My 2 1/2 Year Old Has Canker Sores on His Tongue

Take him to the doctor. In addition to it being a herpes viral thing it could be Thrush instead. Very easily treated with anti-fungal meds. This sometimes occurs following a course of anti-biotics. In any event they can give him something. anti-virals are available for children also.

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Alum will cauterize them and help them heal. He will make faces though. It dries out your mouth and feels weird. Also, concentrated frozen grape juice will do the same, but not as well. These are remedies from my pediatrician father-in-law.

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Hello L.,

Canker sores are a virus and usually go away in about two weeks. From my expierence most kids grow out of them by adulthood. I use to get them all the time when I was a child and teenager. Sometime later in my adulthood I realized I didn't get them anymore. Why? I don't know? Just happy I don't. Ha.

My mom use to put campho on them. It comes in a litte green bottle at the drug store. Your pediatrician might reccomend something different for your two year old. Sincerely, G

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My daughter just got over hand, foot and mouth. The sores in her mouth were tiny, white and spiny looking sores. They did not look at all like canker sores and did not hurt like you are suggesting with your son. I am not a doc or nurse, but what your son has sounds different. I hope your little man feels well soon.

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L., my son had a virus about 6 months ago. It was not hand, foot and mouth disease, since he did not get blisters on his feet or hands; but rather a herpes derivitive (big long name that I can't pronounce). The doctor said that it is common with kids that attend a daycare because everything goes in the mouth. If one child has it and it's not caught, it spreads very quickly. Please see your doctor. If it is what my son had, it took an antiviral medication to get it to go away along with a mouth numbing mouthwash so he would eat and drink. I wish you the best of luck.

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Hi L.,
My daughter had that years ago when she was a baby. You should call your pediatrician....he can prescribe something to help relieve the discomfort...and reduce the time to heal.
It is very uncomfortable....even if you cant take him to the doctor they could possibly give you advice by phone on what to do to relieve the pain. Believe it is caused by a virus.(?)

blessings, DS

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If he is a good eater and you don't worry about him chockig on them, raisins are AWESOME for canker sores, when I was little I always got them and there is some natural healing power in raisons that always helped me. It is too much to ask a 2 year old ( I know I have one too!) too hold them in his mouth for extended amounts of time, but eating them should help! My son loves raisons and will eat one of those little boxes in a sitting, maybe this will be a natural and healthy way to help him!

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My son had sores on his tongue and I took him in to the MD and it ended up being Hand Foot and Mouth. It is a virus that went away on its own.

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Hi L.,
Not sure the diagnosis of your little one but I know my 2 yr old son had a very severe mouth virus one time. His mouth was literally full of sores. The ways I comforted him was:
Giving him ice and ginger ale in a regular small cup not a sippy. or ice cold milkPopsicles and home made jello made a little runny but cold. A steady does of tylenol and motrin. And, Lots of movies and cuddling. I know this is the worst, they are truly in such pain and very cranky, my son sucks his thumb and he had a hard time sleeping too. I did give him some benadryl at night to help him with that. i think the one my son had ran it's course in about 5 days...3 of those he didn't eat hardly at all..we were all miserable..just be patient and if it doesn't clear up in a few days take him to his dr. Best of luck and God bless.

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You probably need to get him checked to make sure he doesn't have strep throat. Be cautious. You really don't want that lingering, it is contagious.
Take care.

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Hi L.! Your poor little boy! I have suffered with canker sores all my life. The only thing that has helped me is a toothpaste made by a company called Melaleuca. Since using this toothpaste (7 years now) I have never had a canker sore. When they start, I just dab a little bit of the toothpaste on the sore and it's gone almost immediately. Melaleuca is a company that you have to join..like a Cosco or Sam's, but they operate online. I am a customer...not to build a business, but if you want to get the products, I can show you how. Go to melaleuca.com to check it out.

All that being said, I have also heard that toothpastes with tea tree oil as an ingredient, from health stores, will work. I really don't know about this, but it's worth a try. All the best to you!

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You might call the pediatrician; our daughter had "canker sores" in her mouth and they were painful so I treated them as canker sores. But since they weren't getting better I took her in to find it was hand,foot, mouth disease. I know it sounds horrible but don't let it scare you because the dr. can prescribe something then in no time feel better. Good luck!!
B.

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it could be overripe tomoatoes. My mouth does that too..strawberries can do it to mouths as well. there are probly others pineapple, oranges. I say remove those foods and juices for a few days and put cancre /numbing cream on the boo boos. My tomatoe one lasted 2 weeks and would have gone longer as I was still eating the pico de guyo ...unitl a pal told me that overripe ones can burn your mouth.
hope this helps.

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My son had that around 2 1/2 as well. I took him to the doctor and it was some type of virus. It wasn't that uncommom. I don't remember the name of the virus. I would definitely take him in for antibiotics. After that it will clear up in a couple of days and his appetite will come back.

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I'm not sure about canker sores on the tongue, but my daughter gets canker sores in the side of her mouth from time to time because she drinks so much orange juice, or that's what I think. I usually don't let her drink any until it goes away because the citrus is irritating. I give her tylenol if she is really uncomfortable and then apply Orajel to the canker. I know there are other medicines out there too. Many you have to swish in you mouth and spit out. If there are lots of them, and they really bother your son, you may want to see you doctor anyway. Good luck!

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I would get it checked out, there are different types of sores in the mouth. It would be good to know the source as well as a cure or what will relieve the pain. Has he been on antibiotics lately? Possibly thrush?

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TAKE YOUR CHILD TO THE DENTIST OR DOCTOR. I worked with a dentist and we had a patient who had this problem and it could be contagious. If it is what I think it can be caused by drinking after someone else who has the same problem or even drinking out of a public fountain. Please have it checked.

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Does he also have blisters on the soles of his feet and palms of hands? could be hand, foot, mouth. don't worry or be afraid just check with dr., by the time you see rash I think its mostly over (am not a dr. though so give yourself the benefit a dr's good word by talking with one.)

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It could be a food allergy as well. My son breaks out in sores all over his mouth when he eats many raw veggies or fruits(bit it's fine when they're cooked, go figure!). This all started when he was about 3 or 4 years old. We never did figure out exactly what caused it, but he just avoided anything he knew would make him break out like that. And avoided salty/acidic foods when he did have them, as they made the sores burn more. You can try teething ointments/liquids, they contain a local anesthetic that will temporarily numb them to at least make it easier for him to eat.

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Does he gets these often? Or is this the first that you've noticed it? The tongue is one of those places that can give signals about what is happening in the body... If he is fighting off a cold or infection, the tongue might lose patches of its skin, which can then look sore and irritated. Or, if he has eaten something that burned his tongue or poked it (like the sharp edges of a tortia chip, end of a straw--or a toy that he stuck in his mouth?!) or perhaps if he's started to develop a habit of chewing/biting his tongue, those can look like canker sores also.

Are the sores only on his tongue, or are they along the inside of his mouth/lips and gum line? If it is confined to just the tongue area, then I'm not sure its herpes complex 1.

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It sounds crazy but my husband swears by mustard. You can also use oragel to numb them up.

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It looks like someone already mentioned hand foot and mouth. Check his fingers and toes for sores. Even if they aren't there, I would take him to the doctor. It may also show up as a really bad diaper rash (kinda spotty)

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My mother was plagued with canker sores in her mouth and on her tongue. She would take Acidophilis supplements (the healthy bacteria that's found in yogurt). It helped but she had such a severe case her Dr recommended allergy testing. Once she figured out what she was allergic to, she avoided or minimized those foods and the cankers cleared up.

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Hi L.,
I am a RDA and the dentist I worked for said that canker sores are a virus, no citrus or spicy foods when broken out, somtimes too much citrus is believed to cause an out break, also will happen if he bites his tongue, cheek, etc. A mild pain reliever will help some, and you can try salt water rinse 1 to 2 times a day, if he will do this, but, not to strong or too often, it will really dry his mouth out and irritate the tissue if you do it too much.
You can get med call Debactrol from your dentist this is presctriptive, but, you have to apply before the ulcer is formed, when you feel the tingle and you child may not be able to tell you this. It cuts the healing time down, but it stings really bad. I use this when I get a ulcer and so does my husband. Check with your childs dentist to see what they recommend. Wish I could have helped more.

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I don't know their cause is but I have a way to make them heal faster but I don't know how a 2 and a half year old is going to take it!! Get some salt and put it on them. It's going to burn, a lot but after a couple of days they should be gone though like I said I don't know much about doing this to an almost 3 year old!! Hope this helps and hope he feels better!!!

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