Urinary Tract Infections

Young children have a greater risk of kidney damage linked to UTIs than older children or adults.

UTIs affect

of children every year.

Annually, pediatric UTI’s account for more than 

office visits in the U.S.

Babies under

old are more likely to have a UTI than older children.

During the first few months of life, UTIs are more common 

than in girls.

UTIs are most
common in children
 under the age of 

girls are more likely to develop a UTI than boys—and girls continue to have a higher risk throughout childhood and the teen years.

1. Pain, burning or a stinging sensation during urination
2. Need to urinate more often, or difficulty getting urine out
3. Urgent need to urinate, or wetting of underwear or bedding by a child who knows how to use the toilet
4. Vomiting, refusal to eat
5. Foul-smelling urine
6. Cloudy or bloody urine
7. Unexplained and persistent irritability in an infant
8. Fever
9. Belly pain in the area of the bladder (generally below the belly button)
10. Side or back pain

1. Not emptying the bladder fully.
2. Waiting too long to urinate.
3. Constipation.
4. Family history of UTIs.
5. Vesicoureteral reflux (VUR)—the backward flow of some urine from the bladder toward the kidneys during urination.
6. Poor wiping techniques.