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Original poster

Chicken Pox advice?

26 replies

sharklet · 10/05/2006 14:56

DD has come down with Chicken Pox - poor little bear. Shes absolutely covered in spots from head to toe, she's even got them in her scalp, in her eyes, in her mouth. I actually recoiled in horror when she woke up this morning a little moving human rash. She's being very brave though and is really fairly untroubled by what looks very sore.

I'm sure its because they are still new and I seem to remember the itching get worse later. My mum's been advising me to give her two baths a day then to put calomine lotion on to the sores. She's given me a recipe from her aromatherapist for Chiken Pox of adding 10 drops of lavender oil and 10 of roman chamomile to the calamine lotion to help with the itching and healing process. Has anyone got any other suggestions of what worked for them?

Am hoping she stays cheery I know I was miserable when I had it butthen I was 6 so I was probably much more aware of what it was. DD is only 2.

OP posts:
welshmum · 10/05/2006 15:05

My 11 month old has just finished with chicken pox and didn't itch at all, same as dd. Yours might just not be an itchy one.
I did give him Medised before a couple of bedtimes which has an antihistamine in it and he did manage to sleep pretty well when his spots were at their worst.
They do say that the younger they get it the better so you could console yoursefl with that and once it's done it's done.
Hope she's loooking less alarming soon....

MrsBigD · 10/05/2006 15:24

dd's cp weren't quite as bad as yours. I put oats into her bathwater - tied an old sock full of oats underneath the tap :) She quite endjoyed that because she could squish it Grin

Copious amounts of calamine and two sleepless nights because I had to rub her body so she wouldn't scratch :)

Hattie05 · 10/05/2006 15:29

Hi there, i did the same as you - frequent baths and calamine lotiong.

My dd 'looked' awful as you describe with spots absolutely everywhere including her mouth, but it certainly looked worse than she appeared to feel. It made her wake during the night due to itching, but generally by day she seemed fine.

DD didn't have them in her eyes - i may be wrong - but i think if in eyes you may need to check them with a GP because i think those ones are the ones that can cause complications. Don't mean to panic you! but worth double checking perhaps with nhs direct?

hope she gets better quick!

lazycow · 10/05/2006 15:39

Ds has also just finished chicken pox (17 months). He scratched a bit but not massively. more at night when he got too hot.

I kept him as cool as possible at night and also gave a dose of piriton at night for about 4 nights. Mind you the 5th night he hadn't scratched much during the day so I decided not to give the Piriton. Mistake! At 2am I was woken by a crying frantically scratching baby. - I gave a cold drink, a dose of Priton, a new cool sheet and calamine on the spots he was scratching. He went back to sleep pretty quickly after that.

He also had spots on the scalp which seemed to itch the most and in the mouth. He was off his food a bit as I think eating hurt a bit at first . He is catching up now!!

Ds disn't have them in the eyes though.

Original poster
sharklet · 11/05/2006 08:34

Well I've tried the oats in the bathwater which seems to work a treat. Thanks for that suggextion! Also I've been giving piriton which I hadn't even thought of. She's still sleeping pretty well at the moment (touch wood) but she did wake about an hour early this morning a bit itchy.

Her mouth is bothering her as she has some spots in there. I'm not sure what if anything to help. Are there particular foods to avoid? The Dr was a bit hopeless. She's very hungry in general at the moment and was demanding her dinner early last night as she was starving. So much for him saying she's have no appetite!

OP posts:
MrsBigD · 11/05/2006 10:11

poor mite ... maybe calgel or the like for the mouth??? No idea though how the spots would react to it.
Cold porridge? Here's laywomanly assumption oats in water help ergo oats in mouth might help? Grin
Hope she's better soon

Dior · 11/05/2006 10:22

I posted earlier this week because ds has it too. He looks awful, and has had temperatures of 40. This morning the fever seems to have gone (day 6), but he still has no appetite. He is asleep at the moment (hence me being on here!) I have been gving Piriton and Calpol, luke-warm baths with Bicarbonate of Soda, Calamine lotion mixed into Aqeous cream (because he gets Eczema) etc. etc. It all works, but ds still feels exceedingly sorry for himself. He has been sleeping with me in the bed, and dh has been in his bed, so I have not slept at all well for nearly a week!

I remeber being really poorly with it at 11, so I have been feeling really sorry for him. I just want to hug him tightly, but I'm afraid to hurt him Sad. He'll be lucky if he gets away with only a few scars...

MrsBigD · 11/05/2006 10:33

Dior how old is your ds? I believe if they get it pretty young and get scars the scars will disappear after a while. Here's hoping as dd has one rather angry red mark just underneath one of her eyebrows...

Hattie05 · 11/05/2006 11:33

Dior my dd had masses on her body when she was one and she is now three and there only 2 visible scars remaining on her torso.

Dior · 11/05/2006 15:56

Phew - thanks you two! I have been anal about him not scratching! He's nearly 5.

Original poster
sharklet · 12/05/2006 13:08

Oh Dior I hope your poor mite is feeling better! Its horrible isn't it! DD is napping now after some rage at the though of a nap. Her spots are itching her now and she's been scrathing especially those on her head.

I saw the pharmacist yesterday who couldn't suggest much for hte mouth, except for her camomile drops she used to have for teething which if nothing else may have a slight placebo effect. There nothing can be done for the spots in her eyes. Shes just goingt o have to live with it, touch wood they are not bothering her too much thus far. I'm hoping it stays that way.

I was given one good piece of advice re: calamine lotion which some people have suggested dry the spots out and make it worse. A freind and the pharmacist suggested Lacto-Calamine which does the same but is easier to apply and doesn't leave the chalkyness on the skin - it also doesn't dry the spots so make it less itchy (allegedly) so we got some yesterday and so far so good.

Can't wait for the spots to go - poor bear.

OP posts:
jules27 · 14/05/2006 20:56

Q uick question , i had chicken pox more than once AS A child covered in spots twice and midly twice. My daughter had it as achild and now has had shingles twice. My son had it as a baby and it is now doing the rounds at his school, he has at least 10 lovely red spots tonight . How caom the medical books say you should only catch it once , leaving you with a life long immunity???? Any one or anyones child had it more than once. ??

Dior · 14/05/2006 21:10

I have had it twice. The first time was obviously not severe enough to build up an immunity. Does this sound like what happened yo you?

SaintGeorge · 14/05/2006 21:15

jules - normally you would only catch it once and it would give you life long immunity.

However, some people never become immune and have repeated infections. It sounds like this is the case for you and your son. As long as this continues you are unlikely to get shingles, just repeated cp.

Your daughter on the other hand must have immunity to the virus, because it has gone dormant in her nerve endings. When this is triggered by bad health, or shock/trauma, she has an attack of shingles instead.

I have no immunity, given up counting how many times I have had it now.

Dior · 14/05/2006 21:21

Well, it's day 8 for ds, and he still has one blister that hasn't scabbed over. Am I right in thinking that it is 48 hours after the last scab forms that they can go back to school?

He has got lots of scars coming Sad. Several of his scabs have been scratched in the night, and he has two large holes formimh on the back of his knee and on his arm. Unfortunately, he also scratched a lot under his chin, and has been left with what looks like acne scarring there. Can someone please reassure me that these less obvious scars will fade with age...

Waswondering · 14/05/2006 21:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Dior · 14/05/2006 21:47

Ds isn't eating wother. His trousers are too big. He is sleeping better now thank God. I agree that Piriton is great too. I didn't end up having to use Calamine too often.

Dior · 14/05/2006 21:47

eating 'either'!

jetsetmum · 14/05/2006 21:52

doctor told me my ds2 could go back to nursery once all the scabs had formed (which takes about a week) nothing about waiting a further 48 hours.

We found Sudocrem (the nappy rash cream) was really good at getting rid of the spots quickly.

Sorry don't know much about scarring though

Jules, I had it twice but my mum said it was mild the first time, it certainly wasn't the second time as I was 13 and remember it all too well. When DS1 got it, I was pregnant with DS2 so I had a blood test to check I was immune - which I was.

Strange thing Chicken pox!

Dior · 14/05/2006 21:55

JSMum - yes, you're right. I've just checked a few websites. You can go back once the last blister has scabbed over. Thanks.

Original poster
sharklet · 15/05/2006 08:12

Aparently Lacto-Calamine is supposed to be good for avoiding scarring. Essential oil of lavender can help too. I've mixed 10 drops lavender oil and 10 Roman Chamomile Oil into a tube of lacto calamine creme and put it onto DD twice a day. So far its healing well. My freind who recommended it reckons it helps with scarring too. It might help Dior you never know. Hows he feeling now?

OP posts:
brimfull · 15/05/2006 08:39

My ds had cp a few months ago and still has bruising like scars on his torso,but they are fading.The worst thing was all the scabs in his very thick hair.I had to comb them out in the bath as they all got stuck in his hair....don't want to go through that again!

Dior · 15/05/2006 11:41

Thanks Sharklet. He's bright and bubbly at the moment, but still has a blister on his foot, so can't go back to school yet! I don't really want to take him anywhere either, in case he infects someone! Hopefully it will have dried by tomorrow.

Original poster
sharklet · 15/05/2006 13:45

You know the wierd thing is so many of my freinds have pitched up with thier little ones to try to get it off DD. Makes me laugh really we've been staying away from things and keeping at home and half ther people we'd usually see have been round here getting their children to cuddle DD in the hope they catch it young!

OP posts:
Dior · 15/05/2006 14:13

I was always in two minds about doing that. Half of me wanted to have him get it before school. The other half felt awful about making him be ill!

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