6 Year Old Daughter UTI?

Question

My 6 year old daughter has been dealing with a Urinary Tract Infection for over a week now. It took a few days for the doc. to get her culture test back and she has now been on an antibiotic for 3 days. She is drinking water and white cranberry juice. We have not seen much improvement. She is not running a fever and says she is not in pain. She is using the restroom about every 30 minutes. I want to help her get over this but I am at my wits end. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The poor thing! You have to supervise her when she does her personal hygiene and wipe herself post a bowel movement and even urination. Demonstrate and show her how to wipe from front to back. Most urinary tract infections (UTI) are caused by this improper wiping. Most UTI are caused by E. Choli which are normal floral bacteria found in the intestines and thus the stools.


Just give the antibiotics a chance to work. In the meantime, drinking a lot of fluids including cranberry juices are good. Make sure, she changes her underwear often and everyday.
A natural home remedy is by eating a lot of garlic -rich foods.


Normal vaginal pH is 3.8 to 4.5. Urine pH ranges from 4.5 to 8.

First, are you sure she has UTI and not a vaginal infection?
When the doctor prescribed her antibiotics, make sure she take them as prescribed, finishing the entire dose.


Sometimes a patient may start feeling better and discontinue their medication. What happens then is,
the more resistant organisms continue to grow, causing a recurrence of the infection.



You should request a clean catch urine, with a culture and
sensitivity. The culture will identify the organism, and the
sensitivity part will determine which antibiotic is most effective on your infection. UTI’s are often caused by Gram-negative organisms and doctors can sometimes guess at what antibiotic typically works, but this is not true for every patient. Perisistent infections call for a culture and sensitivity.



If it’s not a UTI and it IS a vaginal infection, again, you need to return to the doctor to be diagnosed, It is difficult to treat
when you are not sure of the offending organisms; yeast; ,trichomonas, gardnerella or a sexually transmitted organism such as gonorrhea, Chlamydia or herpes.


Be sure she's drinking plenty of water, and has a healthy diet. Foods such as chocolate, tomatoes, pickles, Nutra-sweet, and caffeinated drinks such as sodas and coffee can irritate the urinary tract in some. Cranberry juice does help to acidify the urine, making it harder for organisms to thrive, but alone, it will not completely cure an infection.


Typical symptoms of a UTI include a strong feeling that you need to urinate, a need to urinate very often, burning and pain while you are urinating, and a change in the way your urine looks or smells. Since many other conditions have these same kinds of symptoms, it's impt to discuss this with
the doctor. to make a diagnosis and the treatment.



Culture tests help to identify the offending bacteria. The sensitivity test is especially useful in helping the doctor select the most effective drug. The drugs most often used to treat routine, uncomplicated UTI's are :Septra, Cotrim), amoxicillin (Amoxil, Trimox, Wymox), nitrofurantoin
(Macrodantin, Furadantin), and ampicillin (Omnipen, Polycillin, Principen, Totacillin).

A class of drugs called quinolones includes four drugs: approved in recent years for treating UTI. These drugs
include ofloxacin (Floxin), norfloxacin (Noroxin), ciprofloxacin
(Cipro), and trovafloxin (Trovan).

Often, a UTI can be cured with 1 or 2 days of treatment if the
infection is not complicated by an obstruction or other disorder. Still, many doctors ask their patients to take antibiotics for a week or two to ensure that the infection has been cured. Single-dose treatment is not recommended for some groups of patients, for example,
those who have delayed treatment or have signs of a kidney infection, patients with diabetes or structural abnormalities, or men who have prostate infections. Longer treatment is also needed by patients with infections caused by Mycoplasma or Chlamydia, which are usually treated with tetracycline, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMZ), or doxycycline.

A followup urinalysis helps to confirm that the urinary tract is infection-free. It is important to take the full course of treatment because symptoms may disappear before the infection is fully cleared.


Doctors suggest some additional steps that a woman can take on her own to avoid an infection:
•Drink plenty of water every day.
•Urinate when you feel the need; don't resist the urge to urinate.
•Wipe from front to back to prevent bacteria around the anus from
entering the vagina or urethra.
•Take showers instead of tub baths.
•Cleanse the genital area before sexual intercourse.
•Avoid using feminine hygiene sprays and scented douches, which may
irritate the urethra.
Some doctors suggest drinking cranberry juice.”
Another tip: urinate after intercourse.
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/utiadult/#treatment


Until you get to the doctor, you may want to try some home remedies to
alleviate symptoms. You will still need to visit your doctor, even if
pain and symptoms subside.
“An alkaline pH is more conducive for the bacteria in the urinary
tract, so citrates are more effective in alkalinizing. Calcium citrate
is rich in citrates.
Cranberry juice is effective in containing the bacteria in the urinary tract and the bladder. Garlic is better in washing out the germs and bacteria deposited in the urinary tract. Garlic rich food should be taken everyday to avoid urinary tract infection.

Boiled water can be mixed with certain herbs and can be taken once a day as a cure for urinary tract infection, those herbs are Uva Ursi,Galium aparine and Equiseturn arvense.


Few herbs can be used as antiseptic for urinary tract infection; These herbs are Buchu and corn silk and Usnea lichen. Drinking a lot of water in a day completely washes out all those bacteria in the urinary tract.


“Drink at least 8 glasses of water and other liquids a day. Drink juice made from unsweetened cranberry juice concentrate.


Take cranberry tablets (look for these at health food stores).
Avoid spicy foods, and caffein( a lot of sodas have this) . These can irritate the bladder.


Get plenty of rest. Check for fever twice a day; in the morning and again in the evening.


Take an over-the-counter medicine for pain.or take the OTC medicine Uristat, which relieves pain and spasms that come with a bladder infection. Go to the bathroom as soon as she feels the urge. She has to empty her bladder completely.”





If she is in pain, ask your pharmacist for an over the counter
medication that contains pyridium. This will help anesthetize the bladder and give her some comfort. Beware, it will make her urine orange and greasy, staining underwear and toilet seats.

Answer 2

Poor thing.

Right now you couldn't be doing anything more (++ coming here for support) so if her bathroom habits don't improve
call her MD on Tuesday - the MD should see her for a follow up anyway to make sure the antibiotic did its thing.

I had a UTI when I was prego with #3 had no idea.

So the best part is she isn't having a fever or pain!!
The fluids are great as is the cranberry juice.

My two (of my 3) kids suffer benign hematuria so if they ever give a culture to a new MD (we have moved or had ER visits) they are "freaked" and we get the whole kidney work up -
Just follow up with your MD - and be sure they aren't worried otherwise be thankful she's not in pain or feeling sick with a fever too.

Answer 3

My daughter suffered from this as well, only we didn't diagnose it until it reached it her bladder. Her pediatrician (right out of college) told me it was a stomach virus causing the pain. Eventually, she came down with a persistent fever which reached 104 degrees. It was then that I took her to the ER where she was given an IV (she was dehydrated) and after about 2 hours, she was released. It was so scary. It took about 6 days for the antibiotic to ward off the fever. Give it time. Whatever you do, finish the antibiotic. If you don't, the infection may recur.

Answer 4

Please don't be so worry. I have had the UTI before (about 2 months ago). Your daughter is not running a fever and not in pain is a good sign.. her urine has no blood right?? Did she drink pain medicine?? if she didn't, it's a good improvement. She is using toilet every 30 minutes, maybe her ureter can not work properly, but don't worry, u just need to see her doctor again and ask him what to do. Try to drink plenty of water.

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Answer 6

They make a pill called cran-balance that is supposed to help with UTI's. It's worth a shot. It worked for me.

Answer 7

poor baby...

the antibiotics will take a few days to set in.....
if it dosent show any signs between the 5th-7th day then go back to the docs and she may up her dosage...

sounds like shes just got a case of e cloi infection which is quite common in girls of a very young age....

make sure she is drinking plenty of water...n i mean plenty....as she needs to flush it out.....camomile tea may also help as it has a calming influence....

also another thing is keep her away from the baby bath stuff....find one that has no parfum or soap in it....as this can also irritate.....or just wash with plain water.....

and make sure she washes after every toilet motion, wash with aquaeous cream as this has nothing in it......and if the pain is bad when she goes for a wee, just run a small jug of lukewarm water over after she is done...
another thing if she is in pain is a hot water bottle....

i think she may just have the fever from sweating the thing out...

hope this helps....try not to let he get to used to antibiotics as these can do damage later on in life....

Answer 8

some times you have to spank and it sucks but you have to get the point acrossed and when she dose it tell her o thats nasty no one is going to want to play with the baby who is peeing in her pants. It sound horribal but it should do something thats what I was told to do with my son and it worked hes in kidnagarden . also it is also a sing of abuse and she could just not be telling you.

Answer 9

Stop panicking, keep up the fluids., its not life threatening, and it takes time for antibiotics to kick in. Whatever you do, make sure she takes the whole course of antibiotics, by the way, - - - restroom??? whats happened to the toilet?