Chicken pox in a bf 12mo. Is it likely to be quite mild?

[Olihan]

Took ds2 to the docs yesterday about something else but while we were there the doc noticed a little red spot on his forehead which she thought might be the start of chicken pox. She told me that I'd know by today if he had it but I'm not sure.

He's got about 8 more of these spots - a cluster of 3 on his thigh, 1 under his arm, 1 on his tummy, 2 on his fingers and 1 on his cheek. They're tiny, red round the outside with a yellow centre. They look really like teenage pimples but not at all like the fluid filled blisters that came up when I googled CP spots. He has had all the early symptoms (temperature, whingy, etc) but that may have just been a virus.

Is it likely to be a very mild bout of CP because of his age and the bfing, or is this just early days and he'll erupt overnight?

Any advice appreciated!

I don't think his age or the fact that he's breastfed have any bearing on how badly he gets it.

My breastfed dd had chicken pox on her 1st birthday, and she errupted in hundreds of vile pustules, poor mite. Her also breastfed friend of a similar age had it quite mildly.

My bf dd1 also had CP at 12m. We never noticed a thing ! She just had a couple of feverish nights. But her skin still feels rough, almost 2 years later.

Hmm, so it's still as clear as mud as to whether it's actually CP .

I wondered whether his age and the bf made a difference as babaies under 1 tend to still have immunity from their mothers and the bf boosts their immunity.

I guess it's not as simple as that though!

hard to say.

i was not bf'd and got the pox from my elder sister when i was 18 months.

she had a severe case and i had a mild one.

piriton works really well to reduce itchiness and has the welcome side effect of helping them to sleep. You'd need to check on age restrictions though.

Dd4 has chicken pox at the moment but its quite mild, waiting to see if ds1 gets it also still b/f. I did speak to the Gp who said yes he could get it, it may be mild but maybe not

So I'm no help either

DS2 was just 12mths (still bf) when he got it very bad - got infected and needed antibiotics.

His older brother who was 2.5 had a normal case.

Oli, Is the yellow crusty??

Just a thought, possibly impetigo??

Don't think it's impetigo, Mags but good thought.

Spots are quite small, say 2-3mm across and the yellow in the middle is tiny, just like the yellow head on a zit.

Oh well, I'll stock up on Piriton (thanks for tht tip auntiebetty) and Calamine just in case!

hmm.

dd1 just had chickenpox - well, she's scabbed up now - but the blisters were very fluid-filled. not yellow, but clear fluid.

All the pics I came up with when googling were clear and fluid filled too Expat.

But the doc saw the one yesterday (which is exactly the smae as all the new ones) and said it looked like CP.

And they've multiplied since yesterday.....

Oh I don't know .

that is curious, Olihan, any chanced of getting a nurse to take a peek at it, too?

her blisters were raised because they were fluid-filled.

Well, the spots haven't multiplied during today which I'm sure they would have, if it is CP.

My neighbour popped in earlier and had a look at them. She said they weren't like the spots her dcs had when they had CP so I'm stumped.

Is it likely that CP could take a couple of days to appear after the first spot?

DS's spots took a good 48 hours to come out and go clear - he looked like he had acne beforehand.

I wouldn't bother with calamine - waste of time and money.. just get some Athlete's Foot Powder and use instead; removes the itch (cos of what it's designed for!) and keeps the spots dry which helps them scab quicker

That's interesting, LewisFan. They do look like acne at the mo. Will wait until tomorrow then!

Actually some of dd's chicken pox looked like acne at first but they haven't some out into full chicken pox. Think she has had it pretty mild only a few turned into fluid filled blisters