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Children's health

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Original poster

temporary chicken pox support thread - if your dc has chicken pox now come and talk to me!

26 replies

nowwearefour · 10/01/2009 07:07

our dd1 had it over christmas. we realise now how mild it was. dd2 now has it. very badly. poor little thing. she is nearly 20 montsh and though not a terrible sleeper normally she isnt brilliant. so of course now she is being rubbish. i have been up with her since 5.20. i am so tired ! and i feel for her soooo much. te spots are peaking around now i think- still some more brewing i can see them. and she is COVERED already. and she is SOOOO itchy poor wee thing.
how are you managing? oat baths or bicarb baths? bothering with calamine? we have this newish chicken pox relieving mousse stuff. cant work out if it is helping her or not

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lizziemun · 10/01/2009 07:47

dd2 at about 14mths had it realy bad you could't see any skin from her neck to the top of her legs. The only thing i found releived it was piriton.

She didn't like calamine being put on. She would just scream if you tried.

Original poster

nowwearefour · 10/01/2009 07:59

thanks yes piriton is great but when so little they are only allowed it once in the morning and once at bedtime. annoying!! thanks piriton wasnt around when i was a kid which is why i associate it with calamine!

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Original poster

nowwearefour · 10/01/2009 10:23

really noone else out there suffering too???

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lljkk · 10/01/2009 19:11

Not right now, nowweR4, sorry to hear it's so bad. Mine had it mild, so I'm not much help to you, either. I think calamine is useless, to be honest. Cuddles? Lollies? Paracetmol (I would reach for it if I thought it would help).

Original poster

nowwearefour · 10/01/2009 19:13

thanks. she has been scratching like a demented creature all day. she has had 3 oat baths, so much mousse and as much medicine as she is allowed. we feel for her so much. at least it will only lat max another week- feels like forever but it will pass. thank goodness.

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ComeOVeneer · 10/01/2009 19:18

Sorry to hear she is suffering, poor thing. Apparently siblings who catch if off anotheer sibling seem to suffer worse because they have a more prolonged exposure than the original "culprit" in the family (not sure how true that is, but second ones often seem to suffer more).

DS came down with it on SUnday night, but has been so well with it, a fair amount of spots, but fine in himself and hasn't scratched once. SO I guess we are very lucky. They have all scabbed over now so hopefully he can get back to nursery on Monday.

Hope dd makes a speedy recovery.

woollyjo · 10/01/2009 19:29

After 24 hours of is it or isn't it we are certain dd (2yrs) has the pox. It hasn't seemed to bother her too much today but she must have lots in her hair (won't let me look)as she is scratching and doesn't usually. Her back is covered but they are all quite tiny. We've given her piriton so that she can get off to sleep and it seems to have worked.

How long from the emergence of spots to them scabbing over would you say?

ComeOVeneer · 10/01/2009 19:36

DS's spots started on Sunday evening and we had new spots every day until Weds eve. Today every single on is scabbed.

woollyjo · 12/01/2009 17:49

DD is in a terrible state today, we are trying to make light of it and not wince too much when we change her (her whole nappy area makes me want to cry!).

Original poster

nowwearefour · 19/01/2009 22:00

woollyjo hope your dd better now. my dd2's nappy area still makes me want to cry. tehy hang around for a long time after the itchiness stops eh. what a horrible illness.

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Lubyloo · 19/01/2009 22:07

Opened this thread as I currently have another tab open looking at chicken pox pictures! I noticed some spots on DD as I was putting her to bed. She has had a slight temperature and runny nose for a few days so that seems to fit but I've not heard of chicken pox in the area.

They are red with a small white head on them but not a fluid filled "dew drop" as the pictures show. I guess I'll find out in the morning! I hope all of your itchy children start to feel better soon!

Original poster

nowwearefour · 19/01/2009 22:08

we had to cancel our holiday because dd2 had it. but if your diar is clear hope your dd does have it mildly and copes well with it. gets it out of the way!!

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Lubyloo · 19/01/2009 22:14

Sorry to hear about the holiday. Are you going to be able to rebook it?

Original poster

nowwearefour · 20/01/2009 17:27

yes we have rebooked it for a couple of weeks' time. cant wait! we still dont know if we will get our money back from insurance but are taking a gamble!

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BibiThree · 20/01/2009 17:37

You all have my complete sympathy, last year me, dd1 (3 at the time) and the dts (8m at the time) all had chickenpox at the same time. It was hell on earth.

Calamine cream was brilliant, much better than the lotion and piriton saved me and dd1 from scratching our skin off.

Hope you're all seeing the light at the end of the spotty tunnel soon.

Original poster

nowwearefour · 20/01/2009 18:41

gosh i cant imagine suffering myself when trying to care for more than one child with it. must have been awful for you bibithree. how did you cope. thank goodness all done and dusted now though for you i suppose! (unless you have more children....)

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BibiThree · 20/01/2009 19:24

I don't really remember how I coped, post traumatic memory loss! I think we all just took as many painkilling drugs as possible, and slept a lot. And DH was a hero, bless him.

It was a nasty time but we got it all out of the way in 2 weeks whereas it could have dragged on for 2 weeks each if we'd had it one at a time, which would have been 2 months of misery!

Original poster

nowwearefour · 20/01/2009 19:29

yes always good to look ont he bright side. amazing you had gone through life without catching it i think!

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Notquitegrownup · 20/01/2009 19:37

Just sending some sympathy NWWAF. I had it very severely as an adult - there was barely a square inch of skin showing between the spots which were enormous and very very itchy. Piriton saved my life!!!

Hoping that your dd feels brighter soon. (Was it you who had to cancel your holiday to South Africa? The insurance ought to cover it. You shouldn't be allowed to fly with a child at its most infectious, as chicken pox can be very dangerous to immune suppressed folk. Try calling an airline anonymously and saying that your child is going down with chicken pox - ask them if you are allowed to fly!)

The first wave of spots was the worst for me - you get three waves, each three days apart, and they tend to focus on different areas. Don't forget when creaming her (agree that calamine cream is much better than the lotion) that the spots can get into any orifice on the body - some areas are worse than others! If she gets any inside her throat and mouth, then try chopping grapes in half and put them into a jelly once it has cooled a little. It was just wooooooonderful as the cool grapes slid down over the spots . . . .

Original poster

nowwearefour · 20/01/2009 19:43

thanks for the tips. yes it was me who had to cancel SA trip! we are hoping insurance will cover it yes ! dd2 was asking for grapes a lot- that might be why!

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Laugs · 21/01/2009 16:18

My DD has it too - just started on Mon night.

We haven't got any calamine cream and I can't take her to the shops (can I?) so I was wondering if Sudocrem would do any good?

We have piriton in the house so will try that tonight. Last night she was scratching and crying on and off for hours but in my half-asleep state I could only think of Calpol, which did nothing.

Notquitegrownup · 21/01/2009 16:50

I can imagine that sudocrem could be soothing. It's worth a try. Long baths were also loooooovely.

Notquitegrownup · 21/01/2009 16:51

Perhaps try the Sudocrem on an area where it can be washed off if it doesn't help, or irriates . . .

PlumBumMum · 21/01/2009 17:40

LubyLou sounds like foot and mouth, spots will appear on feet, in and around mouth, sometimes bums and hands

My dd2 had both at 23 months up alnite as she had raw bum from chicken pox, calamine cream worked wonders
Baths too

Laugs · 22/01/2009 08:58

I used Sudocrem and Piriton last night and DD slept all the way through, so at least one of them must have worked!

I think our main problem is we are going stir crazy being stuck in the house all day. What is anyone else doing to entertain themselves?

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