18 Mos Old Broke Out in Hives All Over

oral benadryl would work better, there are a lot of preservatives in Peperoni he could have easily reacted to something. try the benadryl and a tepid bath

Bendadryl oral would probably work better.

If he is taking any sulfa-med's that could cause this type of reaction.....

Is he on antibiotics? My son had that from penicillin.

Best of luck figuring it out. Poor guy.

Same thing happened to my son when he was 18 months. Turns out it was something he'd had many times - orange juice. For whatever reason this time he got hives - head to toe. Took him to the doctor and she said it was a food allergy. I made a list of everything he ate and it wasn't until he had orange juice again that we realized that was what did it. Benadryl helps. Hope he feels better soon!

My daughter had hives off and on for years. Sometimes we knew what caused them (oranges and strawberries) but other times were a mystery. I also have occassional bouts of hives. Unless there is swelling around the face and mouth which may lead to difficulty breathing, hives usually aren't serious. My lips started swelling once but after a dose of benadryl the swelling went down enough to stop worrying. Give your son a dose of benadryl and watch him for a few hours to make sure there is no swelling associated with the hives. Topical caladryl sometimes helps with the itching but it usually isn't effective.
The Mayo Clinic website always has good practicle advice that is easy to understand www.mayoclinic.org. We called our pediatrician several times and they always told us to use benadryl and to come in if they got worse. Also it is normal to have the hives for up to 3 weeks. As long as the itching is managable and your child isn't getting infections from scratching it is not serious. My daughter is now 19 and she had hives for 3 weeks last year, they eventually just go away. She has no idea what caused them.
Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns, that's what they are there for.
B.

No idea but I would call the doctor asap esp. if he's having trouble breathing or if it is getting worse. I am sure he is extremely uncomfortable. I have anaphylaxis to penicillin so I take these things very seriously.

This happened for a second time with my 29 mth old daughter last night for supper she had a few bites of deluxe pizza. She gets a temp around 38C and is very itchy covered in hives & in pain. It dissipates over 4 or 5 hours. The first time she got it was earlier this month when she had pepperoni sticks at a birthday party the night before and woke up with small hives which increased & dissipated depending on her body warmth the second night she woke up covered in welts & temps of 38.2C I took lots of pics & was in contact with our doctors who didn't have a reason for it. She also had a cold. She also is on many drugs including sulfa drugs as she has had 2 heart transplants. Earlier this week she got the same kind of welts only on the lower half of her body while in a extra warm bath. It dissipated as she ran around after & cooled off. We will talk with them again in the morning

The most common food allergies are: wheat, milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, seafood, eggs. Could this be the first or second time he's had one of these foods? Sometimes it takes 2 exposures to react.

We used liquid benadryl for hives. My girls also carried epi-pens because they were so sensitive.

Could very well be allergy, perhaps to milk. Most processed meats contain lactic acid starter culture, which is usually dairy derived. I would encourage you to go to an ALLERGIST, a medical specialist in allergies. Many pediatricians are not well-versed in allergies. And many people are diagnosed incorrectly. There are blood and skin tests that can predict the likelihood of reactions, but they can't know for sure, only true test ("gold standard" they call it) is an "oral challenge" in an allergist's office. If it is a true food allergy, the next reaction could be worse and you need to be prepared with epinephrine (Epi-pen). Reactions can progress quickly and could be fatal if not treated immediately. Benedryl does NOT treat anaphylaxis, it only makes the itching go away. May not be what your child has, in any case, good luck

I have gotten hives and edema several times. Mine are autoimmune. However, treatment is the same.
Hives are the bumps that you see all over your body. Sometimes when people have hives, they also have edema, which is the swelling. The fastest medication to help with hives and edema is oral Benadryl. However, you need to speak with the doctor about dosage because he is under 6 years old. (OTC zyrtec can take a few days to get into your system, so it might not help right away) If he has hives, and he also has edema, he needs to go in. Swelling can sometimes get worse over the next few days. He might need an allergy shot or a stronger medication to help with the swelling.
If the hives were getting better, and then started to get worse, I would take him in, or at the very least call.

I am always shocked that the additives in foods are not known as toxic to new mothers. Read what is in pepperoni. It's not the milk, or the carragen it's the Nitrities and Nitrates and all the other things that are destroying children's bodies.
Please read every single label so you aren't spending the next three days in the emergency ward.
Do what I did. Switch to only organic food. Cook everything yourself. Your children will grow up to be stronger than you are.

Call the pediatrician. My understanding is that every time someone is exposed to something they are allergic to, the reaction is worse. He could potentially have trouble breathing the next time.

I'd say allergy to pepperoni. Definitely call your ped and let them know just to be safe.

OTC zyrtec is the best for hives - much better then benedryl in our experience and we have ended up at the emergency room with hives!