The normal number of times you should go to the restroom each day
You can say that you need to pee in a number of ways, such “having a wee,” “emptying the tank,” or “taking a whiz.” It’s normal to pee several times a day, but it’s easy to worry how much is too much.
A urologist who works as a consultant says that how often you should go to the restroom depends a lot on how old you are. The most important thing that affects how often you should expect to go to the bathroom is getting older. However, things like tea, coffee, alcohol, and fizzy drinks can all make you need to go more often.
Hamid Abboudi, a consultant urologist at New Victoria Hospital, told Metro, “A patient’s toilet habits are likely to change several times over the course of their life.”
Abboudi says that at different points in your life, you should expect different things when it comes to what is really a healthy range.
The numbers are too high for kids.
He said, “Kids under 5 may pee 8 to 14 times a day, but kids over 5 only do it 6 to 12 times.”
You could need to pee more than that if you’re stressed, constipated, drinking too much caffeine, or have allergies. It could also be because your bladder isn’t very big.
Teenagers usually go four to six times a day.
Hormonal changes during puberty can make people want to see a doctor more often, but Abboudi noted that most of the time this is “nothing to worry about and will naturally clear up.” But if it doesn’t, going to the bathroom a lot could imply you have an infection, diabetes, too much coffee, or, in rare cases, something worse.
Abboudi added that adults under 60 frequently go six to nine times a day and that it’s also normal to go once at night. He said, “Women tend to pee more often than men,” and he pointed to one study that showed women do it 5.6 times a day on average, while men do it 4.8 times a day on average.
Pregnancy is another explanation, because the baby pushes on the uterus. Infections in the urinary tract are also a common reason to make extra trips.
Things are likely to change again once you reach 60.
Abboudi believes that older persons could have to go up to ten times a day. As individuals get older, their kidneys don’t perform as well, their bladder muscles get weaker, and medicines like diuretics can make them need to go more often.
The NHS also notes that as people get older, they are more likely to need to get up to pee at night, which is called nocturia. A growing prostate can also put pressure on the bladder, which might make men have to pee more often.
There are a few signs to look for, but remember that everyone is different. Abboudi advises you should contact a doctor if you notice blood in your urine, a sudden change in your typical habits, or if you wake up more than once a night. He also warned that smokers should be very watchful about any changes in their patterns because they are more likely to have bladder cancer.
So, even if there isn’t one number that fits for everyone, knowing what the usual range is for your age could help you figure out when something isn’t right.
