Bladder Training 101
You have to use the restroom all the time, and you're tired of spending what feels like your entire day in the bathroom. Know the feeling? Fortunately, you don’t have to resign yourself to living the rest of your life on the toilet — bladder training can help you strengthen your body and mind to prolong your wait times between restroom visits. Here are seven steps to help you get started with bladder training:
1. Track your current habits.
To start your bladder training, your doctor will probably have you keep a log for several consecutive days. Make a note of each time you use the restroom. This will help you figure out how long you wait between trips to the bathroom, on average. This log will also help you spot trends throughout the day — for example, you might urinate more frequently in the morning than in the evening. You might also want to log what and how much you’re drinking and eating to see if that has any correlation to how much you have to use the bathroom.
2. Use the log to set your schedule.
Once you’ve established a pattern, use the log to set your new schedule in consultation with your doctor. For example, if you’ve been urinating every hour all day long, you might want to set a goal of going to the bathroom every one hour and 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can create a preset schedule for yourself — for instance, you might decide you will use the restroom at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m. If you opt for the second route, set intervals that will be a bit of a stretch but are still achievable based on your current wait times.
3. Use the restroom as soon as you get up in the morning.
When you’re bladder training, emptying your bladder first thing in the morning gives you a fresh start to the day. Overnight, your body processes the remaining fluid in your body and you’ll often wake up with a full bladder anyways. If your bladder tends to wake you up in the middle of the night, go ahead and go to the bathroom and get right back into bed. It’s hard to fall back asleep with a full bladder and you don’t want to risk bladder leakage during the night. (If bladder leakage is still a problem for you, you might want to pick up some bladder leakage pads to protect yourself – night or day.)
4. Push through the urge.
When you first start bladder training, you’re going to get a strong urge to urinate as you attempt to stretch out your wait times. Do your best to wait out the urge, even if you can only delay for five minutes to start. Deep breathing exercises can help you take your mind off the urge and focus on something else until it passes. The urges may feel overwhelming to start, but eventually, they will get better as you practice more and more.
5. Gradually increase the wait times.
That schedule you made is only a starting point. Once you’ve adjusted to your new routine, it’s time to lengthen the intervals yet again. Moving in five- to 15-minute increments, gradually increase your wait times between bathroom visits until you can wait three to four hours between trips to the bathroom. It’s a good idea to reassess your wait times each week, though it may not be realistic to lengthen your wait times every seven days. Listen to your body and do what works for you.
6. Be patient.
It will likely take between six to 12 weeks to see the kinds of results you want, and you might not make forward progress on your goal every single week. No matter your commitment, outside factors like stress and menstruation can make you urinate more frequently, even if you’re trying your hardest. Stay focused on your eventual goal and try not to get mad at yourself if it’s taking a bit more time than you hoped — you’ll get there!
7. Do your training exercises.
You can speed that timing up by completing pelvic floor exercises to help strengthen the muscles that hold your bladder. Kegels are the best exercise for strengthening your pelvic floor muscles, lengthening your wait time between bathroom breaks, and helping with other bladder issues such as peeing when coughing. If you have trouble feeling your pelvic floor muscles from contractions alone, Kegel balls can help you identify the muscles and intensify the exercises.
Bladder training can help you take back control of your life and your bathroom schedule. If you put in the dedicated work, in just a few months, you might be able to go several hours between bathroom stops, which gives you more time to live your life to the fullest.