilirubin, ketone bodies, indican).
  3. Sediment microscopy (erythrocytes, leukocytes, epithelium, mucus, cylinders, salt crystals, bacteria).

Urinalysis decoding in infants

First, the urine of the baby is examined for transparency, which lasts for two hours after collection. Then, due to settling, it becomes cloudy. It is important to take the test the morning before. Transparency may be lost due to the presence of leukocytes, which indicates an inflammatory process in the body.

Urine gets its color from substances that dissolve in it. The more of them, the richer it is. In infants, it is slightly yellowish or transparent.

The smell should be practically absent.

The reaction of the medium should be slightly acidic.

The cylinders are the elements of the sediment. They are granular, hyaline, erythrocyte, waxy, etc.

Urinalysis in infants is normal

In a healthy baby, urine should be light yellow, odorless.

Specific gravity or relative density should be in the range of 1008-1018.

The pH level is normally between 4.5 and 8.

An alkaline reaction can be if vegetables are present in the diet.

Protein, sugar, glucose, cylinders, hemoglobin, bacteria and nitrites should not be.

Ketone bodies and bilirubin may have minimal values.

In a healthy baby, erythrocyte indicators are absent or their value is not more than two units.

The norm of leukocytes is no more than five.

Epithelial cells are normally present in the sediment. The presence of squamous epithelial cells is characteristic of the lower genitourinary system and is generally not diagnosed.

Bad urinalysis in a baby

If the color of urine is dark, whitish or colored in different shades, then this indicates a violation in the body or some kind of disease. The color may also change depending on food or medications.

Turbid urine indicates the presence of a bacterial infection or the presence of white blood cells, red blood cells, salts.

Increased density indicates the presence of glucose and protein, as well as dehydration. A low rate indicates kidney disease or kidney failure.

An acidic pH level indicates a large amount of protein food. A very acidic reaction occurs with kidney failure, fever, or diabetes. An alkaline environment appears in the presence of an infectious disease of the genitourinary system.

If more than 0.002 g / l of protein is found in the urine, then this is a sign of kidney pathology. Glucose should not exceed 0.8 mol/L.

In endocrine diseases or diabetes, sugar is found in the urine.

If the indicator ketone bodies or acetone above the minimum value, then the baby may have anemia, infection, or nervous strain.

The presence of bilirubin indicates that the outflow of bile is difficult, or there is liver damage.

The presence of nitrite in the analysis indicates infections in the urinary tract.

Formed elements of erythrocytes indicate bleeding in the genitourinary system, renal inflammation or hemorrhagic diathesis.

Increase uric acid and its salts is a sign of leukemia, acute or chronic nephritis, dehydration, kidney failure.

Mucus in the urine indicates either a violation of the collection rules or inflammatory processes in the body.

Urinalysis in infants leukocytes

When the baby has lesions of the urinary system, leukocytes are present in the urine in large quantities. In such cases, doctors recommend taking the test again. With an increased content of leukocytes, the urine smells unpleasant, cloudy, and flakes form in it. The color can be both transparent and rich yellow. It is very important to pay attention to this in order to start treatment in a timely manner.

Infection of the genital organs also leads to an increase in the indicator when they enter the analysis by accident. This happens if the urine is not properly prepared and collected.

The birth of a child in most families is a joyful and long-awaited event. Every mother does not want her beloved baby to get sick and feel unwell. daily hygiene care, proper nutrition, providing the necessary thermal regime - all this helps the child grow up healthy and strong. But, unfortunately, sometimes the baby starts to get sick, and parents do not always notice the inflammatory process. Urine baby can immediately answer many questions related to children's well-being and health. Therefore, during the examination, which takes place at 3 months after the birth of the baby, the pediatrician is assigned to conduct a urine test.

What should I look for in the results of a child's urine test?

Currently, there are more and more commercial medical institutions that have their own laboratories. Many parents turn to them to do a urine test of an infant. After that, they receive a sheet in which the results are indicated. Sometimes there are standards in front of the received data, sometimes not. It is worth noting that the norms for an adult are usually indicated, so at first it may seem that the tests are bad. Parents should understand the regulations for infants so as not to panic in advance.

The main indicators that you should focus on are various cells, cylinders, epithelium, mucus and salt crystals.

Quite often, some salt content is found in the results of a urine test, which should not cause much panic. Salt crystals in the urine of an infant are often detected by examining the urinary sediment. Salt excretion depends on children's activity, nutritional habits. In newborns, an increase in some varieties of these crystals (urates and ammonium urate) is the norm.

Even a small number of leukocytes in the urine of an infant is already dangerous, as it can be caused by diseases of the kidneys and urinary system. Young mothers need to remember that one by one positive analysis the diagnosis is not made, the child is sent for re-testing. The child should be well washed at the next urine collection to eliminate the possibility of incorrect results. Doctors call several circumstances that can cause the appearance of leukocytes in an infant. One or another type of leukocytes is responsible for various diseases:

  • lymphocytes signal connective tissue diseases.
  • eosinophils may be a sign of chronic pyelonephritis.
  • neutrophils provoke various bacterial infections.

If your child still has confirmed the presence of leukocytes in the urine, do not despair. Usually treatment of urinary tract infection, bladder on early stage treated with short-term antibiotics. Of course, such medications are not desirable for taking by young children, but still some medications do not have contraindications for age. After the course of treatment, the procedure for passing urine must be repeated. This is due to the fact that some bacteria have persistent resistance to antibiotics. The most famous and accurate is the urine test according to Nechiporenko.

Collection of urine

The reliability of the results of the analysis depends on the correctness of the collection of urine from an infant. It may seem to young parents that they may have difficulties, but this is not at all the case. The main requirement is that urine should be in the morning and after hygiene procedures.


collection of urine from infants

Even a very small child, who is not yet able to walk and talk, and saw this world quite recently, must pass urine for analysis, like adults

With the help of such a study, doctors determine whether there is an infection in the baby's body or inflammatory process that require immediate treatment. Parents of a baby who is assigned a general urine test are faced with a dilemma - if their child spends almost all day in a diaper, then how can you guess the time of his urination in order to collect material?

Modern dads and moms use different methods that they find on the Internet or invent on their own.

Some methods are more effective, others less, but even if the process is successful, parents are concerned about another question - how much urine is needed to analyze the baby?

It often happens that it is possible to collect it in a very small amount, and the liquid level is at the very bottom of the container.

Is it worth trying to "seize the moment" again, or is that enough?

How much is enough

During the first year of his life, the baby develops rapidly - around this age, he begins to sit and crawl, and also takes his first steps.

Collecting material for research in a child who is not yet six months old is a real science, because he is almost constantly in a diaper. To understandhow many ml of urine is needed for the analysis of the baby, you must first figure out what type of study was assigned to you.

Doctors can prescribe to children:

  • General analysis. It is done during preventive examinations, school placement, Kindergarten or university, suspected illness;
  • According to Nechiporenko. It is prescribed when the doctor doubts the results that the general study showed. In this case, the composition of urine is considered more carefully, especially pay attention to the number of leukocytes, erythrocytes and cylinders, which may indicate the presence of an inflammatory process;
  • According to Zimnitsky, urine is collected by the hour and changes in its composition are monitored;
  • Daily analysis.

Depending on the type of study, the required material size may vary. If the last two varieties require strict adherence to the schedule - as, for example, according to Zimnitsky - and everything is approximately clear with them, then with the first two it is more difficult.

As practice shows, doctors usually take for research a container filled with urine by about 1 cm. If we talk about ml, then 10 is usually enough. For Nechiporenko, they can accept even less. It seems to some mothers that this is very small, but in fact, this size is accepted in almost all laboratories. Doctors also know that to collect material from an infant who is only 1 or 2 months is not easy.

If you still doubthow much urine do i need for breast test, you can consult with . He will give you the exact number.

How to collect

This issue especially worries moms, because at first glance, such a process is not possible.

For example, parents of a baby who is already 3 or 4 months old, faced with the need to collect urine for preventive examination, are lost, because at this age the child most of the time goes to the toilet directly into the diaper.

Urination can be stimulated in several ways:


If the newborn is on mixed feeding You can give him water. The same applies to children who have reached the age 5 months , when many mothers begin to give them baby water or juice drop by drop as the first complementary foods.

In the first case, the liquid usually turns into a gel due to special substances, and in this form, not every laboratory is ready to accept it for research. And from the diaper, tissue particles can get into the container, which change the composition of the urine.

There are devices designed to make it easier for parents to collect urine from a baby of any age - at least 1, at least 6 months . It:

  • A urinal is a small bag, made of plastic or any other material, with a hole, which is fixed between the child's legs with the help of special Velcro. Parents can only wait for him to do his job;
  • Plastic measuring cups with lids. They are suitable for older children.

Often mothers use cleanly washed jars from under baby food, or plastic bags washed with soap. The latter option cannot be called the most suitable, due to the fact that the composition of the liquid rarely remains unchanged in this case.

The main thing is to remember that any container you choose must be sterile.

At 8 months many babies already know how to sit, and some even begin to take their first steps.

Collecting material for analysis at this age is even more difficult, because children already know how to break out and protest if they don’t like something. Chasing a child crawling all over the apartment with a container is not always convenient, so the urinal is the best way.