Anyone whose child has had Virus - Hand, Foot and Mouth disease?

Michelle - posted on 09/08/2011

Wanda nothing to do for him just treat symptoms pain or fever. It must run it's course. I see it in my practice yearly.

M.Forbes

Antoinette - posted on 09/08/2011

Paracetamol is an analgesic/pain relief, my son got prescribed Pamol (paracetamol) and Fenpaed (Ibuprofen) both pain relievers and also Nyastatin which is for oral thrush/fungal treatment as a just in case because he has it REALLY bad in his mouth.

EDITED to add I must've skipped over the posts about baths/soaks to prevent the itching - my Drs told me it wasn't itchy, but I could see that my son was scratching, and my daughter scratched her blisters open & now they're sores. My daughter also gets pretty bad excema so we use Pinetasol (Pine Tar Oil Solution) in the bath, and don't use soap but either Aqueos Cream or Lemnis Fatty Cream (depending on how dry she's gotten) all of which we get on prescription from the Dr.

Wanda - posted on 09/08/2011

Wow, Antoinette, that is what my grandson is going thru. My daughter took him to doctor immediately, when he didn't want to eat and drink.I just pray that your child and my grandson get better. What an awful thing to go thru, I ever heard of this until my daughter called me and told be the name of it., Good luck as well

Wanda - posted on 09/08/2011

my grandson is 18 months old. What is paracetamol. The doctor didn't offer anything. Just wait its course, Wow, twice. Its bad enough when they get it once. So sorry to hear that.

Claire - posted on 09/08/2011

How old is your grandson? My little boy has had it twice :( Once at 5 months, then again at 15 months. The 5 months bout was much more severe than the 15 months. All you can do is give him paracetamol unfortunately,

Antoinette - posted on 09/08/2011

Today is day 8 of this for my 2yo son, he started grizzling & dribbling profusely last friday afternoon & didn't want food or drink. Because of the dribbling I felt around in his mouth and thought maybe his back teeth were coming in, so when the rash kicked in the next day I was confused. On sunday morning the rash was shoulder to toe (almost like chicken pox) with blisters on his hands & feet, his mouth & throat was badly ulcerated & I hadn't been able to get him to drink more than about 200ml + a 100ml pottle of yoghurt since Friday. So I called the healthline, they told me it sounded like HFMD and to get the Dr asap given his limited fluid intake. We ended up in Hospital overnight, between about 3-6am monday morning he finally drank about 300ml so we got to come home. He's only been managing about 300-500ml a day of milk or juice compared to his usual 2+ltrs and only yesterday (day 7) was brave enough to actually put food in his mouth - but it was promptly spat out in howls of pain. This morning he's managed a yoghurt and is now asking for other food & managing to eat it. It's been a week of grizzling and flailing about in pain for the poor wee fella. On the otherhand my daughters symptoms didn't start till tuesday afternoon & unlike the extreme of my son she only got maybe 20 uclers in her mouth and 1 blister on each hand, she grizzled in pain everytime she ate, but ate anyway. Iceblocks worked for her, because she likes iceblocks, my son doesn't. So for him it was offer drinks all the time and a 5 minute fight every 5hrs to get some pain relief into him. I ended up setting him up in front of a DVD with a table of treats for him to try if he wanted: juice, ginger beer, water, chocolate milk, plain milk, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips and mini cupcakes. He didn't even touch any of it. Its been a rough week but I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Good luck and happy thoughts for all the wee ones currently suffering (and their poor sleep deprived parents/carers!)

LaDonna - posted on 09/08/2011

My son had HFM a month ago, it is AWFUL & SUPER contagious, our whole church nursery had it & had to be dysinfected. We did the generic AVEENO oatmeal baths everynight. They also make this Aveeno medicated lotion that had an analgesic in it & rubbed it on him after baths. I had a friend whose baby had diaper rash with it so bad that she used a bed liner & let him sleep without a diaper all night so he could air out, she said it helpped. We put on baby powder with cornstarch contantly. Hope this helps!

Sherrald - posted on 09/08/2011

my sister,s all 4 had it ,it had to run it,s course but i know it spreads so keep them in shocks or light foot wear anyone can pick it up.keep floor,s wash often with disinfectants.i know its terrable

Jennifer - posted on 09/08/2011

Tylenol and popsicles.Chloraseptic for kids (depending on age). Keep him hydrated. I never fully understood what ?poor appetite" and "malaise" meant until we went through this. It's a crummy five days.

Marie Jayne - posted on 09/08/2011

My daughter caught this at creche a few weeks ago, and they told me just to let it run its course, kept a check on her temp which went up once,so i gave her Calpol. Plenty of fluids, She got blister like spots between her fingers and on her feet and a great big one on the end of her tongue
(which i told her her dummy made her tongue poorly and she hasnt had a dummy since, Just tells others that Dummys make poorly Tongues LOL, Did me a favour actually).. Snuggles by the bucket load too.

Jennifer - posted on 09/08/2011

My kids had it recently. My 3 year old daughter nay had two ulcers in the mouth from it. I gave her cold drinks, tylenol when she need it and baby orajel on it. It helped a lot. My none year old had it on the hands and feet and her bottom and no complaints from her. I had it long time ago and the only blisters that hurts should be in the mouth. Hope this helps.

Patty - posted on 09/08/2011

Diet will help. Stay away from Sodas and sugary, starchy items. Drink lots of water and get some essential oils. Lavender, Patchuly, and Melaluka would all be good choices. The Health Food store may have a lot of good ideas as well

Lisa Marie - posted on 09/08/2011

We read WebMD .com all the time. It has all this info in it. But I would like to share what our Dr told us to do.



I have 3 kids, the baby was 2 at the time when I noticed he was having problems eating and upon changing his diaper I noticed his rash. It was different that a diaper rash. My oldest(then 7) saw his younger brothers butt and told me he had that too. I checked him and sure enough, by this time 3yr old sister came over to see what was going on. I checked her and she had it too.



Dr told us every thing that you all have said to do on here but the difference is: my Dr told us to run a cool or tepid bath and put baking soda in it. She called it a 'soak' because you only let the child sit/play in the water for about 3 minutes, no longer than 5. (we had a timer) By the way, SOAPs will dry them out and make them worse so this is how we bathed them until it went away. My kids ended up with soars on their butts and itchy bumps on ther hands and feet. The 2 yr old was the only one with it in his mouth. Which makes sense since he always put things in his mouth.

The bath with baking soda did wonders and took the itchys away. It also made their skin really smooth....

Good luck with your grandson.



UPDATE: For the Baking Soda bath: tepid water, put about a half a cup to 3/4 cup of Baking Soda in, swish water around or let the kids do it while in it, so it desalves.



I must say, diets have nothing to do with this disiese. My kids didn't drink soda or eat a lot of candy-if any.

Kelly - posted on 09/08/2011

My sister's boyfriend just got over this recently (he worked with kids at a summer camp). As others have suggested, cold non-acidic drinks did wonders for him. You can also try Cepacol, they make a fizzy fast dissolving tablet for kids as well as a throat spray. Also, in your earliest response, you were probably thinking of Thrush. My cousin's 2 month old son finally kicked that one to the curb. If your grandson still uses a pacifier or likes to suck on one or two items in particular, be sure to disinfect them between uses. If this is passed through the saliva he could keep reinfecting himself (my cousin learned this the hard way with her son's Thrush). I hope your grandson recovers from this fast, it sucks being sick, no matter what your age.

Krystina - posted on 09/08/2011

I had it about two years ago. Along with my 2 yr old at the time. Nothing really helps with the mouth and throat sores, but an any itch cream on his hands and feet will lesson the freddie to scratch.

Wanda - posted on 09/08/2011

Thanks ladies, my daughter is looking at all your advice, Wow, I never heard of this, but it seems like its a common thing for kids to get, What a horrible disease. Thank you again for all your help

Andrea - posted on 09/08/2011

My 8 year old had the same thing too. Doctor said the same thing. . Needed to run it's course and no medication would help. it was gone in about a week I believe.

Valerie - posted on 09/08/2011

one of my twins had if a few months ago and it was annoying. it was only in her mouth. she never got the soars anywhere else. and she had a bad fever. but yea lots of popsicles and what not. we quarentined her in our room so she wouldnt pass it to her twin sister. i would suggest your daughter tell the older child to stay away for a while. he can only get it if he comes in contact with the soars saliva or poop. also the virus stays in their poop for like 2 months after it is gone. so let her know to make sure to wash everything really good and not let her other son help by throwning out diapers and playing with the little ones toys for a while. but other then that it just has to run its coarse like the dr said. its horrible and annoying but he will be ok. good luck

Candi - posted on 09/08/2011

If it's so bad that your grandson cannot eat or sleep, there are things that the doctor can give him!!!!!!!! We had a guest in our house whose six-month-old had HFM, and the ER gave him something to calm the pain and keep him comfortable. I can't remember what it was at the moment, though. If nothing else, tylenol or advil are necessary for keeping him comfortable.

Sarah - posted on 09/08/2011

Popsicles, juice pops, Motrin, and Chloraseptic Spray. 2 out of my 3 have had it (so far). The now six year old got it when she was 4 and she's always such a trouper. Not the drama queen my older one is at all, and she was miserable! Walked around the house with her tongue sticking out and whining. High fever, yuck! It was horrible. I tired to get her to sleep as much as possible and let her eat lots of popsicles which were a treat since I normally limit them. Good luck! Viruses stink since they can't give you anything to fix them!

Wanda - posted on 09/08/2011

Thank you Robin. He is really suffering with it and not feeling very well, Can't wait for this to pass. Hopefully, he does not pass this on to my 6 year old grandson. Thanks again

Robin - posted on 09/08/2011

My son had it when he was 5...a rough time for him :(...I agree with the other posts...nothing acidic...my son did well with pasta and butter for dinner, popsicles and other cold drinks.

Wanda - posted on 09/08/2011

Thank you ladies for much for your help and advise. I am passing this on to my daughter. Very helpful tips.

Susan - posted on 09/07/2011

take him to a dermatologist. apparently my daughter did too and she ended-up getting a bacteria in her eye. she only had it on her hands and a little on her feet. she was given cream.

Mandi - posted on 09/07/2011

We used Humphreys teething tablets and teething strips for pain. Popsicles and cold drinks. Avoid salty and acidic foods. Poor babies. We snuggled a lot too.

Alexandra - posted on 09/07/2011

i found this very useful website. I would only add to it all the treats and gizmos that your child likes, poor thing!

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/ente...

Krista - posted on 09/07/2011

@Wanda: If he's 18 months, then my two suggestions would be Tylenol or Advil, and smoothies in his sippy cup, poor little mite.

Danielle - posted on 09/07/2011

My son caught it from a friends daughter at 6 months. He only had it in his throat. It was tough the only thing I could give him was motrin and fluids. His fever was over 102 and it lasted about 4 days. Motrin made a world of difference!

Kaye - posted on 09/07/2011

My children never had it, but I work in the childcare sector and there is not very much you can do :( You could try a bi carb bath to help stop the itching and heal blisters quicker. The bath is harmless and can be had any time. Also the virus can stay in the child's system through faeces for a few weeks. Apart from that give the child panadol if required. It is very infectious as he have quite a number of children in our centre sick with it atm. Adults can get it too so be careful to wash hands etc

Wanda - posted on 09/07/2011

Thanks Krista, I will pass this on to my daughter. Cold drinks. He is 18 months old, but afraid that my 6 year old grandson will get it, especially since he just started school yesterday. I told my daughter get as much Vitamin C as possible, this helps viral infections as well.

Krista - posted on 09/07/2011

Yep, cold drinks are helpful. My son had it last year, and then I wound up catching it. You know that feeling when you have a shard of popcorn kernel stuck in your throat? Picture your entire inside of your mouth and throat like that, and you've almost got it. The only thing that made my throat feel better was iced cappucinos. Obviously i wouldn't recommend those for kids, but depending on his age, you could go with milkshakes (make them with Boost if you're worried about his nutrient intake), or really cold toddler formula. Don't give him anything acidic to eat or drink.If you make smoothies, use non-acidic fruit like bananas. And it's definitely not the type of sore throat that is improved by warm drinks. Keep the drinks frosty.

i hope it passes soon -- it's NOT a fun thing to have.

Wanda - posted on 09/07/2011

Thanks so much Teresa. I went on website as well, and its viral and hasto run its course. But, you are right, I remember it was something years ago, when my kids were younfg- thrast?? not sure, Thanks again

Teresa - posted on 09/07/2011

When my girls had it (about 7-8 years ago) we didn't have anything for it. Popsicles and smoothies were helpful.

When my son had it (about 2 years ago) the doctor gave me some stuff to numb the pain in his mouth/throat. That stuff was a LIFESAVER. The virus does just have to run it's course, but if there are sores in his mouth/throat that are making him not want to eat/drink, I'd ask about it.... Sorry, I have no clue what it was called though. Hope he feels better soon!! It doesn't typically last too long. :)