Scabby chicken pox/bathing question.

[BethAndHerBrood]

Should I bath my DS2 now he is scabby or should I just top and tail him untill he's pox free? He loves his baths, but I'm worried about rubbing the scabs off.

Anyone?

I'd bath him but don't rub the spots. It's important to keep them very clean and make sure his nails are short. I tried this with my ds but he's still managed to get infected spots on his head (turned into impetigo) and is now on antibiotics and cream.

If you can, buy a few tubs of Bicarbonate of soda in the baking section of the supermarket. Add half a tub to the bathwater and let ds soak in it. It helps to ease the itch and dries up the spots. Rub a generous amount of Boots own brand aqueous cream on his skin afterwards and leave him run around 'til it soaks in. The scabs will naturally come off if the skin has healed underneath. Obviously, if the scabs are picked off too early, the chance of scarring increases.

Good luck!

Hi Beth
My dd has chicken pox and I've been reading loads of useful chat about chicken pox here.
Lots of people say to put porridge oats in a sock and put sock under a running tap of the bath to give a soothing tepid oat bath. And to pat dry, rather then rub (so's not to knock off scabs)

Others say to mix bicarb. of soda and corn flour into the bath (equal amounts).
Sounds great! I shall try this tomorrow.
Hope this helps a bit.
What a great site!

DD is on day 2 with chicken pox and I gave her piriton tonight orally with Eurax cream rubbed into the spots. Glad I bought them,as tonight she definitely needed them. She needed something to help her sleep (she was crying at 11pm - poor thing, but is now asleep again). Thank goodness for medication!!

Hi Beth
Just to let you know dd loved her oat bath.
Hope all is well

DS2 had it 2 weeks ago, DS1 came down with it Friday morning and has about 10 x the amount of spots as DS2! Poor little man!
Found that putting Sodium Bicarbonate in the bath really eased the itchyness when they are blistered, then pat dry. Once they went scabby I put calamine lotion in the bath to soothe them and again patted dry.

Thanks for that.

I don't think there are any new spots now, so I hope we're om the mend. Touch wood!
Day 6 of outbreak.
Do you think it is good to bath them every day wih chicken pox? DH says to just give her a wash tonight.

Think I might nyway a I'm knackered

while its still fresh in your mind, what did your lo spots look like at first, were they red raised blotches before they became proper blistered spots? just trying to work out if my dd is developing chicken pox, thanks.

Hope your lo is feeling better.

Hi
I only saw 1 or 2 spots on her back for the first couple of days (they just looked like bites in a way that had been scratched a lot).
I was told to look out for blister-like spots (and cording to the books they appear mainly on the back and chest first of all).

A couple of days later there was a cluster of pink spots on her back and I took her to the doctors who eventually confirmed it was chicken pox. My doctor said it was a mild case and was amazed that dd was so chirpy.

You could have fooled me after Friday night's sleep! (day 3). She had about 15 spots on her front, then 10 on her back.

The day after it just spread and spread. Now (Day 7) she has too many to count and only a handful of new ones this morning (I reckon she's got 150 - 175 spots that are starting to "scab up" nicely.

I think I'll keep her away from pre-school until at least Friday, but from all accounts I dont think she is infectious any more.

What do other people think? Is she still infectious?

In some books it says after all spots have turned into scabs and/or dried out. NHS Direct website says after Day five of the spots coming out.

Sorry for changing the subject, but I had a quaetion to ask as well (I'm sure there are loads of questions to ask about chicken pox . Perhaps it should be on Mastermind!!

Thanks.