Hand foot and mouth disease.

Scanlas The 2nd

My 13 month old just got diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease. I never heard of it before. Anyone else have any kids who got this disease?

implausible

Hey, my wee man got it back in March. It seemed to be doing the rounds at the time. It started off with loads of little spots around his bum and then went down his legs. He also had 2 or 3 coldsore-like things on his face. To be honest, it looked far worse than it was. He was cranky and the nappies weren't great, but he didn't seem to suffer too much with it. The doc said there was nothing I could give him, except Calpol. It passed within a week, though it is fairly contagious in the early stages, so maybe keep him away from other kids for a while.

It's actually a fairly common childhood complaint, but the similarity of the name to foot and mouth makes people freak out!

Scanlas The 2nd

implausible wrote: »

Hey, my wee man got it back in March. It seemed to be doing the rounds at the time. It started off with loads of little spots around his bum and then went down his legs. He also had 2 or 3 coldsore-like things on his face. To be honest, it looked far worse than it was. He was cranky and the nappies weren't great, but he didn't seem to suffer too much with it. The doc said there was nothing I could give him, except Calpol. It passed within a week, though it is fairly contagious in the early stages, so maybe keep him away from other kids for a while.

It's actually a fairly common childhood complaint, but the similarity of the name to foot and mouth makes people freak out!

Thanks, the doctor said similar, it's reassuring.

Ayla

For what it's worth, HFM is a virus and as such is annoying but untreatable. We think my 1st daugher got it when she was about 12 months but had all of one spot on a toe.

My second daughter got it this last June when she was about 20 months and was absolutely covered. It was horrendous to look at but fortunately didn't seem to bug her at all. In her case it didn't clear up in the normal 3-5 days but our doc didn't seem to care that she still had it 10 days on. We feared that it would scar but seems to have (finally!) cleared completely.

Creature comforts is the only treatment...whatever food the child can eat (remember that if they have the spots inside the mouth then anything acidic will be refused), an oatmeal bath if it soothes, and lots of cuddles & patience for the few days of odd sleep patterns & tempers.

wmpdd3

I have never heard of it but the creche had a leaflet about it in the welcome pack, so atleast I know what to look out for.

Rosy Posy

A lot of kids get it and don't even get diagnosed- its pretty mild when you get it young and then you're immune. But when my eldest child picked it up as a baby I got it too and was really laid low. (I blame my parents' excessively clean house...at least that makes me feel better about my lack of floor scrubbing!!) Best for them to get it while they're little.