Strawberry birthmark - anyone had it stay flat?

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I have a 2 week old. A strawberry mark has appeared the last couple of days on the back of her thigh. Or what I suspect is one anyway.

On googling it’s all quite frightening! Giant growths which look quite fragile and can apparently bleed profusely. Something which is apparently benign and does resolve but worried about the location and what this will mean for the next year or more potentially.

Anyone have one that just stayed flat and red birthmark like. It’s apparently 10% of children so suprised haven’t heard more about this and assume google is showing worst or the worst.

Anyone not had a rapidly growing mass please give me hope 🥹

DS has one. He was very red when he was born apart from this tiny patch on his chest. Surprisingly midwives had no idea what it was but I spotted a tiny red dot a few days later so after googling I realised it’s going to develop into a strawberry birthmark.

It grew into the size of a 10p coin and was maybe just a couple of mm thick. He’s now 16 months and it’s gone flat with half of the redness gone.

Naturally I was just as worried that it would be huge and difficult to manage if it kept bleeding but fortunately we had no issues. Because of where it was it was difficult for him to accidentally scratch it but I would get worried during bath time or whenever I changed him. But it didn’t get too big or too thick, and doctors were never concerned either whenever they spotted it.

Your anxiety is speaking here, not logic, take a breath :)

Both my twins had strawberry marks – one on the upper arm and one on the stomach. The upper one was larger and more bulgy (about the size of a 50p), it never bled or caused any discomfort at all. The stomach once stayed relatively flat, about 1cm diameter – also not bleeding or discomfort.

From the age of 1yr or so they both began to fade, and now they are both 6 they are just pale skin with a little mottled texture left behind.

Try not to worry. My daughter had a strawberry mark develop just under her eye. Only because of its location it was monitored by specialists. Eventually it just faded almost completely on its own. Probably by the time she was two you could hardly see it. Shes 18 now - and you can't tell where it was at all. I'd only worry if it's painful when knocked or if it starts growing dramatically or bleeding.

My DS had one on his head,my brother had one on his face. Both shrunk to practically nothing by the time they were in primary school. By his teens you would never know my brother's ever existed.

Dd had two but they didn’t stay flat. One on her wrist and one on her upper lip. Neither went away on their own and both were surgically removed when she was about 4. They were both the size of large grapes and neither of them ever bled.

She’s an adult now and you can just about see where they were if you know what you’re looking for.

My son was born with one on his chest about the size of an apple pip. It seemed to grow with him for a year but by the time another year had passed and he was 2, it had almost completely disappeared. He's 8 now and you wouldn't even know it had been there.

I have one myself on the back of my left arm. It's flat and a pink stain spotted with red pin pricks, less than the size of a 5 pence piece. It's obvious to look at but causes me no problems.

Obviously bring it up with a medical professional to get their advice regarding monitoring it but try not to worry.

DS was born with one, slightly raised and red when he was born, faded over the years and then completely disappeared (I can't remember by what age it was completely gone, but definitely before he was 10)

My dd16 was born with one behind her ear. It was bright red and quite raised until she was about 4 when it just disappeared. If you look really closely now you can just about make out where it used to be. A friends child had one on her cheek and it also vanished about 5 years old.

My DD has a small one on her face which was raised. She's now 2 and it's flat but still red. I assume it'll fade with time.

My DC had one that appeared just after birth and we were referred to a specialist. It was about the size of a 50p and raised. The specialist said that in the majority of cases, the blood vessels which cause it, are rerouted as the child grows and most grow out of it completely by early primary school age. That was the case for us - and now it’s barely visible at all - I can only tell where it was as the skin feels slightly softer.

i have one in my hair, its stayed flat

My DD is 13 months and has one in her hairline on her neck. It's stayed flat.

My dd has one. It is on her neck and was raised but not like a lump. Dr told us it would fade by the time she was 5. She's 3 now and it's almost completely gone. I have never worried about it.

I had one on my back, DD1 had one on her upper arm. Both are now wider circles of red dots but are flat - and not really noticeable unless you are looking for them. They never caused any problems.

My daughter had one on the side of her face but it went away on its own.

DC1 had one on his bum cheek - it stayed flat but spread out slowly until he was about 1, it was about the size of a 5p piece. It started fading from about age 3 onwards and was totally gone by the time he turned 5.

I didn’t know anything about strawberry marks before my daughter arrived.
within first couple of weeks one emerged on her neck
I showed it to the HV and midwife several times, telling them I had must have accidentally pinched her when I picked her up to nurse (since my hands were numb and painful from
intense carpal tunnel)
neither told me it looked like a strawberry mark! But it was.

my daughter is 6 now, and it is getting paler and paler all the time. It was flat and remains flat.
it was about. 2cm diameter and bright pink when it came up, and is now very pale pink.

she has never been worried about it, she always includes it in drawings
and we joke that I will eat that lovely little strawberry when we are cuddling.

it is good that you know what it is, and that you don’t think you caused it, because it caused me quite a bit of shame for months before I realised what it was.

obviously for some strawberry marks can be more significant, but it your child’s is like mine, then it’a nothing to be concerned about, and may well fade and disappear. I think that my daughters will disappear eventually since it has changed so much from the start.

My daughter had one when she was a baby on her cheek. By the time she started school it had gone and left a cute dimple, now she's an adult it's completely gone as if it were never there!

Omg thank you everyone. I have hope!

I am aware they usually go so not worried about that part. More was last night in bed googling and imagining a giant mass on her back thigh for many years and thought how can she sit, how can she go down a slide etc. I am hoping it stays flat and isn’t a fragile mass. Fingers crossed!!

I also have no idea how they don’t talk about this more. I know many mums from first babe and haven’t heard anyone mention this. When quite clearly from number of comments so quickly it is very common.

How strange!

The human body is a very weird thing.

My daughter had one on her back. It’s now gone, she’s nearly 12. It just faded over the years.

my daughter had 2. both became large and raised. the one in nappy area became sore so, she saw a specialist who gave waterproof dressings. It healed up. Now as an adult both have gone flat and pale and barely noticeable.

I have one OP. It has remained flat and never bled or caused any issue in the slightest. It's on a limb and looks exactly the same now, as it did when I was tiny. It's still very, very pink/red! I like it :)

Congratulations on your little strawberry girl! 🍓

My son had one on the side of his head as a baby, size of a pea not totally flat but by 12 months it had completely disappeared, they often do or get less noticeable, I was worried at the time as it caused lots of stares and comments.

My dd had one on her head that stayed flat. She had one on her face that grew and caused issues.

It sounds like your ds one will be okay, but keep an eye on it and bear in mind waiting times for paediatric dermatology are long so if you need a referral go for it sooner rather than later. The main risk in that area is ulceration so you are looking out for white patches, bleeding or scabbing that doesn't heal.

Birthmark Support Group on Facebook are really helpful.

DD had two- one big one on her thigh which was quite big and bright red but flat ish and one on her chest which was very puffy/raised and bright angry red.

She’s almost 9 and they’ve disappeared. The nurse said both would be gone by the time she hit about 10/12 I think. We didn’t do anything to either of them, they never bled or anything.