Kidney Disease in Children Information

The kidneys are like the body’s rubbish collection and disposal process. Through microscopic units called nephrons, the kidneys remove waste products and additional water from the food a person eats, returning chemicals the body needs (such as sodium, phosphorus, and potassium) back in to the bloodstream. The additional water combines with other waste to become urine, which flows through narrow tubes called ureters to the bladder, where it stays until it exits through the urethra (the tube that carries urine out of the body from the bladder) when anyone goes to the bathroom.

When parents first listen to their kid has kidney disease, they may wonder what they could have done to prevent it. These feelings are common. In most cases, however, there is no way anyone could know their kid would get kidney disease and usually nothing that might have been done to cease it. Focusing on what can be done now, such as getting proper treatment, following doctor’s advice, working along with your child’s health care team and learning all you can about the disease are the best ways to help your kid after the diagnosis.

Kidney Disease in Babies is a series of fact sheets developed by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health. These fact sheets introduce the major causes of kidney disease and kidney failure in babies, provide detailed explanations of the treatment options, and speak about complications of kidney disease and its treatment.

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