5 week old baby has Chickenpox - advice needed

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My 4 year old dd got it Christmas Day and we hoped baby would be ok but yesterday he started with it too.

I spoke to my GP when dd got it and he said he was unlikely to get it but if he did he would be ok and it was better to get it over with.

Hes such a good baby and today has been a little upset and hard to settle.Hes bottle fed and is taking feeds ok.I bathed him tonight and smothered him with calamine lotion as its all I can do.

Has anyone else had a v young baby with chickenpox? Hes got lots on face and head and isolated ones on rest of body

Anyone?

Very conflicting advice on web freaking me out

I think I'd go back to GP as he's so tiny, no medical knowledge makes me say that I hasten to add

Poor you

DD had chicken pox when she was 6 weeks old - courtesy of DS who got it when she was 4 weeks.

I was worried about her (and did some googling) but tbh she was fine. She slept a bit more than normal but didn't seem to be too bothered by the spots.

I think I put Eurax cream on her (which was prescribed for DS, who was 1.11 at the time) but have read you're not meant to use it for under 3s.

I was also told DD was very unlikely to get it, but she definitely had it.

I went to see the GP when she got it, as I was concerned and he said that if she seemed really unwell that I should go back, but she really wasn't badly ill at all.

Thats what my go said when I called him about dd.I bought eurax for her but yes i have not used as I thought he was too young.

Hes smothered in calamine lotion and seems ok but googling it made me panic.I think that the serious risks though are for those born with it.

I wont sleep tonight I wont be able to keep eyes off him.

my ds had this and the advice i was given on here was to put oats in a muslin and tie up the ends and run it under the hot for his bath. It's really helped calm the skin down esp his face and "personals"!. I presume it's safe for a tinyone too, your doc will tell you if so.

Sorry cant be more help. It's a horrid illness isnt it xx

The serious risks are for those born with it and that would mean them getting it at under 2 weeks old. So 5 weeks is young but not dangerously young I think.

As I understand it, its only neonatal chickenpox - ie those children who contracted it in the womb, from their mother who have therefore no immunity whatsoever - that is the really scary thing.

My two have jsut had cickenpox and though they are a older - 3 and 11 months - the thing that has really helped iwth the itching is sodium bicarb in the bath.

Hope its swift and mild and all is well soon.

don't worry, my ds had chicken pox at 7 weeks, dd had it first but by the time we realised, it was too late and he'd already been exposed. ds had it really bad, most spots on his head and face, some of them grew huge. it took 7 days for all the blisters to appear, but just at the point when i was beginning to worry that he was struggling to fight the virus as none of the spots had started to dry up, the next day, no more blisters appeared and they finally started to crust over.

he did knock a few of them so has some scars but he's 2.5 now and they are barely noticeable. get hold of a tube of calamine cream (try boots) rather than lotion, it is thicker so you can dab it on each spot and the boots one dries so it doesn't get all over their clothes. we got body suits that tied across his front rather than go over the head. the spots on his head made it really difficult to dress him in anything that needed to go over his head without knocking them. other than the spots, he wasn't ill with it.

he'll be fine, we used to do a cool bath both morning and night, mainly to clean off all the old cream and reapply new. keep him cool, rather than warm, heat makes it itch more.

As the others said don't panic. My 2.5 week old dd2 had it - caught from older dd1 and ds2. She was fine - only had about 10 spots. I think the problem lies in being born with it or in the very newborn. HV did say she would probably catch it again when she's older.

Thanks everyone.

He seems fine today.Bit more sleepy than usual but still taking feeds and when awake gurgling and smiling away. He has not got many spots really compared to dd who was covered.

I will get some of the cream tomorrow as the lotion did not seem very effective

thanks again,I feel much happier now
x