Ugghhh... Chicken Pox. What to do?

[Jenn98]

DD is 12 months, and yesterday had a fever and I noticed a little rash. Well, this morning she woke up with a full-blown case of chicken pox with a fever. She is covered, and I mean covered in red bumps. Poor thing. We have a doc appt tomorrow, but I'm wondering what you mommies did to keep your DC comfy during this period? I read old posts about oatmeal baths, but I don't know exactly what that means. Any tips? TIA

Jenn

[Lovingliv]

Jenn,

You should call your OB, just to let him/her know that DD has chicken pox. If you have already had them, there should be no issue. I would still let them know.

Hope DD is feeling better.....any idea where she picked it up?

[Jenn98]

I called the office today and they said there was nothing they could do even if I got them. But I have had them as a child, so hopefully I (and the bean in my belly) will be okay. And I have no idea where she got them. The CDC said she probably just got them while out in the community like at the grocery store or something. But we had a play group on Tuesday, so I had the horrible task of emailing the whole playgroup to tell them that I was "that" mom who has the kid who is going to infect everyone else's kids. :(

[Mommy Of A Little Angel]

Oatmeal baths are really soothing if your little one is itchy. Aveeno makes one. You just poor it into the bath tub with DD and let her soak. Here's a link to it so you can know what you are looking for!

http://www.aveeno.com/detailAction.do?id=3662

Hope she feels better and I hope no one else catches it!

[DebbieJ]

Ooh, where do you live? Can I come over? Seriously, I want DS to get chicken pox!

~ deb
DS born at home 12/03
2 year check up: 25 lbs with clothes on and 35 inches!
BFARed for 20 months and 6 days
(Breastfeeding After Reduction is possible! www.bfar.org)

http://www.bfar.org/members/fora/style_avatars/Ribbons/18months-bfar.jpg

[Jenn98]

Sure! Come on over, we have plenty of pox to share!

[o_mom]

DS2 had them about that age. Oatmeal baths every night. Change the diaper twice as often as you normally would. We switched to disposables and changed at least every 2 hours during the day with lots of air time. The ones under the diaper get funky really fast and you want to keep them from being infected.

Keep in mind that the first ones to show up will get the worst and the later ones (days 3, 4, 5) will not get as bad. I tell you this because I was freaking out on day 4 when he was covered head to toe and I thought they were all going to get as big and blistery as the first ones - the later ones never got worse than a mosquito bite.

At that age, he really didn't itch too much - only around the eyes on the later days. We used a little Benadryl at night on the worst couple of days.

Hope she feels better soon!

[Lovingliv]

No worries Jenn! Some mamas want their babes to get them....right Deb?

Sorry Jenn. Hard to watch your lil one sick!

[Fairy]

Are you 100% sure it's chicken pox? It could be Coxsackie. That's a virus that runs rampant this time of year and got 23-month-old DS, as well as myslef -- he came out of it better than I did. If it's Coxsackie, there's absolutely nothing you can do. Cool/cold, smooth food and liquids (cuz they're likely to be in DC's mouth/throat) and that's about it. They shouldn't itch or anything; just ugly and impactful of orifices (orifi?) Good luck one way or the other!

[JBaxter]

When my older boys had chicken pox I took an old sock and filled it part way w/ oatmeal and tied a knot in the top. I put them in a warm bath and squeezed the wet oatmeal over them. I also gently rolled it on their backs because of the itching. Mine were both older and we also use calamine lotion on them.

My oldest had a really bad case temp went to 104.8 and he had them every where including in his eyelashes and bottoms of his feet.

[KrisM]

Me, too! But, I'd like to avoid DD getting them :).

[calv]

us too! We want to come over since I didn't have my kids get the vax! I want the true immunity :)

I hope the poor little thing feels better SOON