Has Anyone's Infant (Less than 3 Months Old) Had a Urinary Tract Infection?

Hey J.,

My daughter had her first UTI at about that age. Then, she had more unexplained fevers that we couldn't attribute to anything else. With some testing, we determined that she had Kidney Reflux. Instead of the kidneys eliminating everthing and emptying themselves, they would suck back in a tiny amount of urine. Because of this, it would cause the infection/UTI. It's something that many babies have and they will eventually outgrow it. However, to prevent further infections and pain, our doctor prescribed a low-grade antibiotic that we had to give her daily for about a year. She didn't have anymore UTIs and did eventually outgrow it.

This runs in the family, so if she has Kidney Reflux and you have more children with unexplained fevers, get them tested too.

Good luck!

Hi J.,
I just went through this with my 2 year old. She had her first UTI and we went for the ultrasound first. It was fairly easy although GHS/Greenville radiology is very slow and they are the only ones with a pediatric radiologist. It took us over 2 hours to get a 5 minute procedure completed. So bring things to keep you and her occupied. We then went to see Dr Teague, a pediatric urologist who was nice as can be. He is very good with children. We then went over the ultrasound results with him. Her ultrasound did not show any signs of renal reflux so we elected to wait on the VCUG. There is so much radiation involved that if she has another UTI we will get it, but we don't want to subject her to that without absolute medical necessity. They are the equivalent to about 1000 chest xrays in radiation. It is good that your pediatrician is being proactive looking for this because it is not normal for children under 5 to get uti's according to Dr Teague. Good luck and have a great weekend!

Hi J., my daughter went through the same thing. She was two months old when she was first diagnosed with a UTI. She started out with a fever and that was it, but after three days I took her in and she had the UTI. They also put my daughter through the same test to check and make sure her kidneys were functioning properly, they did an ultrasound and the injecting dye into her system. Everything turned out alright and she is now a healthy 8 year old. It is just a formality to check everything since she is so young. Just remember when changing her to wipe front to back, that is all the advice they gave me when my daughter had the UTI. Some girls are more susceptible to having them, my daughter has had UTI's a few more times after the first one. I have another daughter who is 3 and she has never had one. It will be alright and just be there to comfort her through the test.

Hi J.,
At 2 1/2 weeks of age my son started running a high fever 102.5. We rushed him to the ER to find out he had the rare UTI for an infant and was admitted to the hospital. We spent 7 days in the hospital. It was tougher on me than on him. He did have swollen kidneys that did not go down until about 9 mos. but beside that he no lingering effects of it. He was on antibotics for 10 days. 7 by IV in the hospital and then 3 days orally at home. It was rough and scary but now at 2 1/2 years old you would never know that he had a rough start in the beginning. I was petrifide for the rest of the time until he turned 3 mos. I was so afraid he was going to run another fever and be put back in the hospital. It is a very special but scary time for new parents. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Kim

Yes, we went through this with my daughter. I really can't remember her exact age but she was under one. We went through all the tests you described and had to have catheters often for suspected infections. In the end she did have reflux so we went to a specialist that said our options were medicine, wait it out then surgery if the problem persisted. We took the recommended medicine, waited and the problem went away by itself. Apparently the muscle can grown and become stronger to solve the problem. Good luck and hope this helps.

My daughter started with them at 18 months. We did all the right caring with regard to bath and potty cleaning and it did not change anything. We started treating for yeast along with bacteria (using Nystatin and herbals) and have not had one since 2 - she is 4 now. My ped does not agree with me on the result, but the result is the result. You can test her for yeast using an OAT test. Also, make sure you use proibotics for two weeks following the antibiotic or it will just worsen your problem. You can read on these. Did the UTI develop shortly after first vaccine set? Sounds wierd, but my daughter had two vaccine reactions and then the UTI's started. Just a thought. J.

J.,
My daughter has also had a UTI, and went through all the same stuff. She has reflux in one of her kidneys, but all that she has to do is take some medicine orally once a day for a year and then we go back for the same test in a year to see if it has corrected itself. When you go in for testing just bring some toys, books, etc... to keep your baby occupied while they do the VCUG. They will tell you that when they figure out the reflux thing this early that usually it will correct itself, but the daily medicine will help the baby not to get a UTI in the meantime. I hope this helps you and if you would like to talk about it more just let me know :)

A.

I had this when I was younger but I was older than 3 months according to my mother. And it was because of soaps and bath water.

I would also recommend giving your daughter water to drink. I remember when I had my own child they said do not give her water just milk. But I have family that is from the old school and we gave her water and that kept the white coated tongue, yeast infections and UTI at bay.

Yes J., we have and are going through this right now. My daughter is now 4 and she was diagnosed with a bladder reflux last year. We found out she had a UTI because of a high fever and pain when she urinates. We took her to the doctor and they ordered the VCUG as well. They told us that she has a stage 2 of bladder reflux and usually when it is that low, they end up growing out of it. So they put her on bactrim once a day for an entire year (it is a low dosis), just to prevent another UTI. She took that for a whole year and we just went last month to repeat the VCUG and although she grew out of it on her right kidney, she still has a stage 2 on her left one. So we are going to keep her on the anibiotic for another year and repeat next year. Hopefully by then, she'll be fine. It really is not a big deal. She has gotten used to the medicine every night and always expects it. We just have to be careful with sun exposure, but that's all. Good luck with your baby and I'll keep my fingers crossed that her statging won't be high. Take care,
G.

Why r u not asking the doctors about uti i do know it can be caused by setting in a dirty or wet diaper too long and or not wiping ur daughter the correct way or it could also be that she is allergic to the type of diapers u r using

I went through this with my daughter when she was about 10wks old. She was put on meds and the DR had all the tests that you mentioned run. The meds cleared up the UTI. The tests showed that everything was okay with her bladder and her kidneys. She had a few more UTIs while still under a year old. But we made it through them. It was determined that she had a lot of different allergies. Some were to food and some were to topical items (powders, soaps, fabric softners, certain diapers and wipes). So I had to monitor those things and it helped a lot. The good news is that she is 14 1/2 yrs old and I can still count the number of UTIs on both hands.
I wish you luck and hang in there. The VCOG will be tough, for you and her. But it is best to get those results and know what you are dealing with.

I have heard of this before and yes it is a sign of renal reflux. But normally DRs don't start putting that into the table till the child has had several UTIs. It could be your daughter's age though. Oh, and renal reflux can be outgrown by children as well, normally around age 3 to 4yrs old. Also, watch out for SULFA containing meds for UTIs. A lot of people (myself included) are highly allergic to it!! It makes getting good meds for UTIs a pain in the rear cause there aren't as many made without it but my reaction is that I get very weak in the arms and legs where I can't even stand up to pull my pants up and down to go to the bathroom!! So just keep a good on your your little one. A good website to go to for information is www.drugs.com where you can check for reactions, side effects and general info on any OTC and script meds.

Also, did her DR talk to you guys about properly caring for a girl in the 'down there' area? No long baths, sitting in soappy water, wiping from top to bottom during diaper changes?? And make sure your daycare is wiping her properly too!!! You'd be amazed at how many people don't wipe properly!!

Good luck and keep us posted!! I hope it is only a one time thing for the UTI and that nothing else is wrong!!
~S.

I've never gone through this, but, I know that with girls, sitting in the tub with the soap, shampoo etc. can cause UTIs and bladder infections. Do you bathe her really frequently? It is great that your pediatrician is taking this so seriously and listening to your concerns. Good luck and I hope you find the culprit soon!

E.