Hi moms,
My 2 1/2 yr old daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night indicating her vagina is hurting. This happens very sporadically and she will sometimes go 3 weeks without waking up and other times she will wake up 3 times/wk, it only happens in the middle of the night and she never complains about it during the day. My remedy has been a bath (at 2 am in the morning) and some vagisil. She then drifts back off to sleep. I've recently made sure she has a bath before bed. My initial thought was a yeast infection but wouldn't the symptoms get progressively worse if this was the case? I also think it's strange that her symptoms only occur in the middle of the night...........any insight is truly appreciated. Thanks so much ~ Sheri
Thanks so much to everyone for your input, I wanted to post what her problem was so others that may have the same symptoms can get help soon. Turns out she had pinworm - yuck - poor thing. Her symptoms were classic - especially the waking up in the middle of the night b/c that's when they lay their eggs - gross - I know, this causes the itching and irritation. I actually saw the worm (and didn't initially believe it when I did). It has nothing to do with cleanliness and can be transmitted by pretty much anything - door handles, towels, shopping carts. Children are generally at more risk. My little girl does not go to daycare or really isn't around other children often so it would have never crossed my mind to check for something of this nature until I learned the specifics. In any event we got the script and she slept soundly the first night . Thanks again for everyones input!
As gross as it sounds, pinworms are very common. They become active at night when they crawl out to lay eggs around the anus. Some kids perceive it as "pain" rather than itching. They can also apparently travel to the vagina.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002137/
If you can, get her checked out by q doctor. It could be something or it could be that she wants attention at 2 am and knows she will get it this way.
My daughter was going through the same thing, Turns out she had UTI (Urinary track infection) and the baths only made it worse. Took her to the doctor and they gave us some antibiotics cleared it up right away, But I had to talk to my daughter about wiping the correct way. Turns out she was wiping from back to front, taking all those germs and causing the UTI..Defiantly take her to the doctors before it gets worse..Good Luck
A yeast infection for a toddler would have similar symptoms to that in an adult. Does she have extra white on white discharge and does her private area itch?
She says it hurts so it doesn't sound like a yeast infection.
Have you looked at that area to see if there is any irritation? She may be rubbing to hard if she plays with herself and thus irritating this sensitive tissue.
I'd take her to the doctor to have it checked.
Our daughter used to get this every once in a while, I would wipe her with a baby wipe, place the Vagisill cream on her and then diaper creme on top of it.
Make sure when she does get out of the tub that she was really dry.
Also she would get hot in her (diapers) panites and pants or leggings, so I think it kept it kind of moist down there.
You will think I am crazy... but,
When she indicates "her vagina is hurting"... how does she do this? Does she point down there and say it hurts; or does she cry in agony and yell/whine it hurts? My daughter used to wake up an hour after she fell asleep (very sporadically, just as you describe) literally writhing in pain. It was spasmodic pain.. not constant. I tried baths, too, and sometimes they seemed to help, sometimes not. We went to the doctor I don't know how many times... swabbing for or trying to get a clean catch to check for UTIs. Were prescribed medication for yeast infections. Etc....
I finally had had enough of watching her suffer, and just knew in my gut that the doctors had it all wrong about UTIs and yeast infections, etc... So I contacted MY gyno's office. Spoke to the nurse/midwife practitioner there, and she suggested I take my daughter down to the children's hospital an hour away, to look at some other possibilities (she was thinking improperly formed internal parts--like a shortened something or other-- might be causing the problem). We went.
My child, who had been potty trained since her 2nd birthday, and NEVER had accidents, even over night, and never had ANY potty issues, and was still using the potty every day---- was constipated.
Yep. Constipated. Quite heavily impacted, actually. She still pooped every day, but the doctor said that perhaps she hurried and rushed things a bit too much, and only went enough to stop the urge and not to fully eliminate everything that needed to be eliminated each time. So over time, she was getting impacted.
Her sporadic pains were being caused by the impacted poop pressing against her bladder, causing it to spasm. Now THAT is painful! The regular docs missed it, because they simply asked me if she pooped regularly. Which she did, and I said as much. Well...... the xrays proved that she wasn't getting the job done.
If this sounds like it might be the case with your daughter, I'd be happy to share what the doctor told us to do to remedy the situation. Just PM me.
My dd had similar symptoms starting about that age - had her checked by the doc - no uti, no infections - just very red. She said it was vaginitis - inflammation due to bubble baths, soap, irritations, clothing too tight, etc... Also I notice it's worse for my daughter when she had apple juice or orange juice. Grape was ok.( Basically any acidic foods make it worse). The solution is to eliminate those things that irritate and make sure your daughter is wiping front to back every time, not the opposite.
For the redness and irritation, the doc prescribed Aquaphor creme which you can get over the counter at the pharmacy or HEB. It's a small jar that looks a lot like Vaseline, but it helps heal and protect. We've actually used it for healing other dry skin problems, too. The baths you give her are probably soothing at the time and help calm her and get her back to sleep.
There are so many possibilities, though, she needs to see a doctor.
Good advice from others! It could be any of these things. I would investigate them all. Does she ever grab/itch at her vagina during the day? My daughter has struggled off and on with bacteria in that area. I thought it was yeast but it was bacteria. It is caused from not cleaning well after using the bathroom poo or pee. However, I am the one who always wipes her, so I don't get it. I will say, however, that her school doesn't wipe her after poo or pee. She doesn't do a good job wiping herself so I suspect this happening just one time, is enough to cause a problem. I treat it with an antibiotic ointment and it goes away for at least several days. Anyway, you will see redness in that area if it is yeast or bacterial.
