Strawberry Naevis

[Bellie]

DD (7 weeks old) has a small very red spot on the middle of her forehead. GP has said that it is a strawberry naevis and that there is nothing to worry about. Having looked on the www and in books I am now concerned as it says that they can grow up to the size of a 50p or even larger. I have never heard of this before although the books say it is common. Should I be worried or doing something?
TIA
Bellie

[SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown]

My dd1 has quite a large one behind her knee. We noticed it a few days after she was born. It was quite raised and very red in colour and we were also told that it was a very common thing. Once you are aware of them you'll be surprised how many people around do actually have them. She is now 5 and it is still there but much, much lighter and not so raised. We were told that it would go down a lot but may not actually disappear completely.

[jabberwocky]

I know at least two people with children who had this. They did turn flech colored over time. Am not sure if they went down in size or not but I know the parents were advised to do nothing about it.

[jabberwocky]

that's "flesh" toned

[Tinker]

Apparently I had one on the back of my neck as a child. Nothing at all there now. Am pretty sure they all shrink to more or less nothing eventually

[SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown]

I remember a small lad that had a really large one on his cheek in the baby clinic once. The mother had been told that it would fade but any surgical intervention, if wanted, would have to wait until he was much older. I presume that they say this as he still had a lot of growing to do.

[frogs]

My ds had one on his tummy. Like your dd, it wasn't there at birth, and then gradually grew over the next few weeks (up to about 6 weeks, maybe, though it's a while ago now).

They seem to be made up of lots of little red dots (like a strawberry), which I guess are the blood vessels. My ds's mark started to fade at about threeish, and now (aged 5.5) has largely disappeared, although you can just about see where it was, more from the texture of the skin than the colour. He's quite upset that he doesn't have a birth mark any more, and his older sister has always been jealous that she didn't have one.

hth

[SPARKLER1clausiscomingtotown]

Am sure it will be fine Bellie. GP has checked it and said the same thing. You will be making regular checks at the baby clinic I'm sure so HV should have a quick check there anyway. Don't worry. It's all part of your beautiful child.

[Bellie]

Thanks all for your reassuring messages - i am sure that i am just being a neurotic 1st time mother. I will keep an eye on it and ensure that the h/v & gp checks it each visit

[sparklymieow]

My DD2 has one of these on her chin, it started as a small spot and grew to the size of a 5p piece, she is 3 now and it has faded slightly and gone white-ish.
The only problem we had with it, was she stratched it one day and it bled lots and then got infected

[bundleofyulelogs]

a friend's ds had one which did grow quite large (on his arm where the chubby bit is near the top) but it's virtually gone now (he's nearly 3)

[throckenrobin]

if it is the strawberry type birthmark that appears within a few weeks of birth - DS2 has one on his back - it stayed the same size and now at nearly 2 it has nearly faded (from the middle outwards). Apparently it is something to do with pressure while in the womb and is more common in multiples (DS2 is a twin - his twin does not have one though).

[TinselTamum]

Yes, try not to worry if it grows- it's quite likely to, but that doesn't mean it's going to stay for ever. My ds had one on his wrist that appeared a few days after he was born and grew to the size of half a golf ball (cut across the middle IYSWIM) by the time he was 6 months. By the time he started school there was nothing more than a faint puffiness around that wrist, the redness had faded completely.

It's not actually pressure in the womb, it's a somatic genetic event that occurs pretty much at random

[throckenrobin]

TinselTamum - that's interesting - I was told it was pressure - why is it more common in twins - any idea?

[TinselTamum]

I know people often say it's pressure, but there's no evidence that it's true. I can't actually see anything in the scientific literature that suggests it's more common in twins, although I agree that people often say that

[Bellie]

Sparklymeiow - I will have to watch that dd doesn't scratch it then as it is on her face too. At the moment she is just discovering that her fingers can touch things! - will keep her nails short too as she hates wearing anything on her hands.

[onlyjoandthethreekings]

my twin girls had theses on there heads in different position, it was useful in the dark nights as i used to be able to tell them apart by touch, the swelling went down and they faded they are still there but covered by there hair.