Hemangiona on a 10-Month Old

Oh, please leave it! especially if it's somewhere that hair will eventually hide it, because then she'll have a secret little heart she can show someone if she wants.

I don't have personal experience with my children, but my friends daugter had a rather large one on her ear & it did go away. If I were you, I would just give it time. I would listen to the doctor. They do know best.

Hi! I know I'm kinda late to answer this, but I will anyway. My daughter has one on the top of her head. We were told by our ped. that it won't start disappearing until 2-2 1/2. Our nephew has one too and his dr. said the same thing. We are lucky to have it on her head and mostly covered. It used to make me crazy to have to answer everyone's questions ALL the time. I can see why you'd want it removed (it being very visable). I have come to terms with it and say it's just part of her. My SIL sent me a video (that I never had enough nerve to watch) called "The Birth and Death of a Hemangioma". I'd give it time and see if it starts to dissapate. My nephew's is getting much lighter. He is 19 months. My daughter is 16 mo. and is lighter, but not flatter. Within a year, I'm hoping it will go away completely. Whatever you decide, I'm sure she will not be mad. It's just part of her! :)

My son has one at the inner corner of his eyelid, so of course we have been seeing a dermatologist for it since he was two months old. Because of its location, we've had to have several steriod injections to restrict its growth, but here's what the dr told us about hemangiomas in general: typically, hemangiomas on the head grow faster and bigger than on the rest of the body; they get bigger until about 9 months, then slowly reduce in size and get lighter until, at about age 5, they blend with the rest of the skin; if untreated and if they get too big, when they shrink, there could be excess skin left and the area won't be smooth. If you're worried about it, you should take your daughter to a pediatric dermatologist before too long just to get a professional opinion. We see one at Children's Memorial who has an office in NW Community Hospital. If you're interested, let me know and I can get you her name and number. She's very much in demand though, so appts are usually scheduled for a few months from when you call.

I had one as a baby that went away by two...my newborn has a couple spots they thought were hemangiomas so I did a bunch of research and I think what you described should easily go away on it's own, just needs a little more time. That being said,my sister had two very deep and large ones on her back that never fully went away, but due to the fact they are so vascular I don't there is really much that can be done, but really I am sure your daughters will go away with a little more time!

My daughter had one the size of an eraser (also the shape of fish and then finally turned to heart shaped) on her cheek. We were told it would go away by the time she turned 3, not 1. She's now 3.5 and you can hardly tell it's there. Give it some time. Her doctor said his own daughter has one and if he was unwilling to have his daughter go thru surgery, he wouldn't want my daughter to go thru it.

~C.

My daughter had one at age two and it actually started bleeding to where we had to go to the dr. We seen a plastic surgeon who removed it and you can't even tell she ever had anything there. I'm glad we had it removed because like you said, you don't want them to be made at you for not doing something about it when they get older.

I would consult a pediatric dermatologist. I had several hemangiomas when I was young and they never went away. I ended up getting them removed when I was six, but they weren't on my face, but on my head and upper neck. My daughter was born with a birthmark on her face, above her eye. We went to Annette Wagner at Children's Memorial, who has an office in Westchester. Dr. Wagner told us that the best age to remove something from a child's face is 8 months because the scarring will be minimal. The later you wait, the more defined the scar. Dr. Wagner can assess your daughter's hemangioma and has so much experience that she'll probably be able to tell you if it will go away or not. My cousins had them, too, and theirs went away after about a year. I hope that helps.

My 2 1/2 year old daughter's hemangioma started appearing when she was about two weeks old and also grew to the size of a dime and was raised right on her eyebrow. Of course I was worried (would it go away, would school age kids make fun, etc.) but I listened to the doctor who said is should go away by the time she is 5 and am letting it run its course. It is hardly visible now (at 2 1/2 years old) and would never perform surgery on her. There would definitely be a scar... and why do that when there is a great chance it will go away on it's own? We saw Dr. Mancini at Children's Memorial. She wouldn't be mad at you when she gets older b/c there is a very, very high probability that it will drastically fade or disappear on its own. My daughter's started fading very gradually at about 1 1/2 years old. I can sent you photos if you'd like!

I developed hemagioma during pregnancy - on my forehead! My OB told me that it would go away by itself after baby birth. Guess what? It actually grew bigger! So when baby was 6 month old I got tired and went to see plastic surgeon. My hemangioma (it was size of a sunflower seed) was removed - no scar - I cannot even tell there exactly is was! with your baby being so young - I would wait another year or so, but if eventually if it would have to be removed I would go with the plastic surgeon and not dermatologist. Even if it now going to be covered by your insurance, it worth it.

Good luck!

Due to the fact that you state your 10-month old daughters hemangioma is not large, there appears to be a small probability that it will grow aggressively larger at this point (since true hemangiomas appear during infancy and grow primarily only the first 12 months). Therefore, I would wait to have it treated as it will start to regress on its own shortly. However, regression can take years so you may want to treat it before 1st grade. With that said, I would recommend a trip to the doctor, preferrably at Children's or a Dr. affiliated with Children's to get an opinion to ease your concerns. My daughter was born with two hemangiomas but only the one on her thigh ("strawberry kiss") was visible. While this hemangioma never really grew in size (and is now gone - she is 7 years), the other was in her eye socket and it was an aggressive hemangioma. The eye one did not present itself until she was nearly 2 months old but she needed an MRI 2 weeks later and was at Children's (Dr. Janice Laskey in Opthamology) for surgery the day she turned 3 months old (it was injected with steriods-risky due to potential for blindness b/c she could no longer open her eye...picture a ping pong size mass over your closed eye). You will need to see a pediatric dermatologist for your daughter's hemangioma. I would not put my child to sleep for surgery for a cosmetic issue at 10 months nor enter into an oral steriod treatment option for a small, non-threatening hemangioma. However, when she reaches true school age (Kindergarten and up) you may want to address it. With modern technology, you could easily clear that up if it is still present when she is 6 years old. Best of luck and let us know what you decide!!

My daughter had one on her jawline. It grew quickly and ended up being the size and shape of half a walnut shell. She did get a lot of stares and comments from other kids when we were out in public. Her ped said it would shrink, but the size did not reduce. We saw Dr. Annette Wagner from Children's Memorial in Westchester. She did 2 surgeries when my daughter was 3 -- one to remove it and one months later to reduce the scar. We are very happy with the result. My daughter is now 8, has a faint scar, and says she is very glad her birthmark is gone.

My daughter had one on her arm next to her elbow. Her doctor said it'd go away as she reached school age. Sure enough it is gone. She turned 5 last September and it faded over the summer. Just give it time and it see what happens.

My son had one on the top of his head near the back (if you looked in the mirror you could not really see it but you could not miss it from the back). I t was about the size of 4 quarters stacked on top of each other and had a greyish bluish red color. We did have it removed at the age of 2.5 they said given it's size that it would go down but it would take some time (like years) we waited for awhile but the turning point was when we were at the mall and he was playing there were a bunch of kids not that much older than he was that stood around him and were laughing and talking about the thing on his head--well he didnt really understand because he knew he had one but he couldn't see it. But after I stopped crying, I knew we need to do something because kids can be so mean. I wanted to have something done before he entered school!!!
We went and saw a dr.from Children Memorial in Westchester. She did 2 surgeries. he went under and had it removed--he did fine. He was not able to get it wet for awhile and it was ok. the second surgery she was able to do a couple of months later-she was able to make the scar smaller. now he is 6 and I am so glad we did it--he is not known by his cousins as "Strawberry Joe" anymore. (as I said kids are mean!!!)
This was the best decision for us and we feel for him!!!
It's a hard decision--best of luck to you!

My daughter has one on her rib area. It was fairly large, about the size of a nickle. Her doctor said that they most often disappear by the age of one however she is 2 1/2 and still has it although it is fading and getting smaller as time passes and it seems as though it will be completely gone within a year. Were I you, I wouldn't do anything to remove but let nature take its course.

my 2 1/2 year old daughter has a hemangioma on her forehead too. it started growing about a week after she was born. i, as many mother's would do, started freaking out and was very tearful and upset. I went to go see a few pediatric dermatologists (including one in wisconsin) and got 3 plastic surgery consults, including one in NYC. She has been getting treated by Dr. Mancini at Children's in Chicago ( he is the head of the practice that Dr. Wagner is in in Westchester) . The basic conclusion was to leave it alone for the time being and see what happens. They grow for the first year and then SLOWLY start to involute. My daughter's was raised and bright bright red for the first year or so and now it is almost white. I had my heart set on having surgery to have it removed and was talked out of it by every single doctor I saw, except for the doctor in NYC who would have removed it by now. I am still waiting it out but will have it removed if it has not gone away by the time she starts real school. Hers is hidden now by her bangs. Kids and others ask what happened to her and mainly they think she bumped her head. It gets old having to explain that it is birthmark but if i had decided to have her have surgery when she was a baby it would have been more for me than for her. She did not notice it and it never bothered her. All the doctors explained that the scar will be less if i wait and have surgery later on. The hemangioma will be smaller and she will have grown or else the scare will grow with her.I think this is a very personal decision but i would recommend going to pediatric dermatologist that you trust and maybe getting a second opinion and then making an educated decision. good luck!

Hey, C.!

My 2 1/2 YO has one on his lip and has since birth. It doesn't bother him or interfere with his eating. Our ped actually told us it could take up to a few years for it to disappear. It didn't change much for the first 2 years, but it is starting to shrink now. I'd give it time. If you don't make a big deal out of it, neither will she. (Incidentally, my cousin had a HUGE one on her forehead as a baby/toddler, but it was virtually gone by the time she started school.)

A. :-)