HFM / cold sore remedy for 2yo?

[♥ms.pacman♥]

ack, i'm still at work and dh is texting me that dd is complaining of what looks like a cold or canker sore in her mouth. since i know she has a fever and dh is going oot i was going to stop buy pharmacy to get fever meds as well as decongestant (she's been snotty and coughing) but now that he mentions the cold sore, i'm worried it could be HFM. with this nasty weather i want to stock up on anything i may need. what is the best thing to use for this? i've used ambusol for canker sores but not sure a 2yo can use it. i seem to remember mylanta and benadryl cocktail, but dd is too young to swish and spit out anything.

oh and did i mention dd climbed INTO and out of her crib the other day, for the first time. so she's in a toddler bed now, and has already been waking up often. there goes my sleep & sanity for the next 3 days... :(

[daisysmom]

We never used anything fr hfm except Motrin and Tylenol. My dd got it twice, once around 2 and once around 4.

[okinawama]

I'll hope it's just one random canker sore, because I wouldn't wish HFM on anyone!

When my little guys had it we rotated motrin and tylenol every 4 hours to stay on top of the pain (which I never ever did the motrin and tylenol together, but OMG, HFM was insanely painful for them). Our biggest concern was hydration. DS1 would not allow us to even look at his mouth, so getting fluid into him was our number 1 goal.l We picked up gatorade, coconut milk and some pedialyte in hopes that one would do the trick and he'd actually take some. We used infant teething orajel on a q-tip directly on the mouth sores to give him some relief (just on the few large ones towards the front of his mouth), and when we did that he did end up drinking a bit of liquid. We also stocked up on soft foods, fuzzy socks (DS1 would not walk without something covering his feet, but when seated, he didn't want anything touching his feet) and tons and tons of movies. Good luck! Again, I'm crossing everything hoping it's not HFM.

Just so you know (because nobody told me and I freaked), if they get HFM bad enough, they loose their finger and toe nails a couple weeks after the mouth sores disappear.

[mypa]

When DD has sores the ped gave us "hurricaines"...they look like q-tips with the liquid numbing medicine filled in the stem of the q-tip. You crack it and the liquid gets soaked into the cotton tip. Dab the sore with it and it will numb the sores enough for your child to eat/drink. Ped sait it was expensive, she gave us samples, we never filled a Rx for it.

[OKKiddo]

When my sons got HFM we did the benadryl, motrin, tylenol thing and they had zero relief (and we had zero sleep which I know you understand!). On the second day of it I was ready to do just about anything to help them (and us) so I called a Health Foods Supply Store. She recommended using melatonin to help them rest and get that restorative sleep they needed (NOW Foods Liquid Melatonin is what we bought from her and LOVED) and then she recommended an internal Arnica Montana herbal pain reliever as well as Arnicare Gel (arnica in gel form). We were told by her (and later confirmed with our Dr) that we could use the Arnica Montana at the same time as the OTC pain relievers and the melatonin. We did that during the day and the cranky level went waaaaay down. They didn't cry when they were on their feet because the gel was relieving the pain (and the Arnica Montana was helping from the inside) and whatever the Arnica didn't cover the motrin or tylenol did. At bedtime we gave them a final dose of Motrin, Arnica internally, melatonin, and rubbed the arnica gel on all over their hands and feet. They slept completely through the night. Here we are years later and you will still find Arnica pills and arnica gel in my boo boo bag in the diaper bag as well as inside my house (and I have a little bottle of Arnica pills in my car for those little headaches because I can chew those up easily and they taste good as opposed to dry swallowing tylenol). You can find the Arnica Gel and Arnica Pellets at Wal-Mart and Whole Foods (if you have a Wegmans I know they have it as well).

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thank you everyone for these suggestions, very helpful. dd had hfm a couple years ago but it wasn't too bad as she didn't get it in her mouth. and she was nursing a lot so that was always a way to calm her.

i'm freaking out a bit now as tonite DS complained of a sore in his mouth and one on his thumb. :( dealing with 2 kids with HFM while dh is gone = double eek. DS has no sign of fever or anything though. DD is really congested, coughing and has a fever.