Haemangioma "strawberry" birthmarks

[hellitops]

I'm not sure if there are any current or active threads about this at the moment; the few I found when I did a search were old.

My LO has a reasonably large strawberry birthmark on his left upper lip and it has started to affect his feeding. The poor dear now cries a lot when feeding, struggles to feed and today has decided he will only feed with me. I'm going to take him to the doctor and see about getting a referral. He is only 3 months old and we are worried what will happen if it grows much more (which is likely I believe) and how we will manage to feed him

Any advice or parents out there who are going/have gone through a similar thing?

[Ivortheengine8]

The poor little thing. I can't help sorry as our DD only had them on her bottom and they have faded a bit now. I would talk to your Dr about it.

[RickGhastley]

Hi hellitops

DS has a strawberry above his eye and was referred by the GP to a consultant when he was small. Consultant told me that they do leave the strawberry to disappear naturally unless it is interfearing with some bodily function or it is showing no signs of disappearing on it's own.

So I imagine if the stawberry is interfearing with feeding they will probably want to remove it. A couple of DS' friends have had them removed - one from the eyelid that was causing driooping and could have interfeared with sight and one from the bottom as it was bleeding when the boy pooed.

DS's friends' strawberrys were removed using a combination of steroids and laser therapy with excellent results.

I think you are doing absolutely the right thing by getting a referral. Hope all goes well x

[Sirzy]

Certainly get him reffered, as pp said they can be removed/shrunk if they cause problems.

When I was a baby I had a very large one on the back of my head which couldn't be removed (medical processes werent as advanced then!). My parents were told it would be gone by the time I was 4 (most are) but I was closer to 10 before it was flat to my head. Now the only difference is hair doesn't grow out of it.

[hellitops]

thank you everyone for replying

when we asked the HV they just said that they continue to grow and get redder until they sort of reach a peak and then start shrinking. Most are gone by 4 as you said sirzy and the one our niece had on the back of her head is gone (she is 2).

I've done a little research and GOSH says that they generally recommend referral and removal for birthmarks growing on or near eyes, nose and mouth as can cause problems. It has also been suggested that DS may have silent reflux which could also be causing his fussy feeds and crying, and would explain his back arching. Am going to ask GP about both and try get referred for both.

Will keep you posted :)

[moragbellingham]

DD had one which developed rapidly after birth but only to the size of a 2p coin on her head.
It was raised and very red but the only people who didn't seem to be bothered were DH and I. She had no hair which made it obvious.
It disappeared before she reached about 2 and luckily it did have hair growth in it.

Hope all goes well with both the feeding (DD also had probs, GP and paed consultant diagnosed colic and of not much use) and the haemangioma.

[hellitops]

hi morag we thought DS had colic but now suspect silent reflux which sounds a lot more like what he is experiencing. Check out the crying over spilt milk website which tells you the symptoms. His feeding issues might also be to do with this, as well as the birthmark, as he doesn't cry every feed -I think he would if it was his birthmark bothering him. So it might be worth looking into and seeing if that's what your DD has -they are things they can do if she does. There is a support thread for reflux babies on here too :)

thanks shitmagnet, glad to know your DD is alright :)

[moragbellingham]

hellitops - i think if I'd seen that website at the time, it would have made things glaringly obvious. Our flat was festooned with washed/dried muslins and I must've bought about 30-40 for the constant vomiting. HV wanted to re-admit to hospital for weight loss but couldn't help more than that.

We had to buy the Gaviscon powder OTC in the end. My memory is very hazy due to the lack of sleep at the time, but it was a while ago.

DD2 fed like a dream which was a relief.

We took a mobile phone video of the post-feed episodes to the GP which got us a referral BTW.