Are Mongolian blue spots an unknown thing?

[Mrsknackered]

Both of my DS's have Mongolian blue birthmarks. DS1 has a completely blue bottom and DS2 has a blue bum cheek and at the top of his spine, a circular blue spot the size of a 2p.
They are noted down in their red books.
At swimming last night, a lady was sitting near us in the shallow end and kept giving me a funny look. She then said, 'think you've been holding wee man a bit tightly!' So I was like 'sorry, what?' And she pointed at his back and said 'that's a nasty bruise for such a young bubba!' (DS2 is 5 months)
I got really embarrassed as I can be a bit wimpy and awkward and explained it's a birth mark but she just kinda 'mmm'ed me!
I felt awkward after and wondered if others had noticed it too and also thought he was bruised :(
Are they not a known about? Should I be making nurseries/schools aware of their birthmarks?

Second AIBU of the week! What's happening to me

My dd has a vein across the bridge of her nose. It's prominent and blue and looks like a bruise! I've also had people ask how she got hurt, especially when she was a small baby!

My two DD's have this and defiantly make the school/nursery aware and bring the red book with you

DSs is very prominent, a big spot on his bottom, another on the base of his back and it goes all up his spine. I knew what it was straight away as I used to work in a nursery and most of my Asian key children had them.

Oddly it's not actually noted down in his red book and no HV has ever mentioned it. But he is mixed race (white/S E Asian) and we live in South London so Mongolian blue spots are probably seen almost daily at the HV clinic.

I'll get them to write it down in his red book when I take him for his MMR though as we are planning to move to Sussex soon and they might not be as common there!

I'm mixed race and my husband is white, so my son had one.

The only person who ever mentioned it was the midwife who did his newborn checks, who said 'ah yes, a Mongolian blue spot. Very common in children of mixed ...' and then trailed off and looked at me sheepishly as if I might not have mentioned my blackness to my husband.

I had no idea this was so prevalent. Every day is a school day.

I made sure that our GP had it noted as both dd have them. One has one that looks like a bruise on her bum and the other dd has large patches on her back that could look like bruising. They were born in a hospital nearer London and everyone knew what they were there. Then we moved slightly further out and had a very uncomfortable conversation with an A&E doctor (and his boss who was brought in to look at her) who'd never seen them before. I know someone locally who had her baby kept in hospital as they thought it was bruises. It was awful. So I think telling the nursery, school, and GP upfront can avoid any unnecessary problems.

Wow, something new ive learnt today. Thank you op and mn x

I did my medical training in East London & saw loads of them, my mum trained in South Wales & didn't see any at all until she moved the south east. We were taught always to document them in records & encourage parents to make sure the GP/HV/nurseries etc were aware of the marks, there have been cases where they were mistaken for bruises.

All of my dc have had prominent stork marks on their faces. dd2 is 8 & her's is still quite dark, I've had quite a few comments about them. They are classic in appearance but people still think they've been inured in someway ... I suppress the eye roll & reply with 'yes it is a birthmark'.

Really interesting - I hadn't heard of them before MN!

Apologies if this has already been mentioned (skimmed thread), but do they fade or are they lifelong?

I have a couple of Indian friends, but either their children don't have this or they don't discuss it with me.

Usually fade by around age 5, almost always by puberty but the odd person has them forever :)

Thanks camolila!

Despite being south Asian, I didn't know what they were until DD1 was born with a few of them - it was my sister who told me what it was (she'd lived in East Asia for a while). Then after chatting to my mum, she remembers having one until she was about 7. Neither me nor Dsis had one.
Haven't rtft so sorry if repeating - BTW after looking them up, it's not just prevalent in Asians. Basically they can appear in anyone who's not northern European- so not unusual in Spain, Italy etc.

A young health visitor once questioned DD1'S blue spot- I put her right straightaway - any professional working with kids in this country should be made aware of them. If anyone questions you, direct them to Wikipedia! DD2 has one too and her health visitor knew what it was immediately.
They do actually look different to a bruise - there's not the same mix of colours and they're kind of 'flat' - they don't look look they're under the skin is iyswim.

DD1'S have faded already - she's 2.5yo. DD1'S are still strong - she's 4yo

I have one on my bum cheek, it's faded over the years (and stretched) but I'm in my mid 20s and still have it. They thought the doctor had been a bit rough with me when I was born, but when the mark didn't fade after a few weeks DPs went back to the GP. Unusual and not common where I live (small town, not very multicultural) and there is no asain roots in the family.

Dd has one it's almost faded now. Apparently it means you are a direct descendant of the ghengis Khan!

Well I'm a primary school teacher and I'd never heard of them. Thank you for mentioning it.

I've never seen or heard of them before

They are not well known. That's why both my kids had swimsuits that covered their backs until they disappeared. I took my son to a+e once for a fall, and all medical personnel asked me about how he fell, and obviously didn't believe me and I couldn't work out why, because he fell on his front. Then one doctor snapped at me 'what about the bruises on his back?' . Even though my asian partner was standing next to me. It didn't occur to anybody they weren't bruises, and I nearly went home without my son as they thought I must be a child abuser. After that I always carried his red book in the changing bag!

I hadn't heard of them until I had my first. I asked the midwife about it and she told me what it was and said it was from DH (Brazilian). Someone did ask once, I think it was at baby swimming. I just told them what it was, but I was aware that they were convinced it was a bruise. They disappeared by about a year I think.

I think they're more common in black and Asian babies, so many people don't know about them.
I was always taught to describe their appearance and location in the red book to make sure other HCP know about them and to safeguard the parents from accusations of physical abuse.

I know about them but I am in the US in a large metropolitan area, with a very diverse population.

I have been asked about the visible 'stork bites' my DCs had at the back of their heads as babies, but just by 'civilians', never by anyone medical..

It's a bit much to be challenged by medical personnel about mongolian spots - surely this should be covered in training? It is pretty basic, imo.

My dd is 3 and has one at the base of her spine. I'd never heard of them before so I remember trundling her up the Drs when she was a few days old. Because of where hers is, it's never really been seen in public so have never had any comments but now I'm a bit anxious as I'm so used to it as a birthmark I wouldn't even think of people looking at it like a bruise Although she also has the stork marks on the nape of her neck, middle of eyebrows and tip of her nose. These become more visible when hot or cold, so I've had a few scolding comments about how I've let her nose get sunburnt...

Way back in the mid 70's when my eldest was born the a midwife who was giving him a wee check up on day 2 spotted them and said ah, your baby is mixed race?

Lol you know the guy who plays Adam isn't even white, he's quarter black you can tell when you look at him and his brother (Jason in Corrie) they're not fully white! lol