Split urine collection (1728)

What is a split urine collection?

It is a test to find out how much protein is in the urine during the day and at night.  It helps the doctor to find out why a child has more protein in their urine.  

How do I do the test?

It is very important to follow these directions closely.  This will give the best test results.

• Prepare for the test.
• Choose a day to do the collection.  It should be a day that your child will be home all day.
• If your child is a girl and uses the toilet, put a hat on the bowl of the toilet.  Lower the seat into place.  She can pee right into the hat.
• If your child is a boy, he will not need the hat.  He can pee right into the bottle.
• Label two 24-hour collection bottles.  Write Day Time on one and Night Time on the other.
  - These bottles come from the lab, clinic or doctor’s office.  We will give them to you.  If any substance is needed in the bottles, it will be added before you take them.  
  - Keep the bottles away from children.  The substance may be dangerous!

Follow these steps.

• When your child wakes up in the morning, have your child pee.  Your child should completely empty their bladder.  Flush this urine down the toilet.  This is the start time.
• Write the start time and date on the Day Time bottle.
• The next time your child pees, begin collecting the urine.  Collect all urine during the day in the Day Time bottle. 
• Have your child pee once more before going to bed and add this urine to the Day Time bottle. This will be the stop time on the Day Time bottle. 
• Use the stop time on the Day Time bottle as the start time on the Night Time bottle. If your child gets up to pee during the night put that urine in the Night Time bottle. If they do not pee during the night, that is okay.
• The next morning when your child wakes up, have them pee one more time. Add this urine to the Night Time bottle. Write down the date and time as the end time for the collection. 
• After completing the collection, take both bottles back to the lab as soon as you can. Keep the bottles in the refrigerator until you are ready to take them. Remember to bring the orders with you. 

Important reminders for during the test:

• For the next 24 hours, all urine must be collected every time your child pees, even at night.
• Make sure any toilet paper used does not go into the hat.  
• Pour the urine into the bottle as soon as you can.  
• If your child needs to poop, ask them to pee first and save the urine.  If the urine gets any poop in it, the collection may need to be started over.  If this happens, call your child’s doctor or the lab.
• Every time you add urine to the bottle, put it in the refrigerator.  Do not let this urine get warm.  This will affect the test results.  The bottle should be taken from the refrigerator only to add more urine to it.  
• It is ok to put the bottle in a large plastic bag while it is in the refrigerator to keep it away from the food.  
• You can keep the bottle on a bucket of ice in the bathroom if you don’t want to put it in the refrigerator. 

Alert! Any substances in the 24-hour collection bottle are dangerous. A Mr. Yuk sticker on the bottle will remind you that the contents in the bottle are dangerous.  Be sure that your child and others in your family know what the Mr. Yuk sticker looks like and what it means.  Tell them it means to keep away.

Special considerations

• It is very important to collect all urine during the collection day and night.  If you miss collecting any of your child’s urine during the 24 hours, you will need to empty the containers and start again another day.
• Call your child’s doctor, nurse or clinic if you have any questions or concerns or if your child has special health care needs that were not covered by this information.  
• Renal Clinic Nurse:  414-266-2018