Urinary Tract Infections

[AvalonDaughter]

Hello,

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Have the little ones recovered yet - I know mine is still a little overstimulated.

I was wondering if any of you with girls have experienced urinary tract infections and what are the signs and symptons and are there any solutions.

She has been complaing about peeing for several days now - she is 20 months and not potty trained but showing interest. She tells us when she has to or has peed. however she seems to be in pain on and off for a few days - more off than on.
We tried cranberry juice but she did not like the taste. We are cleaning her througly. Any thoughts or help would be appreciated. How to prevent and treat etc. We are trying to avoid antibotics

Thanks!

[Stayathomemommy]

I have a similar question about yeast infections. My daughter will not let me look or clean very throughly in her vagina. it looks a little red though and i had so many little problems growing up being allergic to soap that i always had doctors poking me in my privates. I was asking a friend about it and she said to be careful i guess a pediatricain or doctor has a legal obligation to report any vaginal infections to some agency like child protection agency becuase of the possibilty of abuse?? i dont know if that is true or what vaginal infections can indicate abuse but that scared me from going to the doctor to check her out. plus she hates the doctor so she wouldnt let her look at her anyway with out being incredibly disturbed by it.

[Drewsmom]

I used to get them all the time when I was little and then when I was pregnant again...the whole time. In fact they were causing premature labor, but that's another story.

I lived in the Philippines for a couple years and while I was there was prone to them as well b/c of the humid climate. They taught me something else that works..coconut juice. It was great while I was there, you could just buy a "young" or green coconut off the street and they would prepare it so that you could hold it and drink the juice from a straw. It's clear and slightly sweet on its own and clears up infections like no other. I would drink one whole coconut and it would be gone by the next day. Here it's a little more difficult. You can buy coconut juice from a store just make sure that it's not sweetned with sugar if you can. It's not coconut milk, that's made differently from the juice. Good luck.

[symbiosis]

My youngest dd (just turned 29 months) had a UTI recently. She became very, very ill (high fever, shakes, etc.). To hopefully make a long story short, the Dr. wasn't sure if it was the strep that showed up in her urine culture or if she had pneumonia (radiologist determined it wasn't) so he put her on antibiotics for the first time.

I'm convinced she got the strep D from the hot tube at the Y that dh would let her sit in after swim class. However, my homeopathic chiropractor (say that 5 times fast ) said that it's common to have have (?) amounts of strep in the urine and that it doesn't always have to be treated with antibiotics.

My dd did not experience any pain or problems with urination (she's been using the potty for about 5 months). But since your dd is complaining of pain, I would have it checked out. Once you know what's causing the problem you can better decide how to treat it. Even if they prescribe an antibiotic doesn't mean you have to have it filled KWIM?

Stayathome...I don't know how old your dd is but I guess if she's not exhibing any discomfort, I wouldn't worry about it. I do know that yeast infections are very, very common and I would highly suspect a dr. having to report it to any agency. I can understand reporting a vaginal infection that is caused only by a sexual act but not a yeast infection.

If you do well-child check-ups that may be a good time to bring it up to your dr. Even if she doesn't look at your dd's genitals, she may be able to ask the right questions to determine if dd is experiencing any problems KWIM?

[LiamnEmma]

the symptoms are similar to those we experience, but with my dd, I noticed some more. She vomited perniciously every time she had one. She always had a temperature to go with it-- these two symptoms were always my tip off-- just in case you've never experienced one, the kidneys often hurt as well. A little (light) thump in the kidney area on the back can give you an idea. If your dd says that hurts (remember, lightly, so that it couldn't possibly hurt unless the kidneys are infected), then she has one for sure. Plus, peeing is urgen and frequent--although, in little kids, that's hard to detect for certain, they can be so obsessed with it. Also, my dd totally lost her appetite whenever she had one. I hope your dd feels better soon.

[Kirsten]

I was surprised when I got to the part that she is not potty trained yet. Not that she isn't - but that a child in diapers had a UTI. Seems like (at least in my dd's case) holding it (not going when she first needed to) was the contributing factor in her getting them. Our pediatrician called it "busy little girl syndrome". She was four when she had them. Symptoms were her not going to the bathroom very often beforehand then going all the time (accidents even) when the UTI came on, red "tushy" (that is what she calls it!) that hurt her. That was about it. We would put diaper rash creme on the "tushy" (it was actually red on the outside) and give her cran-grape juice to drink all the time (straight cran is pretty tough to take - I don't like it either - just be sure you get the 100% juice cran-grape). Also, don't let her sit in soapy bath water to play. Let her play in the plain water until you are almost ready to take her out, then wash her up/shampoo her hair and immediately after rinsing, take her right out. Don't use bubble baths or other unnecessary stuff. Make sure you teach her (and dh if he helps her use the potty) the right way to wipe too - front to back.
Sorry you have to deal with this - I know it is a bummer.
Kirsten

[AvalonDaughter]

Thanks!!

Thank you all for your help. I appreciate it!!

[Liz]

I used to get UTIs all the time. With me it was caused by dehydration so you might look at how much liquid she's getting especially if it's dry where you are right now. Also I was never able to get rid of them without antibiotics. I would drink pure cranberry juice for weeks and feel no symptoms but as soon as I stopped drinking it it would start hurting again. It was painful and just makes you feel on edge all the time, can't sleep, etc. Personally I would treat with antibiotics (and believe me, I hate antibiotics) and look for ways to prevent future infections.