# UTI in a toddler?



## chlobo (Jan 24, 2004)

How can I tell if my DD has a UTI? If she does, are there other remedies besides antibiotics?


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## BabyBumblebee (Mar 16, 2005)

A timely question, as dd is just recovering from a UTI that developed into a kidney infection.

Her symptoms:

high fever - consistently between 103 and 104.5
darker urine
smelly urine







- it had a very distinctive 'fishy' odour even when absolutely fresh
crying as she peed - we noticed this in the bath, or when she was crawling around barebum whilst we were changing her.
generally seeming really unwell, with no overt symptoms; no rash, cough sneezing or anything like that

As for treatment, in dd's case abx were the only option - she had IV abx in the hospital, and then a 10 day course at home. I supplemented with probiotix, and extra yogurt to help her gut heal too.

The ER doc said that UTIs are notorious for developing and becoming severe *really* quickly, so that could be a clue too. Hope your dd is okay though


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## chlobo (Jan 24, 2004)

hmmm. I'm not sure what to think.

She has been constipated for several days and we started giving her prunes, prune juice, grape juice to try and help. Today she had several poopies as well as wet farts (sorry,TMI). When I was changing her I noticed it looked like she was still trying to push something out and urine was coming out. That's what made me think UTI. However, it could also be that we gave her too much prune juice, etc and she now has some diarrhea and feels like she keeps needing to go. So hard to know at this age. Sigh....


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## Luke'N'Mom24/7 (May 21, 2005)

Babybumblebee had some good information.

If she doesn't have a fever, you can probably rule out a UTI. My DD had a lot of trouble with bowel movements, and it took us a long time (about a year)to figure out that was her problem. She went thru a LOT of testing and doctors to diagnose her with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. We have to watch her diet closely, certain foods really set her off (popcorn, acidic juices, hot dogs, etc.). Maybe you could keep a food diary to see if there's any relation between what she eats and when she gets constipated.

Babybumblebee--please be aware that if your DD has more than 1 UTI there could be more to what's going on...possibly a kidney reflux (where the urine goes back up to the kidney from the bladder). I have a very good friend who's daughter had 5 UTIs before the age of 3 and her doctor NEVER looked into why she kept having them (her mother kept pleading with the urologist to send her to a nephrologist, but he wouldn't give the referral







jerk)...turns out her kidneys were infected and the antibiotics weren't strong enough to kill the infection, and she now has PERMANENT kidney damage. Her right kidney isn't functional, and her left is only partially functional. She can NEVER bear children now, because her partial kidney isn't strong enough to support a pregnancy.







My DD also had kidney reflux on both sides, the urine went back up TO the kidneys, but didn't go INTO the kidneys. Most girls/women who have kidney reflux go thru their whole lives never knowing they have it...it's totally painless, and it's only a problem if there are UTIs involved. If a girl doesn't outgrow kidney reflux by the time she's 8 or 9, they can surgically repair it. My DDs body has healed itself (thankfully). I don't mean to scare you...just want people to learn from our experiences! If you'd like to talk about it, feel free to PM me.

You are your child's best advocate...do your research, listen to your instincts, and demand the testing and referrals to specialists...








Sorry for hi-jacking this thread...


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## crunchycatholic (Sep 27, 2005)

I was one of those girls- constant utis and my mom said that I would seem unwell but not have any other symptoms until it had begun to progress...
you just have to trust your instincts. You can always give her cranberry juice, it often helps infections and wouldn't hurt her.


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## Pastrydemon (Feb 3, 2005)

DD had a UTI last year. She seemed generally unwell, hot, woke up at night crying and did not want to nurse (!!), and then in the morning, she threw up. I took her to the Dr., and they tought it was just a tummy virus. She seemed fine the next day but the following day, threw up again -- took her back to the Dr. and they catheterized her -- raging infection!

I want to echo the advise to get it checked out. We did the whole VCUG thing. Luckily, reflux was ruled out, but if there is some reflux UTIs can cause some SERIOUS damage.

Good luck to you!

Erin


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## eggplant (Jun 10, 2005)

I agree abt the importance of taking it seriously. My 4-yr-old had a UTI this summer, her first ever, and was referred to a urologist - our family dr said that was the standard protocol for UTIs in kids now. I've since done a ton of research on it, and am SO glad we followed up. She did in fact have reflux, although thankfully fairly mild reflux only. But the thing is, since there's no way to know if you have reflux without testing for it, and since if you DO have it then even one UTI can be really serious and lead to kidney damage, IMO it's nothing to fool around with. And since UTIs can have really variable symptoms (my daughter had no urinary symptoms at all in fact), I've also read, there are also guidelines that any unexplained fever in a kid should lead to testing for a UTI, just in case.

I'd follow it up, just to be sure.


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