Canker Sores for 19 Month Old

My daughter (14 months) had similar symptoms, after 2 days I had her seen by her pediatrician who told me it was herpes in the mouth and if I waited till day 3 my baby would have been in even more pain. She gave her a prescription for 10 days but told me I could stop giving it as early as 3 days if the symptoms went away. Luckily by the 3rd day on the medicine she was fine and back to her happy self.
My older daughter had cancer sores when she was 18 months, bad enough to even make her lips look swollen. Same pediatrician couldn't give her anything but said some people are just prone to cancer sores and the first episode is usually the worst. Either you get canker sores or you never do. My mom and sister never have had a canker sore whereas my father and I are prone.

Hope she's better by now

My daughter has canker sores a lot. She is 13. Liquid Lyzine seems to help her. She swishes it and then drinks it. We put it in a small amount of water. It has no taste. I don't know if Lyzine is okay for a 19 month old, but it is worth finding out.

Good luck. I know how tough it can be to have a child with bad canker sores.

How high was the fever and where are the sores in the mouth? She can have hand, foot and mouth (herpangina) without the sores on the hands and feet. This is common in daycare settings and is usually only seen from the months of August through October. Fevers can get as high as 103 and cause increased irritability, and no eating and drinking. Since she is drinking this is good as many infants and toddlers end up in the ER for dehydration. Sores can take anywhere from 1-4 weeks to go away! It is contagious and passed through the poop and mucus secretions so good handwashing is key as to not spread it to yourself or other children in the house (yes adults can get this!) Unfortunately, there is no treatment other than to treat the symptoms. I would avoid putting on any teething gels, etc as these will sting and cause her more discomfort (they weren't made to be put on open wounds like canfer sores). Tylenol or ibuprofen would work, but she should be eating or at least drinking milk in order to take the ibuprofen. Also recommended for these sores are cold dairy products like vanilla ice cream! My daughter just got this in September, she was only 8 1/2 months old and is failure to thrive. The last thing she needed was sores in her mouth and a fever of 103. She has a feeding tube so I was able to get her liquids there and the only thing she would eat was vanilla ice cream which seemed to coat her sores. Unfortunately, her sores lasted 3 weeks! Daddy then got it (so try not to kiss her on the lips etc...I know that's hard!) He said it was really painful so imagine what the little ones go through! She is probably drooling because it may hurt to swallow. These sores usually are on the roof of the mouth and the back of the throat. Good luck!

Hi, A.,

It could be hand, foot and mouth disease, herpangina, type I herpes, or some other disease that causes sores to develop in the mouth. These sores might also be apthous sores. Generally, sores caused by these diseases and apthous sores disappear in about a week. (At least that's been the experience of my kids and me.) To make your daughter more comfortable, you might try giving acetomenophin (sp.?)for babies. I've found that Orajel topical anesthetic, sold over the counter in pharmacies, and Bombay Sapphire gin applied to the sore with a Q-tip are the only remedies that help reduce the discomfort.

Best wishes,
Lynne

This may be tricky, but is there any way you could get her to gargle with some warm salt water? This would help heal her canker sores. There are also over-the-counter products that may be helpful. Look by the teeth/mouth section of a big drugstore and see what is offered. Most taste rather nasty, so they're a little hard to use. Try to see what she is eating that sets them off. Google it, she may get them due to nuts or acidic things she's eating. You can also get a q-tip and dip it into a hydrogen peroxide/purified water solution and apply it directly ON the kanker sore; this helps greatly! Feed her mild, non-acidic things and anything that would seem soothing to her mouth. The kanker sores could be just part of an illness that she has. Good luck! I really would try the salt water or the hydrogen peroxide as they really help to get them starting to heal. You may to see a doctor to see if this is more serious than just kanker sores. In the future, look into giving her a light "L-Lysine" supplement, it's an amino acid. Google and read about it. I have taken it and given it to my kids for years, and it has stopped all kanker sores and cold sores on me and my kids for years! It's amazing.

Lysine lip balm from a health food store. if that is what it is then it should start to clear up in about a day. However, I woudl do some research on hand/foot/mouth disease... make sure its not that.

If it is cold sores then know that she will face a life of them. It's a form of herpes and doesn't go away

I have to say, it sounds like hand, foot and mouth...it's no fun, but pretty harmless. My son had it when he was about one. He had sores in his mouth, low fever, didn't want to eat and was SOOOO fussy. It lasted about a week and then he was fine again.

I'm surprised your doctor didn't suspect that with those symptoms. It's contagious, but adults don't normally get it. It's also a virus, so you just have to ride it out...

Good luck.
-M

Sounds like maybe Hand, Foot & Mouth disease. My 22 month-old had it for the second time this year about a month ago. Very common in small children - my daughter picked it up at her daycare center.

Hi,we went through the same thing a couple of weeks ago. Dr. said there is nothing to give them. My 22mt. old had little white blisters in her mouth which resulted in moody child and sleepless nights. She too had a low grade fever. She didn't want to eat anything but would drink. I tried jar foods and sometimes she would be ok(oh, and popsicles to try and numb them before attempting food). I kept alternating Tylenol and Motrin for discomfort. They took about 4/5 days to go away. And heads up, she woke with a little dried blood one morning and then felt better. I'm guessing they just needed time to dry up. Once that happened I had my happy little one back eating like normal. Good Luck!

Has she had a change in diet? That's usually what causes canker sores. You can get crankaid (not sure on the spelling) which gives almost instant relief and it starts the healing because it coats it while it heals. You find it in the health/beauty aisle (I got it at Target) where you find oral care stuff. If she's teething, you can get hyland's teething tablets (I used them with all three of my kids and they work really well).

Hand foot mouth disease??? It's going around. I thought my son had an allergic reaction, had the same condition. It does go away after about a week, but can be painful and have those symptoms. Google it and go to the Dr.

Popsicles would help. Maybe you could even make popsicles out of pedialyte so it has some nutrients in it? Good luck.

just as a question because its not in the responces. does she happen to have any sores on the palms of her hands or soles of her feet? if she does you may take her back to the dr. it could be hand foot mouth. theres not much you can do for hand foot mouth because its viral. also it is very contagious. but it is something to check. good luck hopefully it is just canker sores.

My son just got over something like this. He only had sores on his tongue and a few on his gums, not in the back of mouth or inside cheeks (which would be more indicative of hand-foot-mouth). However, since the pediatrician was not positive whether he had HSV (a type of herpes associated with a cold) or hand-foot-mouth, she did not prescribe anything -- both are viral. Either way, the sores will go away in a few days (could take up to one loooong week, however). It is so hard to see your child suffering, I know, but unfortunately, there is little you can do except give motrin and tylenol for fever/pain.

The first thing I thought of was also: hand, foot and mouth disease. It's nothing serious, but can be contagious, so be careful. Canker sores alone wouldn't cause a fever - I think? But I could be wrong!!!

Hi A., thy the teething gels that nun the gum's, that should
relieve a lot of her discomforts. J. L.