Automated peritoneal dialysis (APD) has been considered as the ideal dialysis modality for pediatric patients. This study reports the 3-year APD experience with 458 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) children who started APD in a single pediatric center in Mexico City between June 2003 and June 2006. By June 2003, there were 310 patients being treated with continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). At that time, these patients were gradually switched to APD, with priority being given to those prescribed more than four exchanges per day, younger than 6 years of age, or presenting complications [hernias or decreased ultrafiltration (UF)]. An improvement of daily UF was observed when the patients were switched from CAPD (590 +/- 340 ml/day) to APD (846 +/- 335 ml/day). The presence of edema decreased (from 67% to 8%) as well as the percentage of patients requiring antihypertensive drugs (from 83% to 38%), the peritonitis rate improved from one episode every 35 patient/month to one episode every 47 patient/month, the total number of hospitalizations decreased (from 384 to 51), and 85% of children attended school. While waiting for renal transplant, APD is the dialysis modality of choice for ESRD children at the La Raza Medical Center in Mexico City.