Hi mamas, my son is 13 months old and I noticed yesterday he has a rash on the outside of his left leg. It looked like dry skin so I put his lotion on him (California baby that I've been using on him since he was born). Today I went to change his diaper and it was worse!! From his thigh to about mid calf area is covered in these red bumps. They're not welts or blisters just big red bumps. He has no fever and hasn't been acting any differently like it bugs him. Nothing has changed, his diet is the same same detergent, everything. It looks like he touched something and got a reaction but he's always clothed because we live in Washington so it's cold!! There are no bugs in the house, and our animals were all just checked for fleas. Since we just moved up here he's a new patient and can't be seen for several days and my husband takes the car to work so I can't bring him to the er until tomorrow. I just don't know what it could be from, so any advice would be extremely helpful! Thanks ladies!!
You might try some cortisone cream on it for a couple of days and see if it goes away. It has worked for a couple of rashes that my son has had that sound similar.
Do you have Ask-A-Nurse with your insurance plan? My 3 yr old got this body-wide rash with giant pink spots--he looked like a cow. Inside the giant pink spots were bumps. It was crazy. The nurse eased my mind by telling me that most rashes that have no other symptoms (like a fever) are usually harmless and go away on their own. I took pictures just to be able to remember, and sure enough, they were gone by morning.
My 13 month old had a red spot on his cheek, near his mouth. He has dry skin, so I figured it might be chapped. I put Aquaphor on it and it got better. I need to remember to put more on. I love Aquaphor because it is very soothing to the skin, but doesn't have anything like fragrance that might irritate a rash. If you have some, give it a try, or some plain petroleum jelly.
I definitely don't think a rash warrants a trip to the ER. If he gets a fever, you might want to take him to urgent care, but most of the time, they'll just tell you that they can't really do anything, and just let it run its course.
What kind of detergent do you use. One the commercial big brands with perfume? Allergies develop to things we use every day. Switch brands to an organic once without perfumes. Ecover, Planet, Bio-kleen are very good ones.
Could even be the cream you use on him that he is now allergic to. Weleda is known for being low allergin. I have had skin allergies all my life and it works well on me.
I don't want to alarm you, but this could be an allergic reaction to something, and sometimes allergic reactions can develop quickly into breathing problems. If it's still getting worse I'd take him to an urgent care clinic, even if you have to call a cab. You could also try a small dose of Kid's Benadryl and see if that makes a difference.
Try changing his detergent to a non perfume, non dye. Wash all his bedding and clothes and rinse them twice. Then look at the last food you introduced and remove it. Also don't put any lotion or cream on it that has perfume or dye in it. I am also allergic to most sun blocks so avoid those too. That's a first step....
Definitely take him to the doctor. My son had bumps on his leg a few months ago. They looked a lot like bug bites, but they kept spreading. It turned out to be molluscum contagiosum, caused by a virus. I had never heard of it! Only the doctor can tell for sure!
One thing that might ease your fears are that rashes are extremely common in children and almost never an emergency. Make an appt. to have him looked at, but don't worry if it's a few days away. If something else changes, like he comes down with a fever or the rash gets to be itchy or raw, call again and see if you can get him in sooner, but if it's not really bugging him it's probably not a big deal.
Are they raised?? If they are raised, I would take him to the doctor.
What happens when you run your finger over them applying a little bit of pressure? If they disappear for a second, as your run your finger of them, its probably nothing to worry about. If they dont, I would call the doc.
Never hurts to check with the pediatrician.
I would just check with his doctor to be sure.
Sorry to hear about the rash.. They are so hard to figure out. We recently went for three months with a red bumpy rash that was itchy. Pedatrician couldn't figure it out and so we were sent to Children's Hospital for dermatology. They had a difficult time telling us what it was - we went back again, because it continued to look worse and finally we got a diagnosis of scabies. My daughter also is always covered up, we have a clean house, no fleas in the house and no new detergents. I was racking my brain to figure it out and we still have no idea how she came in contact with it..
I wish you the best and only wanted to share out story of the unknown bumpy red rash..
Sounds like eczema (which my oldest child has). Slow down on the dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt) as it is a trigger, and keep the area moisturized. I use Aveeno Baby Soothing Relief Moisture Cream. Put some cortisone cream on it also. Seems contradictory to put on something that dries skin out and then put moisturizer on it, but it does work. It'll take a couple of days, but it'll clear.
