My poor, sweet little girl (2 yo) got her first bee sting today while I was in class. When I got home, my SIL told me about the sting. She said that the stinger hadn't stuck, and that she washed it with soap and water and put some ice on it. She still has some slight swelling and redness, but not enough to cause me any real alarm. Just something to keep an eye on.
Now it is a few hours later. She isn't showing any signs of an allergic reaction (thankfully, because bee allergies do run in my family...) but she keeps telling me 'owie' and acting like her foot hurts. Which I'm sure it does! I remember my last bee sting hurting me for about a week, with the swelling lasting about 4 days. I gave her some Tylenol, but is there anything else I can do for her? I tried putting ice on it again, but that just made her even more upset. (Until I gave her the ice pack, which she is currently treating like a popsicle. lol.)
Give her a hug, kiss her owie, and put a princess bandaid on it (or barney, or dora, or...). That will make her feel better.
I have an allergy to bees (and hornets and wasps) so a mild reaction like your daughter's is good, but I'd keep an eye on it. What you're doing is fine. If you're still concerned or if you notice it starting to swell or itch MORE instead of less or she complains of increased pain, then I would give her a dose of Benedryl (it comes dye-free now) to help reduce the allergic reaction. My daughters have mild to moderate reactions, so they always get the ice, toothpaste, Advil, and Benedryl treatment.
EDIT: DO NOT put bandages like a BandAid on a bee sting. There will be a higher likelihood of it developing into dermatitis (skin infection).
We use a baking soda and water poultice for bee stings. Add just enough water to a little bit of baking soda to make the baking soda thick, but not drippy or wet. Apply the mixture to the bee sting and put a band-aid over it. Apple cider vinegar and baking soda also works very well, same directions.
I agree with the benadryl, but do consult your doctor's after-hours line unless you know the accurate dosage. If you know how much she weighs, you could also call your local pharmacist. It may be the toxin in the bee sting which is causing the irritation.
LeeLee's recipes are also good, too.
Cold Witch Hazel takes the owie out. Always kept a bottle in frig.
When I got a bee sting when I was a kid, my mom would moisten some dirt making it mud. She would put it on the sting site and let it dry. When I was a teenager, I remembering asking her why and why it worked. She told me she thought the mud dryed and drew out the poison. I know one time I was stung twice and put mud on one and left the other with a cold wet rag. The mud one felt better within the hour, the other one hurt for quite a while. I cannot tell you why it worked, and if it hadn't happened to me I would never have believed it.
My mom, dad, grandmas and grandpas all swore by the mud. Go figure?
Good luck to you and yours.
My husband told me about a cure his Grandmother used and I tried it a few months ago when my daughter got stung in our basement. Cut an onion in half (remove stinger first), and hold it on the sting area for a couple of minutes. The acid in the onion neutralizes the poision. I thought it was a joke, but in 10 minutes you could not even tell she had been stung and had zero pain. I understand the thing is to do it immediately. But it would hurt a thing to try it at this point.
rubbing honey on it takes the pain away and promotes healing..
Topical or oral Benadryl will be very helpful. But yes, the sting is awful. I got stung last fall for the first time in 10 yrs, and I felt like such a baby, but that darn thing hurt, really bad, for over a week! I got a hot red lump under my skin that was the diameter of a baseball, and I could have sworn it had to be a wasp sting. Turns out is was just a honeybee, but it got me good, and left all its venom in there.
You can try toothpaste to cover it, and then a bandaid over that, it may help a bit.
There was a reporter that did a story on bee stings and he had himself stung numerous time to try out different remedies on each sting. There were two things that helped the most:
1. Ice
2. Toothpaste!
