My youngest son (nearly 9) has chicken pox. The spots started developing on Saturday night, and he's now absolutely covered in them.

I'm bathing him with oatmeal baths and dabbing calamine lotion on him. Am wondering whether anyone happens to have any other 'magic' treatment to take away the itchiness...?

Thanks in advance.

No other "magic" that I know of. Just wishing you good luck.

Mike

Poor little guy! What about Benadryl, to help with the itchiness and also to help him sleep through the worst of it?

Some of my friends have been saying their kids are getting chicken pox, even though they've been vaccinated, but the cases usually aren't as severe. If your son is having a severe case after being vaccinated, it might be good to mention to the doctor.

Make a paste of baking soda and water and put that on the spots. That's the ONLY thing that helped me back when I had them as a child.

If he's scratching at them in his sleep, have him wear mittens or gloves. I have a scar from one of my pox from scratching at it in my sleep.

Thanks for the positive thoughts - it's much appreciated!

I'll definitely try the baking soda paste. DH also suggested that baking soda might be better in the bath than the oatmeal, so maybe I'll try that later. Possibly aloe vera from the fridge too... Anything that might be soothing. I'll also give him a dose of benadryl or something similar at bedtime.

He was not vaccincated. It's not routine to vaccinate for chickenpox in the UK - in fact people often have 'chickenpox parties' to try and get it out of the way when the kids are small and it's less likely to be severe. Both my other kids had it fairly mildly when they were 3 and 18 months, but they both have a couple of scars from it. Poor Jack has spots everywhere, and I mean EVERYwhere - I hate to think how many scars he'll have afterwards.

Thanks again, Natalie.

Ah...they make us vaccinate for it here. I mean, you can't send them to school without all of their shots and varicella is one of the required ones. I think you can get out of it if you have a doctor who doesn't believe in vaccines, but we don't. I remember chickenpox parties when I was a kid too

I used to babysit a little girl who had all kinds of skin issues and when she would get itchy we put socks over her hands to keep her from scratching. She was crazy about horses and we would put matching socks on her hands and feet to be the stockings on a horse She was 8 at the time...I think most 8 year olds would feel too old for that, but she loved it, she would gallop around the house on all fours and forget about scratching for a while at least.

Also, if you've been buying the expensive oatmeal baths, you can make your own with instant oats and a piece of mesh fabric...just tie the oats up in the mesh and toss it in the bath, then squeeze it until the water turns milky.

I was one of the unlucky ones that didn't get chickenpox as a child....I got it when my kids did and it was awful.

I was 30 yrs old at the time and was so sick I couldn't take care of my poor kids.

The oatmeal baths really did help along with the baking soda paste....what helped me the most was taking an antihistamine like Benadryl. My doc also prescribed Zovirax (spelling?). I'm not sure if they still prescribe that.

I hope little Jack will get over them quickly, perhaps Mum could bake him a little cake to cheer him up.

there is a misconception about the chicken pox shot in the US. It does not prevent the child from getting them, it just shortend the duration of them.

My son was 15 when he finally got them. Unfortunately time is the only answer for them. Oatmeal baths (lots of them), calamine lotion and benadryl.

Good Luck

I had them as an adult too. Horrible! I've never been as sick. I had spots all over, but only a couple of scars, so hopefully that will be the case with your little guy.

We have a liquid here called pinetarsol which you dilute in the bath. It was quite good while I was in the bath, but once out didn't do much good.

Yeah, I'm glad that at least he's getting it over with now, as I've heard it can be really nasty getting it as an adult.

I guess we just have to sit it out! Thanks again.

just don't let him pick at them...it will leave permanent scars!!

We have an outbreak of Chicken pox and the school at the moment and all 3 of my kids have been vaccinated however my youngest (5) who is in Kindy managed to catch them, really badly. The DR gave my other two kids a booster shot to ensure they didn't get them and my hubby had to be vaccinated as he has never had them. I don't remember them being as gross as they are and everytime I looked at him it made ME scratch ! I was bathing him in dettol and I was told to give him an clarityne which is for hayfever for the itch. I have to say he was really good and didn't scratch considering he was so covered in them. Well touch wood, no one else caught them which is good but my daughter (6) broke her arm on Thursday falling off the trampoline............. Life just goes on, there is always something with kids.........BUT WE LOVE THEM!

Oh, Makeitmemorable! What a week for you! I hope both your children are feeling better by now.

My little guy had a pretty bad bout of the chickenpox too, but it seemed to come out all at once. I'm not sure he's quite ready to go back to school yet - the scabs have dried up, so technically he's clear, but he still looks a bit scary!

Kids, hey?!!

Poor little man - dont have any advice that hasn't already been said. Just thought I would add a note about chicken pox danger for pregnant women, cause lots of us are mum's and potential mums to be. If you have not had them or the vaccination, chicken pox can be potentially very harmful to unborn babies.

We have a product here called Pinetarsol
http://www.epharmacy.com.au/product.asp?id=4005&pname=Ego+Pinetarsol+Solution+200mL

Its the BEST at relieving itching