Hand Foot and Mouth Disease

When my son had the hand foot and mouth disease we used popsicles. He would eat them which would make his mouth feel better. The doctor told us that the popsicles would help. Not to try any foods and just give him what he wanted. Even if you didn't want to use popsicles you could use frozen water like the popsicles.

My little one had it when he was one and his doctor made a 'magic mouthwash' mix of mylanta and the numbing stuff dentists use before they give you a shot. It worked wonders to soothe the blisters in his mouth. I would ask his pediatrician bout something like that to help you through it. We also used this bad thing as something good - we got rid of his bottle since it was miserable for him to suck.
Good luck!

I think the Dr. can give him the same thing that you can get for trench mouth from methotrexate it's called Nyastatin. Good luck. M. H.

Several people in my Husbands family got it a couple of years ago. Cold drinks, but stay away from citris, and popcicles. My nephew ate so many popcicles we thought that he was going to turn into one!

That is a yeast infection in his mouth and you need medicine for it . it has to be treated is what they told me when my kid had it . I used some purple stuff called Genetion violet and it was gone in 2 days . You can buy it at any pharmacy for like 3 dollars .

Hello,

You may want to have your health care provider write a prescription for swish and spit to use about 20 minutes before eating and before bedtime to make your child more comfortable.

This works for many of the children that I take care of.

M.

popcicles, and ice cold water. maybe even a milkshake :)
It isn't any fun, but it will be over soon.
keep up on the meds, you migh want to try warm salt water (if he knows how to spit) it will help the sores heal, and keep bacteria out of them.
I don't know if the doc told you but he will be contagious for a month maybe longer in his poo, make sure you practice very good hygien when you change diapers, and clean the changing table well with bleach. Make sure his daycare does this too.

my 1st son had this at 9 mos. he was still breastfeeding and that helped a ton. he nursed constantly through it and didn't eat a bite of food for 4 days. i guess he had a mild case b/c he caught it again the next spring ! he was still nursing and that seemed to help enormously again but we also discovered the pedialyte popsicles were wonderful and he loved warm broth through a straw. it seemed like sucking made him feel better, just like when they teethe. good luck and i hope your bb recovers swiftly!

Hello V.,

Our little guy got this when he was 2 so was probably a bit easier to deal with but when we took him to the urgent care they told us the Motrin/Tylenol combination but also give white foods, like milk, mashed potatoes, anything white because there are no color additives, nothing spicy, etc. I also think maybe vanilla ice cream - it would somewhat freeze it. Good luck, they say everyone gets this 1 time in your lifetime - then you are immuned. Hope all is well soon!

my son had this and it wasn't fun. I think it is one of those childhood diseases you just have to let run it's course. My son sat on my lap for days.

You biggest concern is to make sure his is still hydrated. Does he still cry tears? Is his mouth moist? Does he make wet diapers? Does he still act alert (but miserable!)? Remember, he can go days without food. But not long without fluids.

Your son will for sure be miserable, but he'll be fine soon. Just suffer through it. If he does get dehydrated, call you doctor.

Good Luck.
L.

V., CALL your Dr. They can give him an oral mouthwash that numbs his tongue! I wish I could remember the name of it, sorry. My son and daughter had this a couple of years ago, You just put a couple of drops on the tongue, too much can numb their throat, (You don't want that). So use sparingly. Call your Dr. It is available! It is like ambesol only it doesn't burn, just makes the pain go away. good luck K.

My daughter had it last year. Our doctor prescribed us a mixture of benedryl and an oral antiseptic(sp?). We would dip a Q-tip in it and swabbe her mouth. It was important not to redip the Q-tip because it could contaminate the mixture-- just an FYI. Try calling your doctor and asking for something that can soothe your child's mouth. Once we had the mixture she was so much better.

Hi Vicki,
We went through this last summer. NOT FUN AT ALL! Our doctor prescribed "magic mouthwash" it is a mixture of Benadryl, Maalox, Carafate, Xylocain. It seemed to help with his swollen mouth and sores in his throat. Maybe call your doctor and see if they will prescribe it for you. Good luck!

Popsicles and ice cream help sooth the pain in the mouth from the blisters. Also makes for a happy child who doesn't want to eat anything. Make sure to keep hands washed for everyone in the family.

Probably by the time you read all these messages, he'll be over it, but it's a miserable few days for sure. All three of my older kids had it a couple of years ago, the youngest was them most miserable. Since it's a virus not a fungus, Nystatin won't help, but those numbing mouthwashes sound good, we didn't have any of that but just kept giving Motrin. Popsicles were the treat of the day, messy but helped a lot! It's so frustrating when there's nothing medically you can DO but just be there and comforting as much as you can. For us it was just a few days of the horrible pain, then gone.

Hi, My son had that a couple of years ago. He was so uncomfortable, I couldn't get him to swallow anything. One thing that really gave him some relief taking a little mylanta. It helped coat the throat so he could swallow a little easier. I'm not sure of the dosage. You should contact your ped.

Good luck!

My kids had it when they were kids and they, too, complained their mouths hurt most of all. Our doc suggested Glyoxide...it's an oral numbing agent. Don't know how you could use it with a 1 year old but it did the trick! Maybe a little of the teething gel on the bumps? I'm thinking it's the same numbimg medication.

Hi V.,

Our daughter is 2.5 now. She had HFMD about six months ago - I can relate ---it was awful.

We took her the doctor and they recommended - Motrin/Tylenol (of course) - but also a concoction of Maylox and Children's Benydril. The combo numbed the mouth and really helped with the pain factor. I cannot recall the ratio of Maylox to Benedryl....I would call your PED and ask about this remedy. I also recommend a lot of popsickles. (Sorry about the grammar/spelling- I am at work and in a hurry). Good luck.

My little boy had it when he was 2 and anything cold like popcicles or icecream would help. I don't like giving my kids sugar regularly, so I found some popcicles that were just 100% juice. Also anything that has a high acid content will irritate the soars, so stay away from foods that have any citrus, tomato, or grapes. Hope this helps, hang in there!

My son experienced a variation of this in January - he was also one at that point (his was diagnosed as Herpangina - same virus, but sores are only in the mouth, not on the hands/feet - oh, and despite the name, it is not related to Herpes).

It was absolutely horrible. He had a very high temp that ran for days...the sores in his mouth...he didn't want to eat, drink or do much of anything. He really just laid around for almost a week - it was pitiful (and he is generally a very active boy!). There are two links which are very informative, I will include them below.

They recommend to not give them juice or pop (irritates the mouth with the acid). They say cold milk products are best (cold milk, ice cream, yogurt)....my son has an allergy to milk, which posed issues for us - but ice cream would be worth you trying.

We alternated the Tylenol and Motrin - although this experience caused my son, who was always an excellent medicine taker, to HATE medicine. :( A nurse at our pediatricians suggested to mix 1/2 tsp Maalox with 1/2 tsp Benadryl and let him swish and spit (worked for us because he spit out medicine anyways and then learned to think of this as a game!) - she also said it's okay if he did swallow it (and recommended we do it about every 4 hours...we did not wake him up at night for this, though!). Dixie cups worked great for this. It helps coat the sores. My poor son's gums were so swollen and would start bleeding - this rinse seemed to help his mouth feel a bit better, but then again it could've just run it's course. Who knows...I was willing to try anything.

Here are the links. I hope your baby is feeling better soon.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000969.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000965.htm

I have had it and it is bad. I caught it about 4 yrs ago from my neice (who, of course, got it at daycare). It is the worst sore throat I ever had. I would keep up the motrin/tylenol but maybe also try some orajel (like you would use for teething) inside his mouth to try and numb it. I just remember living with the throat numbing spray. I feel for him.

V.,

Sorry to hear your little boy is sick. We went through this with my little boy when he was a year old. He also had blisters on the palms of his hands and on the bottoms of his feet. Really, all you can do is keep up with the tylenol. To help him out with his mouth you can use baby orajel or hold a popsicle and let him lick on it. Cold things may help. This too shall pass.

J.

Yes, we have had this, it is miserable! It is a contagious virus, with painful blisters that for us was in the mouth and throat, hands, and feet. Unfortunatley, there is little you can do for the pain other than what you are already doing. You can try a numbing spray like chloraseptic that can temporarily ease the pain so he can eat, but because of the taste it may turn him off to the food. The good news is that it will go away in about a week or less. Another bit of good news is that he won't get the exact same virus again, he will now be immune. If you have other children, do your best to keep him away from them, but it is hard to contain. You'll get through this, good luck!

V.,

Yes, both of my children have unfortunately had this nasty illness. I know he's very uncomfortable but there really isn't anything else you can do for him right now. The blisters will also appear on his hands and feet.

To my the kids feet always look the worst (my daughter has caught this twice). Even after the symtoms disappear the blisters take weeks to clear up completely from the feet. Don't worry though as they don't leave any scarring.

I hope this helps you know a little more about what to expect. Hang in there it will get better.

Hi there! My daughter is 4.5 yrs old and when she was about 18mo she had the same thing. We introduced her to popsicles and baby yogurt and that seemed to help. W/the sores in their mouth/throat they run the risk of getting dehydrated b/c it hurts to swallow. Good luck!