Please help, My daugther is 4 and has been potty trained for a LONG time. For the last month she has been grabbing her crotch after using the bathroom. I've talked to her calmly about this, I've gone in with her and showed her how much TP to use and how to wipe carefully, througouly (sp) and gently. She is still doing it, some times her panties are wet like she dripped on them, but half the time they aren't. There aren't any other signs of an infection, she doesn't say it hurts to go, it's not red, it doesn't smell bad. Is it possible to have an infection and show no signs??? How do they diagnosis it?? And i know no one has touched her inappropriately.
would wetwipes work or just make her feel more yucky?? panty liners?? I"m getting desparate.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get her to stop doing this???? I don't want to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas telling her not to grab herself.
Hi, K.:
Is her underwear too tight?
You can get Baby wipes and try that first.
Sit with her when she goes to the BR. Observe her through
the process with telling her anything.
After she's done, and situated.
Before she leaves, ask her how she's feeling. Stay in the moment and see what happends. You can assess with her what is happening.
Good luck. D.
Firstly, it never hurts to take her to the ped & have a unrinalysis done. It is simple and easy, just peeing in a cup.
Secondly, I highly doubt she has a UTI. My daughter went through the same thing at 4. And now, on occassion still "obsesses" about things; wet panties, wet sleeves or cuffs, aches in her body, etc.
While going through this time with my daughter, I was so frustrated, furious, mad, irritated, etc. One day I literally held her in the bathroom while she sobbed and struggled about her panties being wet. I found the wet wipes did not help the situation.
What I did do, was explain to her calmly that it is ok for a few drips to go on her panties and if she was very uncomfortable SHE could change her panties (she is now 7 and still occassionally changes her panties). I had her get her own panties herself and then she also had to help me with the extra laundry. The "wet panty syndrome" seemed to last about 3-4 months and then ended.
When my children touch themselves in public, I ask if they are ok and then remind them that if they want to touch themselves they can do so in the privacy of their bedroom or in the bathroom.
We even saw a family therapist about this and he explained it to us that our 4 year old was having a sudden mental developmental leap of imagination and it makes everything a bit more unstable and worrisome to the child. It can throw the child into some "OCD" actions but not to worry unless the OCDness starts to undermine the progress of their day.
Good luck. Keep calm. And just let her change her panties while also helping you with the additional laundry load. I hope what worked for me will work for you.
Fondly,
ann m.
as PPs said, it almost sounds like a UTI. i'd take her to the doctor just to check.
Hi K.~
As far as the UTI, yes, she could have one, and have no symptoms. As a child, I had UTI's a few times, and the only way anyone knew I had one, was that I ran a fever, and they couldn't identify any other cause for the fever, and eventually tested for UTI, which I had. I was even hospitalized at one point due to persistent fever with unknown cause, until they identified the UTI. And I NEVER had any other symptoms... so I would get her checked for a UTI. She may not have one, but it is possible and it's an easy test. Just pee in a cup.
I was going to ask about the laundry detergent change too. As far as a possible UTI, you can buy UTI testing strips (AZO brand or generic) at any drug store (I always get my daughters at CVS). You would just make sure she is clean and then either have her pee in a sterile cup or hold the strip in her urine stream and wait a couple minutes and compare the colors to those on the bottle to determine if she has white blood cells (Leukocytes) or Nitrites. Doesn't sound like she has a UTI but this might help to ease your mind and rule it out. A bottle of three strips is about $10 I think. My daughter only has one kidney and the other is a multicystic kidney so we test periodically for ANY signs of infection.
My other idea (because I have a daughter with kidney issues) is bubble bath, laundry detergent or TP that is scented or colored or even some wipes have perfumes etc that could be irritating her. My last thought is that sometimes too much of a certain type of food or drink can make urine even more acidic and uncomfortable. I found that my daughter has issues after too many juice drinks- especially Capri suns. She doesn't even drink juice much (thankfully loves ice water) that is how we figured out the culprit.
Good luck and hope you figure it out:)
get her some wet wipes that are flushable. i think that this is something that girls go through at this age. at night give her a bath with some baking soda in it. if you are using bubble bath be careful she could get a uti if she is using it too much. when i feel irritated i sit in a bath with baking soda and it seems to help me. it is something that is natural and not bad for anyone.
have you changed laundry detergents lately? we had a similiar problem with my daughter 2 years ago when I changed detergents. i didn't figure it out for a month, cause we've never had any reactions to detergent before.
anyway, my daughter got a uti earlier this year... she had like 4 accidents in 3 hours. Poor thing could not hold it in! They can test her urine at the Dr's office if you think that might be it.
we still use wet wipes alot... she got the UTI when I tried switching her to regular toilet paper. I think they work better!
Have to changed the soap on anything or used bubble bath? My children can't have bubble bath. My child got yeast infections all the time from not wiping and not being dry. I used foot fungus cream Don't laugh because my dr told me to go buy the cheep brand and that is what took it away. I own a daycare and this little girl alwasy gets a yeast infection so i use it on her and got her mother to start using it and it works. good luck.
T.
