Mysterious Rash on Toddler

Hives.
of which there is irritant type or allergic type.

Did you try and give him Benadryl? And see if this helps?
It is an antihistamine.

Toddlers are also very handsy... meaning, they touch so many things and themselves. Maybe he touched something and rubbed his tummy? Or maybe someone else when holding him?

Hives, usually appear and disappear and may reappear elsewhere.
But this is only on his midsection.

I would get s 2nd opinion.

Or a contact dermatitis. Of which again, there is an irritant type or an allergic type.

My guess would be a strep rash. My daughter developed this same kind of rash at 13 months. Her only other symptom was that she wasn't sleeping well and seemed crabby. Took her in the she swabbed positive for strep throat. Good luck!!

I was going to say hives. By the looks of what I see on this site below, I would still guess hives. My friend's daughter, when she gets strep, her ONLY symptom is hives. I don't know that much about them. But your pic is great. I'd get a second opinion from another doctor. Your doctor sounds kinda ridiculous to say "Huh, I don't know." http://www.babycenter.com/101_visual-guide-to-childrens-r....

That definitely looks like hives. Whenever my mother flys out to see me, she looks like that when she gets here. Turned out that it was the aspirin she was taking pre-flight! I know not the case with your little one, just saying I have seen hives plenty of times. I will list off a few things just to see if there is anything you haven't thought of.
Check your washer first. Is it rinsing properly or enough? Have you started using new detergent, fabric softener or dryer sheets? Check also if you are using the correct amount. Some are 2x concentrated, and some are 3x concentrated.
Has he had vaccinations within the last week or so? It could be a reaction to that. It could also be a reaction to a prescription medication, particularly antibiotics, even if taken WEEKS ago.
Another thing I was thinking was carpet powder or some type of carpet cleaning agent? Have you recently steamed carpets or sprinkled carpet powder on the floor? If you don't have carpet, could this be a reaction to hard floor cleaner?
Try to figure out everything your baby ate the day the rash popped up. Feed him NOTHING that is the same and gradually introduce foods back into his diet so you can hopefully isolate something. Look into food allergies. Big allergy causers are eggs, berries, wheat, nuts, soy or corn. They say that very often food allergies can pop up suddenly like that. How long has he been drinking cows milk (if he is)?

I hope you're able to figure this one out. Rashes are no fun, but they are a good warning for you. It means that his body doesn't like something he has come into contact with. Good luck, and let us know!

I know this sounds weird but did the doctor check him for strep throat. my son got a similar looking rash, with no fever or sore throat and I took him to urgent care because it wasnt going away and was getting worse especially when he got warm so they did a strep test and it came back positive. Strep can show up in many diffrent ways in people good luck I hope you figure this out.

I would have said hives, too.... and kids can get it for all sorts of reactions, not just an allergic type reaction.

One of my daughters got a really strange rash... I think she was probably8-9 months old.... anyway, it started out small, maybe quarter sized, and over the course of several hours, the ring gradually grew larger, and larger (with the inside pale), until it disappeared. (If you know what a "fairy ring" with mushrooms is like, it was kind of like that... strange comparison, but all I could think of.)

It went away when I gave her benedryl (back in the days when we could still give them stuff like that), and when the benedryl wore off, a new one would pop up.

I took her to the doctor, and he agreed it was probably hives, but had no idea what she was reacting to! It never happened again.......

Roseola? Some kids get it without a fever or any other symptoms. It looks kind of like the rash my son had when he had it.

My niece has gotten rashes like that too and they were related to food she was eating. Her allergies were hit of miss and I still don't think my SIL knows exactly what she is allergic to.

Oh my, that doesn't look good at all! Does it have raised or rough sectoins? Did your Dr. give you any kind of medicine to put on it? My son got a mysterious rash recently, and he was given 2 types of cream, one was an anti-bacterial and the other was an anti-itch, Mupirocin Ointment and Desonide Cream. Both helped clear the rash up. My pedi also told me to put Lotrimine on it to help calm the skin. A lot of heat rashes looks like that, so can hives, especially if your child has sensitive skin or allergies, which is what my son has.

My mom saw the pic and she says it's hives. She worked in a health clinic for many years and my dad got hives a lot, so she saw hives all the time. In that case, have you tried giving your child Benedryl?

As for the ringworm comment, my kids had ringworm really bad last year they got from a new kitten! If it is ringworm, than the centers of those rashes will go back to skin color and leave a slightly red, raised ring. Two of the rash marks look kind of circular, so watch those, but otherwise, I wouldn't say it's ringworm since ringworm is more in round patches as opposed to a spread like that. If it is ringworm, (which is HIGHLY contagious so everything in your home would need to be washed and sanitized), you can treat it with anti-fungal meds used for athelete's foot. IF the ringworm gets in the hairline thoguh, you NEED to get an oral prescription, b/c creams don't work on hair ringworm and it can cause permanent baldness.

(I looked through your album, what a gorgeous wedding photo, You should be a model!)

My guess is that's it's from INSIDE (food, for example), not outside (detergent, soap). Foods, even different batches from the same company, can be washed in different things or grown from different fields. There are also contaminants in food processing plants.

These reactions can build up over time too. You can try some stopgap measures like benadryl, but if the problem continues (or goes away and recurs) you can add something to his food to help him process it. Remember that the body only has 3 ways to rid itself of toxins or allergens: skin (pores), mucus membrances (such as nasal allergies) or elimination (urine/feces). So it's likely your child is trying to get something out of his body and it's showing up as a rash/hives.

There are some easy things you can do so that you don't need to start eliminating all kinds of foods until you find the offending item(s). As a nutritional consultant, I can help you with that.

My guess would be hives. But the doctor didn't know what it was so maybe not. I did hear recently that many doctors do not recognize basic childhood illnesses because they have never seen them. I would get a second opinion from an older more experienced doctor.

You could try giving him a dose of Benedryl and see if that helps. Benedryl will stop hives but it can take any where from a couple of days to a week or more.

There are 5 different measels viruses and we only vaccinate for 2 of them. But many doctors do not even recognize measels because they have never seen them.

Huh, surprised the doctor doesnt know. That is what my rash looked like when I was allergic to the zpack.
Maybe give him benadryl and see if that helps.
I would just keep on eye on him for any other weirdness.

Our son had the exact same thing this summer. When i showed my husband your picture he thought it was our son. Our doctor thought it was probably viral, but sent us to a pediatric dermatologist. She took one look at it and said it was a classic of hives. She said it more than likely came from something he ate, but we couldn't think of anything new or different in his diet. I had started using a new lotion and I think that might have been it although the dermatologist said hives don't commonly occur with contact allergies. Our son ended up covered head to toe, but they were all gone within a week and haven't come back.

Yowsa!
I'm glad you had it looked at-that IS a rash, isn't it??!!

Maybe try an oatmeal bath? Aveeno makes a good O..
Hope it clears up soon!

IMO, it looks like hives. If your son has no medical contraindications, a dose of Benedryl might clear it up if he is having an allergic reaction to something.

If it isn't hives and the doctor has no idea, then see a dermatologist. This kind of thing is their specialty.

Could be viral. Viruses show up as rashes lots of times.

Did the Dr. rule out a strep rash? There is not always a fever and sore throat with strep. My daughter had a rash that looked like that when she had strep.