My 2 year old daughter is sick with what I suspect is a sinus infection. We could not get an appointment with her pediatrician until Monday. The ER and urgent care doctors around here are not the best, so I am trying to hold out to see her dr. Other than a runny nose, congestion, and being fussy, she seems ok. She is not eating or drinking as much as usual, but she is drinking. I have been offering her water, gatorade, juice, etc all day.
However, when I changed her first diaper this morning I noticed that it was not as wet as usual and her urine was dark. I took note of that and have been keeping an eye on her all day. She is still running around and playing, but her diapers have not been very wet at all. My husband thinks I am overreacting. What should I do? She does not have any other signs of dehydration. Could she have a uti? I've never had anything like this happen with her before so I am unsure how to proceed. TIA for any insight and advice!
Popsicles and water! Sounds like dehydration, but as long as she is still wetting some that is good. If she is not peeing at all or has no tears when she cries you need to take her in for iv fluids.
Keep pushing fluids. What you are describing are classic signs of dehydration. Give popcicles, milkshakes, fruits like watermelon/grapes/oranges - anything that will hydrate her that she will gladly and willingly accept.
This information is from a website:
"The color of urine is also different throughout the day. Since the urine sits in the bladder throughout the night, when we first get up in the morning and urinate, the strong concentration of the urine that had accumulated during the night might make the pee appear orange, but that is just a normal occurance of the typically yellow colored urine. If you are curious why the urine is usually yellow, it is because of a chemical called urobilin.
So if you experience orange urine in the mornings, it is probably ok and you may do well do drink more water or other non-caffeinated fluids. If you see darker urine colors like brown urine it may be more of a concern because chances are there is more in the urine than just the concentrated urobilin."
The more your little one drinks the better. Darker urine in the morning isn't always a bad sign. Kids who are potty trained and hold it all night can have darker urine in the morning. Just keep an eye on her.
I hope she'll be feeling better soon!
dark urine is TYPICALLY the sign of dehydration.
use popscicles, juice pops, anything with fluid in them for her to suck out.
If she spikes a fever and doesn't have a wet diaper for more than 6 hours, I would take her in.
Keep offering fluids or things with fluids like fruits or popsicles till her urine is clear. Cloudy urine is much more concerning than dark urine. Keep that in mind.
Sounds like dehydration to me too, but not serious as long as she is still active. My doctor told me that it is the salt and sugar in Gatorade that helps your body absorb more of the water. They learned this through studies on Cholera epidemic victims.
So a few salty crackers and something sweet will help her use the water she is getting more efficiently. Juice is better than nothing, but not nearly as good as plain ol' water.
You are not over reacting. The color of the urine is determined by the amount of fluid she is consuming. The combination of the dark color and the not so wet diaper indicates that she is edging towards dehydration. See if you can get more fluids in her. Offer her a drink every hour. Make it fun to have the drink.
Dehydration.
Look up dehydration in kids.
Not good.
Drink liquids.
You are not overreacting. Dark urine is a sign of dehydration. You need to offer her fluids every hour and supplement that with popcicles, jello, etc.. in between. If she isn't improving by morning get her to the ER. Also, if she starts getting worse, take her to the ER immediately. Kids can compensate for a long time and then crash. I know this from experience, I am a paramedic and a mom of 2! Hope this helps.
Maybe I'm being too calm about this, but my impression was that as long as the diaper is wet you are ok. Our pediatrician told me to worry if I have no wet diapers in 8 hours for a toddler. Plus, I'm assuming you are using disposables, which are so absorbent that you may not really be able to tell how wet she is.
Also, if her more recent diapers were not dark I don't think you have to worry. I've also noticed that when I give my son medicine or drinks with dyes in them they often come through in his pee.
You could also try calling the pediatrician and talk to the nurse on call if you are still worried.
She needs more water...LOTS more water. Dehydration...
I don't think you are overreacting. My daughter had dark urine once when she was less than 2 months old (she's 4 months now). My pedi said she wasn't getting enough fluids, which in this case is breast milk, which meant she was on her way to dehydration. So I had to supplement with breast milk in a bottle.
Sounds like signs of dehydration. Water, water and more water. Gatorade is ok too. Stay away from juice. You may want to try some pedialite. See if she'll suck on a popsicle. As long as you're getting a wet diaper (even if it's not as wet as usual), your ok.
Have her drink water. She'll be fine.
The urine is dark how? orange, red, brown?
My baby had brown urine when he was born and it was a bilirubin problem.
Dark orange... Probably dehydrated.
Either way fluids are always best for treating things. Give lots of water!
It can be a sign of dehydration and when a kid starts to become dehydrated, oddly, they crave less fluids. Push ANYTHING "liquid" including jello, freezer pops, Kool Aid, brothy soups, watermelon, Pedialite, etc.
gatorade is garbage. It's dye and sugar and will not help to make your child better. For a sinus infection you should avoid all sugars, processed foods and flours and especially dairy products, all dairy products!!! If you're concerned about electrolytes the best choice is coconut water. Make sure, again, you get the plain one without any added sugars. Avoid the juice, too high in sugars and only weaken the immune system.
Pour on the fluids and see if she'll eat watermelon and popsicles. Let her have all she wants! Great "sneaky" hydration methods!
A couple of days of low fluids will probably be ok and since you have an appointment on Monday, you can probably just continue to watch her and see how she is doing. If she is active and happy she is probably ok. One thing we've been told to look for in the past when our son was sick and getting dehydrated was his lips - to they still look moist or are they starting to crack? My son doesn't like to drink water, so I try to give him a tiny bit of juice diluted with a lot of water at meal times and that seems to have worked. Also, he loves watermelon and that seems to do a good quick job.
