Itchy 5 Year Old

Updated on June 07, 2007
M.M. asks from Portland, ME
12 answers

I don't think my daughter has a yeast infection, but she seems to always be itching her personal area, and sometimes complains its hurting her. I look at it and sometimes find it to be red..
I have been told not to put her in a bubble bath and to make sure she eats yogurt, which she does.
But its seems to keep on happening on a regular basis. My mom said to use baby powder in her undies to keep it dry. That seems to help.
What else should I do?

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A.D.

answers from Barnstable on

Hi,

My daughter is also 5 and we had the same "itch" problem with her. I found that if her panties were too snug they would irritate her skin (she's on the lean side, and wears a size 8 panty right now).

We can't use ANY type of baby wash in her bath; her pedi. recommended using only 1 cup of white vinegar.

We use the Cottonelle wipes whenever she uses the bathroom. Plain toilet paper also irritates her.

Hope this helps! A.

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J.W.

answers from Boston on

Hello.
My Daughter has that red itchy stuff too. It seems to be a yeast infection. If they get one yeast infection, it seems more will come. Powder and all you've been doing help keep it at bay, but no matter how much we tried to stop her from getting a yeast infection it keeps comming. Medicine-Nyastatin is the only cream that helps. This only seems to happen to my Daughter, and not my Sons. Oh well, hope this helps.
-J.

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L.H.

answers from Boston on

my daughter has aslo had yeast infections- I say just get some creame to hep with the itchy ness it goes away fast.the other thing you need to know about yogurt is that it needs to be natural- like stony field farm becuse it is the only yogurt that has live culters meaning the acidafulus that controls yeast in the body is what works- it is not in most other yogurts- you may be able to give her orallin gin a pill or powder form if yougurt isnt treating it- I also thinkghtat that is the age that may be a curiosity of touch

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N.M.

answers from Boston on

are you using a new laundry detergent my daughter who is now 15 had the same problem when she was about 5 or 6 and after ruling everything else we discovered it was the detergent i had bought,it wasnt my original brand but probly on sale or somthing, anyways once i stopped using that bottle ther was no more itching or redness. by the way her skin is still very sensitive to certain soaps and stuff and shes allergic to just about everything. your daughter may be allergic to perfumed or scented soaps and lotions. try switching detergents, i had to use the dreft for years, and we still use it on undergarments.
good luck

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C.

answers from Providence on

Hi
Here's a few things to try that are hygeine related, bath at least every other day make sure she washes her privates well and rinses the soap out. One more would be to make sure she wipes front to back. Hope this helps.
C.

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R.B.

answers from Providence on

She could possibly be allergic to the kind of soap you use. We have issues like that here with my dughte and hubby so we use ivory and we also use only dye free detergent and now now problems

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J.N.

answers from Boston on

Hi M.,

When my daughter (now 3.5, then 6 mos) got a yeast infection, the doctor told me to use any over the counter medicine for yeast infections (I bought the generic CVS brand, not a brand name) and use it like a cream on the infected skin area (not inside). It cleared it up for her. Also, try to have your daughter drink Cranberry juice. If I remember correctly, cranberry juice is supposed to help with yeast infections.

Also, now that my daughter is potty trained, I've noticed if she doesn't wipe well, she becomes irriated.

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M.B.

answers from Boston on

This used to happen a lot to my daughter. Other than the other good advice: Doctor checks for yeast infection, make sure soap is rinsed from shower/bath, undies are clean and dry and she uses good wipe habits (front to back.)check your toilet paper. Our trouble was the toilet paper was actually too soft and linty. Little pieces seemed to get stuck when wiping, causing itching and irritation. After we changed TP the problem seemed to rectify. Hope it helps, good luck.

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D.R.

answers from Barnstable on

My Daughter use to have that same problem, i did stop the bubble baths,and stopped certain soaps that can irritate her skin. I use dove now and she eats her yogurt all the time. I also was told by my mom years ago try putting some plain yogurt in the personal area. That will calm the itching and get rid of the redness.

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K.I.

answers from Lewiston on

My daughter (now 8 almost 9)used to get red itchy quite a bit when she was younger. Still does sometimes. People dont talk about it much, but girls pleasure themselves as much as boys do(not that this is the case with your daughter). They have a better chance of getting sore or infections than boys do. Due to dirty fingers or dirty nails, or accidently scratching in that area. I use a little neosporin on the red area when it was bothersome. It seemed to help a great deal. Also if you know she does do that once in a while, i just tell my daughter it is ok but to make sure she has clean hands and fingers and that it is ok but a private thing. Having pee spots in the undies can also be the cause or not wiping really well. I just covered all the bases i could think about. My dughter doesnt get them hardly at all anymore. Hope this helps. Good luck and best wishes. ALSO IF IT IS A YEAST INFECTION CORN STARCH WILL FEED THE YEAST INFECTION AND MAKE IT WORSE. SO IF YOU KNOW FOR SURE IT IS A YEAST INFECTION TRY NOT TO USE ANY CORN STARCH OR ANY POWDERS CONTAINING CORN STARCH.

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H.W.

answers from Providence on

M.,
I use baking soda baths and if the itching is especially irritating, I have my daughter put some cornstarch on it: just enough to have a light covering on the irritated area. I have my daughter do this especially during the winter months, when her skin is most affected. I also would suggest changing the detergent you use for her clothes; Ivory Snow & Dreft are both excellent.

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L.G.

answers from Portland on

take her to the dr- just to make sure it is not a yeast infection n or something else. Also- try and let her run around in skirts or cover ups/dresses with no panties... to really let air circulate as much as possible. Make sure with summer here - she does not hang around unneccesarily in a wet swim suit.... if she is swimming, fine... but spending all day being wet or hanging around in the house with a wet suit on is no good.
As you may know, yeast thrives in warm wet places.

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