hand foot and mouth help

[iamgrace]

So, it looks like Henry has hand foot and mouth. Mouth sores and woke up with a blister on his hand.

I know there's not much we can do except keep him hydrated, tylenol and advil, and keeping him home.

It's a forgone conclusion that Clare will get this, right?

Commiseration? Any tips? Ugh. My poor dude.

[Deleted]

Ugh! That poor little guy! Sorry, no experience, just sending get well thoughts.

[Monica Geller]

I have nothing to offer, but sympathy. Poor kid & poor mom!

[CloudBee]

Bland foods. Nothing sour or acidic. I'm not sure how old he is, but DS was about 18 months when he had it. I pulled our bottles back out (we stopped with those around a year) so he could more comfortably drink. I also gave him chocolate milk to encourage drinking. He wouldn't eat or drink much, which I know can make you feel even worse. Keeping a steady flow of milk (choc!) definitely perked him up and made him feel better.

You can give advil if he seems really uncomfortable. Keep an eye on his diaper area (not sure how old your kiddo is), because you often get a bad rash along with sores on hands/feet/mouth/knees/elbows.

Soft/fuzzy socks if his feet are tender.

[underwaterrhymes]

Poor little dude.

K had HFM last year and H wound up getting it. K felt better pretty quickly, but poor H felt bad for several days.

Can you keep them apart as much as possible? Wash your hands a bunch. Get some Popsicles for H, too, since that was the easiest thing for him to eat.

[iamgrace]

He's almost four. We've been mixing a bit of juice in with his water to encourage fluids. He is choosing what and when to eat. Lots of oatmeal. Lol.

[spwspw]

I'm sorry, HFM is the worst, seriously.

If it makes you feel better, when my DS had HFM, I didn't do much to keep him and DD apart, aside from making sure they didn't share food and utensils or kiss on the mouth, and she never wound up getting it.

Also, a 1:1 mix of benadryl and maalox really helps with the mouth sores, just mix it up and swab the inside of his mouth.

ETA: just saw his age, since he's old enough to follow directions, have him swish the benadryl/maalox in his mouth and spit it out.

[CloudBee]

Also - my husband got it, and much worse than DS.

He soaked his hands/feet in bowls of ice water. Adults tend to get it worse, if they do get it. But most of us are immune.

[thebuddhagouda]

We did a lot of milkshakes and popsicles. That was about all he would eat and still not much of that.

Our pedi was able to prescribe some sort of numbing mouthwash that helped him sleep at night.

[eddy]

The painful mouth only last a day or two so you are almost through the worst of it.

Lots of popsicles to eat.

[eddy]

Jan 26, 2015 9:15:30 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

Also - my husband got it, and much worse than DS.

He soaked his hands/feet in bowls of ice water. Adults tend to get it worse, if they do get it. But most of us are immune.

The same happend to us. H got it really really bad. I was immune. I wonder if it was the difference that I was a daycare kid and probably had exposure from back in the day. H did not go to daycare.

[iamgrace]

Jan 26, 2015 9:22:40 GMT -5 eddy said:

The painful mouth only last a day or two so you are almost through the worst of it.

Lots of popsicles to eat.

okay. He's been complaining of a sore mouth since Thursday and it got worse over the weekend. Today is the worst BY FAR and he's a mess. Just the one blister on his hand.

[eddy]

Jan 26, 2015 9:29:10 GMT -5 iamgrace said:

Jan 26, 2015 9:22:40 GMT -5 eddy said:

The painful mouth only last a day or two so you are almost through the worst of it.

Lots of popsicles to eat.

okay. He's been complaining of a sore mouth since Thursday and it got worse over the weekend. Today is the worst BY FAR and he's a mess. Just the one blister on his hand.

I would bet you are close to the end. We had one really terrible day with Leo, where he screamed bloody murder. I even took him to the ER lol. Then the next day much better. Before that he wasn't eating so I am sure his mouth was bothering him, but not super painful.

[papie]

Sorry

When Sophia had it as a baby, Anna didn't catch it, but she was 4.  Everyone in Sophia's class got it though...

[BaliHai]

Hugs and hair pats. The worst was over for L in 48 hours, but the blisters took a while to heal/go away. I got it, worse than she had it, but H did not - hopefully it will miss Clare!

[CurlyQ284]

I agree with swishing maalox. I was one of the lucky adults who got it. Calamine lotion really helped with the itching. I was soaking my feet in really cold water and then slathering calamine then cover feet with socks. It was the only thing that gave me any relief and I tried a lot of things. I'm sorry, I hope it doesn't spread!

[jillybean222]

My 3yo had it earlier this year.  I had never seen it before.  The other kids got it but varying degrees (maybe they had a mild case before so had some exposure???).  My little one had blisters everywhere and her toenails and fingernails fell off.  So gross.  Not always that bad though.  Nothing you can do for it either, just wait it out.  

[CurlyQ284]

Ohhhh yeahhh. The nails. Yes that was horrible and disgusting. I love painting my nails, I do my own manicures 1-2 times a week and it was tragic.

[jsillyfun]

If you catch it ask your dr for something called "magic mouthwash" and pain pills. It is the worst thing ever. I'm sorry.

[NandaB]

My 3.5 yr old recently had it. He had lots of sores in his mouth and the magic mouthwash was a life saver. Equal parts Maalox and Benadryl. Have him swish and spit, and then swallow a tiny bit (to reach any sores far back). My son was pretty uncomfortable so we gave him Tylenol. Also, he ate a lot of yogurt and oatmeal and bananas, but he said Popsicles and smoothies were too scratchy.

ETA: he had sores in his mouth for probably 4-5 days. But my 1.5yr old got it and she had blisters on her hands and feet and generally didn't feel good, but no mouth sores, so it varies

[greenley]

It was recommended to me to mix equal parts maalox and benedryl together, then swab the mixture around his mouth to coat the sores.  It should help ease the discomfort.  Also, no acidic or spicy foods while he has the sores.  We did lots of jello because he really didn't want to eat since his mouth was so sore.  Surprisingly my 3yo didn't get it so there is hope!  I'm so sorry he's not feeling well and hope he feels better soon!

ETA, guess I should have read replies first.  Sorry for the repeats.

[lilybug]

poor dude! Asher had it at 9 mos old. That shit suuuucked. Alternate Tylenol and ibuprofen, push fluids, nothing too acidic that will hurt his mouth. Magic mouthwash like others have said if he starts resisting food & drink. Hope he feels better soon! Asher's fever lasted about 5 days.

[liverandonions]

Julia just had it and my husband got it too. I was surprised I didn't since I'm immuno suppressed. We just gave her ibuprofen and when her feet started peeling I used a little athlete's foot cream on her and that seemed to help.

[dottyblue]

Ditto the others who mentioned toenails and fingernails splitting or falling off. It's SO gross, but at least it's not painful.

Also, the skin on DS's feet peeled for a full 6 months after he had HFM. Pedi said it was totally normal, though most kids don't have it last quite that long.

[eddy]

last fall both boys got a really nasty strain and they looked like they had herpes all over their face. It was so gross looking. And their poor little butts were equally bad looking.

So with Leo I had gone to the doctor earlier in the day to rule out HFM. They said no. That afternoon he woke up and SCREAMED for 2 hours straight just hysterical. He was such an easy going kid that I freaked out and took him to the ER. I walk in all sobbing and was like "There is something wrong with my baby." Meanwhile he has stopped crying and is just looking around. LOL, I felt like such an idiot.

Even then they didn't see the pox in his mouth. He proceeded to scream all night long. I was so glad I had already taken him to the ER or I would have in the middle of the night.

The next day the spots where everywhere but then the pain wasn't so bad for him.