I think my toddler has hand/foot/mouth virus - anyone else had this!? Advice needed

[averagemum]

Hello all,

I'm taking him to the doctor's first thing tomorrow but basically what I thought was teething (his canines coming through) I'm now pretty sure is something else. He hasn't eaten properly since Friday morning, has been drooling in huge quantities, has a white tongue and ulcers all over his tongue. He's 19 months and the poor thing can't eat it's so painful, but thankfully is drinking milk / diluted apple juice / water in small gulps. His nappies are wet so don't think he's dehydrated but he is SO miserable and it's just been a bit of a nightmare... (he's not sleeping either...)

Has anyone had this and come out the other side? Any wise words / or repeats of "this too shall past" would be really, really appreciated!

Hi DS had hand, foot and mouth but he was about five when he had it. He was unwell for a couple of days and had little red spots on his palms and soles. It highly contagious in children under 7 years, but after that you have usually built up enough immunity.

I think your doing a good job making sure he is getting plenty of fluids. Have you tried giving him some paracetamol about 30 minuites before mealtimes? This might help him eat something.

My DS had it twice (must have been two different viruses, and he was very unlucky). I had it with him the first time. We didn't have blister's in the mouth, mainly hands and feet. But I can tell you they were bad enough, the ones of the hands especially whenever I tried to pick anything up.
Just keep up the fluids, and do use a painkiller. If anything changes for the worse call a doctor.

Good luck!

Thanks for replying teamcullen!

He actually doesn't have any spots anywhere else apart from in his mouth, and has had no temperature - or only very slightly raised - so I'm not entirely sure it is h, f and m, but know it can't just be teething...

I think the problem with eating is that he's now very wary of it because it hurts so much. But I'll definitely try giving paracetamol 30 minutes before tomorrow. How long was it before your son improved? It's only been 2 days, but it feels never-ending.

Thanks mummytime - with the painkiller I'm now giving suppositories as he won't swallow painkiller, even though he usually loves any form of pink medecine!

I will take him to the doctors tomorrow. Poor you with the hands and feet too - again, do you remember how long it lasted?

sounds much more like oral thrush.

contact a pharmacy as you can get over counter treatment but they may want him assessed clinically, due to his young age.

Hmm, I've just looked up oral thrush blinks and you might be right - will check it out with the doctor tomorrow. Thanks very much for replying.

Averagemum, dont forget its bank holiday tomorrow and the GP surgery might not be open. But definatly phone up and get an emergency appointment. If your DS has been unwell for three days (by tomorrow) with little or no improvement he should see a doctor.

Dont forget paracetamol is for pain as well as fevor so try to give him regular doses. You can give ibruprofin inbetween as well if you feel that the paracetamol is not enough.

thanks for thinking of that teamcullen - I'm actually in France so no bank holiday today (we had one on Saturday) so should be OK.

no worries AM. go via nhs direct or nhs 24 (don't know where you are)as surgeries closed tomorrow. they'll be able to tell you if you can get something over counter or will need to see out of hours GP. they can arange an appt if necessary. obviously, oral thrush isn't serious but dehydration can be if a child's not taking enough fluids.

hand foot and mouth horrid for a few days, but it does go quite quickly. all 3 of mine have had it at diff times, as long as drinking then it shouldn't cause too many problems.

check for thrush though - mine did have spots on hands too, and one with feet lol.

it's really common and not usually a problem. calpol/ similar and fluids.

ah, crossed posts AM, you'll be fine then.

I was about to say it sounds like oral thrush (then realised it had already been suggested). DS had it and after a couple of days of treatment it cleared up. We were on holiday at the time so not sure if the treatment/drug would be the same but the doctor prescribed Nystatin (i think that is spelt correctly). In the meantime maybe try paracetamol, the doctor we saw said he would be in discomfort.

I hope your DC is feeling a bit better today Averagemum and you have managed to get him to the doctors.

Thanks so much for your quick responses and advice everyone!

We saw the doctor this morning and she ruled out h,f and m and oral thrush and diagnosed mouth ulcers caused by a virus - one side of his tongue was covered with them (poor thing). But happily he had a much better night last night and started eating again today, albeit very cautiously. So I think we're out of the woods. Hooray! And, really, thank you.

Im glad your DS is feeling better averagemum.