UTI in Babies

[pgs]

My daughter is going to be 9 months in few days and has been diagnosed with Urine Infection 3 times in the last 2 months.

As much as we know that we follow very strict hygiene for her, I am a bit worried about what is causing this exactly.

Cutting the long story short, after a series of check ups by our Pediatrician, we recently had a checkup with a Pediatric Nephrologist and he ordered a MCU and a DMSA Scan for her. I understand that these are necessary to rule out the possibility of a reflux and to know whether or not there is scarring in the kidney and I am well informed about the details of this. MCU can only be done about 3-4 weeks after the recent infection and a DMSA can only be done after about 3 months, what I am really concerned about is the actual experience of going through this. The doctor has put my daughter on a mild dose antibiotic (once everyday) until we go for the test and according to him we can do either of the two first of course a DMSA would require a wait of 3 months. I am worried coz besides the pain, this involves radiation and is invasive. As per the doctor this is really important for my baby and I understand this but it would be great if any of you can share your experiences, if any, with me. Is there anything we should be prepared for? Any hospital/clinic that is recommended for this? Your advice and help is greatly appreciated!

 

[sweetevil]

Yes, microbes are the cause of it but it's not common. Check with your doctor first before treatment.

Urine infections are usually caused when bacteria (germs) get into the bladder or urethra.

In young babies, urine infections are more common in boys than girls, but in toddlers and older children, girls are more likely to have the infections.

 

[nov_etoile]

hi PGS, my son had UTI too when he was 1.5mths old.

( he went for MCU when he was 4 mths old and was diagnosed with grade 3 reflux in right kidney. left kidney ok. Will be going for DMSA in June. Dun worry too much abt the MCU, my baby did cry but probably bcos he was being held down rather than pain. if its too much for u to bear, ask ur hubby to go in instead. my baby was his usual self when we got home from the procedure. Xrays supposedly low dose if u r worried abt radiation. Im more worried abt DMSA as it requires sedation.

however just tell urself its necessary and for the good of ur child. I went to KK hospital as i suppose they have more experience in handling such cases. My son is also on long term antibiotics now. PD did give us the option of not taking antibitoics and instead monitoring him for unusual high fever but we decided to put him on antibitotics as he did not have another episode of UTI since he is on it. pd says if he does not have another episode of UTI after 2 yrs, we can assume that he outgrew the problem naturally. I understand u must be very worried now, i am too but we just have to do our best to take care of our baby and hope for the best. if u need to tok further, can PM me.

 

[chelsa1980]

My son has gone through all these tests. He had fits due to high fever from UTI.

We went to a private hospital and paid more than $200 for consultation and medication. The PD did not even check his urine sample. The nose swap came back negative and his throat is not swollen, thus my son is not suffering from flu.Shouldnt the PD have order more tests? I was so angry with the doctors of that hospital as this was not the first time I found their doctors to be negligent. First time, the doctors prescribe the wrong dosage of medication for my son and now the second time, not checking my son properly!

That night, my son went into fits. We sent him to KK who confirmed that he has UTI. For DMSA, your child will most probably be sedated as it is important for the patient to keep still during the scanning. The only pain will come from the injection of the radioactive isotope. After your child wakes up from the sedation, you have to be mindful when carrying him as he will be giddy and his head will move around uncontrollably.

 

[bakaholic]

Chelsa,
How old was your son when he did the MCU? I am still holding back the test cos we think it could be due to the foreskin. His is a bit tight. He has 1 uti at 5 mths old and then 1 case of "likely uti" few mths back (he is now 19 mths) as the lab forgot to do culture (can you believe that?)

Our pd advise us if it recurs again, then we have to do mcu.

 

[chelsa1980]

Bakaholic,
My son had it only once when he was about 11 mths old. The specialist at kk ordered him to go thru all tests to ensure everything is alright due to his fits ,

I'm not sure about u. I would want to do all tests to make sure my child is alright. If there is reflux etc. I can then get treatment early.

 

[bakaholic]

Chelsa,
We had bad experience in kkh on his first uti infection thus we pretty much hesitant with the tests they suggested.
We went back to pd after that and she didn't insist on the mcu but we did an ultrasound which turns out fine. She did mention the foreskin issue thus we monitoring the issue.

 

[chelsa1980]

bakaholic,

Oooh. I had a bad experience at a private hospital instead and a highly recommended PD in the forum. They failed to diagnosed my child and order further tests even though the nose swap came back negative.

KK was the hospital who diagnosed my child correctly. He was warded for a week. My subsequent visits to KK A & E when my child has a fever, the nurses will order a urine test just to make sure he did not have a relapse.


PD at KK insisted that we send my boy for all tests to rule out all possibilities.

Do note that KK may 'extract' the urine out using a syringe. Usually, they will put a urine bag in the diaper to collect the urine however, that method has a high chance of contimination especially when the child poo. With that urine sample, they will run further tests to identify the bacteria that is causing the UTI. Only then will KK prescribe the antibiotics. KK do nt prescribe antibiotics to children below one except for serious conditions. Hence, they will only prescribe anti-biotics to the child to target the bacteria causing the UTI.

Your child may scream. My boy need 4 nurses to pin him down. :X

 

[holybaby]

I had gone UTI experiences with my BB boy 21 years ago. At that time BB only 3 months.According to the doctor, UTI is caused by back flow of urine into the bladder (check-valve mul-function) causes the infection. Normally happen only to BB girl due to shorter urinal path. For BB Boy is very rare, as the urinal path is longer, back flow seldom happen. He was hospitalised for 10 days as test needed to be done to ensure the bacterias did not multipled. 2 hourly checked on his body temparature to ensure it didn't exceeding 39 deg C at home when he discharged from hospital. High fever can cause brain damage to the BB. The symtom overcome by itself when BB grown, as they have a stronger bladder. Take good care.

 

[shiseru]

My baby had UTI when she was 3 months, on mild dose antibiotic and had DMSA done when she was 8 months+. My baby slept so no need sedation. Only when they tried to insert the plug prior to the procedure baby was being pressed down so she cried. I requested someone with experience to do so becoz my baby was a little on the chubby side (breastfeed baby) so it was a challenge trying to find the veins, and there was the horrible experience during her hospitalization, 2 different groups of people tried to insert the plug for half an hour imagine my baby was crying non stop, I almost went berserk! Other than that, everything went pretty smoothly and thank god, the results from DMSA came back cleared (no scarring nor reflux)

Take good care. Hope all is well.