I kid you not, peeing after baby 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 about how to pee better after giving birth.)
(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 bathtub 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.
(If it still hurts to pee 2 weeks postpartum, it’s a VERY good idea to bring it up with your doctor and have him check you out.)
So – unfortunately, “how long does it hurt to pee after giving birth?” is one of those questions with no real solid answer.
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.)
Did you find peeing after birth painful? Do you have any other tips for dealing with the pain of peeing postpartum?
Related: How to Take An Effective Postpartum Sitz Bath
Related: Remember Mommy, This Too, Shall Pass
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THANK YOU! I’m 5 days postpartum and I’ve been SOBBING for the last two hours over the excruciating Pain and all the associated frustration when my husband (desperately trying to help me) stumbled upon your advice! This is the first time I’ve been able to Fully empty my bladder in days and to pee without crying!! Thank you thank you for posting!!
I TOTALLY GET IT! So glad this helped!
WOW!! Getting mental pictures of mamas peeing in the bath tub all over the place! LOL This is hilarious but also great advice! This is “one of those things” that no one really warns you about… it’s just all of a sudden over and you feel like super woman…until you start considering what it’s going to look like to try to pee… then you just want to run away!
P.S. I loved that peri bottle! hahaha
hahah yes – this is totally not dinner conversation 😉
OMG, I could cry from relief. I’ve been peeing so uncomfortably for a week now and have tried different products to try to lessen the stinging. I was just starting to try to pee in different positions. Thank you so much for this tip. This has made my postpartum recovery that much more comfortable. Now hopefully my bowels will also feel less traumatized and I can be more regular again…
OOO I’m SO glad it helped!
I don’t know if you still read your comments but the post wasn’t terribly long ago… but I just want to say thank you for understanding. My daughter (1st and at this point in my mind ONLY child) was born on 1/1/20 so I’m not even 2 weeks postpartum yet looking for the answer to this “WHY THE $&@? DOES PEEING HURT SO MUCH???!!!” question. I have tried the leaning forward part with some success. My pee apparently defies gravity and travels upward to my stitches still sometimes. It doesn’t help that I’m torn on the side of my lady bits rather than the back… (though I’m counting my blessings of how much that would hurt using the potty for either peeing or bowel movements). After everything having gone wrong this delivery, burning pee is the icing on the cake to make me never want to have another kid again… not to be a downer. I hope the burning stops soon because yes it makes me cry every day so far. I can say I’ve more success not only leaning forward when I pee but doing it in the shower with hot water coming down at the same time keeps my anti gravity pee from traveling upwards. The warm water just soothes me too. Hope that suggestion helps someone suffering. Good luck to all. I’m going to go cry and lay down while my stitches hurt from sitting too… 😩
AAGGhh yes- tears in awkward locations make this tip less helpful, unfortunately! I promise – it DOES get better!!
I say this with tears in my eye, Thank you so much! I did not know how I was going survive the vag torching pain day after day. Now I can drink my water with confidence and pee without fear. You are a true blessing!!
I have to admit I did LOL at “vag torching pain” – but I know it’s not funny! So glad this helped you!
I stumbled on this page earlier tonight. I am recovering from an episiotomy after birth early this week. I am probably on my worst day right now, this tip about leaning over to pee really helped!! Thanks.
I am only in my first trimester with my first, but if the problem is with stitches and healing tears, then could you slather one of the antibacterial gels on the affected area and that way there is a barrier?
Unfortunately, I can’t do this due to the excruciating hemorrhoids I also got from birth, but I did find peeing in a cup works wonders! You can put the cup close enough it doesn’t go anywhere else—lifesaver (or tear saver really). I’ve been crying for a couple days now and this has been the only relief. I hope it helps someone else.
I found this article so helpful, I’m 6 days postpartum, and first time mommy. I would honestly sit on the toilet for like 15 minutes scared to death to pee because Id be afraid of the pain that came along with peeing. Honestly so grateful for this tip, no longer afraid to pee.
Honestly, I was searching all over the place for more info. I feel like all they did was hand me a bottle for cleaning and say no toilet paper. I went to bed in tears when I was home. This blog saved me, I was at the point wondering if the bath tub would help or if this was just how it was. Thank you for writing this & I vow to pass on the knowledge.
This is wonderful and truly does work. Thank you 🙏🏻 at the hospital I could not make myself pee so I stood up and peed and it’s the only way i could go the first couple of times. Now I’m home and have been in tears for a couple days, miserable. I just attempted the leaning forward trick and .. just thank you. This is a life saver for any woman after delivery!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! THIS HELPS A TON!!! YAY
Ugh I can see why this would be a good idea for perineal tearing… all my tearing and stitches are literally unavoidable no matter what position I’m in for some reason, I tore my labia and on 3 other areas but not the perineal
(whoopie!!) I have to pee in the tub and I’m so glad that I’m not the only one lol and correct it still doesn’t work, but what helps is if I pee facing the drain, as close to it as I can manage and then simultaneously pee and scoot backwards at the same time. So far the least painful way to pee. Smh.
I just wanted to say thank you!!! I have been really suffering with the postpartum burning and would never of thought to change position like this…..complete life saver!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I am SOOO GLAD this helped!