My baby has a large birth mark on his forehead and a smaller one across his upper lip. I just figured we would wait until they faded after a year or so like so many people told me it would, but when I took him in for his 2-month well-baby check-up the pediatrician said there are benefits to getting them treated early and gave me a referral to a pediatric dermatologist to discuss having it removed. I'm all for it if the dermatologist thinks it can be done. Insurance will even cover it.
I'm just wondering if anyone else has already had a birth mark/stork bite removed from their baby. How well did it work? How long did the procedure take? Were there any adverse reactions? Any details would be helpful.
Thanks!
We met with the dermatologist today and we are going to do it. He clarified that it is a port wine stain, and not just a typical stork bite. It will take up to five 1- to 2-minute laser treatments every other month. The dr. said that babies at this age respond very well to the treatments.
Thank you to everyone who responded in a non-judgmental fashion. I know we could take the wait-and-see road, but we feel very comfortable with our decision to un-mark our beautiful little boy's face before he is old enough to feel self-conscious or get teased.
Three of my children had the birth mark on the forehead. My dr told me not to worry about it. As a child gets older their skin thickens and the birth mark fades. My 9 year olds is not noticeable.
I hope this goes really well for you! Our daughter started with the laser treatments when she was around 5 months old, and it really just took about 15 seconds for the three little zaps they did at each session. Beware--they told us it would be maybe 5-7 sessions, but we were going every other week for 8 months=lots of co-pays, but insurance did cover the rest. (hers was growing at a pretty rapid pace, so it took time to halt the growth) The doctor suggested giving her childrens benadryl about 30-45 minutes before each appointment to help her be more relaxed, but after a few sessions I stopped doing that. She was more bothered by the protective eye stickers they put on before the laser than anything else.
Our daughter is now 2 1/2 and there is still a little bruising where the scar tissue is below the surface of the skin(hers was on her cheek), but they keep saying that will fade over time.
Good luck with the treatments!
I have a friend whose daughter had a homangeoma (sp?) on her lip. It initially grew quite a bit and they started seeing a specialist right away. She was on some steriods to stop the growth but at the last visit the doctor found that it was lightening and wanted to wait before doing any surgery to see how much it will change. They are hoping it will keep lightening so that they will not have to do as many procedures on her. She will be 2 1/2 in September. I would suggest seeing a specialist and getting their opinion. If there is a possibility that it will fade then give it time. The fewer the procedures your little one has to go through the better. Oh... and by the way... when ever anyone says anything about it they tell them that it's an angel's kiss.
My daughter has a stork bite on the back of her neck that has not faded a bit in her 15 months. I was told they were permanent.
A friend of ours' daughter had large hemangiomas on her back and forehead, waited to get them started until after a year and said that she wished she had started right away. She had to use creams and lasers to shrink and fade them which it has done but they are still very noticeable.
She did it mainly so her daughter didn't wish all her life she had them fixed. If it is something that is covered and very noticeable, get it checked out at least. Find out how in depth/painful/ risky it is to treat them. Sure some give you character but some get you made fun of and bring down your self esteem.
My Daughter has 3 birthmarks (Finger, forehead and back) and we did not get them removed. The one on her finger faded within 5 months, the one on her forehead is about 1/2 faded and the one on her back has not faded at all and she is now 19 months. I have a theory... I think the one on her finger has faded due to movement of the finger. So as I nursed her, I rubbed the one on her forehead. It started fading within a week. Now that I am not nursing her anymore and not rubbing it, it is not fading anymore. I have done nothing to the one on her back, and it has not faded at all. Just thought I would share my theory in case you decide not to have them removed.
My son had one on his eyelid and it did eventually fad away to nothing.. I can't see it at all. My mom says when I was younger I had one on my back that they had removed and it came back and eventually faded away on its own. I would recommend waiting awhile to see what happens.
My oldest daughter had red birthmarks above her eyes and on her forehead. They faded and disappeared by the time she was 9 months old. My youngest daughter has a bright red birthmark on her cheek. It is a little bigger than a half dollar. When she was born you could barely see it. At 7 months old it is bright red. Our doctor said they tend to get bigger and darker before they start to fade. She told us that she couldn't refer us to a dermatologist until she was at least 6 months old. She said they would probably do a laser treatment to remove it. We are waiting until she is 2 years old before we do anything. Our doctor said some fade and some don't and I've read online that it can sometimes take up to 10 years for them to fade completely. We will have something done to it before she starts school because kids can be mean. It looks like on one side it is starting to fade as it is getting lighter. Also on her back on one arm and half her back is a totally different color than the rest of her skin. We aren't going to do anything with that because it isn't in a noticeable area and it is light not red.
To the person who suggested massage. I might try that. It won't hurt.
Three of my four kids had "stork bites" on their foreheads. They also have very fair skin, so they were pretty noticable for quite awhile, but now on my 3 year old and my 13 year old they are only noticable when they are mad or their faces are very red. I guess what I am trying to say is maybe give your little one some time before you try to fix something that might fade with time.
My daughter has a HUGE stork bite on the back of her neck her hair will cover when it grows in.
She has a birthmark between her eyes on her forehead.
She has a birthmark on both of her eyelids.
I was kinda freaking when she was born like OMG she has bright red marks all over. She is now 9mo.old and you cannot tell she has them on her eyelids or forehead anymore they have really really faded. The one on the back of her neck is HUGE but has faded a little bit. But hair will cover that. There is no way I would have them removed or seek a dermatalogist or anything.
