I kid you not, peeing was the single worst thing about postpartum recovery for me.
If you’ve come upon this post in a desperate search (painful urination postpartum perhaps?) well, I’m guessing it’s not all fun and games for you either. Postpartum recovery is hard in general, and sometimes it seems like peeing is the hardest.
I swore that when I was all recovered and back at blogging, I would write the helpful postpartum stuff I couldn’t find online anywhere while I was healing and googling.
Related: How to Heal Faster Postpartum
Related: The Complete Postpartum Care Kit Checklist
Googling things like how to pee postpartum without crying (or feeling like you’d rather give birth all over again).
12 times per day.
Because you are drinking enough water to sink a ship. Because you are trying to make breast milk. Even though you don’t want to… because it will make you have to pee. And peeing makes you cry.
Let’s face it… the postpartum period is unlike anything else you’ve ever been through before. It is glorious and amazing – you finally have your baby and you are totally in love. And it is overwhelming. It is messy. You have open wounds. You feel like @#$%.
No? Just me?
(I didn’t have terrible awful damage either – I did get stitches two days after delivering when everything had already started to heal a bit, and I think that made it all a little worse.)
You’ve got your peri bottle, and you’re being a good girl and using it every time you pee – right? If you’re a lucky lady, the peri bottle alone might be enough to get you through those trips to the potty.
But that thing didn’t help me one bit and if anything it hurt worse than the peeing. I HATED that bottle. I used it – being sure to keep everything rinsed clean helps to prevent infection – but I HATED it.
Take heart- each day that goes by is a day closer to throwing the peri bottle in the garbage and taking pain-free-peeing for granted once again.
Even if this tip doesn’t help you out, at least I can commiserate with you on this, and it’s always good to know you’re not alone – right?
Related: 8 Things that Totally Shocked Me About Postpartum Recovery
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How to pee postpartum (with minimal pain)
I tried all. the. ways. to pee that I could think of. I even tried peeing in a bathtub with a few inches of water in it to TOTALLY water down the pee. Which didn’t help one bit. (If you’re judging me for how gross that is, you’re not in nearly enough pain to be reading this.)
(I know some women have had success using a spray like this to numb the area a little before peeing, but this stuff isn’t available in our area and I figured by the time Amazon delivered it to me, I would be mostly healed.)
It took me a few days to find the thing that did work – you can do this RIGHT NOW if you’re having a lot of pain while peeing after giving birth:
Sit a little further back on the toilet, and lean ALL THE WAY FORWARD (I seriously rested my forearms on the ground but if you aren’t that acrobatic, a low stool placed in front of you might be helpful ) – so your bum is up in the air and the pee is falling forward and down instead of running over your body.
If you’re still a little shaky from delivery, standing up in the bath tub so the pee falls STRAIGHT down works pretty good too.
Basically, don’t let the pee touch you.
You’d think this would be easy to come up with, but my brain was full and I’m just sharing in case yours is too. Maybe it was the drugs, but it took me DAYS of crying while I peed to finally give this a try. Or maybe it’s the fact that we generally don’t have to try to think of ways to prevent pee from touching us.
Either way, this made a huge difference for me!
And how long does it sting to pee after giving birth?
I know you’re wondering when this will end – so let me assure you, it does end. For me, after the birth of my first, it was terribly painful to pee postpartum for a full two weeks. (Sorry that’s not great news!) After the birth of my second, it only hurt to pee for two days or so.
It really is related to how much damage you sustain downstairs, and how fast you heal postpartum.
If you have tears or stitches, it will hurt for longer. Again, you can try something like this before peeing to see if it helps!
The end.
(You’re welcome.)
Related: How to Take An Effective Postpartum Sitz Bath
Related: Remember Mommy, This Too, Shall Pass
I love reading your blogs! Your honesty and still positive outlook is refreshing. I’m really happy I came across your posts. Thanks for all the advise! I will be a new mamma in October and I’m a little nervous for my postpartum process and I appreciate all the heads up! I screenshoted all your most haves from amazon…. so that’s happening! Thanks again! Lauren
HI Lauren!! Aw thank you! I am trying really hard to be honest without being scary lol. Congrats on the pregnancy – and don’t worry too much about postpartum stuff… it’s all totally worth it! (And it does pass lol).
Looool I had to comment I’m reading this more than a decade after giving birth to my first daughter and the one thing I remember wasn’t labour pains it was how much it hurt to pee with stitches! I must have called my doctor 3 times a day for a week telling him I was sure I was dying!!! Well it’s nice to know I wasn’t the only one and to remember that it doesn’t last for ever 🙂
Hey Amanda! I’m so glad to know I’m not alone here – it was bad, right?! I totally called my dr too. Maybe just once, lol, but I did!
I’ve had two kids, my second had to be a c-section because he was breached, and that was the biggest advantage afterwards (even though everything else about postpartum after surgery sucks)— peeing without the burn!! My first one, however, was a preemie and only 4 lbs, but his arm was up on his large head as he came out, ripping me forwards and backwards. So, I had stitches practically over my urethra (just to the side) and almost all the way to my back, and over the very sensitive lady parts in the front, and I thought it would never heal since it was split in half. (But it did, and except for some nerve loss, all is well there.) But, I had complicated births, being chronically sick, and pooping myself regularly is a reality for me. Having diarrhea 10-20x a day over those freshly stitched areas, still vomiting your brains out and being unable to eat, even 8 weeks later because pregnancy made it worse, but it wasn’t the cause, IS the worst. I thought. Nope, I not only had to keep going back to the hospital for fluids and radioactive tests and chemo and potassium infusions (talk about burn) and had to give up breastfeeding but then I had to get a picc line started and have TPN for 4 months and found out all that uncontrollable pooping while in the sitz bath actually gave me a bladder infection that needed to be treated with IV antibiotics, which made the diarrhea so much worse. And, to this day, I still do not have all these autoimmune issues under control, and I’m looking into getting an ostomy bag soon because I want to be the best mom I can be for my 2 1/2 year old and 7 month old. So, thank goodness I do have a high pain tolerance for all this. And, despite all this, my kids are healthy and so amazingly happy, it’s incredible. I’m watching my little one sleep as I type this. I think the bottom line is, you have to remind yourself of the good outcomes. Because not everyone escapes the pain a couple months after postpartum. For me, my pain is less, but constant. I have arthritis, a collagen deformity that’s very painful, too many gut issues to count, and so being a mom is extra stressful. But, you keep going because you know it’ll be worth it. You hold onto the good. Burning wounds for a few weeks? Nothing compared to the prospect of raising these wonderful kiddos. And, that’s my secret to dealing with the very uncomfortable postpartum experiences. I just love that you’ve honestly documented these things here. I just figured I’d add this comment here for any chronically ill postpartum moms. You hear a lot of “it’ll be all over soon” in regards to the uncomfortableness of pregnancy, and it can be discouraging because people don’t get that, no, it won’t be all over soon for you. You will be maybe less uncomfortable and be able to get back on helpful medicines and such, but no, you will have to keep battling every single day. And it’s hard. No point in sugar coating it. But, there is a purpose. And that’s the most important thing to remember. Xoxox
OH MY WORD KELLY THIS MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I HAD IT SO FREAKING EASY!!! Girl, you deserve a prize. (But, like you said, the babies are the prize lol)
I’m due with my second next week and everyone keeps asking “are you ready?” and as uncomfortable as I am, I can’t help but think NOOOO keep the baby in! the postpartum pain is SOOO bad!
[And why do people think we have 20 minutes twice a day for a sitz bath? Twenty minutes?!]
I’m going to try peeing with my bum in the air – anything! Thanks for the idea!
It will change your life Tiffanie! Congrats + best of luck with delivery 🙂
Thank You! Thank you thank you thank you. This totally worked and it’s the first relief I’ve had postpartum. Genius.
I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR THAT – because honestly – I GET it. (I promise, this will pass!)
I just have to say I had stitches and it didn’t hurt for me to pee! I used the peri bottle when I peed with warm water which felt so nice. I drank a ton of water to help recovery so yes peeing a lot sucks. Especially waiting for my water to get warm every time I went to the bathroom (for some reason my water system hates me). I just say this cause I read sooooooo much before I gave birth and I thought it was a given that peeing would hurt and that I had to be afraid to poop (it was so easy, I didn’t even take stool softeners. I drank lots of water and avoided heavy foods even though all I wanted was a burger or pizza.. Fresh fruit is a must). I know I’m probably lucky but I just wanted to give some hope to first timers who are nervous, it may not hurt!
You were a very LUCKY lady!! I’ll be hopeful for my next birth lol
This made me laugh. But it wasn’t peeing for me. 1st kid was c-section, try pooping when you’ve been cut open! There are worst things then peeing postpartum. Baby #2 regular vaginal birth, had stitches and the bottle, yeah it burned, the nurse told me about the leaning forward thing. #3 also vaginal, 2 stitches and the bottle, not as bad though. Worst thing this time, trying to have time to pee with 3 kids! Oh the joys of motherhood.
Haha – oh my, yes I guess there ARE worse things! (The stuff we go through for our children!!!)
Hilarious. This is exactly what I did to make peeing less painful too! Excellent advice.
Oh my goodness! Thank you for writing this! I just had my third child and have never experienced pain while peeing….until now! The bottle helped sometimes but I still wanted to cry every time I peed until I completed your acrobatic peeing solution! Thank you thank you!!!!
For me it wasn’t the peeing that got me, but rather that first BM… was not expecting that it would feel like giving birth all over again!! “Ow ow ow ow ow…” even with stool softeners. PAINFUL for about 5 BMs after and dreading those daily BMs, makes you want to hold it in but that just makes it worse!
FTM – thanks for writing this post. The only unpleasant part of being a new mom for me has been the horrible burning when I urinate.for mom’s that want to say “it didn’t hurt ME; something must be wrong with YOU” to women that encounter this; I urge you to try to understand everyone has a different birthing experience. I didn’t cry once during l&d; but howl in pain when I pee now. I tried everything the doctor’s told me to for the past week; leaning forward and putting my hands to the floor is the ONLY thing that has helped me. Might help a lot of other women. As an aside – for those afraid to pass a BM for fear of painful urination during the fact (like me)…this position helped me urinate in so much comfort by comparison to what I had been encountering that I was able to pass a BM smoothly for the first time in 3 days while in this position. Thank you.
YOU ARE SO WELCOME!!!
This article is so on point. Seriously saved me! I had natural childbirth no drugs and a few days after peeing has been the most horrific pain of my life. I talked to girlfriends who swore upon the water bottle and dermoplast, both seemed to make it worse. I shower peed once and that worked but after trying again couldn’t get the same angle or something. I just got to pee semi comfortably for the first time thanks to this advice. Forever Grateful Thank you thank you.
SO welcome – I have BEEN THERE!
I literally did this on accident at the hospital and was shocked no burning! My husband looked at me like a weirdo 😂😂
You’re a savior! I tried everything to stop the excruciating pain. Your post was the only thing that helped with the postpartum pee. Thank you so much!
Sam,
Oh I am so glad it helped! It’s definitely a really rough thing to go through!
I found this last night and it has been an absolute life saver. Last night I was crying painful tears because peeing hurt so bad, and this morning I could have cried tears of joy because the pain was gone. Thank you so much!
Aww Morgan I’m SO glad you found it helpful!!! It is so HARD – hang in there. <3
After all 3 C-section birth my pee burned terribly. I assumed it was catheter related. First time my GP assumed it was a UTI and put me on antibiotics (fixed nothing and gave me breast thrush which nearly made me quit breastfeeding). Second private OB worked out that it was a lack of estrogen and gave me Ovestin cream to insert. Worked like magic within a day of first dose! But too much estrogen can reduce milk supply so go easy. 3rd time, my whole lady parts were red raw with burning pee again (after C section). Just tried estrogen cream and it’s so much better by the next day. So that could be the problem for others too. Don’t let them misdiagnose a UTI. Ask about vaginal atrophy. Especially if you are in your 40s like me.
HOLY SMOKES! Literally, an answer to prayer! I’ve been in near tears each time I’ve needed to urinate and I just tried your method…it worked!!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!