Toddler Girl with a UTI.

My daughter was diagnosed with a UTI not long after she was born(less than a month old). She was not gaining the weight after birth the way she should have been, so the dr's were worried and did all kinds of test on her and finally discovered that the UTI was the cause. It can be serious if it is not detected, but as long as you have it under control and are administering the antibiotics properly, she should be just fine. They may even want to do further testing to make sure that her bowels are functioning properly. They did an ultrasound and a die test on my daughter's organs to make sure that everything was flowing properly. Im not sure if they would administer those tests on your daughter being that she is older.

My 7 year old daughter has been getting them forever...she was potty trained at 2 and they told me it was the way she wiped herself....then I was told that it could be that she's not going when she needs to go...(she's holding it too long) just recently we moved here to southington ct and her new doctor said that it could be because she's constipated. It's sounds kind of crazy...but, everything the doctor told me made sense...and she's always had a problem with that ever since I stopped nursing her at 5 months and had to put the dark karo syrup in her bottle to help her to have a bowel movement. After her last uti cleared up we put her on fibercon and she hasn't had an infection since ....good luck...check with your doctor on that one...P.S...did do the ultra sounds and all was clear...and the smell is really bad when you have one...no bubblebaths or perfumey soaps....

Hi...just checking and saw your daughter was having the ultra sound and cathader...(can't spell either) but, I had that procedure done when I was young....don't be nervous...it'll be ok...sounds like the doctors are being cautious....that's good...you can rule everything out...

good luck

Young girls have very short urethras (tube up to bladder) the pediatricians usually say NO bubblebath and NO soap in the bath as this can iritate and cause UTI's. If they are recurrent you will want to see her pediatrician about possible causes (my daughter had a kidney issue we did not catch until she started with frequent UTI's) Also, make sure you are always wiping front to back, especially with diaper wipes.

The voiding cystogram is not that bad, my daughter did have the kidney reflux described by others in their responses. If she relaxes and you are matter of fact, all should go well. In fact, my daughter had them annually from the time she was 2 until she ws 10 and outgrew the reflux. The nurse will stick a cathereter into the bladder and the dye will be pushed in while pictures are taken, via x-ray. They are looking to see if once the bladder fills, does the urine remain in the bladder or head up to the kidneys (causing infection) If you are calm and reassuring, your daughter should be fine. It got to the poin tthat my daughter was better at this exam than the techs! Good luck.

Hi C.. My daughter was diagnosed w/a UTI about the same age as your daughter. It was treated (internally) w/an antibiotic; externally, I gave my daughter baking soda baths (to relieve any itching).

Hello,
My 11 month old daughter went down for an nap one afternoon perfectly fine and woke up with a 106.0 fever 2 hours later. It was over the New year holiday last year so we had to go to an on call DR at a different office. The woman messed up the catheter and spilled the urine so we had to wait until the next day to collect another sample from my daughter by our own DR. So during that time they treated her with Amox. until they could properly diagnose her. The next day our own DR did the catherter and called us that evening to change the Antibiotic b/c it was a UTI and she needed a stronger Med. but they had to test the sample to see if the infection was from ecoli (poop) so that took a few days to come in when it did the test came back positive. So her antibiotic was changed again to fight ecoli. Once she was Over the infection she had to go to the hospital for an Ultra sound and another catherter with x-ray to see if she had a defect in her urinary tract that I guess girls under 3 can have but can grow out of it but until they do they need to be watched for UTI's. Fortunately she was OK and the UTI was a freak thing that never happened again.

I can tell you 2 sure signs of the UTI were the fevers and the horrible smelling urine (worse then poop). She didn't eat for a few days so any fluids that I could get in her we gave her. She screamed when she peed for a few days until the inflamation went down that was terrible to watch!

I have to say when she went in for the Ultra sound and the catherter/ x-ray we went to Hasbro Childrens Hospital in RI and the staff was wonderful. They took her first thing in the AM and were as quick and gentle as possible. They allowed me to stay fro the hold thing holding her hand and talking to her.

I hope this helps and let me know if you need anything.
C.

Hi C. - My daughter is now 3 and a half, but when she was about 17 months old, she got a really bad UTI that her pediatrician misdiagnosed for about a week. She was finally treated and we were told we should really have an ultrasound and VCUG (voiding cystourethrogram). Thank goodness we did, because we learned that she had a reflux from her bladder to her kidneys. We treated it with just antibiotics for several months, but it got worse. The thought process behind the antibiotics is that most children, as they grow, will outgrow the reflux as their ureters grow. There is a new surgery (outpatient) called DEFLUX that we had twice, and this past April we were given a clean bill of health from our pediatric surgeon.

Take whatever tests your doctor recommends please. In decades past, this would go undiagnosed for years, until there was kidney damage. Hopefully your daughter has nothing more than a UTI, but if not, it is much better to find out now! It is really much more common than you would think. Good luck with your little one!!

I've dealt with it my whole life. I am now almost 27 and I am at a point well since 12 or 13 that I don't feel it, and have to get IV's and meds because it's that bad. They don't know why, they just say I have them regularly. Cranberry Juice is great to flush out the system, and keeps my UTI's down. Also not holding pee, at all is a major help. I know with little ones peeing all the time is tough it was for me. Just got to do it. Pull ups help even if they don't really need them. You can't control or predict that you have to pee (slight leakage) sometimes with a UTI. Constant cleanliness is a big help. Flushable toilet wipes are a life saver. Tylonol for pain, although at that point you should probably get a perscription for something. It get's better. For me not knowing I have them do a sample every trip to the doctor. If it is okay, I might wait two/three trips to the doctor just to stay on top of it. Hopefully for you it clears up and doesn't/rarely return. It isn't fun, but their are worse things that can happen. Thankfully this is the worst I got. Hope this helps.

Hi C.,
My daughter used to get them too. We tried yogurt and cranberry juice. Hope this helps. Good luck.

I know the horror! My 3 yr old was in the ER last sunday, after the pedi wasnt concerned(because of the fact she didnt have a temp). Sorry but when a kid is screaming & holding her privates every time she pees, obviously something isnt right.She was put on an antibiotic,bactrum(spelling?) 2x a day. Shes better now. It took 3 bags( catches the urine ) in her diaper before i got a sample, sure enough, she had an infection. Really doesnt like taking the meds though! :) We've been trying to potty train her, shes yet to pee on the pot, lately shes been holding it in. I think this is the cause for the uti.

My daughter is 5 yrs. old an has been getting UTIs since she was 2yrs. I came to the realization it is the bubbke bath that is affecting her. I have trid many different types, she loves bubble baths, but no matter what I use it always happens. She never had a fever just that it hurt to urinate. Does your daughter take lots of baths? If so trying holding back on the sudds see if that helps.