Hand foot and mouth advice needed

[Maisie2019]

Looking for others peoples experiences on hand foot and mouth in toddlers. DS (2) developed a random fever Friday, fever went quickly within a few hours. Nursery had called me to collect him which I did straight away. Then drooling a lot which isn’t normal for him and crying at food so we checked his mouth as said it was hurting and found ulcers. Then looked at his hands and feet and he has red spots, not many maybe 20 total and they are very small red dots.
Now Sunday day 3 and the spots haven’t changed at all. Wondering if this is it? If so it’s quite mild, or do we have worse to come? They aren’t blistering or anything just red dots and hasn’t developed anymore. Manageable with bonjela and nurofen at the moment.
Will he get more spots over next few days or do we think this is it by day 3? They aren’t like the pics on google that look really extreme.
Any tips for managing the mouth ulcers? He wants to eat and drink but is struggling.

ice lollys are good for encouraging fluids

@rosydreams thank you, we aren’t doing too bad with fluids he’s had lots of water and milk which is good. Strangely the offer of a donut went down well and pretending we are hungry and eating he is coming to steal bits off our plates. Just doesn’t want to eat a proper meal of his own bless him

When my DS was 1 he had it, probably spots and ill for about 3 days then faded.

I put a post on a few days ago and my son has HFM looked like this sadly there's no medicine for it you just have to wait for the illness to run its course my son has had it twice now and the second is so much worse as for the mouth ulcers give calpol and make him eat in little bits so he's eating something rather than nothing only thing for your little one now is plenty of rest and plenty of fluids hope he gets well soon can understand because I'm going through the same xxx

@Bobbybobbins thank you fingers crossed it doesn’t get any worse then, I hope so anyway! I was thinking he was going to wake this morning covered but it’s just red dots still no blisters. Maybe selfishly but also trying to understand if this is a whole week off work kind of thing. Will need to see how it goes I guess!

@pinkpantherxxx oh my gosh the poor thing! My sons is nothing like that it’s literally a few clusters of small red dots on hands feet wrists and ankles. And one dot on his arm. Did all those spots come at once or did they start small? Poor thing 😢😢

My son is just getting over HFM. Like you, fever at nursery and sent home. Within 24 hours spots appeared (Saturday). His face was the worst (peaked Monday) but the spots cleared as quickly as they came on - a bit dry and scabby by Wednesday and gone by Thursday. However, over the course of the week the hand and feet spots continued to appear although never got too bad (nowhere like pics online). You can still see a trace of spots on his hands and feet a week on but they're clearing quickly too. My son has been off his food but will take soft and cool things, also drinking more than usual. The doctor also prescribed a spray for his mouth/throat although we haven't had to use it.

Ds, nearly 5, has just had it.
Started with a mouthful of awful spots and ulcers, he was off school Friday on pain relief and mouth spray. Lived on very soft Weetabix, ice cream, milk and noodles til Monday pretty much. The spots are really mild and I can count them, there's so few. But he was off school Monday and Tues as well due to his mouth. Even when it looked clear it still hurt - he turned down cake and chocolate!! So id say it might stick here, but keep an eye on his mouth and eating

I'd let him eat what he feels up to - if that's toast and a dippy egg for 3 days then lean into it. You wouldn't want specific foods forced on you when you are ill.

@Classicstripewastaken sounds very similar to us so far then. I wondered if he had been bitten by a bug initially as the spots are pretty small and you have to look quite closely to see them. So far nothing on his face. Just little clusters hand feet wrists and ankles. Mouth ulcers are the worst bit so far. Trying to figure out if he’s got it relatively mildly or if we have worse to come. Also nothing like the pics online. Hopefully by your timeline we will be okay by next weekend then 😢 was so sad he wanted to eat but crying at everything for dinner last night and breakfast. Pretending to eat and letting him steal from our plates atm and half a donut went down well!

@Pistachiochiochio definitely - he’s had half a donut and a bite of toast off our plate so that’s a win!

@FeedingThem seems similar to us the mouth is definitely the worst part the spots seem mild. Fingers crossed we don’t get anymore as he isn’t bothered by them at the moment. Just want his mouth to be better the poor thing. He said “want some weetabix mummy” then a few spoons his face dropped and started crying 😢

Poor little thing!
We were prescribed diflan throat spray - worth checking with pharmacist if there's anything OTC that will soothe.

But maybe eating weetabix after an ice lolly or similar will be easier?

Yes, strangely he's eating better from our plates too. He usually loves food and would clear his plate but he's been quite picky and often end up giving him something like yoghurt. We kept him off nursery on Monday but he had a bit more energy on Tuesday so sent him back and nursery said he's been fine as much as he looks poorly. He's also eating well at nursery which is a comfort. I've been surprised at how quickly the spots have cleared though. Hopefully your son is back to normal soon.

@Classicstripewastaken just changed him and noticed some on back of his legs now too. They are all so tiny though fingers crossed they don’t blister up. He’s also fine now with nurofen and playing as usual but just eating is the problem and so much dribble!!! I always find my son eats well at nursery too that’s good isn’t it.