FRICK We Have HFM

[gimmeaQ]

I need to wine.

My 2 year old, who was home on Monday with an ear infection, was sent home at drop off with HFM   

I honestly had no idea until I got there, they told me they had two kids in his room with it and yes those spots on his elbow are HFM. He feels completely fine. Swears the little marks don't itch or anything, no fever other than what we assumed was associated with the ear infection from a few days ago.

This is the first time we've had it in our house ever. I don't know what the rules are or what to do. Can I take him on errands since I have to be home from work now anyway? If he doesn't get any new spots does that generally mean he can go back tomorrow?? I would confirm with them before trying to send him of course but UGHHHHHHH

I am literally sitting by the phone waiting for them to tell me the one year old has it to and can I come get him right now.

[gimmeaQ]

....And there's the call for the other one.

I'm gonna lose it.

[brux]

We had HFM when DS was about 1.5. I don’t recall it being that bad, so hopefully you get a nice and easy experience with it.

I put DS in long sleeve PJs for a couple days and kept him home. The PJs to cover the spots and limit his ability to scratch. And I must’ve kept him home because of a fever.

Other than that, I followed daycare’s rules for exclusion and sent him back once he met the criteria, even though he still looked sick with HFM.

[bighair12]

We are in your same boat!! DD just turned two and it is going through our daycare. She had a 103 degree fever all day Sunday and just overall lethargic. She has the rash now on her knees, butt, face , hands and feet. She is otherwise in good spirits. My five year olds looks like eczema on her face and she had a cough and belly pain.

My fear is this cough and sore throat that I have is going to turn into a the rash!! Best of luck and you got this!

[rachydc]

Ughhhh, been there. Sorry you're dealing with it with both kids now. Typically the incubation period for HFM is 3-6 days or when the bumps/sores start to scab over, that's when they're no longer contagious. Whenever DD got it, I kept her out of daycare the rest of the week to make extra sure. There is nothing medically you can really do except to treat the symptoms with motrin or tylenol.

I totally understand wanting to go out and run errands with them, I'm the same exact way. If I'm home from work I want to be productive, but it's sooooo contagious I'm unsure I would risk it, at least not today. Unless you can keep them super contained (lol to that with a 2yo).

[piratecat]

What kind of temperature is he running right now? My kid had a fever just over 102 and my pediatrician said that was higher than you'd typically see with HFM. I think he ran a temperature for about 2 days, during which I kept him home from daycare and didn't take him out in public since they are most contagious during these first days. Unfortunately, the rash will get much worse for a while before getting better, but I was told by both the pediatrician and my daycare that he can return once the fever is gone as long as the rash isn't open and oozing.

[Deleted]

My kid had it and never showed any symptoms. The only reason I know he had it is because I got it. I also didn’t have a fever but I had the spots and generally felt like poop.

I stayed quarantined for several days and was fine.

Keep everyone home and away from others and hopefully you just have really mild cases.

[adelbert]

My older two never got it but my youngest (2) has had it twice. The first time he had a fever and was clearly sick although he never had too many spots and they didn't seem to bother him. I kept him home 4 days that time.

The 2nd time we barely noticed as he never had a fever and only got 2 spots on his wrists and then bumps on his feet. They also didn't seem to bother him. I didn't keep him home as long that time. I just followed our daycares rules.

I didn't think it was very bad so I hope you also have an easy case.

[silverspoon]

My son at 1.5 had it on his hands, feet, and butt. It didn't seem to bother him.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was very diligent about washing my hands because I did not want to get it myself. I limited the toys he could have and wiped those down a few times a day.

He was out of daycare for 3 days when he had it.

[gimmeaQ]

The 2 year old's "fever" was never over 100.1 but it may have been from his ear infection or a combo.

The 1 year old "feels" warm but no fever. I actually thought he was teething bc he does get warm when he does, so I gave him Motrin this morning for the pain. We'll see if he has a fever when that wears off.

WHEEEEE

[trueblue]

If the mouth sores become an issue for eating/drinking, Our pedi gave us the recipe for a magic elixir for mouth/throat sores & it was a life saver x 4 bouts.

You will need:
Liquid Benadryl
Liquid antacid (cherry always worked best for us), cold.
Medicine syringe

Yield: 2 doses; more if you double or triple.

1. Determine your child’s appropriate 1 dose of liquid Benadryl, by weight. Squirt that into a small container that you can cover
2. Squirt an equal amount of cold from the fridge liquid antacid into the cup and mix.
3. Using the liquid Benadryl dose value, suck up that amount of the mixture into the syringe - so if the benedryl dose was 1 teaspoon benedryl, you would use 1 teaspoon of the mixture.
4. Administer dose to child - the more they flail and try to spit it out the better, since it spreads the elixir all around their mouth and back of the throat.
5. Store extra in fridge

The dosing schedule is whatever 1/2 of the benedryl dose schedule since they are only getting a 1/2 dose of benedryl at a time, not a full one. The benedryl helps with the lesions itching and the liquid antacid coats and soothes.

I was always afraid of overdosing on the benedryl so I made a new batch every other time, but with a few years and many full nights of sleep I now realize I could have just written the individual dose amount on the container and saved myself the hassle.

[piratecat]

Jun 6, 2018 7:25:30 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

The 2 year old's "fever" was never over 100.1 but it may have been from his ear infection or a combo.

The 1 year old "feels" warm but no fever. I actually thought he was teething bc he does get warm when he does, so I gave him Motrin this morning for the pain. We'll see if he has a fever when that wears off.

WHEEEEE

Where is the 1YO's rash?

[spacecadet]

I think DS1 was about 9 mos old when he got it and honestly it was pretty rough. It sounds like his was more severe than others though. I never noticed a fever before but his rash started in his diaper area and then moved to his mouth very quickly, then to hands and feet. We just cycled Tylenol and motrin to try and ease the pain. IIRC his symptoms started on a Sat and we maybe sent him back to the babysitters Wed or Thurs the next week. I'm sorry you are dealing with it, but hopefully they recover quickly and they aren't in too much pain.

[gimmeaQ]

Jun 6, 2018 7:44:05 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Jun 6, 2018 7:25:30 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

The 2 year old's "fever" was never over 100.1 but it may have been from his ear infection or a combo.

The 1 year old "feels" warm but no fever. I actually thought he was teething bc he does get warm when he does, so I gave him Motrin this morning for the pain. We'll see if he has a fever when that wears off.

WHEEEEE

Where is the 1YO's rash?

It's really only like, 3 spots. One on his belly and two in his diaper area

[spottedprincess]

Hopefully you have a very mild case. I had kept DS home from daycare due to a very low grade fever. The next day he complained that his throat was hurting. Since he had had strep throat before I figured that was it. At the pedi office they begin to look at his hands and then asked to see his feet. I knew then what was going on then. 
He had a few blisters on his throat and tongue. He had a few spots on hands feet but they never blistered or turned to sores. We were given a script for what trueblue shared because of his throat.
I kept him home for a week just to be sure.
Ours was very mild. Hope yours is as well.

[piratecat]

Jun 6, 2018 7:48:18 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

Jun 6, 2018 7:44:05 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Where is the 1YO's rash?

It's really only like, 3 spots. One on his belly and two in his diaper area

Ours started with just a few spots in his groin area and then spread to his butt, legs, face, and arms over the course of a few days. If there are other kids at daycare that had it (which was the case for us too), it probably is HFM, unfortunately. I hope it's a mild case for both of them! 

[Deleted]

I second the elixir @truenlue mentioned. When I had the flu and got mouth ulcers it was the only way I could eat/drink.

Also, maybe I’m off base here but I would be checking with mybperidatruucqb before letting daycare diagnose my child.

[cmb]

Jun 6, 2018 7:48:18 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

Jun 6, 2018 7:44:05 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Where is the 1YO's rash?

It's really only like, 3 spots. One on his belly and two in his diaper area

I’ll warn you- the diaper area may get a lot worse. Other than a single hand spot, both times my older kid got it, he had a full on nasty rash on his bum. The pedi recommended calmoseptine (zinc oxide + calamine lotion) to help so the sores wouldn’t become infected.

Adults can get this, too. My H got it real bad the second time around. I just had it the first time he had it. Most adults are asymptomatic, but I guess we were just unlucky.

[cmb]

Jun 6, 2018 7:55:10 GMT -6 kbw said:

I second the elixir @truenlue mentioned. When I had the flu and got mouth ulcers it was the only way I could eat/drink.

Also, maybe I’m off base here but I would be checking with mybperidatruucqb before letting daycare diagnose my child.

Yes, always double check with the pedi on this. I’ve had daycare send them home for one thing, and it ended up being way off base in the past

[piratecat]

Jun 6, 2018 8:02:12 GMT -6 cmb said:

Jun 6, 2018 7:48:18 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

It's really only like, 3 spots. One on his belly and two in his diaper area

I’ll warn you- the diaper area may get a lot worse. Other than a single hand spot, both times my older kid got it, he had a full on nasty rash on his bum. The pedi recommended calmoseptine (zinc oxide + calamine lotion) to help so the sores wouldn’t become infected.

Adults can get this, too. My H got it real bad the second time around. I just had it the first time he had it. Most adults are asymptomatic, but I guess we were just unlucky.

I've had it before kid and it was awful. Full-on flu symptoms (fever, chills, body aches) that made me stay in bed for a full day and the the rash started showing up and it was itchy and painful AF. 

[cmb]

Jun 6, 2018 8:06:03 GMT -6 piratecat said:

Jun 6, 2018 8:02:12 GMT -6 cmb said:

I’ll warn you- the diaper area may get a lot worse. Other than a single hand spot, both times my older kid got it, he had a full on nasty rash on his bum. The pedi recommended calmoseptine (zinc oxide + calamine lotion) to help so the sores wouldn’t become infected.

Adults can get this, too. My H got it real bad the second time around. I just had it the first time he had it. Most adults are asymptomatic, but I guess we were just unlucky.

I've had it before kid and it was awful. Full-on flu symptoms (fever, chills, body aches) that made me stay in bed for a full day and the the rash started showing up and it was itchy and painful AF. 

When H got it the second time, he initially thought he caught chicken pox again, and he wanted to know what it was since I was pregnant at the time. Nope. HFM as an adult. The doctor said he was the oldest patient he’d ever seen display all the signs- rash, mouth sores, the works

[shadows]

DS got it when he was 1.5. He was the first one in his class to get it (picked it up from a kid in the late afternoon class), but everyone in his class ending up getting it despite all of their disinfecting. I can't remember how long he stayed home, but I know it was several days.

[gimmeaQ]

Jun 6, 2018 7:55:10 GMT -6 kbw said:

I second the elixir @truenlue mentioned. When I had the flu and got mouth ulcers it was the only way I could eat/drink.

Also, maybe I’m off base here but I would be checking with mybperidatruucqb before letting daycare diagnose my child.

you're not off base. There are a few reasons I'm trusting them on this one, PLUS when I went to pick up the one year old, I walked into his room and they were checking a girl for lice and had found something. So I grabbed him and ran, basically ready to shave my head and bathe in bleach.

They have confirmed cases in the 2 year olds classroom that looked exactly like my kids spots (according to his teacher, who has been teaching for a long time and has seen HFM a million times). I googled and sure enough it looks exactly like the pictures on Google. I hadn't considered HFM before this morning because it was on his elbows and knees, not his hands and feet. If there was anything to DO for it at this point, I'd take them to the doctor. But I trust their experience.


My boys share a room so there is virtually zero chance of one getting it and the other not getting it. I can understand why they are being extra cautious about it getting into the 1 year old room. It sucks for me/my H, but I understand it.

[sheilathetank]

I warn that you may get it too. The only way I knew that the one spot on my child was HFM was because two days later I got a raging case of it. Those spots HURT. My kid was completely unfazed by the whole thing, but I ended up so sick.

[cmb]

Jun 6, 2018 8:30:36 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

Jun 6, 2018 7:55:10 GMT -6 kbw said:

I second the elixir @truenlue mentioned. When I had the flu and got mouth ulcers it was the only way I could eat/drink.

Also, maybe I’m off base here but I would be checking with mybperidatruucqb before letting daycare diagnose my child.

you're not off base. There are a few reasons I'm trusting them on this one, PLUS when I went to pick up the one year old, I walked into his room and they were checking a girl for lice and had found something. So I grabbed him and ran, basically ready to shave my head and bathe in bleach.

They have confirmed cases in the 2 year olds classroom that looked exactly like my kids spots (according to his teacher, who has been teaching for a long time and has seen HFM a million times). I googled and sure enough it looks exactly like the pictures on Google. I hadn't considered HFM before this morning because it was on his elbows and knees, not his hands and feet. If there was anything to DO for it at this point, I'd take them to the doctor. But I trust their experience.


My boys share a room so there is virtually zero chance of one getting it and the other not getting it. I can understand why they are being extra cautious about it getting into the 1 year old room. It sucks for me/my H, but I understand it.

I’m just going to throw this out there- is he on antibiotics for the ear? Any chance it’s an allergic reaction?

When I took DS1 to the doctor a few months ago for a mystery rash, where I suspected he somehow got HFM again, it was actually an allergic reaction.

[piratecat]

Jun 6, 2018 8:37:17 GMT -6 sheilathetank said:

I warn that you may get it too. The only way I knew that the one spot on my child was HFM was because two days later I got a raging case of it. Those spots HURT. My kid was completely unfazed by the whole thing, but I ended up so sick.

Mine was fussy AF the first day or two but didn't seem bothered by the rash at all. I read that it is much worse for adults than for kids. 

[gimmeaQ]

Jun 6, 2018 8:39:23 GMT -6 cmb said:

Jun 6, 2018 8:30:36 GMT -6 gimmeaQ said:

you're not off base. There are a few reasons I'm trusting them on this one, PLUS when I went to pick up the one year old, I walked into his room and they were checking a girl for lice and had found something. So I grabbed him and ran, basically ready to shave my head and bathe in bleach.

They have confirmed cases in the 2 year olds classroom that looked exactly like my kids spots (according to his teacher, who has been teaching for a long time and has seen HFM a million times). I googled and sure enough it looks exactly like the pictures on Google. I hadn't considered HFM before this morning because it was on his elbows and knees, not his hands and feet. If there was anything to DO for it at this point, I'd take them to the doctor. But I trust their experience.


My boys share a room so there is virtually zero chance of one getting it and the other not getting it. I can understand why they are being extra cautious about it getting into the 1 year old room. It sucks for me/my H, but I understand it.

I’m just going to throw this out there- is he on antibiotics for the ear? Any chance it’s an allergic reaction?

When I took DS1 to the doctor a few months ago for a mystery rash, where I suspected he somehow got HFM again, it was actually an allergic reaction.

Thanks - I'm definitely keeping an eye on this as well, but at the moment it's pretty classic HFM. And the little one is going downhill fast, so that pretty much confirms it.

[lildiamondeyes]

Both my girls had HFM at the same time and managed to pass it to Dh. I wasn't aware that an adult could get it, so heads up.

[lupincat]

Jun 7, 2018 15:12:26 GMT -6 lildiamondeyes said:

Both my girls had HFM at the same time and managed to pass it to Dh. I wasn't aware that an adult could get it, so heads up.

I caught it from my nephew when he was a baby. It wasn't fun plus it looked like I had herpes around my mouth.

[4PrivetDrive]

Both my boys had a mild case of it, which was good. But they both ended up losing toenails and fingernails afterwards. Apparently it happens with HFM and I totally freaked out before I knew that