OMG ..... DD has hand foot and mouth, any advice please

[busywizzy]

My DD (aged 7 years) has been diagnosed as having hand foot and mouth this morning. She has red blotches all over her hands, feet and her face and is very itchy. Apparently it is not dangerous, is very common in children but is highly contagious.

Anyone have any experience of this - I am giving her piriton to help with the itching and calpol as she has a temperature and is generally feeling unwell. Could I be doing more ?

I also have a DS aged 9 months - what should I do if he catches it?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Your poor dd.

My ds had this last year. The only other thing to watch for is blisters/sores in her mouth - you can use bonjela, and just be aware that hot food may cause discomfort (if she has any appetite). Ds was only just 1, and lived on yoghurt for a few days. HTH

Thank you gladbag, am still getting over the shock of being told she has this. Does it last long?

my ds had it about 8 months ago (he was nearly 3) and I was horrified thinking it was something to do with foot and mouth disease...but it is not at all linked! It sounds a lot worse than it is. It's nothing serious they just feel a bit grotty for a few days.

Ds was grotty for about a 7 - 10 days, although I only found out that it was hand,foot and mouth towards the end (we'd moved house that week, and I phoned his old nursery to ask if chicken pox had appeared as I found the blisters on his hands, and they told me about the HFM epidemic there).

I phoned the new GP's surgery, and they just said keep him dosed up on calpol. He was really miserable, didn't eat much and ended up pretty much sleeping in with us the whole time as he was difficult to settle.

Hope your dd feels better soon - and keep a close eye on ds, as it is v infectious. Sympathy hugs.

Just so you know its a really really common childhood illness and is relatively mild ... and is nothing at all to do with bovine foot and mouth

calpol and nurofen and it'll be over in a day or so

I got this (as an adult) about a week before the animals got foot and mouth (which is different). (friends all found it amusing tho)

I was lucky and didnt get it thst badly, but it did REALLY itch, but it did go away as well once i started using the Drs cream.

Hope your little one feels better. I was lucky enough to only have it mildly on my hands!

my two had this, ds2 got it really bad in his mouth. Just keep up the calpol as and when needed, it is very contagious though

Thanks everyone for the words of reassurance. DD seems to be coming out in more and more blotches right in front of my eyes. They're all the way up her arms now and are getting worse on her face too. NannyL, what cream did you have as I haven't been given anything. Did anyone else have cream?

It isn't helping that DS is cutting a tooth at the moment so he's really grumpy today as well.

And there was me thinking we'd have a nice relaxing weekend before Xmas madness hits us

my ds had this at 18 months - luckily the other kids didn't catch it, maybe they've had it before. Anyway, he was 'properly' poorly for 4 days or so, his mouth was full of blisters and he couldn't eat or drink proprtly, it seemed to be very painful. He was drooling badly for a good couple of days before I realised..
Calpol and fromage frais were the only thigs that soothed it...

my dd has just been diagnosed with this. I posted yesterday saying i thought she had chicken pox but having been to dr, it's hfm. not seeming too bad but keep you posted.

DD's face, arms and back have been covered in blotches all weekend and she's had a temperature and been really grumpy (as much to do with having to stay in I think as anything else). This morning she came into the bedroom wearing just her pyjama bottoms and the rash seemed to have mostly cleared up. Hoorah I thought.

Took off her bottoms to get her dressed and she is absolutely covered in spots all over her bottom and legs so a few more days in I think

She seems much brighter in herself so the 'fever' bit lasted about 4 days. We're still watching DS (9 months) for signs of it.

Hope your DD gets better soon. One tip I found was that giving her piriton seemed to make her itch like mad about 20 minutes after taking it. So we gave it to her half an hour before she went to bed So the itching had passed before she tried to go to sleep. HTH

as yet dd isn't itching. I am amzed, cos I would if i had those spots. Must get piriton in just incase cos I know it'll be just when dh has gone out and i can't get to buy some that she'll be incredibly bothered by the spots and i'll need stuff but haven't got it!!

How long have you been in for so far?? have you ventured out at all (ssshh whisper if you don't weant anyone to hear lol)??

My DD was itchy BEFORE the spots appeared so you might be lucky. She has now been spotty since Friday night and we haven't been out with her anywhere (to be honest, she hasn't really felt well enough until today).

Both DH and I have been out though so we're not treating ourselves as contagious

oh yeah, we've both been out too.... I hadn't even thought we might be contagious. I assumed cos it is primarily a childhood disease we would not carry it as well as not catch it. hmm.......

DD is much improved today (day 5). Her spots are almost all gone, just a few around the tops of her legs and arms and no itching at all. Within herself, she is completely back to normal and raring to go. Once DS wakes, we're going to get wrapped up and go out for a walk to deliver our Xmas cards, just to get some fresh air really.

Hope your DD is better in time for Xmas.