My newborn baby gets orange tint in his urine. Should we get an urine test?

Question

Hello doctor,

My second baby is going to be 5 months in a few days. For the past few days, we see small orange color stains in front side of his diaper probably coming out through urine. It is not coming always out of a few diapers that we change every day, a small stain is seen in one diaper and most probably around evening. On our recent visit to doctor he was 6.17 lbs and his birth weight was 6.17 lbs. He had a stomach infection three weeks back with mild fever and he was put on Cefixime by a doctor. He is visually doing well, active and smiling, and inline with milestones so far.

Does the condition warrant a urine or any other test? He had hyperbilirubinemia immediately upon birth due to ICT positive status of my wife and baby went through blood exchange transfusion on the second day of life and was in NICU for the first 10 days of life and recovered. He is currently on Vitcofol, Trifer, Pediawise, and Zincovit.

Answer 1

Hi,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

It looks like your boy is having uric acid crystals in urine. It is usually pinkish-orange color. It stains the diaper and when the diaper becomes dry then it is seen as a dry powder. The tip of the penis skin can also be stained with similar powder and you can see that too. If all these matches then it is nothing to worry. Sometimes the baby can have excess uric acid crystals in the urine and can stain the diaper. I just want you to make sure it is not blood which I think it is not. If it is blood then after diaper dries it will turn dark. The color of uric acid is very typical. If you can send me a photo then I can say for sure. Also, it can occur some times if the baby is dehydrated. So make sure your baby is satisfied with the milk he is getting. Please contact me if you need any further assistance.