Possibly the only illness that you want your children to get…but at the same time totally dread it’s arrival.
Poppy got it recently and was taken down hard and I was totally unprepared. Luckily friends came to the rescue with great recommendations for treatments so I thought I’d share with you what worked to get you through the worst.
Treatments
Calamine Lotion
We started off using traditional Calamine lotion straight from the fridge to soothe the itch. I found it wasn’t really very effective at stopping the itch for anything longer than half an hour which meant night time was just horrendous.
Paracetamol
The symptoms vary hugely and Poppy’s came coupled with flu-like symptoms of aching, exhaustion, snotty nose, ear ache, temp, nausea etc. She also experienced pain from the spots inside her ears, mouth and other areas. The only way to treat any symptoms like this is with Paracetamol suspension i.e. Calpol. I’ve put those bits in bold as administering Ibruprofen based medicines to someone suffering from the chicken pox virus can increase the risk of serious skin infection called necrotising fasciitis.
Poxclin
Poxclin mousse was recommended to us by a few friends and did a much better job at relieving the itch for longer. It also contains an ingredient that helps to reduce the chances of infections in the spots which can cause scaring as well as promoting healing. Poppy much preferred this to the application of the Calamine lotion and I noticed a marked reduction in my requests for her to stop itching! I bought mine from amazon at 9pm and they delivered it at 9am the next day, total lifesavers!!
Antihistamine
Liquid antihistamine administered orally can also help to reduce the itch. We gave Cetirizine Hydrochloride to Poppy before bed and saw a marked improvement in her sleep-itching.
Oat bath
Last but certainly not least, in fact, I think this was the most effective treatment! Pop a couple of handfuls into a muslin square or old sock, tie it up and let it soak in the warm bath water for a little while then soak your little one in the bath for 15-20 minutes. I removed any flannels or sponges from the bath before she got in to remove the temptation to wash herself with them and potentially irritate or pop the blisters. Then patted her dry with a soft and clean towel. We didn’t do this until a couple of days in and wished we’d done it earlier. It majorly helped with the itching plus her skin was super soft and hair super shiny afterwards! Think I might try it 🙂
These are all really good treatments for Chicken Pox. My 3 year old caught them a month or so ago and I found Bicarbonate of Soda really good. It helps dry them up. Put it in the bath and your good to go xx #twinklytuesday
Thank you so much for the Bicarb tip, going to try that on the bubba tonight. Hoping that we’re through the worst with him but definitely need something to dry the spots up x
This is a brilliant post. The only thing I’d add is rather than the lotion I’d recommend calamine aqueous cream as it doesn’t leave that chalky residue! We were struck down with it here for about a month, first with Zach and then with Oscar. It was awful but I’m glad they’ve had it now! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
Do you have a mommy survival kit as well?
#marvmondays
My boy caught it at 2.5 when I was heavily pregnant and it was AWFUL! He got it so bad that he had the leftovers for months, bless him, and he was so poorly with it, I had no idea it could be so bad. We did the oat baths several times a day which helped but haven’t heard of the mousse! Thanks for linking up to #MarvMondays. Kaye xo
Great tips. We were so reliant on calpol when our 2yo caught it last month. She suffered from really bad flu like symptoms. The itching came later and calamine helped. I wish I’d put it in the fridge like you! She won’t stay in the bath long enough when she’s poorly for the various soaks to work. If she’d been older (she’s only just 2) I would have definitely tried these! #MarvMondays
I’m glad I read this – we haven’t had the pleasure yet but it’s only a matter of time! #twinklytuesday
I really co’lndut ask for more from this article.
Author