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Bad smelling urine in children. The pungent smell of urine in a child causes and treatment

The birth of a child in most families is a joyful and long-awaited event. Every mother does not want her beloved baby to get sick and feel unwell. Daily hygienic care, proper nutrition, providing the necessary thermal regime - all this helps the child grow up healthy and strong. But, unfortunately, sometimes the baby starts to get sick, and parents do not always notice the inflammatory process. The urine of a baby can immediately answer many questions related to children's well-being and health. Therefore, during the examination, which takes place at 3 months after the birth of the baby, the pediatrician is assigned to conduct a urine test.

What should I look for in the results of a child's urine test?

Currently, there are more and more commercial medical institutions that have their own laboratories. Many parents turn to them to do a urine test of an infant. After that, they receive a sheet in which the results are indicated. Sometimes there are standards in front of the received data, sometimes not. It is worth noting that the norms for an adult are usually indicated, so at first it may seem that the tests are bad. Parents should understand the regulations for infants so as not to panic in advance.

The main indicators that you should focus on are various cells, cylinders, epithelium, mucus and salt crystals.

Quite often, some salt content is found in the results of a urine test, which should not cause much panic. Salt crystals in the urine of an infant are often detected by examining the urinary sediment. Salt excretion depends on children's activity, nutritional habits. In newborns, an increase in some varieties of these crystals (urates and ammonium urate) is the norm.

Even a small number of leukocytes in the urine of an infant is already dangerous, as it can be caused by diseases of the kidneys and urinary system. Young mothers need to remember that a diagnosis is not made based on one positive test, the child is sent for re-testing. The child should be well washed at the next urine collection to eliminate the possibility of incorrect results. Doctors call several circumstances that can cause the appearance of leukocytes in an infant. One or another type of leukocytes is responsible for various diseases:

  • lymphocytes signal connective tissue diseases.
  • eosinophils may be a sign of chronic pyelonephritis.
  • neutrophils provoke various bacterial infections.

If your child still has confirmed the presence of leukocytes in the urine, do not despair. Usually, an early-stage urinary tract infection is treated with short-term antibiotics. Of course, such medications are not desirable for taking by young children, but still some medications do not have contraindications for age. After the course of treatment, the procedure for passing urine must be repeated. This is due to the fact that some bacteria have persistent resistance to antibiotics. The most famous and accurate is the urine test according to Nechiporenko.

Collection of urine

The reliability of the results of the analysis depends on the correctness of the collection of urine from an infant. It may seem to young parents that they may have difficulties, but this is not at all the case. The main requirement is that urine should be in the morning and after hygiene procedures.


 collection of urine from infants

Ideally, freshly collected urine does not have an unpleasant odor - this statement is equally true for both an adult and a child. Specifically, it begins to smell about 15 minutes after collection, due to the fact that the urea in it decomposes under the influence of bacteria.

A person may not always notice deviations from the norm in his urine - for example, changes such as cloudiness of the liquid, color changes or the presence of sediment are not always visible, and not everyone pays attention to this. But a sharp, unpleasant odor immediately after urination is impossible to miss.

Such phenomena are especially alarming for the parents of a small child - even one that spends almost all the time in a diaper. The fetid urine of the baby is a reason to see a doctor for tests and examinations. The final diagnosis can only be made by a specialist.

Ammonia is a substance that is formed in the body as a result of the deamination of compounds that were formed due to an insufficient amount of carbohydrates, organic diseases, and an excess of proteins.

When the urine smells like ammonia in a child, it is necessary to inform the doctor about this.

The most common reasons

Often, such a phenomenon can be associated with age-related changes in the child's body, the characteristics of his diet, and dietary disorders. The main factors that can provoke the smell of ammonia are:

  • Lack of vitamin D in the body. The climate in our area is such that most babies lack this substance. You can recognize this problem based not only on the fetid smell of urine. Usually, with a lack of vitamin D, a child's hair grows poorly - especially at the back of the head. Other symptoms are also observed - growth retardation, loss of appetite, increased sweating;
  • Respiratory ailments, in which there is a high temperature and dehydration of the body. In this case, the smell of ammonia in the urine of a child can also be caused by medications or antibiotics that he took to cure the underlying disease;
  • Sudden changes in the diet - for example, in a baby whose mother has introduced a new product into her menu, or is experimenting too boldly with the "tasting" of various products. Overeating, introducing a new dish to complementary foods - all this can cause a strong smell of urine;
  • Prolonged lack of urination, eating garlic or asparagus.

Poor-quality diapers can also provoke a problem. The same can be said about not fresh and dirty clothes. Liquid droplets interact with bacteria and begin to give off a stench.

Even if you are sure that the unpleasant smell of urine is not a pathology in your baby, you should still consult a doctor. After all, the lack of vitamins and errors in nutrition can seriously harm the health of your child.

Diseases

It is not uncommon for ammonia stench to indicate the presence of serious ailments that require immediate treatment. For example, this:

  • Cystitis - stagnation of fluid in the bladder leads to the multiplication of bacteria and the decomposition of urea;
  • Pyelonephritis - an inflammatory process in the kidneys, a disease of bacterial origin;
  • Urethritis is inflammation in the urethra when viruses infect the walls of the urethra. The main symptom of this disease is burning and pain during urination, pain in the lower back and lower abdomen;
  • Infections - vaginitis, gardnerellosis;
  • Diabetes mellitus also occurs in young children. This ailment is accompanied by increased thirst, frequent urination, loss of appetite, a sharp loss of body weight, and itching of the skin. The smell of ammonia in the urine of a diabetic child is associated with severe dehydration;
  • Hepatitis, or liver damage;
  • Tuberculosis;
  • Poisoning, during which the baby is tormented by severe vomiting and diarrhea. Because of them, the body loses a lot of water.

Parents pay special attention to the health of their children. Therefore, any changes in well-being do not go unnoticed. But sometimes health problems are indicated not by obvious violations, but by hidden symptoms. These may include changes in the condition of the skin and hair, certain behavioral disorders, deterioration in the quality of sleep, etc. Also, one of the important criteria for health is the normal color and smell of discharge. If you notice an unusual smell of urine in a child, the reasons for its appearance should be of paramount importance to you. Having identified them, you will find out what to do and how to treat your baby.

If changes in the color and smell of urine are of a one-time nature, this usually does not cause any questions from parents. After all, such a phenomenon most likely indicates some natural changes in the diet or not particularly significant disruptions in the activity of the genitourinary system. However, if changes in the smell of urine occur systematically or are observed over several days, it may be worth consulting a doctor.

Strange smell - known causes

Noticeable smell of ammonia

If the child's urine emits a noticeable smell of ammonia, it is worth checking the baby for and for acetonemia. It is worth noting that with diabetes, urine can also smell of apple cider vinegar or ammonia. But the development of such a disease is usually supplemented by other health disorders, for example, increased thirst, weight loss, dry skin, urinary frequency disorders, etc. In addition, sometimes the smell of ammonia from urine is a symptom of urinary tract infection.

Urine smells like acetone

If the child's urine emits a subtle or strong smell of acetone, it means that it contains quite a lot of ketone bodies. A similar situation usually occurs with an increase in the amount of ketones in the blood. An increase in the level of acetone can be triggered by emotional or physical stress. And if you have already encountered such a problem with a baby, make sure that he does not starve and does not overwork. If the child is tired, give him something sweet to prevent ketones from entering the urine and blood.

Urine smells like stale fish

Sometimes urine in children emits a characteristic unpleasant odor that resembles rotten fish. Similar symptoms are characteristic of trimethylaminuria. A similar smell in a child indicates the presence of a genetic disease. With such a disease, the amount of trimethylamine in the body increases, and a fishy smell comes from the skin, sweat, exhaled air and urine.

There are other genetic pathologies in which there is a change in the natural smell of urine. So, with phenylketonuria, the secretions smell like mold or mice, with leucinosis - burnt sugar, and with tyrosinemia - cabbage. But, it is worth noting that all these conditions cause other changes in the well-being of the child.

Another reason why urine smells unusual is the reasons for the household plan:

Sometimes the pungent odor and darkening of the urine is due to changes in the water balance, which is possible with insufficient fluid intake or with its intensive loss by the body, for example, with vomiting, fever, or in the heat. Another similar situation is observed at .

The urine of starving children, as well as those who eat improperly or eat certain foods (for example, horseradish, garlic, cabbage or asparagus) has a sharp and unpleasant odor. At an early age, urine can change odor when new foods are introduced or when formula is changed to a new variant.

Urine also begins to smell different (and sometimes quite unpleasant) if the child takes some kind of medication, such as antibiotics.

In young children, the unpleasant smell of urine can be explained by a poor-quality diaper, stale linen, and even rickets, which is quite rare today (occurs when there is a shortage).

In adolescents, the pungent smell of urine can be a symptom of hormonal changes.

Also, a similar phenomenon can be explained by a variety of infectious lesions of the excretory system, represented by cystitis, urethritis, pyelonephritis, etc. And with urine, it not only smells rather unpleasant, but also turns dark (almost brown tones).

If the child's urine smells - what should parents do?

Having found a specific pungent smell of urine in a child, you need to carefully analyze the features of his diet and drinking regimen recently. If there are no visible factors that can cause such symptoms, and if it is observed for several days, it is worth making an appointment with a pediatrician as soon as possible and passing general blood and urine tests. It is extremely important to examine the urine for sugar levels.

If your urine smells like acetone, get special test strips from your nearest pharmacy and conduct an appropriate study. If it gives a positive result, give the baby glucose and call the doctor at home. As a source of glucose, you can use glucose in ampoules or tablets, a decoction of raisins or tea with honey.

In the event that the urine has acquired a pungent odor against the background of high temperature, vomiting, diarrhea and other factors that cause dehydration, it is necessary to drink the baby - let him drink as often as possible in small portions.

If the appearance of a specific smell of urine is accompanied by severe disturbances in well-being, call a doctor as soon as possible or go to the clinic yourself. The editors of the magazine "Popular about Health" believes that it is better to play it safe and make sure that the baby's health is normal.

In a newborn baby, urine does not have any smell, but with age it becomes more like adult urine and acquires a smell. Parents should know which one is normal and when to be on the lookout.

What should be normal?

The smell of a child's urine is normally quite specific, but not sharp. That is why the appearance of a very pronounced or unpleasant odor always causes the thought of a disease in a baby. Such changes cannot be ignored, although it happens that the child is completely healthy.


Some diseases can be diagnosed by the appearance of urine and its smell.

Smells like ammonia

The appearance of such a smell indicates a violation of the health of the baby. First of all, it is necessary to exclude the presence of diabetes mellitus and acetonemia. In diabetes, urine can acquire not only an ammonia smell, but also resemble apple cider vinegar or ammonia. In this case, the child will also have other signs of the disease, for example, increased thirst, weight loss, dry skin, urinary frequency disorders, and others. It can also appear with a urinary tract infection.

The smell of acetone

The appearance of the smell of acetone indicates an increased excretion of ketone bodies in the urine of a child, which happens with a large amount of ketones in the blood. An increase in the level of acetone in the blood is due to various factors, including emotional or physical stress. If your child has already had cases of the appearance of acetone, you should make sure that the baby does not have prolonged hunger or overwork. When the child is tired, give him sweet food, which will prevent the appearance of ketones.


Special test strips will help determine the level of acetone in the urine of a child.

Smells like stale fish

The appearance of an unpleasant odor resembling rotten fish is characteristic of trimethylaminuria. This is a genetic disease in which trimethylamine accumulates in the body, causing the appearance of a fishy smell from urine, sweat, exhaled air and human skin.

With other genetic pathologies, the smell of urine also becomes unpleasant and begins to resemble mold or mice (indicates phenylketonuria), burnt sugar (it happens with leucinosis), cabbage (noted with tyrosinemia).

Possible reasons

The following factors lead to a change in the smell of a child's urine:

  1. Change in water balance. The child may drink too little liquid or lose it, for example, by vomiting or sweating in hot weather. Also, the cause may be difficulty in nasal breathing.
  2. Diet changes. The urine of a starving child, as well as a baby whose menu contains too much fast food, sweet foods, fatty protein dishes, seafood, and spicy, has an unpleasant odor. It can also change if the child ate horseradish, garlic, asparagus or cabbage. In a nursing baby, a new complementary food product or a new mixture, as well as a change in the diet of a nursing mother, can be affected.
  3. metabolic disorders, caused by genetic disorders.
  4. Taking antibiotics and other medicines.
  5. Poor quality diaper or stale underwear. In this case, the smell will be unpleasant in the morning.
  6. Rickets. It causes a change in the smell of urine in a baby up to a year old, and is also manifested by sweating of the palms, poor appetite, disturbed sleep, and other symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
  7. Hormonal changes with hormonal teenage changes. This is a temporary phenomenon, but it is important for parents to accustom a teenager to body care and hygiene rules.
  8. Infectious diseases of the excretory system. An unpleasant odor appears with cystitis, as well as with urethritis, pyelonephritis and other inflammations.
  9. Diabetes. Urine with such a disease is excreted in large quantities, while it gives off ammonia.
  10. Liver diseases. It not only becomes unpleasantly smelling, but also acquires a dark color.


Eating certain foods can lead to a change in the smell of urine.

What to do?

A one-time change in smell does not require any action, especially if parents have noticed the effect of nutrition. If a strong smell of urine appears for several days, you should contact your pediatrician and take the blood and urine of the child for analysis. When the smell of ammonia appears, it is necessary to determine the baby's blood sugar.

If you suspect the presence of acetone in your urine, you can verify this even at home using special test strips. With a positive reaction to acetone, first of all, you need to give the child glucose. You can give the baby to drink glucose from an ampoule or chew glucose tablets, and also make a decoction of raisins or warm tea with honey for the child.

If you attribute the situation to dehydration, it is important to give your child more to drink. This is especially important in the presence of diarrhea or vomiting, as well as in diseases with high body temperature. In these cases, it is extremely important to avoid large amounts of fluid, and everything will normalize by itself.

Your baby may be a signal for urgent medical attention. The cause of such an unpleasant situation may be natural causes, for example, the introduction of new foods into the diet. However, it is best to make a diagnosis and prevent the development of a possible disease with medical treatment, if necessary. For many diseases of the internal organs, an unpleasant odor in the urine of the baby is characteristic.

How should baby urine smell?

People often wonder why a child's urine smells very strongly. In a healthy young child, it should be free of impurities, without a specific and pungent odor. A few months after birth, complementary foods are introduced to the baby, as a result of which a mild, unobtrusive odor appears in the urine. The urine of formula-fed babies usually has a stronger odor than that of breastfed babies.

Parents should constantly observe how urine smells in a child. This is especially important until the baby has reached a conscious age and cannot report his health problems himself.

The smell of children's urine is a kind of indicator of the state of the internal organs of the child and the work of the body as a whole. That is why, with any change in the color of urine or the appearance of an unpleasant odor, you should consult a doctor for advice. This will help keep the baby healthy, as well as prevent the development of an infectious disease.

Causes of change in the smell of urine

To answer the question of why urine smells, you should know that in children who have reached the age of 12, the smell of urine changes dramatically. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the change in the work of the endocrine glands. The restructuring of the hormonal background in adolescence greatly affects the vital activity of the body, including the urinary system. Also, the cause of an unpleasant odor can be physical overwork. If the unpleasant odor from the urethra is similar to ammonia and acetone, then the child should be taken to a specialist in the field of urology.

Also, the urine of a child smells strongly for some natural reason, for example, as a result of a rare change of diapers and diapers. In addition to the smell, failure to comply with basic hygiene can lead to more serious consequences, namely, provoke hives, skin diaper rash, dermatitis, and unpleasant allergic reactions.

Factors affecting urine odor

Often parents wonder why the child's urine began to smell of foreign odors. The following factors can provoke this:

  • Changing the baby's diet. With age, the infant is introduced to new foods, such as vegetables and fruits, which have their own specific flavors. They can greatly affect the smell of urine, making it more pronounced, sometimes even pungent.
  • Dehydration of the body. It is very important for the baby to drink enough liquid. Exhaustion of the body can occur as a result of acute poisoning with food or poisons. The body, as a result of intoxication, releases a large amount of a not always pleasant-smelling liquid.
  • Lack of vitamin D. Usually such a useful element in the body is not enough if the child spends little time on the street. Sometimes this leads to the development of rickets. One of the symptoms of this disease is the pungent odor of the fluid that is excreted by the genitourinary organs. Also, a lack of vitamin D leads to a decrease in appetite, increased sweating and poor hair growth.
  • Taking strong drugs and antibiotics. Antiviral drugs are partially or completely excreted through the genitourinary system, giving the urine a specific odor. After the course of drug treatment is completed, all indicators return to normal.
  • Breast-feeding. In this case, the smell of urine may be due to a change in the mother's diet. White cabbage and asparagus can significantly change the smell of urine.
  • Colds. With rhinitis, SARS and bronchitis, urine always begins to emit an unpleasant odor. The body is exhausted as a result of the fight against infection. After complete recovery, the smell of urine disappears completely.
  • Hepatitis. A sign of this serious illness is an unpleasant odor and dark color of urine.
  • Diabetes. Patients with this disease usually have colorless urine. The frequency of going to the toilet increases. Urine has an ammonia or vinegar smell.
  • Pyelonephritis or cystitis. With such diseases, sometimes urine dramatically changes its smell.

Ammonia smell

Moms often wonder why their baby smells like urine. Many doctors by smell can guess what disease a small patient suffers from. For example, if an ammonia smell is noticed, then most likely this is a pronounced sign of a violation of the urinary tract. This disease occurs as a result of improper functioning of the endocrine glands. In the blood, and then in the urine, a large number of ketone bodies are formed. Most likely, the patient suffers from diabetes mellitus or acetonemia. The characteristic symptoms of diseases are: the child's complaints of thirst, pain when urinating, dry skin and a sharp loss of body weight. If the above signs are absent, but the child’s urine is dark when urinating, this means that a focus of infection has appeared in the urinary system. To get rid of the disease, you will need to undergo antibiotic treatment.

The smell of acetone

If the child's urine smells like acetone, this may be due to the excessive mobility of the baby. Under heavy loads, ketones are formed in the urine, which cause such an unpleasant odor. In this case, no treatment is required. To get rid of the smell, it is enough just to adjust the child's daily routine so that the baby is not overexcited during the day. Sometimes the cause of the acetone smell can be stress caused by various reasons (divorce or constant quarrels of parents, change of housing or environment in the playroom). Sometimes a child may need the help of a psychologist.

The smell of burnt sugar

If your child's urine smells strongly of burnt sugar after urinating, it may be a sign of a disease called leucinosis (branched chain ketonuria). This disease occurs as a result of a genetic predisposition and manifests itself from the first days of a baby's life. The system responsible for the production of enzymes reduces its activity. Amino acids inside the body are not oxidized, resulting in a characteristic smell of urine. As a treatment, a rather long treatment with medications is required.

Other odors and possible causes

If the child has urine, then this indicates a genetic disease. Not only urine can exude an odor, but also the sweat of a child, and even exhaled air.

A pronounced mouse smell most likely means a congenital pathology called phenylketonuria. One of the signs of the disease is the accumulation of amino acids and metabolic products in the urinary tract. If you do not see a doctor in time, the disease can damage the nervous system.

How to identify a disease of the urinary system

Often, urine smells in a child as a result of kidney and bladder disease. One of the most common causes of pathology is inflammatory processes inside the body. Fighting pathogenic organisms, human immunity secretes white blood cells to fight the disease. Due to the fact that the immune system has not yet formed in children, the disease can continue to progress. You can understand that the child’s body cannot cope with pathogenic organisms by the following symptoms:

  1. The patient rarely visits the toilet.
  2. Urine has a cloudy color, sometimes it is mixed with blood clots. May have curd sediment.
  3. Urination is accompanied by pain in the abdomen and in the lumbar region, and pain in the genitals is also felt.

What to do to avoid the smell

"Why does urine smell in a child?" - This is one of the most common questions for new mothers. If the smell of urine in your baby has changed, has become sharp and unpleasant, then you should not be afraid and diagnose him. If the next day everything returned to normal, then the cause of this phenomenon, most likely, was overwork or a new product in his diet. If the smell persists day after day after each trip to the toilet, then you should consult a pediatrician. A medical facility should take a urine test to find out the content of the following substances:

  • uric acid;
  • ketones;
  • leukocytes;
  • proteins.

If a child has inflammation in the organs responsible for urination, then it is necessary to inoculate a biological sample in a nutrient medium. Then, according to the number of colonies formed, the doctor can conclude that there are or are no infectious foci. Also, when a pungent odor appears in the urine, a blood test is prescribed for the presence of sugar in the body.

Disease prevention

To avoid problems with urination in a child, it is necessary to give him clean water. Sugary drinks should be completely eliminated from the diet. If a high body temperature occurs and with severe vomiting, it is recommended to drink special saline solutions, they can be found in pharmacies. Often children refuse such medicines. In this case, the child must be given a medicinal solution in a tablespoon every 20 minutes. After recovery, the smell of urine and the general condition of the body should return to normal.

How to detect and manage ketonuria

If the baby has ketonuria, experts recommend giving a drink with a small amount of sugar. It can be fruit juices or just water with sugar. To detect this disease, you can purchase special test strips at any pharmacy, which should be soaked in the urine of a child. If the child has ketonuria, then the indicator strip will be colored.