8 month old with chicken pox

[boopdoop]

My little DS has chicken pox, he's only 8 months old... Anyone else's little ones had it this young... Any tips?!

Mittens and short nails. Get calamine cream rather than lotion as it's much easier to apply. Hope your DS is better soon.

My DS had it at 9 months. We used Virasoothe gel which seemed to help with the itching.

Alternate calpol and ibuprofen to keep temp down. I second mittens and calamine aqueous cream. Also we found an oat bath (put porridge oats in a muslin, wrap up and put in a warm bath) was soothing.

My DC was even younger!

Yes, mittens and calamine cream.

Watch out for yucky nappies for a while afterwards, as it really messes with their guts.

Everyone will tell you that if they have it under 12mo, they can catch it again. In our case, we haven't.

Also, a couple of other things can be mistaken for chickenpox, so take photos just in case.

Bicarbonate of soda in the bath! Both of mine have had CP in the last few weeks and bicarb seemed to dry up the spots quickly.

Virasoothe is good too.

Thanks - how much bicarbonate of soda do you put in bath?

Couple of tablespoons maybe? I just chuck it in straight from the tub...

Virasoothe, calamine and possibly antihistamine gel/syrup. My ds was 5 months old so couldn't have antihistamines but my hv wanted him to have it. Maybe visit gp if they'll see you, mine wouldn't :(. So sorry he and you are going through this, my ds has always been very cuddly but he couldn't bear to be touched. It has left him with very sensitive skin, he is almost 4 now, so it may be that your baby will be at increased risk of skin conditions :(.

Dd1 was 8 months old and was very poorly with it. We used paracetamol at night, oat baths (oats in a muslin held and squeezed under running hot water), and calamine.

One thing I will say though is that ibuprofen is NOT recommended in chicken pox as it increases the risk of serious skin infections as it reduces inflammation of the skin.

Shame, poor little duck. How bad is it?

Both mine had it at this age, but not too badly.

DD got it again when she was 3 - so that's my main tip, if they get it under 1 they can get it again, especially if it's light case.

(Sorry)

Thanks everyone... He seems I have a very mild case of it, which is great! Now the initial fever has gone, and he's over his cold from last week, then he actually seems brighter than he has been for a few days. The spots don't seem to be bothering him, except one on the side of his head. Other than that you'd barely know he was ill. So no where near as bad as I feared (though realise it might mean he gets it again in the future, sadly).

Thanks for all the advice, it's massively appreciated.