Daughter Diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

My 18 month son brought this home from daycare about a month ago. He actually tolerated it fine. He never had a fever and seemed mostly unaffected by it. He had a few red spots on his hands and feet, but he never really blistered too bad. Being a month later, the bumps that were on his hands and feet are peeling. And he is still fine. I, on the otherhand, never having been to daycare picked up the virus from him. And it was awful for me. I ran a fever for 2-3 days, and got a soar throat. Got a few bumps on my hands but my feet broke out terribly, and then blistered, and I could hardly walk. It was horrible for 3 days, and these were the 3 days after the fever broke. So I was laid up for about a week. All this while 8 months pregnant. I was a mess. From what I hear, it is best for children to get it while young, and hopefully the case is mild for your daughter. My OB said I was the 1st adult he'd heard of who ever got the virus, but just be careful if you do get it.
It is true that there is nothing you can do for it. The Tylenol helped me alot with the fever and residule blister pain. Whatever you do, do not put any creams on the bumps, it does not help. (I learned the hard way) They say it's not supposed to itch, but it did for me, I found a warm compress or a good soak counteracted that sensation best. If she does start itching, an oatmeal bath may help. But you do just have to wait it out. The worst of it is typically over in 4-5 days. Best of luck and I hope this was helpful.

that just hit everyone in our household about 3 weeks ago... as well as at my neighbors
house (we were exposed at his birthday party) it seems to affect everyone differently. My 4 year old daughter and I had just the fever, aches, etc. and it seemed to pass quickly within
24-36 hours. My 7 month old and my husband got the rash in the throat and for them it
seemed to linger for 3-4 days. It is mostly extremely painful to eat according to my husband.
My neighbor had the rash all the way up his legs and I don't believe it blistered. I hope she is feeling better soon... it is so hard to see an infant go through it.

I had this virus as an adult too (age 19 - I was at college). I missed a week and a half of classes, ran a fever of about 102, my throat/mouth were very sore and it was painful to eat. Definitely no fun, especially since it took the student health center four days to diagnose me correctly since they did not expect to see this virus at my age. Unfortunately, you just have to treat the symptoms (with Tylenol or the equivalent) and wait it out. If our daughter ever gets it, I will be very very sympathetic to her!

Very common disease and just tylenol for pain, this is a cream you can put on the blisters forgetting what it is called.

Remember wash hands and hers

They may or may not turn into blisters. Two of my little ones just had this last month. They only had a fever for a day each but just weren't themselves for about a week. The had the red spots on their feet but they never blistered. I hope she feels better soon.

My daughter also had this a couple of weeks ago... I think it affects every child a little differently, b/c I actually didn't know she even had it until her little friend got it. She did have a low grade fever (101 at the hightest) for about three days and she kept pointing to her mouth and saying "owie". I assumed she was teething, which could have been causing the low grade fever. She got a little rash around her mouth, but it never blistered. It actually took almost a couple of weeks for the rash to go away. I think you just have to let it run it's course and definitely keep her away from other children if at all possible....it's very contagious!

The duration is about a week. All you can do it treat the symptoms. It is from the coxsackie virus, transmitted mouth-to-mouth or feces-to-mouth. Cool, soft foods would be the best for the sore throat aspect & Tylenol for fever. Hang in there...it will go away.

My son had this fun virus last May and it was awful! All together, it lasted about 5 days and he was miserable for all 5 of them. We used Motrin b/c the sores really are painful and Tylenol just didn't seem to do the trick for him. The spots on her hands and feet will turn into blisters and they hurt as well. One thing that seemed to help was I let him lick popsicles. I didnt' want him to have one alone b/c he was too young but I held it and let him lick off of it. The cold really did seem to help. Also, make anything she drinks icy cold. Good luck and quick healing!

Both of my kids have had this. I can't remember exactly how long the symptoms lasted, but I'd say close to a week. The red bumps will blister and scab. If she's in daycare she most likely will not be able to return until the blisters have scabbed. If she has any bumps in her mouth, they could be painful for eating/drinking. I gave my kids Glyoxide. It's a small blue & white bottle found near mouth wash. This helped heal the mouth so they could eat & drink comfortably.

We've had this one a couple of times. This too shall pass...just keep up on the fever. Tylenol then advil two hours later if necessary and then tylenol again two hours after that. Hand foot mouth can give kids a REALLY high fever.

My son got that when he was about 5 months old - it sucks! He had a lot of sores in his mouth so he wouldn't nurse. It broke my heart becuase he would start screaming as soon as I held him to my chest. We had to syringe feed him breast milk and Pedialyte for 2 days.

It's called Coxsackie Virus and by the time they shows signs of it they've been contagious for about a week all ready, that's why they don't usually quarantine kids at daycare who get it (and it sweeps through daycare).

But we all survived it. I think the worst symptoms lasted 2-3 days, but it was a week before total recovery. Just keep her as comfortable as possible until it goes away.

J.

When 3 of my children were small, (25, 21, and 15 years of age)they were always getting hand foot and mouth disease. I think when the 25 year old got it the first time, it was a newly discovered disease. They also called it "fifth" disease. Sometimes the red dots would blister, and sometimes they would not. The ones in their mouths were the hardest to deal with. The doctor's would say to only give them milk and water so that their mouths would not burn. Any drink with fruit acids or any food high in acid or salt could irritate the blisters in their mouths. I also remember one of their doctor's telling me that fair skinned, fair haired children were more apt to contract this virus. Hope this helps, they all grow up and now 3 of mine are having the same problems with their own children.

My 20 mo old son had HFM disease a few months ago. He was pretty grumpy for a few day w/ fever and rash, but it went away pretty quickly. The bumps just stayed bumpy and then went away (never turned to blisters). The only thing we did was put diaper cream (Boudroux's Butt Cream) on his bottom and over the counter 1% hydrocortizone cream on anything he itched. Hope that helps your daughter!!

My son had it a few months ago - never got blisters.....

My son had this too when he was around your little ones age,
just use tylenol to comfort them, and wash your hands often!
I ended up getting it from my son and it is worse when adults get it than the babies, it should natraully run its corse within a week, her fever should be gone soon, but the bumps can last up to 2 weeks, and can turn into blisters, try not to pop the blisters or scratch (the serum inside the blister is what causes more bumps)
stock up on tylenol and soap ; )

It's one of those things that they all get. It's nothing terribly serious, but they are uncomfortable for a little while - maybe a week. Basically you treat symptoms for comfort and let them heal. Take advantage of her slowing down a little for extra snuggles.