Which children’s health niggles do you wish you were told about before you became a parent? Tell MolluDab for a chance to win a £150 voucher! NOW CLOSED

[KathrynMumsnet]

MolluDab have asked us to find out which children’s health niggles Mumsnetters wish they’d know about before they became a parent.

Here’s what MolluDab say, “Becoming a parent throws up many challenges none more so than the countless, often highly contagious, health niggles your children can pick up. One of which is Molluscum contagiosum. Molluscum contagiosum or ‘water warts’ is a common and relatively harmless (but highly contagious) viral infection of the skin. The spots are easily recognised, and are small dome-like shiny pimples often grouped together. Molluscum contagiosum occurs most frequently in children and young adults, most frequently pre-schoolers aged 1-4 years. The condition usually clears within 12-18 months without treatment but can last longer and causes those affected much embarrassment and self-consciousness. MolluDab is a new and proven treatment for Molluscum Contagiosum, available on prescription or from the pharmacist.”

So, which children’s health niggles had you not heard of before becoming a parent that you wish you had? What advice or information would you pass on about children’s health niggles to other Mumsnetters? Whatever it is, we’d love to hear it!

Everyone who posts below will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £150 voucher for Jojo Maman Bebe.

The comments on this thread may be used (anonymously) by MolluDab in future marketing material, so please only post if you’re happy with this.

Thanks and good luck,

MNHQ

rashes!!! im a mum to 3, twoo teenagers ages 15 and 14 and a 1 year old baby. With my older two i was scared to death everytime they got rashes! half the time when i took them to the doctors there was nothing wrong with them, im not as paranoid now though

I wish had known more about dealing with high temperature in small children. i don't panic easily, but the first time my son had a febrile convulsion I was in pieces. Thankfully talked down by the paramedic who was there at the time and was just miraculous, but it is so frightening how quickly they can become seriously ill with fever.

I don't think I expected any of it, nappy rash, dry skin, the horror of a burst ear drum, nits. It certainly toughens you up being a parent!

It would have been useful if nose bleeds could be mentioned as i am now aware it can be a commom condition, our son has recently has two bleeds and to tell you the truth i was bricking em.

Thread worms & slap cheek .
Rushed to Dr's with first case of worms, now realise one tablet fir each of the family fron the chemist & lots if washing sorts it out quickly .
Slap cheek - much more information needed about how dangerous it is for anyone in early weeks of pregnancy to come into contact with. A close friend lost her baby at 22 wks following complications from coming into contact with slap cheek :-(

We would have been liked to have been warned by bronchialitis too. Our little man had it and now everytime he gets a cough it is so much worse than his brothers.

I'd never heard of molluscum contagiosum until I asked my paediatrician what the little spot thing was on my toddler dd's bottom - she was starting to hate me changing her nappy (my daughter, not the paediatrician) and I was keen to know it wasn't something serious.
So I'd like to know about this MulluDab treatment because the strong gel the doctor gave us is clearly uncomfortable for my daughter and so, however effective it may be, I can't actually get her to keep still long enough to put it on and I don't want it to become a battle about something so sensitive.

I'm happy to have kept myself in ignorance til I'd actually ha children

Before I even read the OP I was thinking about Molluscum and how horrible it is, and how frustrating that there seems little to be done. Added to that, impetigo, and chicken pox (.which I had not had as a child so caught from DS). I was ready for eczema and asthma, which I have but we are now battling acne, something I had no knowledge of and have had to become knowledgeable about.

The two children have run the gamut of all the above over the years and yet have never seen doctors for anything "serious".

What do the issues have in common? Skin. People seem to worry about temperatures and vomiting but, as a sufferer of eczema, skin conditions are often seen as not being serious, or worth worrying about. Yet they can scar, itch and cause real misery.

Foot and mouth which he caught from Nursery. We didnt know humans could get it. Poor little mite suffered for several days.

Colic.

Croup - had never heard of it until DD was a few months old. Also hand, foot and mouth did not come across it until DD was in year 6 and received a note about it from school.

hand, foot and mouth disease - The spots came up scarily fast and when the doctor said it was hand,foot and mouth all that came to mind was the horrendous animal outbreak of foot and mouth disease and having to wash our shoes in airports etc. Yet no-one tells you that it is a totally different thing and nothing to do with the foot and mouth disease that animals get!

Molluscum was also horrid and seemed to last for years!

Verrucas are another problem.

Conjunctivitis, and particularly what a reasonable response from nursery would be in terms of whether kids with it but being treated should be kept off. Hand foot and mouth and slapped cheek I'd never heard of until friends' kids got them - we've avoided them thus far...

Broncoilitis as its sooo dangerous for young babies.

Reflux! !
Has taken over my life literally! My 4yr old still has reflux, failure to thrive and is fed via tube in his stomach (gastrostomy)
all thr changing meds, hospital appts, admissions etc. Would be nice to have a leaflet on it from gp telling you about what it is and stages they treat it in.

For me it was also bronchiolitis. Ds2 had it at 5 weeks and it was awful. I'd never even heard of it before.

Both mine had molluscum and I didn't know it was a thing either.

Hand, foot and mouth! When my sister first mentioned that her kids had it, I conjured up thoughts of cjd and foot and mouth disease! (Not related at all)! Then when my children got it, it was awful and looked painful.

Whenever rashes are present, I always google like mad to find pictures of similar rashes to try to diagnose and decide if I need to take them to the doctors. One time, a doctor mentioned Molluscum contagiosum and it sounded very serious until he explained what it was.

Childhood constipation! On the positive side of childhood ailments, I'd never heard of the wonders of Sudocrem!

Actual Molluscum! My son had it in a text book fashion and it vanished. My daughter had it as a baby and it will not go! She is now nine years old and still has it. She is most upset by it as it is visible and she says it looks ugly. I have spoken to doctors about it but am repeatedly told that it's just because she has eczema that it is taking a while to clear up.
I'll be going out and buying this asap!
Wish someone had told me earlier that it might not go..

All sorts! Thankfully mostly minor but quite scary for new parents and no doubt highly uncomfortable for babies and small people:

Huge amounts of snot and mucus for such tiny bodies. My dd3, who is seven months has this bad virus at the moment and she is choking constantly on all the mucus.

Dry barking coughs for DD1 that sound terrifyingly bad but don't seem to stop her from running round like a mad thing.

Vomiting when babies all night long and then being fine all day!

Yes to the bizarre rashes that seem to spring up from nowhere and are not meningitis but very worrying. Ditto spots head to toe that I was convinced were chicken pox because everyone else's kids had just had c pox but disappeared after four days as suddenly as they came.

Cradle cap, DD2 still has some and she is 2.5.

Growing pains have been really bad for dd1 who is now four and often wakes up screaming in pain.

Sure there are more but as I said nothing as major as many PP have mentioned.

I'd have love to know that babies and toddlers come out in rashes sometimes for no reason at all. Yes sometimes they are serious but other times they are just 24hr bugs that go away of their own accord and you don't always need to go to the doctor, you just need to be aware of which ones are serious and need medical attention and what is just another child ailment.

Has to be the dreaded nits!!

Eczema. My second son had the condition mildly when he was quite young, but I had no idea what it was for a short while and wished that I had known to be able to care for him better from the very beginning.

Viral rashes. Had no idea they happened.

Ds3 had molluscum but by then I'd seen plenty of friend's kids with them.

Wish I'd known not to reach for the antibiotics with war infections with ds1 - they messed him up big time.

Wish I'd known about eczema herpeticum - we had s dreadful bout with that - but then Drs don't always recognise it.