4 yr old with Vaginal discharge (sorry!)

[THERESA]

I can hear you all going 'yuk' and switching off! My dd is 4 1/2 and for the last 2 or 3 days she's had marks on the front of her pants, bad enough to be visible from the outside. There is no actual 'substance' to it, it's just a light brown wet mark. There seems to be a slight smell as well (I'm really cringing while I type this!). She says it's not itchy and it doesn't seem to be bothering her. She has a bath every other day and we've always used bubble bath although I know it's not recommended, but what's a bath without bubbles! Anyone had anything simular?

I had this as a child. I would've been about 5 years old. I don't remember too much except the embarrassment of my mum telling my teacher! I am sure I got some medicine from the doctors so maybe I had an infection and got antibiotics... I will ask my mum tonight if she remembers what was said all those years ago.

Hi Theresa - I asked my mum and she can't remember much except that (she thinks) the doctor said it was just one of those things. I am sure I remember having medicine though. So no real answer for you there! I think you'd best take your dd to the doctor. Good Luck.

Hello Theresa,

my dd is now 9 and has always (that I remember) had a slight vaginal discharge. My dh was worried so I rang NHS Direct and they said it's very common and not to worry. Like Meid I'm pretty sure I also had it, and that's why I didn't worry too much about dd. Hope that's helpful.

Theresa - the bubbles are probably the answer to the problem. Bath her in water only until it clears then itroduce bubbles for occasional baths. Same thing happened with my dd. Sorted out by stopping bubblebaths for a while.

Also, when you're washing her "down there" no soap at all, just waft the water between her legs. Soap (as well as bubbles) can change the pH of the vagina and make it easier for infections to take hold.

HTH

Thanks everyone, before checking for replies I'd decided to go to the docs anyway and we've an appointment for teatime as if it gets any worse we can't go next week as I'm in hospital with ds for an operation (another story!). Anyway hopefully it will just be 'one of those things' (I was plagued with it myself, but not until late teens and thought this was a bit young). I have to admit to being a bit heavy with the soap when I wash her, so maybe that needs to change. I'll let you know the outcome.

THERESA, good luck tonight, I'm sure it will be nothing. My dd 5 1/2 has always (as long as I can remember) had a creamy/yellowish discharge which smells foul, she also suffers from underarm b.o. so consequently endures baths at least once a day (actually she loves them). GP saw her in March, (see unpleasant bo in 5 yr old), and adviced me to stop using soap gave me a greasy moisturiser instead, this has really helped with the discharge, not the bo though -as if it would!

Smartie you poor thing, that doesn't sound too pleasant for you or your daughter. Anyway doc was great, he had 'a little look' (just a glance and a sniff really!) and confirmed she had a 'bit of an infection' maybe just a 'yeast thing' (we all know about that don't we!) or possibly a bit of poo been wiped to the front. He recommended a salt bath twice a day for 4 days (4" of warm water, 2 dst spoons of salt for 10 mins) and also gave me some cream as a precaution which I don't really think is relevant as it says it's for broken or sore skin but it does say it's for thrush. If it hasn't cleared up after 4 days we've to go back. He said to lay off the soap and b.bath until it clears, but normally it's ok to use if it doesn't seem to bother her. So thanks everyone, maybe this will be useful to someone else!

Pleased to hear you've hopefully got it sorted. It sounds like your doctor has given you good advice.
Meid