Hand foot and mouth

[acquiescence]

My nearly 3 year old has hand foot and mouth disease. He is in so much pain and can’t eat or drink except little sips of milk which cause him pain due to mouth blisters. He has been crying or wailing pretty much constantly for the last 24 hours now and he is not a whingey child when well, he will fall over and get a nasty cut and just keep playing. He has a high pain threshold so this must be agony for him.

We have seen the GP, I’m aware this is a virus and there is no treatment. I’m just not sure how to get through the next few days. I have a night waking small baby who I am already up at night with.

Toddler had this 2 years ago and it looked much worse but didn’t cause as much pain. Any survival tips? Also can anyone tell me how long it took for mouth blisters to pass/ child to be able to eat again? Also did siblings get it?

So far we have tried difflam spray, anbesol, pain relief, ice cream, none of which seem to help. Thanks.

I feel for you all, my twins had this and it was horrid.. and really a case of waiting it out. I think we had 2/3 awful days and nights then they perked up and mouth blisters cleared. Unfortunately one had it first then the day after the other had it too.

honestly i sympathise with you. my 14 month old cried for 48 straight didnt sleep didnt nap just inconsolable cries l, cried more with this than he has in past 10 months all together. awful. but you really shouldnt have gone to gp youve just spread it even more its very easy to catch if a child sits where your kid has sat or touch what hes touched. you should really stay in doors with him until its compleatly cleared, you can catch it up until the day its all clear. im literally stuck in one room and avoiding everyone with him id hate to pass this on. but honestly the only reason my son isnt crying right now is because ive put calmoline lotion on him honestly whoever made it deserves all the riches in the world. its really cheap and can get it from tesco if theres one close by to you literally totaly worth going out at night to go get it so he can sleep and have less pain. also i read that theres a mixture mix 1 part Maalox, 1 part Children’s Benedryl and gargle with the solution this is american so youll have to google uk substitutes but anericans do call it a magic cure for hand foot and mouth. hope it passes soon. good luck

My daughter had it and after the first 24 hrs it was ok but the second day was horrendous she just kept screaming and was up most of the night but the third it seemed to calm down. All I can suggest is Calpol and let him/her have what ever he/she wants for now x

My cousin rang earlier and her DC currently has it and it sounds horrendous, using the Calpol syringe thing to give her water as she has that many ulcers in her mouth, she is in agony when drinking, or placing a doused flannel on her lips. Also trying to keep her on the Calpol .
They were advised it lasts about 10 days, really feeling for you. Hoping maybe get some tips off this for them.

Thanks all. Really hoping it doesn’t last a week or 10 days, I don’t think we could handle that. We are ok day 4 of the screaming and the mouth blisters but he was unwellfor a few days before that with a temperature.

@enidlowrij I had a telephone appointment with the GP and explained I thought I was hf&m so I shouldn’t come in and just get phone advice, they requested for me to bring him in so I followed their advice.

He hasn’t eaten for 3 days now and is just taking small abouts of sugar water through a syringe. It is just heartbreaking. It seems so wrong that children can’t be given stronger painkillers like adults can. I was once prescribed steroids to dilute and rincenin my mouth for bad ulcers and it treated them immediately. I guess this wouldn’t be possible for a 2 years old. So worried my baby will catch it next.