What can I do about this. This is the second year in a row that she has come down with a fairly serious one. We’ve taken her to the doctor both times, and she’s received antibiotics both times.
She’s 8 years old, and doesn’t like to go to the bathroom. In fact, if I didn’t bother her about it, she wouldn’t go at all. Even when she was a toddler learning to use the toilet, she wouldn’t do it. We had to take her diapers and pull-ups away altogether just because she couldn’t be bothered to use the toilet.
Now that she’s older, she uses the toilet as little as possible. She can hold it for hours and hours and hours. I’ve come to the point where I am forcing her to drink large quantities of water, and then forcing her to go to the bathroom every 2 hours or so. I feel like a nutjob. I wouldn’t be so aggressive about it if it weren’t for the infections. Last year, the infection was so severe and her fever so high, that we rushed to the ER. This year, we caught it faster, but she still missed school and had a fever and dizziness that made it hard for her to keep food down.
Please give me some advice. I’ve discussed this a bit with both a doctor and a nurse. We’ve come to the conclusion that it’s either from holding her urine, or from improper wiping/washing. Any thoughts? I don’t want to have to do this every year. Two years in a row is stressful enough. I don’t think I can handle much more, especially if it’s avoidable.
I am just getting over a bladder infection (second in 2 months) and I spoke to a friend about it. Her daughter had multiple UTIs and Bladder infections growing up, and her doctor put her on a low dose antibiotic for a long period of time. Now this was ten years ago so you need to talk to your doctor and see what is the best long term treatment is now.
What my doctor told *me * to do…
Go pee. Don’t wait. Don’t even hesitate. When you think, “Hmmm, I might need to go potty soon,” go now. (I’m really bad about this. I tend to wait until “work slows down” which it never does. Stoopid me.)
Use baby wipes. After everything is said and done, the last thing before rising, gently clean the area with the wipe, front to back. Just to be sure.
Wear panty liners. To keep everything dry.
Cranberry Juice. Nothing less than 27% juice and at least 8 oz a day. The low-cal juice is fine as long as it’s 27% cranberry juice.
Ask your doctor and see what he says about this. Good Luck!
My recommendation: Talk to your doctor again, and inquire as to whether or not a visit to a Pediatric Urologist, or at least a general Urologist who sees children, might not be appropriate.
And perhaps DSeid, eminent pediatrician, will pop by and weigh in.
I had a ton of bladder infections as a child (I’m a girl). I was even, at one point, examined for signs of sexual abuse-- apparently it can be a sign. (For the record, no. And I found the exam so painful and traumatizing that I made the whole matter worse by refusing to tell my parents I was having symptoms after that). I was told I wasn’t wiping properly (my mother used to watch me), wasn’t drinking or peeing enough, etc. It was always my fault.
By the time I was 19 having 2 or 3 a year was normal. The student health center asked me if I slept around, tested me for STDs repeatedly though I was not having any kind of sex, and eventually accused me of not bathing/not wearing clean underwear.
Then I got one while home on break. My parents had a new doctor, so I went to see him. He asked me if I’d had this before, and when I told him 25 to 30 times, he looked at me like I had two heads, told me this wasn’t normal and gave me a referral to a urologist.
I took antibiotics for six months, and I haven’t had one since. Ask your Dr. about a urologist. If they keep recuring and your doctor blows you off, I’d seriously think about getting a new doctor. My pediatrician, the only doc I ever saw, didn’t treat my problem properly, and I suffered for over a decade because of that.
I tried every single piece of common sense advice and folk wisdom, including drinking nearly a gallon (2 big ocean spray bottles) of cranberry juice per day. None of it really helps a serious, chronic problem.
I had constant kidney and bladder infections for my whole life. Every time I went to the doctor–EVERY single time–for anything, they’d run a urinalysis and sure enough, another kidney infection.
Finally when I was 18 they ran some tests and found that I have a slight defect in my left kidney which causes reflux, which causes the infections.
Like Obsidian, my doc put me on a maintenance dose of medicine (Bactrim, I think) for a year (I only took it for 6 months because I got pregnant), and I was infection free for years.
Now I occasionally have infections, and often have discomfort in that kidney, but at least I’m not constantly sick with them.
Definitely worth a trip to a urologist–I sure wish my parents had known earlier that I had a congenital problem so it could have been treated early on.
I think I’m going to take her to a specialist. I’m kind of scared because neither time has she had any pain, burning or discomfort while urinating. In fact, she claims that it doesn’t feel different at all. Last year, the only sign we had to go on was the fact that she complained of pain in her lower back. I’m wondering if there might be something going on with her kidneys.
Thanks for all the responses. I’ll update if there’s any news.
Alias, I was EXACTLY like your daughter when I was her age. Even down to the part where there was no pain or burning when I finally did go.
And what worked for me (eventually, after multiple UTIs/year for several years) was to be on a constant low dose of antibiotics for 6 months or so.
I didn’t do the “holding it til I burst” thing until after I’d already had a couple of invasive procedures done (I believe I was 7 or 8 at the time?) and had a hangup about anything to do with going to the bathroom. Turns out nothing was wrong with my kidneys; just needed that low dose of amoxicillin or whatever it was for months and months.
As an adult, I’m prone to getting UTIs and I drink 2-3 liters of water a day and take cranberry extract pills (no sugar) if I feel one coming on. I’m pretty much guaranteed to get a UTI if I’m dehydrated.
I would third the suggestion of a urologist. My pediatrician didn’t know what he was doing and I had problems for years with body issues because of some of the procedures he had done on me - he thought there was something wrong with my kidneys, but didn’t do the long-term antibotic treatment until after he’d already ordered the sonogram and the catheter-with-radioactive-isotopes thing and they came up with bupkis.
Alias, I too get them all the time. I am now a 50 yr old and having been taking anti-biotics daily for years, woohoo, no more infections. I have had countless tests and the results are the same-----nothing organic is wrong-----we don’t know why this happens sometimes-----sucks to be you.
Back pain is a sign of kidney infection (way more serious than an ordinary uti (so I’ve been told, but IANAD)), you want to be really careful about that. I have scarring on my kidneys from infections when I was younger.
I second, third, fourth the rest, take her to a urologist, but if he/she starts laying the blame on your daughter find another one. I was sooooooo sick of the “It’s your fault” thing that I had to put up with for decades.
I had the same problem when I was younger. I just wouldn’t go to the bathroom–I went once–maaaaybe twice–a day. And, boy, did I get bladder infections. Those things really burned sometimes, though they weren’t as bad as your daughter’s (never had to go to the hospital because of them).
It persisted on and off until I got my first period. I think that was because I got used to being in the bathroom more frequently. I haven’t had one since.
What you can do is try to get her into a routine. It won’t be easy while she’s in school, but if you can, say, get her to go after every meal, when she goes to bed, and when she gets home from school, she’ll be emptying her bladder regularly. Don’t know if it’d help, but it’d at least let you know if that was the problem.
FWIW, I rarely have pain when I have an infection. My kidney hurts when I sleep too long (I think because I’m not moving enough) and if I drink grapefruit juice. Otherwise, almost no symptoms at all.
Good luck with the doctor. Knowing is better than not knowing.
I too am prone to UTIs. What works for me is cleaning my groin several times a day with alcohol gel (Purell) and taking two grams of vitamin C four times a day. The vitamin C keeps the urine acidic and inhibits bacterial growth. I don’t know if that much would be safe for a child. The Purell may not mix well with feminine parts either :eek:
That sounds like it would hurt like hell. If I made my daughter use purell on her girl parts, I don’t think she’d ever trust me again. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Sorta related.
My cousin, who is now in her twenties, always cried when she went pee as an infant.
It took a couple of years to figure out that she had two Urethra’s (I’m sure I spelled that wrong and probably named the wrong pee-tube) and neither of them worked right.
This is a comment from my girlfriend who just read this thread:
In addition to what everyone else has said, don’t give your daughter baths, especially bubble baths. The 9 year old girl I babysit has had them multiple times (mostly due to drinking nothing but root beer) and the doctor told her to obviously drink more water but NO bubble baths, and instead take showers. She hasn’t had one since.
Alias, after you see the doctor, do some research on a substance called D-Mannose. After my second UTI in a year last year, I wanted to find a way to get rid of these things without using antibiotics - I’m one of those who thinks that less antibiotics is probably a good thing. Anyway, my quickie web research led me to D-Mannose.
D-Mannose is a form of sucrose (sugar, that is) that’s apparently found naturally in fruits and vegetables. Due to its make-up, it’s not digestible. Some studies have shown that it’s effective in battling UTIs as it apparently binds to the infection-causing bacteria and carries them out of the bladder when you pee. It also works as a preventative as it’ll bind with any bacteria present and carry them out before they can wreak havoc.
It’s a powder which you can take straight or add to drinks or water. And since it’s a form of sugar, it’s sweet and tastes pretty good. My directions say to take a teaspoon in 6 oz of water every two hours (to a max of 7 doses) the first day of a UTI, then taper that down for the next two days. A maintenance preventative dose is 1 tsp/day.
There aren’t a lot of studies out there, but the ones that I was able to find convinced me to at least give it a try. And I haven’t had one since, but I don’t know that I can really attribute that to the D-Mannose or just general practices and luck. My container is marketed under the name “UTI Edge” but there are others. You can also find it under generic names, which are probably cheaper.
After you see her doctor and find out what’s what there, maybe it’s something to try. Do a little bit of research and see if you like what you read. I’ve found it worth it, so far, tho’ I am still somewhat skeptical.
