Chicken Pox - what to expect ?

[Mum1369]

DS1 woke up with spots this morning. Over the course of the day it appears they are chicken pox. What can I expect iun terms of symptoms ? He is sleeping a lot today but generally well and not itching yet & no fever.
Any tips on what is to come & any good remedies ?
Also DS2 is 6mnths, any chance at all he will escape it ? No spots as yet....

Anyone...???

dd had it when she was 18 months.
she had a slight fever first, followed by spots a few days later.Just a couple of spots the first day, a few more the next, then quite a lot more over the next few days. They kept appearing for about 5 or 6 days. She was more tired than normal for the first couple of days, then pretty much normal. I dabbed calamine lotion on the spots and gave her liquid antihistamine once or twice but tbh she didn't really seem that bothered and wasn't scratching at all. The spots gradually dried up and scabbed over. By ten days most had healed or were healing, though some took a few weeks to disappear altogether.

I used piriton for itching (for over 1 year) and aqueous calamine cream for applying to the spots. Bicarbonate of soda in a bath is good too. DD had them when she was 3 and was awful for a couple of days (although the nighttimes were worse as they have nothing to distract from the itching). DS got a mild case from her at around 6 months and he didnt seem too bothered by them at all. The incubation period is 10-21 days so it could take up to 3 weeks for your ds to get any spots. Good luck

if he does seem to be very itchy some people recommend putting bicarb of soda in the bath.

on my childminder's advice I actually bathed dd less than normal, to try and get the spots to dry up as quickly as possible.

x-post re bicarb!
and re your ds2, may be good to get chicken pox out of the way early! I don't think they're so bothered by it when they're very little. I was glad dd got it at 18 months tbh.

DS 4 had it last month,
Luckily not so many spots.

menthol calamine lotion did the trick for drying spots quickly and soothing. Antihistamnine a must to calm itchiness.
That's about it.
scabbed in about 5 to 7 days.

first 4 days had a low grade fever (up to 39 maximum) and gave calpol only one night. Just offered lots of cold drinks and let him sleep it out.

He slept a lot. 8pm to 8am every night and 3 hour naps daily for the whole week (This a child that NEVER naps).
He was fine, playing quietly and also resting on the sofa a lot to read books and watch TV.

Gave him a quick shower morning and evening with lukewarm water (use very mild soap) and slapped on lotion. When scabbing starts, suggest slapping on baby oil (prefer non mineral oil myself) straight out of the shower to avoid dry skin which causes itchiness. Apply calamine lotion on spots.

And of course lots and lots of hugs.

No experience with babies but likely to catch it. On a positive note, they say the younger the milder.

That's great. Thanks for all the helpful advice ! Will head of to the chemist in the am...

think we've got it here too - can you get the aqueous calamine cream in Boots etc as opposed to the lotion? Is it better?

Do I need to take him to the doctors to confirm?

Someone else recomended oatmeal baths for the itching?

calamine cream less drying.

Oatmeal baths very good too. A bit messy, so use only if desperate.
You can get very good hypoallergenic oatmeal body oil/lotions/soap. The brand is called Aveeno.

Call Dr for advice but I would avoid surgery as your child is contagious at this stage and a very very serious worry for older patients and pregnant women.

Just to clarify, pregnant women who haven't had chicken pox (very few in this country) should be careful around chicken pox. Avoid at all costs.

And the elderly? They can get shingles if they themselves have had chicken pox and are feeling run down.

More information

DD 3.10 has it too.
Started on Friday with a few spots and slight temp and each day theres more spots.
Shes ok in herself just a bit moody but eating well. Night times are the worst a she keeps scratching in her sleep and getting upset. Weve been using calamine and piriton.
Bored rigid though as not been anywhere all easter. The 1st batch of spots have all crusted over now but theres the new spots that are still sore.

My 3 have just had it over the last few weeks, two of them really badly. Yes, buy in lots of calpol/medised, piriton, calamine lotion and tea-tree cream for any nasty looking spots ... and chocolate buttons for when they get really upset.

Yes to bicarb baths, and oats in an old sock, squeezing the 'milk' over any bad bits.

Also cut their nails as short as you can so they can't do too much damage if they scratch.

my dd had really sore spots inside her fanjo, and we had to resort to a muslin soaked in calamine to soothe. I'm hoping your dss don't get the equivalent for boys .

We watched about 20 DVDs and went stir-crazy, but it's only once

Ouch WBP, that sounds awful. He has got them in the worst places - right in his groin, all around his little testicles (ouch!) and in his arm pits, neck & ears. He's being really good considering - I am fairing less well ! Just feel so sorry for him

aw, your poor ds. I forgot to say, that any time it all gets too much, a warm but not too hot bath is great. We had about 3 on dds worst day.