Any parent may become concerned if their child has a strong urine odor. It’s not something you anticipate noticing, and when it does, many questions are raised. Is this an indication of a more serious problem, or is it just a passing glitch?
Urine with a strong smell can be caused by a variety of things, from possible medical conditions to innocuous food changes. To protect your child’s health, it’s critical to understand what to look for and when to seek medical advice.
Whether it’s changing your child’s diet or seeing a doctor, knowing the potential causes of the smell can allay worries and help you take the appropriate action.
| Possible Cause | Description |
| Dehydration | When a child doesn"t drink enough water, their urine can become concentrated and have a stronger smell. |
| Dietary Changes | Certain foods like asparagus or fish can cause urine to have a noticeable odor. |
| Urinary Tract Infection | A strong, unpleasant smell of urine may indicate an infection, especially if there are other symptoms like pain or frequent urination. |
| Medications or Vitamins | Some medications and supplements can alter the smell of urine. |
| Diabetes | A sweet or fruity-smelling urine could be a sign of diabetes, which needs medical attention. |
What should it be like normally?
A child’s urine typically has a distinct scent that isn’t overbearing. For this reason, whenever a baby has an offensive or strong stench, it always makes one think of illness. Even when a child is perfectly healthy, these changes cannot be disregarded.
Smells like ammonia
The emergence of such a stench suggests that the infant has health issues. It is imperative to rule out the conditions of diabetes and acetonemia first. Urine can smell like ammonia or apple cider vinegar when diabetics have the disease. The child will also exhibit other symptoms of the illness at the same time, such as increased thirst, weight loss, dry skin, irregular urination patterns, and others. Additionally, it may manifest as a urinary tract infection.
Smell of acetone
When there are a lot of ketones in the blood, there is an increased excretion of ketone bodies in the child’s urine, which is indicated by the appearance of the acetone smell. There are a number of reasons why the blood’s acetone content rises, including mental or physical strain. If your child has previously experienced episodes of acetone, you should confirm that the infant has not experienced extreme fatigue or prolonged hunger. Give the child sweet food to avoid the appearance of ketones when he is tired.
A sudden strong odor coming from your child’s urine could indicate dehydration, certain foods, or a more serious medical condition like a urinary tract infection. A doctor’s examination is necessary to rule out any possible health issues, even though an occasional strong odor might not be a reason for alarm.
Smells like stale fish
The hallmark of trimethylaminuria is the development of an offensive smell that smells like rotten fish. This is a hereditary illness where the body builds up trimethylamine, giving off an odor resembling fish on the skin, in sweat, urine, and exhaled air.
Urine that smells bad and starts to smell like mold or mice (phenylketonuria), burnt sugar (leucinosis), or cabbage (tyrosinemia) is indicative of other genetic diseases.
Possible causes
- Change in water balance. The child may drink too little fluid or lose it, for example, through vomiting or in hot weather with sweat. Difficulty in nasal breathing may also be the cause.
- Changes in diet. The urine of a starving child has an unpleasant odor, as well as a baby whose menu includes too much fast food, sweet foods, fatty protein dishes, seafood, spicy. It can also change if the child has eaten horseradish, garlic, asparagus or cabbage. In a breastfed baby, a new complementary food product or a new formula, as well as a change in the diet of a nursing mother, can affect it.
- Metabolic disorders, caused by genetic pathologies.
- Taking antibiotics and other medications.
- A poor-quality diaper or stale underwear. In this case, the smell will be unpleasant in the morning.
- Rickets. It causes a change in the smell of urine in a baby under one year old, and also manifests itself in sweaty palms, poor appetite, disturbed sleep and other symptoms of vitamin D deficiency.
- Hormonal changes during hormonal adolescent restructuring. This is a temporary phenomenon, but it is important for parents to teach a teenager to take care of their body and follow hygiene rules.
- Infectious diseases of the excretory system. An unpleasant odor appears with cystitis, as well as with urethritis, pyelonephritis and other inflammations.
- Diabetes mellitus. Urine with such a disease is excreted in large quantities, while it gives off ammonia.
- Liver diseases. Not only does it become unpleasantly smelling, but also acquires a dark color.
If your child has a strong odor coming from their urine, you should notice and act upon it. Sometimes it might be as simple as dehydration or a dietary adjustment, but other times it might be an indication of a more serious problem that requires medical attention.
These problems can be avoided by monitoring your child’s hydration levels and making sure they eat a balanced diet. To rule out any serious conditions, it is best to see a pediatrician if the smell is persistent or accompanied by other symptoms.
Being proactive will allow you to promptly address any issues and make sure your child is safe and worry-free.
