Strawberry mark

[ledkr]

Hi all, my 14wk old baby has a small strawberry mark on her head and two large raised ones on her body,i am not really too bothered as i have read they do go with time but would love some mn confirmation of this and also any advice to deal with the constant comments,its so hard when someone looks in the pram and instead of saying how pretty she is they say "oh she's got a birthmark" or the best one "whats that?"
The one on her head seems to have developed some grey/black pigment the last few days,you have to look closely to see it,is that normal.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Hi ledker

DS has a strawberry on his forehead. He's just turned 4 and is is very slowly losing it's colour and flattening out so . DS is really upset it's going!

RE the comments, they used to drive me mad when he was a baby but I think I got used to it. Funnily enough I've had very few comments since he started toddling and talking. Maybe people see him as a little person who understands what's being said? and I think he's met so many people now they've all had their chance to comment! I have to say though, people on the whole have been very kind to DS and commenst are not malicious in any way, just curious really.

I just used to say that it's not a birthmark cos he did't have it when he was born, it's called a strawberry mark and it will disappear on it's own in a few years. When children ask I always say it does not hurt DS as they seem to equate blood with sore!

My GP said that around 20% go by age 2, 50% by 5 and almost all have gone at around 7-10 years old. If it's still there at 7 the Dr said he could look at steroid and laser treatment for DS (eek). Dr said they only remove the strawberry if it is interfearing with any function eg if it is near the eye and damaging eye development or on the bottom and bleeding when child poos.

May be worth speaking to your GP about it next time you are there. Don't bother with the HV, mine said "it will never go and you will have to have it removed"

Congrats on your lovely DD by the way !!

DD has one on her tummy that's virtually gone, she's 4 in august. my friends DD had one which is almost gone at a year.

My DD developed a small one on her head at 3/4 weeks old. By the time she was 3 months it was the size of a 50 pence. She's now 3 and you can hardly see it - only those that know it was there can see the remains of it. Most of them do just fade on their own.

If you're worried about it, the dr won't mind taking a look and reassuring you

Mine had one on her neck and people were constantly asking 'what has she done to her neck', with what I thought was an accusing stare God, it's annoying. Enjoy your baby, lucky you. 14 weeks is lovely.

FYI my daughter is now 13 and had her birthmark removed by laser when she was 10 years old as it didn't seem to be going away. It took 10 mins and barely left a mark.

yes they do go but it can take a while normally they get a bit bigger to start with for first 6 months or so i believe and then start to shrink back. My friends little boy had 6 in total one large one on his neck that one definitely got a lot darker as he got bigger, more dark purple than red as it was when he was born but they are all shrinking and fading now.
People always comment on things they don't understand or usually see they don't mean to upset you but it can be hard to deal with as a parent. Just get yourself a few stock answers so you're ready when people ask.

My DD has quite a large birth mark on her right hand. TBH she does get a lot of comments about it from complete strangers and small children. The most annoying one was when she was 8 weeks old a guy in the supermarket queue asked if she'd burnt herself on the hob...?!!! Find it so odd that people pick up on the 'imperfection' rather than all the positive things but I guess that is just life! My Mum deals with it brilliantly saying it's an angel's kiss and when little kids make a big deal about it she says 'Don't you have one?', they say 'No' and she says 'Oh that's a shame!'.

My DDs Dr said at 6 months the mark would either start growing or start disappearing, and it has started going. It was incredibly raised and that has started to go and you can now see little 'pools' of normal skin where once it was solid claret in colour.

I don't know about the grey/black pigment, would it be worth your Dr just checking it out?

I had a very big one on my head (about 4inches in diameter) when I was younger. It is still slightly raised now but causes no problems and is hidden by my hair.

We used to get the comments - some really nasty - but you soon learn to ignore them

DS1 had one on his back, it was certainly still there when he started school, but don't remember seeing it lately (aged8) , so not sure if gone completely or just faded.

ds has one on his chin. It is the size and colour of a strawberry and sticks out about a centimetre. He really doesn't mind although he says he would like a badge saying

A. It's a birthmark.
B. No it doesn't hurt.
C. I have had it since I was born - see A

He is 9. He did come home last week asking if we could go and see the surgeon to get it reduced. I think some of the boys have started teasing him.

thanks all for taking the time to reply,tbh i wasnt that worried-its the lesat of my worries as she has a cleft palate too,its just nice to know it probably will go.The commensta arent nasty just stupid,"has she hurt her head?" "yes my newborn baby has hurt her head,its bleeding but i just thought id walk her around town in her pram"

Trice-thats a shame, dd1 is 9 and kids are so unkind,even without a birthmark.