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Barely back in school and already my little man came down with the chicken pox. Seldom have I seen him this timid and dopy. I must admit having him quietly on the couch instead of bouncing around the house is kinda nice for a change. Poor little thing, but well, best if we get this over with now he’s still this young. He’s a real guy about it, too: whiney, fussy, wimpy. (Sorry. Couldn’t resist!)
Things I’m thankful for today are working from home, apple juice, Nickelodeon Jr and fairy tale books. He started with 3 blisters this morning (one right under his eye!) but they’re popping up like mushrooms after a rainstorm now. He’s not picking them yet, so I assume they’re not that itchy at this point. But with this just being the beginning, I guess things will get a lot worse, right? Spotty kid syndrome.
For the mommies among you who have been here, did this and got the t-shirt—all 253654.937387654 of you—any tips on how to combat the scratching and itching?
I’m so getting a “We survived the chicken pox’ bumper sticker after all this is over.
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Poor kiddo. No golden tip from me, but I hope he gets better soon!
Alright, I don’t have children, but I remember getting chicken pox when I was a kid, and one thing that helped with the itching was oatmeal baths.
http://babyparenting.about.com/cs/healthissues/a/oatmealbath.htm
That’s a good page on how to make your own. Between that and liberal use of calamine lotion (which gave me bright pink polka dots instead of little red itchy pox) I remember my chicken pox infection as relatively non-itchy and more just a weird disease. (It did make me miss the valentine’s day party at school though, I remember being quite upset about that.)
@ Tricster:
Thanks a million for the oatmeal bath link!
They sure can give you some advice at the chemist’s (or how you call it? apothecary??). I used menthol alcohol back in the day, but as far as I know there is better stuff now.
@Dreamer:
I did pick up some menthol powder!
Mijn man kreeg 2 weken voor ons trouwen de waterpokken (en stak meteen onze zoon aan). Ik heb ze beiden een aantal dagen 2x per dag met havermout (havermout laten weken in water en er een papje van gemaakt) ingesmeerd en de jeuk werd rap minder en waar een ander kind 2 weken last zou hebben van de bultjes waren die van mijn man en kind binnen een week weg.
Beterschap met je zoon ;)
Awwwwwwwww Poor kiddo!
My mum swears by Caladryl Lotion:
http://www.caladryl.com/
It always worked on me when I was a kid :)
I hope he feels better soon!
As I recall Aveeno bath is soothing — it was 20 years ago when my guys came down with Chicken Pox, but Aveeno is an oatmeal bath that helps take the itch away.
Hopefully he won’t get to itching and stratching too badly.
Hang in there!
I don’t have kids, but when I was a kid, I got the chicken pox and I remember my mom applying calamine lotion to stop the itching. So he’ll still have dots all over, but they’ll be pink instead of red. ;)
I will add my vote for oatmeal baths! My mom used Aveeno baths for us when my brothers and I had it (wow, 18 years ago). Calamine lotion is not very helpful (doesn’t really stop the itch), but Benadryl (or other antihistamine) lotion works great.
Good luck to both of you and yes, it’s good he has it while he’s young. :-)
I was also going to say oatmeal bath, it works wonders, but some one beat me to it. The chicken pox can be miserable for children, but they will survive, and so will the mommies, thank goodness. Take care!!
Ice packs! It numbs the nerve endings so they don’t itch so much and gives him somthing to do. I use them for mosquito bites and poison ivy. Be very careful with the ones on the face -they can scar. Good luck!
My lil’ one had them when we were in the NL (as did my husband — talk about miserable, he was in such pain, and he was such a pain — for 10days!– but it is harder on olders)
My lil’ one had oatmeal baths, and drank lots of water — he has tons of spots, real raw looking ones too and has not a single remaining scar. It’s amazing. He had one very miserable day/night — where I think the itching was just intense…maybe even a little burning feeling too.
I would also keep him lightly dressed – nothing clingy/tight.
Hope he feels better A.S.A.P.!! Poor Mama – :D
“HAD” tons of spots…
@ elizabethk:
Jayden started to get more blisters during the day and I gave him his 1st oatmeal bath late this afternoon. It seems to help a lot. No scratching so far (keeping fingers crossed)
What about all the daddies and other guardians who have gone through taking care of their children? :)
I do wish your son a speedy recovery!! I love that photo.
from what I’ve read….Menthol is not good to give little people. Otherwise, the oatmeal bath is definitely good advice. :)
I got it twice, once in college, and the second time I lived on oatmeal baths and then calamine lotion and anti-itch creams. If it works on bug bites, it’ll work on chicken pox.
My biggest problem — and the only reason I have any pox scars now — is that I picked at the scabs. And I was old enough to know better! So my advice is to maintain vigilance even after the worst is over. He’ll want to pick, especially when there are only a few left. I certainly did.
Poor little tyke. I hope he’s feeling better. I was 16 months old so don’t remember much about it except being told repeatedly not to scratch. I have a few scars. They are peculiar looking, but smallso I don’t think they are very noticeable.
luke warm water with pottasium permangante crystals. & lots of calamine lotion. if you dont get KMNO4, try neem leaves.
hope he gets better to jump around real soon.
my son sam, now 30 years old, came down with chicken pox at the same time as his best friend. i let him have a play date. they lay on the couch together, both spotty, watching movies. two days later the other mom returned the favour.