Little Archie has Chicken Pox, its breakin my heart !

[Minty]

Hi all,
My youngest Archie(3) has come down with chicken pox and is currently absolutly riddled with the nasty little blisters, it`s breaking my heart to see his little body covered and giving him so much pain.
I would appreciate any advice on how to relieve him from the pain. He is currently doused in calamine lotion and is taking Piriton and calpol to help with the tempreture, but i still feel helpless.
He`s even got them on his eyelids so his eyes are closing but to be fair to him when he is asked how he is he says " daddy i`m fine but please don`t leave me " when i leave the room.
Really wish i could take it all away from him and i know it will go in time.
Sorry but i feel a little bit helpless, Minty

[Seahorse]

Oh, poor little chap. And poor Daddy! It's the worst feeling when your little ones are sufering and you can't 'fix' it I'm sorry that I don't know anything above and beyond what you're already trying. If it's any consolation, the worst of it was over fairly quickly when mine had it. I'm sure you just being there is a great help Minty!

[Finedon.Dandy]

I know of nothing else that can help. My little girl had it last year, then just as she got over it my son got it then thet followed it with slapped cheek each in the same way so I had about three months with one or tother child sick! One thing I did find though - calamine lotion isnt much good - calamine cream is sooooo much better - it stays on and moisturises, cools alot better.

[janeyo]

Hi hope he gets better soon, it's not nice but best to get it out of the way early I think.
I also think calamine cream is better than the lotion and we put half a tub of bicarb of soda in the bath to dry it all up.

My son was about 2 and he didn't end up with any scars.

janeyo

[di]

sounds like your doing all you can;daisy got away lightly &only had about 5 spots in total;ash on the other hand was riddled!think it's 1 of those horrid occassions where as parent you can only do your best to relieve the symptons & wait it out to come to an end;lots of stories & games to try & take his mind off it,from what i can remember mine didn't actually feel ill with it,just the horrible itchiness.hope he gets well soon.p.s.our neighbour spent a fortune on a special cream from chemist(can't remember the name but started with L)didn't seem to have any better results than the rather cheaper calamine!

[Nicos]

I know you can alternate paracetamol and neurofen every 2 hrs with older children ....but I'm not so sure with 3 yr olds....might be worth asking your GP nurse....it's not something they tend to suggest openly.

Aloe vera gel is superb...I've never tried it with chicken pox but it may well be more gentle on the face and inside joints.
Beware of spots on the face if you are concerned with scars..you can buy little round plasters which are worth applying to prevent scratching in the sleep. Also wearing mittens or socks taped to the wrist will reduce the risk of scratching spots and therefore scarring.

Lots and lots of cuddles .......why on earth would you leave him??? Plenty of time for lots of stories read from a book....can you take a few days off work Minty???

Thank goodness it's not a heatwave.. ( I had chickenpox aged 5 over a 2 week holiday in a caravan during a heatwave!!!!!)

Hope he feels better soon.

ps - after 2 wks of suffering by my son ( and annual leave by me)...my daughter broke out with spots on my first day back at work!!!

[Minty]

I know you can alternate paracetamol and neurofen every 2 hrs with older children ....but I'm not so sure with 3 yr olds....might be worth asking your GP nurse....it's not something they tend to suggest openly.

Aloe vera gel is superb...I've never tried it with chicken pox but it may well be more gentle on the face and inside joints.
Beware of spots on the face if you are concerned with scars..you can buy little round plasters which are worth applying to prevent scratching in the sleep. Also wearing mittens or socks taped to the wrist will reduce the risk of scratching spots and therefore scarring.

Lots and lots of cuddles .......why on earth would you leave him??? Plenty of time for lots of stories read from a book....can you take a few days off work Minty???

Thank goodness it's not a heatwave.. ( I had chickenpox aged 5 over a 2 week holiday in a caravan during a heatwave!!!!!)

Hope he feels better soon.

ps - after 2 wks of suffering by my son ( and annual leave by me)...my daughter broke out with spots on my first day back at work!!!

Thanks Nicos , the only time i leave him is when i need to leave the room.
I am over cuddling and kissing in a feeble attempt to take the virus from him(i know this will not work) all day we have been playing with his toys and when it comes to the painfull calamine time we have invented a game of "paint a picture on your tummy".
No job in this world would keep me away from my children when ill.
Thanks to everyone else aswell for their help, Minty and Archie

[di]

30yrs after me & my sisters had it we now look back on the memory of my sister running round&round the coffee table trying to escape the calamine,he'll be fine & this time next week it'll all just be a memory!on the plus side you know he wont be getting it again.

[Minty]

Having told Archie that all my friends on the computer hope he will be OK soon he wanted to write(with a little finger keyboard guidance from dad) " AWWWW FANK YOU".
He is so wide awake now so i think it`s stickle bricks till dawn .
ARCHIE

[Claire72]

DEFINATELY get calamine cream not lotion. The lotion drys to a powder, which also tickles when it comes off. Calamine cream cools, then rubs in, so no powder to tickle.
The good thing is that once they have it, they shouldn't get it again (although I had it three times) You may find other folks want to bring their kids round to catch it too, round here, poeple often have pox parties!!! It gives the infected child a chance to forget about it for a while, and gives the kids who haven't had it a chance to get it. It is heaps better getting chicken pox when you are wee, than shingles when you get older!!

[Nicos]

Maybe he can help you take photos of his stickle bricks for you to show us what a clever little boy he is????

[yoanbob]

Trust me archie, in 10 years time you will glad you were so brave and had it already, as a grown up its so much worse.
Minty trust me this is so much better than having a 13 year old have it, archie (cool name by the way!) will be better in no time, I know its hard seeing him suffer but its harder for him if he sees your concern! good luck!

[squashysu]

Minty

you sound a lovely dad, bless poor Archie, I had my twins come out with it really really really bad when they were 2 and it was really hot, so paddling pool all day.

Defo with the calamine and Aloe Vera is really good at cooling down as well, the body shop do a really good one. THe next couple of days are the worst, but when they start to harden up then Archie should be ok.

Give him big hugs from the Vine and tell him that we think he is a lucky boy to have a Daddy like you.

SS

[Sunbeam]

When I worked in a pharmacy **** years ago my boss used to recommend the homeopathic remedy Rhus Tox (poison Ivy) which was mean to help with the itch, speak to a pharmacist first though before giving it...

You are lucky you have been given Piriton - when Kiran got it when he was about 3 1/2 I was told by the Dr not to give it to him and as such he now has at least 3 nice chx-pox scars! I then found out that all his nursery friends who had it at the same time had all been dosing their kids with antihistamines

Hope your lovely kidlet feels better soon - chocolate icecream is a great medicine y'know xx

[NSB]

Would it help if you kept the calamine in the fridge? I'll ask my mum shes very practical (I think shes a witch)