Moles

[MrBloomEatsVeggies]

DS1 (4) has quite a large (not huge) pale mole on the top of his arm. I imagine it will be exposed to the sun frequently as he gets older.

I'm a little concerned about it, not that there's a problem now, but will it be as he reaches adulthood? My obvious concern is melanoma. Has anybody had a mole removed on a young child? Would the doc's consider it, or am I just being daft?

My 3 year old has lots of moles. One massive one on her back, and several on her face, arms, shoulders or legs. It's normal, isn't it? I have loads too.

You just make sure you do all the normal sun protection stuff and remind him to check his moles when he's older for any changes.

My DS (also 4) has got a couple of moles on his shoulders - I am very moley so I imagine he'll get a lot more as he gets older too. I've just had a mole removed myself because it was abnormal, luckily the biopsy came back saying it wasn't melanoma. But its made me more aware of mine and the DS's moles and we always cover up or use high SPF suncream.

I would just make sure you use high factor sunscreen, which I imagine you would do anyway, and keep an eye on it. I think they only tend to remove them if they look abnormal or have changed, and I would guess they might be reluctant to remove one from a young child if it didn't look abnormal as it does leave a scar.

I spoke to my dermatologist about DDs moles (I was in getting 2 of mine removed - mainly precautionary due to their location rather than any huge concern). She reckoned that the best way to consider children's moles is to keep an eye on them exactly the same as you would for your own - get them checked if they change/bleed etc. She said that the most important thing was to educate DD once she gets a bit older about checking moles without getting too paranoid about it.

I've seen dermatologists and doctors over the years about my own moles, and this one was the first to recommend removing any - the rest have said, sun protection and regular checking.

Thanks for getting back to me everyone. It seems from your responses that having it removed isn't really an option, so I will stay vigilant and take care with it. I just thought that maybe it would be easier to just remove the thing rather than whittle about it over the years!!

Anyway, I will take your advice, thanks again