Literally the worst feeling ever was realizing that Ryker had Hand Foot and Mouth (HFMD), until day three when the worst feeling ever was realizing he was in so much pain that he couldn’t even drink water. When I say I googled everything… I mean I literally GOOGLED EVERYTHING, I tried every home remedy and what I found… Most of them are a load of CRAP… and I’m even more sorry if you’re an oil loving fool, but….. c’mon!!!!
So, with that said… here is what I found that actually did work….
Let’s start from the beginning. Ryker was drooling, like he was teething again but he has all his teeth. He was literally soaking through his shirts on the Friday before his
fever. Saturday, was a great day, and then we were at dinner at a family friends house and like clockwork, 6 o’clock he spiked a fever. By the time I got home his fever was 102.7! I gave him Motrin and put him to bed… and he slept great. Woke up Sunday feeling like I was in the clear, even though he had a low grade fever he was acting normal. Until he woke up 30 min into nap time (this kid usually sleeps a solid 2 hours if not 3 on the weekends). He was crying and uncomfortable so I brought him in to the living room and on a fluke I thought, I’m going to look in his mouth (in my mind it was to check to see if he had sore throat).
I saw little red dots on the top of his mouth and decided to call the on call nurse for our pediatrician. She assured me it was unlikely HFMD and that it was probably viral…. within an hour of that he developed this spot on his ankle.
We went down hill from there! Went to the doc on Monday and confirmed that it was in fact HFMD and there was in fact nothing she could help us with, and we got his flu shot. (also not an anti-vax Mom ,sorry) Actually I was surprised that they did his flu shot while we were there and so was everyone we talked to but he needed it and it didn’t seem to effect him. His symptoms (fever was gone by Sunday night) were already as bad as all the other google images you can find of HFMD. (Go ahead and google it…. I’ll wait)
A couple of sure fire facts:
- It really did start with a fever.
- The fever only lasts 24 hours.
- It’s called Hand Foot and Mouth but it can show up everywhere. By the end of the week we had bumps on his hands, feet, mouth (in and outside), back, legs, balls (yes his balls) , butt, ears.
- It really does last 7-10 days. On day 10 he was good to go!
- It freaking sucks!
What worked for us***:
A few more notes that I thought of as I added the pics
Ryker for two days would not even drink anything, especially cold. It seemed to make it worse. Room temp Honest fruit punch were the only calories he took in for those 2 days. Also during that time he would not take Motrin nor Tylenol. The spots blistered terribly. He kept saying “boo-boo hurts”. That broke my heart. The first night he didn’t sleep at all, he was in so much pain, but after that he just needed cuddles and he would pass out back to his normal 2-3hr nap times. There are a few scars that I think will go away over time.
****The medical comments and recommendations are just opinion. I’m not a medical doctor nor do I have any formal medical training. I’m simply a mom
Lavender & Mint 