2 Yr. Old Daughter with UTI

My daughter is 15 months old and was diagnosised with grade 5 bilateral kidney reflux at the age of 10 months. She just had her 2nd 5 day hospital stay at the Children's Hospital in St. Louis, MO. Kidney reflux allows the urine to back flow into the kidneys. And yes, kidney reflux can be hereditary and 1 in 3 siblings have a chance of being born with it.
A renal untrasound will show the kidneys and any scaring that may have occured (any kidney infection can result in kidney scarring). The VCUG is a test that allows them to inject dye into the bladder and then a series of pictures allows them to watch the urine as the bladder tries to empty. If urine is backing up the test will show it. Grade 1 - 3 kidney reflux usually means the child has a good chance of out growing it. If your child gets reoccuring infections, they may use a low dose of daily antibiotics. Grade 4 is a little more severe and usually requires daily antibiotics. There is still a chance it can be outgrown. Grade 5 is the most severe and there is very little chance of it being outgrown. Antibiotics are started immediately and any fever your child gets has to be checked right away. Grade 5 usually results in surgery to correct the problem.
I would not worry yet. If the test reveals a problem you will be refered to a pedi urologist.
Educate yourself. Google Kidney Reflux in children.
If you find that she does suffer from kidney reflux and you need someone to talk to, you can always send me a private email.

My 2 year old went through a phase of having UTIs almost monthly. She had recently potty trained and her doctor felt this was the primary cause since antibiotics cleared her up very quickly. He advised me to make sure that she remained clean. I got into the habit of laying her on the floor and using a wipe after she uses the toilet. Even though she is very independent, I have to wipe every time she uses the toilet. With me being more aware and making sure that she stays clean we have avoided any further problems.

What you are speaking of is called urinary reflux. You can find more info about it online at sites like Webmd.

My daughter had testing for this after she had recurrent UTI's at the age of two. The last UTI she had before the testing she got very sick with fever and vomiting. They did an ultrasound of her kidneys to check for damage as well as a test called a voiding cystoeurthragram. (VCUG) This test wasn't pleasant, but it confirmed that she did indeed have significant urinary reflux. She was on long-term antibiotics for a year and was retested. The doctors said it was possible that she may outgrow the reflux. We had her retested after a year had passed. The test showed that she had outgrown her reflux. Which we were very happy about!

Has she had other UTI's? If she hasn't had other UTI's you might check with your doctor about holding off on testing until when/if she has another one. (Mine didn't find it necessary to test until she had more than one.)

Be sure not to use bubble bath, as it can cause UTI's

I have commonly gotten UTI's from birth, through toddler/childhood, and now as an adult. It is hereditary if you, as her biological mother, have had known issues yourself. I was recently diagnosed with something called Interstitial Cystitis after much testing by a urologist, which basically means I'm allergic to my own bladder and thus will always have UTI problems, but I'm controlling it mostly through diet. Women are prone to UTI's however and if you have frequent issues regardless of cause, your daughters probably will too. My dd frequently got UTI's and yeast infections until about one to one and a half years ago two pediatricians at her practice concurred that she should begin by never allowing her to sit in water that has ANY amount of soap in it. We were instructed to have her soak in a full bath for at least 10 minutes daily, the have her stand up while we let the water out and bath/shampoo her standing up, using ONLY fresh tap water to rinse her off. She has had TWO occurrences since - and both of those occurred after bubble baths at a grandparent's home.

I would not worry at all!! Try bathing her as described above, and if that doesn't seem to have an impact, consider changing her diet (women should avoid sodas, caffeine, and acidic foods/drinks - thus so should young ones). If a diet change is ineffective (keeping in mind that cranberry juice could very easily exacerbate the problem given its acidity), THEN I would take her back to a pediatrician for examination. However, I would be concerned with whether i was with the right pediatrician for my family since they went immediately to worst case scenario and most expensive/drastic intervention or diagnosis method.

Good Luck!! Don't worry too much :)

yes, they tried to have us go to the hospital for more testing. I asked what would happen if we waited to see if she got another one they said as long as it cleared up that was fine. This was over 6 months ago and she still hasnt had one. I would tell the doctor you want to wait no reason just yet to put her through that. It IS coming for little girls to get UTI's esp when potty training. Hope this helps!

My friend's daughter had a UTI. Just have her take the medicine and she should be fine. Also, do not give her anymore bubble baths, it's a common cause of UTIs. The only bubble bath brand I use is California Baby, because it's all natural. It's kind of pricey, but worth it. When you think about the cost of the doctor and the medicine and everything else that goes along with UTIs, California Baby is worth it. It's sold at Target and Publix. Good luck.

Yes, I have heard of it. One of my midwifery clients, and two other friends have this problem. The cause of her UTI's may not be the same as yours, but this is her problem: She has a genetic defect wherein her ureters, instead of going straigt from te kidneys down to the bladder, have an "S" curve in them, kinda like the drainpipe under the sink. This causes a reflux of urine which stagnates. If caught early enough, surgery to remove the loop can be done. If not, eventually, many UTI's can take their toll on the kidney, causing scar tissue to build up, decreasing function, until eventually the whole kidney must be removed. So please do stay on top of it, as many UTI's can be symptomless. Both of you should have your urine checked frequently, and put on OTC urinary antiseptics orprescription ATB whenever the urine strips (which you can buy at the pharmacy) show nitrites.