My friend's 3 year old daughter is plagued by recurrent UTI's. She is under the care of a Nephrologist and has had many tests and radiological procedures.

I was wondering if anyone has had a small child with a similar problem, and if so, were there any natural remedies that you found useful.

Has anybody tried giving cranberries or regular cranberry juice to a child for this reason and if so, did it help to prevent UTI's?

I can't say for sure about kids , but I use the AZO or similar product and lots of water & plain cranberry juice. Works for me.
In fact just got back from picking up some of both for myself.


I would wonder about the child's diet ( too much sugar/bread/treats and not enough fruits/veggies??) & perhaps they need to find out if she has any anomalies that are causing the UTI to occur so often.

If they are inclined to avoid excessive abx use, they should look into naturopathic /homepathic care.

Reoccurring UTI in a child could be an overall body system imbalance or even food sensitivities can set these things off.

2 of my boys when younger were mildly sensitive to dairy ( reoccurring colds and congestion) I didn't want to continually give OTC meds or Rx meds so looked into naturopathic .
The dr suggested a few homeopathic remedies and to limit straight dairy products for a awhile. That worked well and now they have grown out of the problem.

Thank you Jo*Mar. I use cranberry products myself which is why I was wondering if they might help a 3 year old.

I am not familiar with AZO products. Is this a brand name or a variety of products?

Thanks again. I will certainly tell my friend what you said about diet. Her daughter has just come down with yet another UTI. The last was just a few months ago when it was nasty enough to have visible blood in her urine.

It would be nice if there was a simple remedy for this ongoing condition.

It's brand name, the pills aren't big , but might need another way to get a 3 yr old to take it.
http://www.azoproducts.com/

The homeopathic "'cures" are usually dissolved under the tongue and are actually kind of sweet so my boys took them just fine. they thought it was like candy.

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&cp=27&g...w=1360&bih=668

[The use of antibiotics, which while being beneficial to the person in their ability to rid the body of bacteria also play a negative role in their destruction of friendly populations of bacteria which are a normal complement of the digestive and the urinary tract. To repopulate the bladder with these friendly bacteria supplementation with acidophilus is suggested, this supplement can be combined with another bacterial supplement containing another friendly bacterium called bifidus; these supplements will restore the balance of healthy bacteria in the body and help in the recovery from antibiotic action. All these supplements can be utilized while the use of antibiotics is going on; these will not interfere with the action of the antibiotics in anyway.]
http://www.herbs2000.com/disorders/urinary_inf.htm


and
http://www.livestrong.com/article/23...o-prevent-uti/

G'day Koala!

Very difficult situation for such a young child. All those antibiotics. An untreated UTI as you would know can go from being quite mild to very serious in a matter of hours. My daughter nearly died from a kidney infection while being treated. Also, recurrent infections of the urinary tract can cause scarring so the sooner this can be brought under control the better.

My daughter's had problems with this all her life. However, she had/has structural abnormalities in both kidneys and ureters (megaureters). The urine would pool in the megaureters and thus infection would follow. It's a very long story... that's the very short version.

If your friend's daughter has no structural abnormalities like that, then I, like Jo, would have to wonder why she's getting these constant infections.

It's difficult when a they're so young, but making sure the child empties their bladder regularly is very important. Reminders are very important. There is a trick to making sure the bladder is as empty as possible but that would be probably impossible for a 3 year old. Drink lots of water. The cranberries are supposed to help although in my daughter's case they didn't seem to make much difference. Prevention is the key, but just how to do that is complex.

Sorry I can't suggest too much else without knowing if her urinary systems are structurally sound.

P.S.

NO bubble baths.

Scrupulous toilet habits (cleanliness I mean).

A simple thing to look at is bath salts, bubble baths, etc.

These chemicals remove protect mucus secretions in that area.

Sometimes mothers are too fastidious with cleaning also.

That would be the first place to start. It is a life style thing that can be easily changed.

I would use only warm water to clean "down there" for a while.

P. P. S.

Has she been checked for Reflux? (Vesicoureteral Reflux)

http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseas...ralreflux/#how

Thank you ladies. I'll forward that information about AZO to my friend so she can look into it, and I know that she is fastidious with cleanliness. Maybe too fastidious?

Her daughter's last Xray scan showed that she has does have kidney reflux so there is a mechanical reason for the recurrence, but at the same time it would be nice if there was a way to keep these infections to a minimum. She gets so sick with each one.