The state of the child's urine helps to determine if the baby is healthy or if the baby should be immediately shown to the doctor. Parents are always worried about discoloration, especially if the color suddenly turns red. This suggests the appearance of blood in it, but not only bleeding can lead to a red color. Why can the baby's urine turn red and what should parents do in this case?
Causes
The acquisition of red urine can be caused by:
- Eating food that contains red pigments.
- The use of drugs.
- Excessive excretion of urate in the urine.
- Injuries to the organs of the excretory system.
- Inflammatory diseases of the bladder or kidneys.
- Urolithiasis.
- Blood clotting disorders.
- Acute infectious processes.
- Strong physical activity.
In a newborn
A red tint in the urine of a baby who is just born is normal and is associated with the baby's feeding on colostrum, in which there is very little water. This causes excessive excretion of urate in the urine of the newborn, which causes the red-brick hue. The condition is called uric acid infarction, but this name should not scare parents.
On the second or third day of life, the color of urine becomes pink, and after a few days it acquires the usual yellow tint, or even it becomes colorless.
In a baby
A common cause of redness at this age is the introduction of complementary foods. If a baby has tried beets, blueberries, red peppers, blackberries or other foods that can stain urine, do not worry. The pigments from these products will change color for a short time.
In addition, reddening of the urine of a nursing infant may be associated with the use of drugs and diseases with intoxication. However, it is often also a sign of blood entering it, so redness should always attract the attention of parents and become a reason for a doctor to examine the baby.
In older children
The redness of the urine of an older child is associated with urinary tract infections, excessive physical activity, medication, injuries, and changes in nutrition.
If there is a large amount of red pepper, beetroot dishes, red berries, rhubarb in the child's menu, urine turns red due to pigments in these products. Also, a similar change can be caused by the child's consumption of sweets with red dye.
Why is it dark red?
The dark red, almost brown color of urine appears due to the ingress of blood from the kidneys into it. The cause may be glomerulonephritis, kidney tumor, urolithiasis, or pyelonephritis. Darkening can also be caused by hepatitis.
How to tell if urine is red from blood or beets?
First of all, you need to assess whether the urine is cloudy. If turbidity is present, the redness is most likely caused by blood ingestion. After eating beets, although it will turn red, it will remain transparent.
Next, pour some baking soda into the red urine sample, then pour some vinegar. If the red tint was caused by a dish with beets, then adding baking soda will remove the red color, and when vinegar is added to it, the redness reappears. If blood is the cause, neither baking soda nor vinegar will affect the color.
What to do?
If parents notice that the child's urine has acquired a red tint, first you need to analyze if such a change is associated with food or medicinal substances. To exclude diseases of the excretory system, the baby will be assigned a urine test. In addition to the general research, tests according to Nechiporenko or Kakovsky-Addis can be assigned.
Also, the doctor will recommend an ultrasound examination of the kidneys and bladder. A blood test will also help to determine if the baby is losing red blood cells in urine, and after a coagulogram, it will be possible to make sure that there are no disorders of the coagulation system. In some cases, the baby may be referred for x-rays, cystoscopy, or tomography.
