Funny red lump on DS's bits

[Lisa78]

DS2 is 3m old and when I changed his nappy this morning, I found a red lump on his testicles. Its soft to the touch, about the size of my fingernail and very red. It doesn't seem to be hurting him and its not like any nappy rash I've ever seen - it looks a bit weepy though. I'm taking him to baby clinic this afternoon to have it looked at, but anyone any knowledge in the meantime? I'm a bit panicky about it

Have you got any animals, do you think it could be a flea/insect bite? Hopefully, your HV will have a better idea!

yes, a dog and a cat but they are both treated for worms and fleas regularly - but now you mention it, it does look a bit like that! Oh god!

Bloody baby clinic. The HV looked at his bits and said she thought it was more on his skin than anything testicular and to put sudocreme on for a couple of days and if that doesn't work, it might be infected. But as I undressed him to be weighed I found a red rash from his neck to his tummy button, which she said was probably exzema - can it develop that much in 2 hours?
And worst of all, he has barely gained any weight in three weeks - less than 4oz. He is about to cross another percentile line in which case she will refer him to the GP. He was 9lb 7oz at birth and 13 weeks on is just 12lb 4oz, just hovering above the 9th percentile - he was on the 91st percentile when he was born.
Should I start bottle feeding him? If my milk wasn't enough, surely he would cry for feeding more often? He sleeps 10 hours at night without a feed too. Or maybe I should start giving him some baby rice???
Help, am getting in a right flap

Lisa78, if you are unhappy about it, can't you take him to see your G.P tomorrow? If he says the same then you've lost nothing!

Oh Lisa. Flap not! Firstly, if you do a search on weight charts you'll find they are in fact the work of the devil and based on formula fed babies in the 1960s, so you definitely don't need to panic about your ds.

As for thinking about weaning, remember baby rice in the quantity the packets say (ie a teaspoon at time) won't make a teeny bit of difference. There are loads more calories in milk than in baby rice - so leave that for a few months yet.

As far as I know, signs for weaning include having a good feed from both boobs and immediately wanting more, waking in the night having previously slept through and just being generally a bit narky during the day (cos they're hungry).

I've heard having a feeding weekend seems to work - basically at every and any whimper you give them the boob over 2 days.

I wouldn't associate the rash with the weight thing.

As for the red lump, if it still hasn't gone down, then see your GP. It could be a bite as LL said, or just an irritation from something or worst case thrush possibly? hth

yes i meant for the lump too!

But WHY isn't he gaining weight more rapidly???? Sorry, am trying to breath out and not be an hysterical mother, but he suddenly seems so little again and I am imagining all these hideous conditions he could have! Surely he should be gaining more weight than he is? Is it likely to be anything to do with me breastfeeding?
I can't believe that about the weight charts, why do they bloody use them then? Its stupid.
My GP is pretty good, but they are operating on 4 out of 6 Gp's so it is usually a week at least before you can get a non emergency appointment - longer if you want to be sure not to see the lovely but out of touch old fogey, but you're right, I can always make an appointment there
Oh God!

Lisa - don't worry. The number of mums I have now spoken to who are at our stage and are getting HV pressure to formula feed/increase feeding etc etc is staggering and I am starting to think that 3 month old biggish babies often have a plateau in terms of weight gain. My situation is SO similar to yours. 9lb 7 at birth, 1-2 oz over five weeks (and then a slight loss) fall from 91st to 9th centile and subsequent trip to GP for 'what is wrong' session. Nothing wrong found. Slight cold/chest infection thought to be partly to blame (plus xmas which is stressy for everyone so why should babies be left out - all that travelling and change in routine). Anyway upshot was that this week, he weighed in at 13.8 a full 12.5 oz up on last week. My ds hardly ever cries to be fed so I do tend to try to make sure I feed him about every 3-4 hrs. He started to sleep 10 hours a night but on HV advice I@m now waking him at 10 for a feed just to top him up. If he gains again next week I'm going to stop that. Incidentally ds also had a red mark on his testicles but it went away when I gave it a smear of johnson's baby chamomile oil gel! Good luck and don't worry I'm sure he'll be fine

Hi Lisa - TBH I'd put sudocreme on the red bit and see if it got better in a couple of days.
Is the rash still on his body - exzema is more usual in skin folds (elbows/knees) but babies do tend to get rashes for all sorts of unknown reasons and they fade as quickly as they come.
As for weight gain (or lack of it) have you seen the thread I started on Monday - It's under bottle/breastfeeding and called 'What else can I do???'
I've spent the last few days feeding on demand and just trying to encourage dd to go back on the breast for a couple of mins after she pulls off - shes put on 4oz since Monday (after 4 weeks with no weight gain).

HI Lisa - if you're out there
how's it going?

My Ds had the same thing. His lump still tends to come up when he's got a bit of nappy rash but other wise it dissapears (usually as soon as i've made a doc's appointment)

Things are looking up squirmy, thanks. Think I was being hysterical mum! His bits are definately healing, though not as quickly as I would like. After spiking a temp yesterday, his rash vanished taking the fever with it, so don't know what that was all about, but he is happy and healthy again today - and more importantly feeding well today. He has been clamped on half of today, making up for yesterdays half hearted attempts. Just hope he puts some weight on pronto.