Girls and UTIs: Any experience?

[DemonLlama]

My DD, 8, went to the doctor this morning because she had been complaining of tummy aches since last Tuesday. Turns out she has a urinary tract infection! She's on an antibiotic and uner orders to drink lots of water to keep her system flushed.

She's often complaining of headaches, and comes home from school with dry, cracked lips, even though I get chapstick on her in the morning. I'm thinking this, with the UTI, indicates she is often dehydrated and needs to have water available to her in the classroom. I'm planning to check with her teacher about the feasibility of this in the morning.

Anyone have experience with this? Any other tips to avoid a recurrence?

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

I get them quite a bit. When i was in middle school one reason I got them was because I wasn't using the bathroom at school (didn't like public bathrooms) and holding it can cause UTIs...so you may wanna see if your daughter is doing that.

Also try like loose fitting pants.

 

[IloveDMB]

Cranberry juice! Cranberry juice is a good way to deter UTI's. Does she like cranberry juice?

 

[grinningghost]

I had lots of experience when DD was young. She started getting UTI's before she was even potty trained. It got easy to diagnose because I would find myself changing her diapers constantly to keep up with her wetting. She would also become very miserable.

Potty training was a nightmare. She would get these infections and have accidents which she couldn't possibly control. At least by that time, she was old enough to tell me when it "burned" or hurt. The doctors never really found out why she got so many UTI's, she was just unlucky I guess.

Good news was, she grew out of them finally. I think she was about 5 when she had her last one. She's 14 now, and doing great.

Hang in there - they're tough, but the antibiotics do knock it out pretty quickly.

 

[RitaZ.]

Taking Vitamin C daily. Talk to her ped about dosage though.

One of my friends was plagued with UTI's, she was seen by several doctors (urologists). One of them, the last uro that she saw, recommended that she take vitamin C daily to prevent the UTIs. This is the only thing that has worked for her, I believe she takes a high dose though.

UTIs are horrible! I feel for your DD being so young and having to deal with the pain and discomfort. I would definitely ask the teacher if your DD can take a bottle of water with her to school.

Hope that she feels better soon!

 

[floridafam]

The kids at our school are allowed to keep a water bottle on their desks and are encouraged to drink from it when they are thirsty.

I think it works in preventing dehydration.

I tell DS to drink in the morning-just to start his day off right. I also tell him to use it after gym and after recess. Kids play really hard at recess and they don't realize they can get dehydrated-even in colder climates.

I hope they let your daughter bring water to school.

 

[ahutton]

I've had trouble with this on and off for most of my life. I've found the best prevention is to keep track of how much I'm drinking and make sure I have more than 64 ounces a day of water, in additional to any juices or anything else. I drink cranberry juice (or a blend of cranberry and something) daily or Ruby Red Grapefruit juice. As a snack I mix some nuts and dried cranberries, cashews are really good with them. Blueberries are also great for bladder health, and yummy too.

 

[CEDmom]

DD has had several and we even had to get a kidney ultrasound to rule out any abnormalities. The cranberry juice is a good idea as is the vitamin C and lots of water. Either will have the same result. Also if DD is still taking a bath make sure she isn't using bubble bath because that's known to cause problems. Wearing 100% cotton underpants is a good idea along with loose clothing.

 

[mbb]

will help relieve some of the external unpleasantries...just fill the tub, and while the water is running, dump 1/4 to 1/2 cup in.

And a long soak in a warm bath will just make her feel better...it does for me

 

[mckryan]

Originally posted by DemonLlama
My DD, 8, went to the doctor this morning because she had been complaining of tummy aches since last Tuesday. Turns out she has a urinary tract infection! She's on an antibiotic and uner orders to drink lots of water to keep her system flushed.

She's often complaining of headaches, and comes home from school with dry, cracked lips, even though I get chapstick on her in the morning. I'm thinking this, with the UTI, indicates she is often dehydrated and needs to have water available to her in the classroom. I'm planning to check with her teacher about the feasibility of this in the morning.

Anyone have experience with this? Any other tips to avoid a recurrence?

Definitely stop any and all baths if she is still taking them. My daughter had a problem with this, and showering helped greatly. I am concerned about your daughter's headaches and dry, cracked lips. Does your daughter complain about being thirsty a lot or using the bathroom a lot? If so, you may want to have the doctor check her for diabetes. Like the other poster said, make sure that she is using the bathroom at school because holding it all day is definitely not a good thing.

Christa

 

[DemonLlama]

Man this is a busy board -- I posted this last night and it was on page four this afternoon. I just read the reponses -- thank you.

My DD never has to go to the bathroom, and she admitted last night that she tends to wait, even when she does have to go.

She doesn't complain of being thirsty, either, and when she does have something to drink, she doesn't take more than two sips unless I'm pushing her (like yesterday).

Are there any other warning signs for diabetes? She has Russell Silver Syndrome, which seems to indicate a higher childhood incidence of diabetes, but her ped. has never run any tests.

As for the water thing, I haven't found out yet if the teacher was OK with the water, since I had to be in to work early this morning, and the teacher wasn't in when I brought DD to school. I senta note explaining everthing and asked if there was a problem with having a water bottle at her desk, to please call me. I haven't heard anything, so I'm hoping that's a good sign!