"We had to persuade some parents to postpone the scans, unless their child was in serious condition," Sui said.

Five babies have been admitted to Renmin, none with life threatening conditions.

"Once the children drink enough water, the very tiny stones could be washed out," said Sui.

In Hebei Province, about 1,500 children have been diagnosed with kidney problems, and 150 of them were hospitalized Tuesday, said the provincial government.

According to the Ministry of Health, children should not to be hospitalized if the kidney stone is smaller than 4 mm in diameter.

Some parents worry that policy won't help their children get healthy.

Wang Lifang rushed to Renmin Hospital Wednesday morning with her two-month-old daughter from her hometown in Xingtang county, which is 45 km from Shijiazhuang.

"The county hospital found my daughter has kidney stones that are smaller than 4 mm," said the farmer in her thirties. "My daughter is so young that the doctors worry the stones might not be washed out themselves so they told me to go to the provincial hospital."

As of Tuesday evening, the little girl did not eat but did drink some water.

"Doctors said I'd better not feed her powdered milk," explained a tearful Wang. "In the past few days, I fed her fresh milk bought from a neighbor who raises a cow but once I left home I did not know what to do."

She has an 11-year-old son who also drank Sanlu powdered milk when he was born and did not have time to get him examined.

"I have to take care of my younger daughter first. I hope doctors here can tell me whether or not she has to stay in the hospital. If so, I hope the government or the Sanlu Group can pay for the treatment."

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2008)