Ah bollocks, DS has chicken pox for Xmas. Tips & advice please!

[shockedballoon]

DS (3.1) started with cpox on thurs and has had waves of the blistery little blighted popping out left right and centre, just in time for his first proper Xmas where he 'gets it' and everything. Arse.

He has, understandably, turned into a grumpy, pathetic (in the true sense of the word) clingon and frankly I haven't got enough Tree Fu Tom recorded to last the distance.

I have some last min shopping to do & getting the house ready for Xmas etc, but I guess I can let that slide. PILs can help when they arrive on sun.

Main thing is DS,how can I make him feel better? Am I missing anything?
We have:
Piriton
Virasoothe & Calamine cream (though the only spots he lets me near are those by his bum hole which are super super itchy)
Ibuprofen or Calpol for his spiky temps
Sodium bicarbonate for baths

His appetite is pretty decent considering, he's drinking ok & I've made lolly ices For cooling treats.

Also, B&SIL are/were due to come over on boxing day with 1yo DN - is this wise? Is DS still going to be infectious or not? How do I tell?

Well that's a shit gift!

I wouldn't take any chances with DN, leave it up to the parents, but I am very jittery about exposing others to CP - you just don't know how badly they are going to get it.

Re the spots. DD was similar with creams etc, but I managed to get Calamine Oil from Lloyds that I put in the bath and she was much happier.

Otherwise I'd say you sound pretty sorted. Hopefully he'll be out of the grumpy itchy stage by Xmas day.

Oh, they say you are still infectious till the last spot scabs over, so yes, DN could still catch it.

I think it is infectious for 5 days after the first spots appear so might be fine?

He should be over the worst by Christmas Day :)

I feel your pain. DS, 4.5, started c'pox last Friday.
I found liquid calamine more effective than cream but otherwise used same stuff as you. Those groin ones are just awful aren't they?
On the plus side your DS should be well over the worst of the itching and full of beans by Christmas morning and nearly scabbed over so ok for DN. the guidelines are 5 days from onset of spots, our DS went to school on the wednesday.

So, bad timing for preparations but in the nick of time I hope for festive fun.

Haha! Yes it is a shit gift Santa better up his game for the big day!

Arsearsearse. I veering towards telling DBIL to not come anyway. Just not confident they'll all be stabbed over.
Obvs I told them on thurs as soon as it was clear what it was and they said they are in 2 minds abt it - summed up by 'well he's going to get it at some point, but there's something a bit unsettling about intentionally exposing him, but also it would get it out the way..." etc etc.

Actually I think it wld be better if he was a wee bit older and able to communicate/understand better. Grim enough when you can explain to them.

Though BangOffTrend, that does give me hope that DS'll at least be able to enjoy Xmas day.

He's currently upset coz his chin is hurting (4 massive blisters, 2 joined into a megavolcano) but won't let me anywhere near it with anything. Reckon it's going to scar :(

get the varisoothe on all the spots if you can, it really does make a difference. With my kids they were rough for a few days and then were fine but spotty, so I am guessing that by tomorrow or monday he will be feeling much better and able to enjoy the day.

just all your photos will be spotty!!

I defintely WOULDN'T expose a child in nappies deliberately, although fine if your DS is scabbed over by then (my dd1 caught it on wed and was back at playschool by tue, so there is hope).

Dd2 then caught it at 16 weeks and was such a sad poorly little thing, she is covered in scars, particularly where her nappy was, although this skin has now grown up her back/down her legs so the scars aren't hidden by her knickers even.

And she got a skin infection as a result. We had our own seat at the doc's that spring, they even rang to invite us in for an appointment at one point!

In summary do not expose a child deliberately, your instincts are quite correct.

Rus tox tablets are excellent to help used on both of mine recently and def worked also eurax cream very good for itching along with calpol and nurofen

Latest advice is not to use bicarb, calamine or anything that dries the spots as it may increase itching but instead to use oats in a lukewarm bath (or Aveeno, Oilatum Emollient or similar) to keep the skin moisturised.

Remember the warmer the skin, the more spots come out on it so keep him as cool/unclothed as possible (that's why the nappy area is often worst)

Use Calpol, Ibuprofen, etc for temperature and discomfort, Piriton and Virasoothe for itching and, although homeopathy is not medically recommended I have heard of quite a few people who have had great results with Rhus Tox.

We tried Rhus tox but as far as I can tell it didn't do owt

Mind you it might have been worse without it! Mine both had it quite badly - high temps for a couple of nights, etc.

I am very unsure about homeopathy.

Your poor DS. two of mine had CP over Christmas last year and it was grim, I found E45 itch relief cream to be great as it has an anesthetic in it, so neither of them scratched very much and only DS2 has one scar which is from the first blister that appeared.

I wouldn't expose a 1 year old to it knowingly. DS1 had it when he was 15 months and was very poorly and needed antibiotics for a blister on his eyelid that became infected.

Well DS is pretty covered, poor bugger. He finally let me near him with creams etc when he figured that I could actually make it better.

Have abandoned the calamine and using Virasoothe and poxclin - the latter seeming better. Most helpful has been bicarb & oatmeal baths - no idea if you're supposed to put both in together but seems to work!

He's not had a temp for about 18hrs or any new spots, so think he's coming out the other side at last!

Thanks for responses and advice.