3 1/2 Year Old Girl

Hi there, Besides a doc appt, when she has a bath, don't use bubble bath, many little girls have problems with that in the water. Maybe buy some Aveeno products for the bath, they are very soothing. Also, try giving her a good cranberry juice not loaded with sugar, Northland is an excellent brand, I know Luckys sells it.
And always lots of water. You have gotten good advice on what to put on the area. good luck!

I have had the same problem... and for us was mostly a wiping problem. A bath then cream overnight always fixed the soreness.

I suggest that she may have a yeast infection. This is a possibility even for very little girls. I'd take her to the pediatrician.

Yeast infection is an internal infection and is not related to cleanliness.

My dd get the same problem which is due to yeast, i was asked to put anti fungal cream & I give her loads of yogurt (if not u can buy priobiotic capsules) which helps a lot.

But its always best to get her checked by her ped

It could be that she is actually bathing too often. Two baths in one day is a lot. If you use bubbles it can be very irritating to a girl's privates. Also, they should never be washed with soap of any kind. Just warm water.

If you are not using soap or bubbles in the bath, then I would suggest taking her to the doc to check for yeast.

Sounds very similar to what my daughter looked like when I started to let her wipe herself. She was not doing a good enough job and the urine left on her was irritating her skin. Dr. said it's very common at that age/stage. My pharmacist said to mix hydorcortisone and Neosporin (a dab of each and just mix them on your fingers). Between that and helping to make sure she wiped better it cleared right up. I think maybe we expect them to be able to wipe unassisted too early. I also encourage her to use wet wipes after the toilet paper to help clean things up.

T., get her to the pedi doctor asap it could be a yeast infection and you as a woman know how much that hurts.
We have learned that we had to change back to baby soap or use clear and free soaps to do our daughters laundry becasue it was a problem for her. Hope she is better soon.

For my now 10 year old daughter we still use a peri-bottle (the one you get after giving birth to rinse the vaginal area after peeing to keep episiotomy clean) after every bath. Bath foam or just sitting in water with soap can be irritating. Then we use vaseline to put on the outside of the vulva before she goes to sleep. We went to the doctor many times but never a urinary tract infection - the doctor explained that it can hurt because of bad pee going over good skin, or good pee going over bad skin. She had the sensitive skin from not wiping well (school tissue is hard so she said she just pats herself dry which leaves urine to irritate the skin).
BUT if it smells it can possible be a vaginal infection. Best to have a doctor check it out and then continue with the protective cream.

My daughter is also 3 1/2, and has had the same problem (repeatedly). I've been told to make sure that she bathes every day, but without any kind of soap in the water. The important thing is to make sure the bacteria (which is likely creating the problem) is cleaned out, but that she's not irritated further by soaps, etc. Good luck!

I have a 3.5 year old daughter and I can guarantee you that she isn't wiping well. I'd bathe her at night, make sure she is dry, and use a little diaper cream (I really like Wedela's Calendula Cream or Boudreaux's Butt Paste). The residual cream will help protect her during the day. Repeat for a day or two, if she shows no improvement, defintely call the doctor.

Increase the amount of water and cut way back on any juice or other sugar in her diet. Avoid any soap in her vagina...just rinse with warm water.

You have received lots of good advice here. Also cranberry juice helps (no sugar) and acidophollis tablets or yogurt.This does sound like a yeast infection.The lotromin cream should help. If not call the dr.Hope she feels better.

Hi T.,
This happened to my daughter too. It could be that she is not wiping herself properly but I bet it's a yeast infection. Our Ped suggested Lotrimin foot fungal cream applied twice a day. After the second time using it she felt better. I think I applied it for 5 days. You may also try having her take a shower while this is going on. Baths seem to make things worse. Good luck and I hope your daughter finds relief soon.

It could be a urinary tract infection or yeast infection. Which are very common when they are learning how to wipe properly. Smell might mean yeast? Take her to her pediatrician. Untreated UTIs can hurt the kidneys.

Yeast infection. Even my son gets those from time to time. Excess yeast occurs naturally and is expelled through that area. Go to the doc to be sure, and they will likely perscribe a soothing healing cream, but it takes forever to completely heal. Then keep vaseline on her to keep the wastes from making contact with her skin. You could teach her to put the vaseline on herself before she washes her hands. Drinking water - the more the better.

It could be yeast infection. Get her checked out by a doctor. Half her body weight in ounces of good water is recommended to flush toxins out of her body. Give her more alkaline food. Keep her acidic level down.

Good luck.

N. Marie

You've gotten great advice already, but I'll add my 2 cents anyway :o) My daughter also had this issue a couple times when first dealing with wiping by herself. We would make sure we got the area clean in the bath (with J&J Head-to-Toe wash), then use our Desitin Creamy diaper cream on the area overnight. She was always better the next day. This happened maybe 3 times to us. But I agree with others, at this point you should take her to the doctor because it might be more than a minor external rash issue. The other thing I'll add is that some soaps (especially some bubble baths) wash away good bacteria in the body which can cause infections, as someone else mentioned. I found this out the hard way myself -- ouch! So for my daughter (who loves bubbles, of course) I've only let her have a bubble bath in California Baby Bubble Bath -- it's a little pricey but available at Target in the baby section, they have a few different scents, and they do not contain the harsh ingredients that wash away the good bacteria. So if you happen to have a bubble bath addict, you don't have to take that away from her, you just need soap that won't cause issues, like the Cal. Baby kind. Hope that helps and best of luck!

My 3 year old has an odor down there and our pedi said to add 1 cup of vinegar to her bathwater about once a week. Is the pain on the inside when she has to pee or the outside? If it actually hurts when she goes pee then you should call your pedi. If it is due to wiping my friend took her daughter to the pedi for this and they said that when kids are going pee they are also holding themselves on the potty (if they don't have something to put their feet on). Using the muscles to hold themselves on the potty causes all the pee not to come out. So, when she stands up there is more pee that comes out. I lifted my feet of the ground when I was peeing and found that what he said is true. So I make sure my daughters feet are all the way on the step stool when she pees and that she is not goofing off or anything so all the pee leaves her body.
Best of luck,
C.

It sounds like it could be a yeast infection. Take her to her ped just to make sure.

Rather than guessing, why not make an appointment with the pediatrician? I'm sure they see this all the time.

Mom, I would call the Pediatrician and get an appt., she may have a urinary tract infection.

At this point, go to the pediatrician. She may have a UTI, urinary tract infection. Don't try to treat at home since you are not really sure if it is external, internal or both. I also don't recommend anything like douching since this removes the good bacteria that her body needs (unless prescribed by the doctor). Good luck.

Take her to the doctor!

When I was a child my mother cured these types of things on me and my sister by putting golden seal directly on the red area. It stains-- so use black underwear. It really helped cure the problem (if it isn't yeast-- if it is you might try a vinegar/water rinse and/or applying fresh, plain yogurt directly on the area).

i think you should first make sure she is wiping well and push the water. If she's at home, let her go without pants for a little while to get some air to it.

Does she have a yeast infection maybe? Time to go to the dr to be safe!

Hi T.
it sounds to me like most likely has a urinary tract infection. she is not cleaning herself very well. I think she is too young to clean herself properly. also if she takes lots of baths make sure you don't often give her bubbles in the bath as they can cause urinary tract infections. I would most definitely have her seen by her pediatrician, they will put her on antibiotics and she should be fine, but if left untreated can be dangerous and obviously very painful. good luck
S.

When I was a little girl, I had this problem too. Don't know why it happened but it sounds like exactly the same thing I had. My grandmother gave me this ointment called Bacitracin. Its a little different than Neosporin (I think) and worked so much better for me back then, and even better now for my daughter. When my daughter just got an abscess on her butt, (don't know why), I put Bacitracin on it and within two days it was gone. I got mine OTC at Kaiser but you can get it anywhere that has a pharmacy I am sure.

I hope this helps