Hand Foot and Mouth Disease - Milwaukee,WI

J.,
My 2 1/2 year old and my 9 month old just got over hand-foot-mouth disease. It's so pitiful the way they are so upset and you can't do anything for them. The best thing that worked for us was Pedialyte pops and orajel for the mouth sores. I heard that soft foods, like yogurt and pudding are actually more painful because they can easily seep into the sores. The good news is that the symptoms usually start to subside in two or three days. Beware, though... this is a highly contagious disease with an incubation time of about 3 days. The kicker is that just as soon as one child is feeling better, the other may come down with it. We also did the tylenol/advil combo. Good luck and hang in there!

I made a request about a similar situation a couple weeks ago, my 22 month old had HFM and was NOT sleeping! Her mouth sores took about 7 days to go away, the blisters on her feet are just healing now. I didn't realize how painful it was for her until last tuesday when I developed a sore throat. yep, sure enough, i got it. I can tell by the couple blisters in the back of my throat. It hurt BAD until today, now it seems to be getting better. I didn't get any of the hand/foot blisters, but was miserable just the same. I'm sure it affects kids differently depending on what they get. Keep up the tylonal/ibruprofin!! I also used the spray which numbs the throat, seemed to help a little. ice cream helps too, plain vanilla. some foods hurt really really bad, some not so bad, keep experimenting. Hang in there, it will get better.

My 11 month old son just got over this a little over a month agao. It was not fun, but the soars did start to go away after about 3 or 4 days. Your daughter should be starting to feel better soon. Just keep trying to force liquid down her. The main concern with hand/foot/mouth is dehydration. We just kept trying to make our son drink his bottles. Its hard but they need the fluids. Good luck and i hope none of your other kids end up getting it.

I'm not sure how many sores she has in her mouth, but my husband is just recovering from this and we have an Oral Surgeon friend that gave him some 'Canker Cover' oral patch samples that can be placed inside the mouth over the sores and lasts 8-12 hours. It is made by Quantum Health. It says not to be used for children under five without the consult of a physician. I don't know if they are in stores, though. My husband also used Cepacol spray.

Also - he used another sample from the oral surgeon 'zilactin-B' which states to be a 'long lasting mouth sore gel' that is a 'film forming gel protects sores up to 6 hours' and can be used for adults and children 2 yrs. and older.

Hang in there!