What the heck is Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease??!! My exact reaction a few months ago when hearing about friends kids contracting it!! Basically it is a viral infection that is WICKED contagious, and according to Molly's pedi they have been seeing an extraordinarily high number of kids with it this summer. It is mostly a summer condition, and targets children. It effects the little ones the most but adults can get it too!
The signs: Fever and blisters on hands, feet,and in and around the mouth. You may also see them in other places includin, inner thighs, bum, knees and nose.
Treatment: There really isnt anything that can be done for this other then trying your best to keep your baby as comfortable as possible because it is painful. The blisters in the mouth are the worst because it effects their eating habits. It is painful to swallow so often times they become dehydrated.
Here are the items that worked best for me: Aveeno Baby Soothing Bath Treatment-- I gave Molly an oatmeal bath 3 times a day and let her stay in just a diaper. It really helped when she was screaming in pain. She also had a hard time sleeping and after each bath she would be relaxed enough to fall asleep even if it was for a short while.
Motrin Infant Drops-- It helps with the fever and some of the discomfort. I noticed a change in her after a few minutes of taking her dosage. I used the 8 hr long lasting drops, but I did notice it starting to wear off around the 6 1/2 hour mark. I also switched to the dye-free because sometimes little ones like to spit! haha and its less messy!!!
Desitin Cream--Molly got some of the blisters on her bum, my usual diaper cream wasn't working. Our friend recommended desitin, so we picked some up and it works amazingly well.
Pedialyte-- It's always a good idea to keep this in stock when you have little ones. The painful blisters make it hard for them to suck a bottle and in molly's case breast. You do not want them to become dehydrated and end up in the ER! My tip was to keep it extra cold and even freeze some. It's cold and soothing against the pain of the blisters. I also suggest keeping foods soft and cold. Molly did well with things like Sugar free jello, pudding, and ice creams. I also froze some of her yogurts and she loved it!
I highly recommend you keep these items on hand in your medicin cabinet at all times--not just for this but for any sickness that may go around. All of these items are multi-purpose and are just good to keep around. I hope this helps anyone else who gets hit with this nasty infection and don't forget the hand sanitizer!
You can find more info on hand, foot, mouth here
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