Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFM) is the WORST. I have four kids, and over my six years as a parent we have experienced chicken pox, countless stomach flus, colds, roseola, and a handful of injuries. But the past week of each of our twins having HFM has felt almost biblical.
Apparently not every experience with HFM is as bad as we’ve had it, and as far as pain goes, we have been the lucky winners.
Let’s back up a week. After a weekend of one of Everly acting “off” and cranky, she spiked a fever on the Monday. I had been suspicious that it was HFM because her daycare was experiencing a full blown outbreak. The only thing was, she didn’t have any of the typical blisters around her mouth, hands or feet, which goes hand in hand with HFM (hence it’s name).
The sign hanging on the door at Mia and Everly’s daycare. Not what a mom wants to see.
By the Tuesday Evening I was racing Everly to the ER, because she was inconsolable. Her fever had broken the day before, but she wasn’t sleeping and was crying all. of. the. time.
After a thorough check-up, the doctor finally found blisters on the roof of her mouth. HFM blisters look like little pimples. Mystery solved. What could we do for her? Give her Advil and Tylenol (on a rotation) every three hours and wait it out. HFM is viral. It cannot be treated by antibiotics. To read more, here is a great article from Baby Center.
It was a long week of crying, but by the Friday, she was finally back to herself. We thought HFM was behind us and Everly’s twin Mia had dodged a bullet, but we were so wrong.
On Saturday morning, after a fussy night, I suspected the worst. Sure enough, Mia had the ominous fever. My husband, Mike, and I braced for what we knew was coming: a couple sleepless nights and a lot of crying.By Sunday, Mia had a full body rash, concentrated around her mouth, on her arms, feet and the worst area being her thighs, torso and bum. In fact, I have read that having the rash around the buttocks is very common.Hand, foot and mouth disease rash on 18 month old.
While Mike and I were heading to bed, after all four kids had been a asleep for a couple hours, I had an unsettling realization. Mia barely drank anything since that morning. Every time we had offered her a drink, she would push it away because her mouth was so sore. In fact, she hadn’t had a wet diaper since 2pm. This was concerning, and we knew that a trip to the ER was waiting for us in the morning hours.
That night was brutal to get through. Mia screamed the entire time, and wanted me to hold her constantly. By 2 a.m. I was about to race to the hospital with Mia, but she suddenly started to take sips of her water, so we decided to try to grab some sleep and put off the hospital until a more friendly hour.
5:50 a.m. Mia woke up wailing and she wouldn’t stop. She insisted that I hold her all of the time (picture a Gorilla and her baby). I should point out, she is 25 pounds and I am a short, teeny tiny person with a history of back problems. As much as I would love to say I am an expert baby wearer, that is not the case. Oh, and have you ever gone to the bathroom while a person is sitting on your lap? It’s quite the experience, you should try it sometime.
The white stuff on Mia’s face is Calamine lotion… which helped a lot with the blisters. Both twins drooled a lot. I think because it hurts too much to swallow.
I headed with Mia to the hospital, ready for her to be admitted for dehydration. But luckily, by the time we arrived she had turned a corner. Mia started eating, and taking more sips of water. Once the doctor got to us, Mia had produced the most beautiful wet diaper I have ever changed. We were sent home, instructed to keep doing what we are doing, and once again, wait it out.
Mia in the emergency room. Not impressed.
While at the emergency room, a triage nurse was telling me that she and her son had had HFM before, and she was able to describe what the pain felt like: She said that her blisters went all the way down her throat, and the pain was so bad, she was prescribed codeine. The blisters on her hands and feet felt like… you know when your foot has fallen asleep and as the feeling comes back, it can feel like pins and needles? The blisters feel like pins and needles all of the time. She said that putting pressure on it, like wearing gloves, made the sensation a little more bearable. Oh, and her toenails also fell off, which apparently is also very common.
So here we are. Mia is napping, our house is trashed, and Mike and I are feeling like we have been hit by trucks. We are praying that this is the end of HFM for our home. I am not sure if we can take anymore… mercy! Mercy!
Here are some tips from some of my friends which I plan to try with Mia:
- popsicles and soup are easier for kids with HFM to eat.
- If your child is old enough, do a salt-water mouth wash, or apparently there is a “magic mouthwash” some doctors prescribe.
- banana smoothies (think all alkaline foods), with hemp hearts, ice cubes, and protein to fill them up with coconut milk to soothe the mouth.
- Make coconut milk popsicles, both yummy and soothing.
HFM is awful…especially when my husband got it as an adult! The kids handled it well, it took him down for the count. He was miserable and in so much pain. And all you can do is wait it out.
Oh you poor things!! Poor babies, poor mommy and daddy! Hope you guys are on the mend and everyone can get some much needed rest.
My almost two year old son spiked a mystery fever this weekend so now I’m on the look out for what comes next 🙁 always waiting for the other foot to drop with kids! Thanks for the good info on HFM. Best to you and your family, get well soon!
My twins it at 2 yrs old, got it at from daycare, then as an adult , I got it. It was awful!. Wanted to cut my feet off!!
My girls (almost 3 and 1.5) just went through this glorious “milestone” and had it at the same time. They were NOT very fun for a week. Bonus on Friday at lunch time the older one opened her mouth and I got on the phone for a prescription to treat the Thrush I found… Super excitement and a LOT of going stir crazy because I refused to leave the house and therefore pass this to anyone else (since it’s super contagious). Thank goodness it’s over!!
We’re going through this right now. Luckily she doesnt Seem to be in too much pain just at night. The only thing she really wants to eat is yogurt bit she’s been keeping hydrated with water readily available. It looks as though the blisters are healing
My twins are 18 months and they have it right now. It’s the second time they have had it. It literally is the worst. I was praying it was strep throat cause a couple of days on antibiotics and it would be over! I wish there was a vaccine for this! And btw I know exactly how it is to use the bathroom with a baby on your lap lol
This is one of the worst viruses ever! They should warn parents to be prepared. My daughter had 104 fever for days. I always baby her, cuddled bathes to help,etc but when I caught it that was another story I hear it’s not painful for children like adults.. I remember trying to eat and it felt like a knife in my throats and my rashes would wait me with pains of needles pricking me. I recovered and lived but months after all of my finger nails fell off like the virus attacked my nerves and killed them. It’s was horrible. Protect yourself if you are near anyone even your loving baby. I’ll wear a mask next time 🙁
I first read your posts when I was pregnant with my twins. Being emersed in twin life the past 19 month I sort of stopped following everything (I too am a mom of four). My twins have HMF and looking for something to calm my second twin’s rash I stumbled upon your article (at 1:10 in the morning with a clingy baby). If nothing else, it helps to know that others have survived the same! Thanks. All the best to you. Cheers
Hang in their, parents! I can’t even imagine what y’all are going through with the littles. My son is 11 and came down with what we thought was his annual strep and turned out to be HFM (Who knew?). I’ve since found out it’s common in contact sports and rapidly spreading amongst the HS athletes right now. Ugh. On top of HFM, my guy picked up Impetigo. Apparently this happens more than people think. So be careful with you’re seeing a different type of rash around the face. Impetigo is staph bacteria and needs antibiotic ointments and antibiotics Meds to treat more quickly. It’s been a week and we are really hoping the other shoe doesn’t drop. The rest of us haven’t gotten it yet…..
Same thing happened with my 12 year old this week. It is absolutely dreadful for him. Almost overnight the blisters around his nose and lips turned into impetigo. This was the first time any of my children have ever caught this. And he is the youngest by 6 years. I can’t be how bad the blisters are! It must be because he is older?
I started reading this after googling the things my poor 21 month old is experiencing…started reading and recognized the details such as your twins and the name everly. Then realized i watch your blogs on yt! I should have known by the nesting story title…haha ty for posting this tho because its exactly what im going through at the moment
My 2 year old is going through this right now and he also has asthma which has flared up with this virus im a mum of 4 and my older 3 who r teenagers have never had this horrific virus only croup with my oldest she was quite bad but this is absolutely torture my 2 year old has screamed non stop the pharmacy only prescribed paracetamol which is not working the drs will not see him due to covid but ill be ringing them in the morning again for them to check him I’m about crying because I don’t know what else to do his poor wee mouth is covered in ulcers he’s not ate anything in 3 days except a wee bit yoghurt and he’s been drinking tepid tea as this is what he’s asked for and I don’t care as long as he drinks something ice lollies r not good as they stick to the ulcers which makes him scream in agony I hope it passes soon cos I honestly think this is the worst childhood illness ever oh n ive no idea how he even caught it as he’s not around other children and he’s not at nursery school he’s constantly with me he won’t let me have a proper look in his mouth to see if he has blisters on the roof or at the back of his throat I can only see his tongue im 1 helpless mummy
I’m going through this right now with my 2 year old. He’s screaming bloody murder and he’s inconsolable. And I have a 4 month old also showing symptoms. No one told me how bad this virus is
I just got over a bout of hand foot mouth and I can tell you that it’s humbling. As an adult, I assumed my immunity would be better but HFMD really knocked me out. My throat hurt CONSTANTLY – hot drinks, cold drinks, room temperature- it didn’t matter. The pain was way worse than strep throat and the BLISTERS! I chronically have canker sores starting in the fall but a full mouth of them was the worst pain I’ve ever experienced. If HFMD is half as bad in children as adults, any kid who has had it is a real trooper! Also, the skin on my fingers is peeling like crazy two weeks after my initial fever. What a weird disease!
I have it right now and everyday it gets worse and worse. It started off as a fever. I am 18 years old. Some guy at work’s daughter had it and he probably transmitted it to me by talking to me. But Sunday my throat was dry and I was very fatigued. Monday I had a “zit” on my forehead. Then I got home from work and I was aching and tired as hell. I slept for 12 hours and woke up Tuesday. The pains were gone but now I have twelve “zits” on my face. I was freaking out because I don’t have acne. I went to the doctors and they told me I had HFMD. Yayy… no cure no treatment. So I wake up Wednesday and its now on my feet and hands and everywhere on my face. It sucks so bad!!! My feet itch. My hands are numb. I look like a freak. I might have to take school off tomorrow if it worsens. I will update you guys again.
Hi Again! I posted above in early Sept. about my son getting it. Well…his older sister got it NINE days later (!!!) and ended up with DIFFERENT symptoms and a much more severe case. My 14-year-old daughter also got a severe sore throat, headache, and fever (with a touch of nausea). She felt AMAZING after about two days and we sent her to school on Monday. By lunchtime, she was freaking out that dots were spreading on her face. By the end of day, it was clear that she was going to have it bad. NO blisters in her mouth or nose, but her legs, face, feet, and hands were covered. Our doctor calls it the “Hand Foot Mouth EVERYWHERE” disease for a reason. Our doctor confirmed that she also had HFM (It’s going around her HS too!). She was extremely itchy with numbness thrown in. Caladryl worked best (we got the clear one) and some Benadryl. About two weeks AFTER she recovered, the insane hand peeling began. Deep layers of skin sloughing off from her hands. Her feet started peeling this week (3 weeks out!). I also picked up HFM from my kiddos, but I never got blisters. I could see light patterning of a rash on my hands. My throat was crazy sore for almost a week, and it wasn’t for a few days before I realize I had “baby” tiny blisters in the back of my throat. For me, that was the extent of my symptoms, which I’ll take since I can deal with a sore throat! I’m so glad this plague is gone for the moment. My daughter ended up missing one week of school because hers was so severe.
OMG!!! So glad I found this website! I’m going through this now with my previous 2 year old son! This is the hardest thing we’ve been through as parents and we have a 10 year old and didn’t go through this with her. I don’t know where he got it from because he doesn’t go to day care and none of us have it. But it started out with him saying his mouth hurts. We thought it was maybe a tooth growing in but we couldn’t tell. Then he started saying my feet hurt. I didn’t see anything wrong at first but then I noticed something that looked like a bug bite. I thought it was a mosquito! But by that night I noticed the bottom of both his feet were covered in tiny red bumps! He cried and screamed the whole night. We felt so helpless. It slowly dawned on me!… painful mouth, red bumps on the feet…oh no! Hand, foot and mouth virus! Yep, it was confirmed by the doctor. No cure, no treatment… WHAT!!! So my poor, suffering baby has to wait it out???? Of course Tylenol for fever but this bumpy rash looks terrible. Its on his mouth, feet, arms and now his private area! I feel so bad for my little man. I sent my 10 year old daughter to stay with my mom until his condition clears up. I wish there was something to put on the rash and blisters….
Thank you for sharing this, we have been having the roughest 3 nights . It really is the disease from hell! I don’t moan easily at all, our wee chap was born extremely prem . It takes a lot for me to moan
I live away from home for college. About 4 days ago I had what I thought was a severe flu with a mild fever, sore throat, and chills. I slept all day, only waking up to go to class just to sleep in it, which was probably a stupid idea. 2 days later my “flu” was gone but that night I realized a bump formed on my hand. I could not go to sleep that night. I felt every knew bump form, my hair was itchy as I got bumps there as well which was so weird, and my throat and tongue were killing me. The next night I could not sleep as well as the bumps furiously itched and I went to the clinic so they provided me with benophan for the itch, Advil, and lipocaine for my mouth. Now I’m at my 4th night with hand foot mouth and it spread to my ears, elbows, and feet. I slathered calamine, that my roommate graciously got for me, on my hands and ears because they were the worse and stay in bed all day. I just want it to end and I’m nervous about my head.
It is 4am and my 4 year old grandson is going though this at this moment. My household has not had any sleep in 48hours and will not see any for a while. We try to take shifts but the screaming of a 4 year old in pain is hard to sleep though. I would use this in war because this is pure hell. We will all soon be in the hospital.
My 3 years old boy was diagnosed with this horrible virus. He got it from daycare. My heart cries every night when I see him desperately crying. I know my poor baby is in pain. His mouth is full of blister, even his tongue. We are by our 4 night with no sleep, waiting for the day he feels better.
Thank you so much for posting this! It’s 4am and my 1 year old has been crying since 9pm – it’s giving comfort that we will survive the night!!
Yup. I’m sure my 5 year old don has hfm. We are 3 hours away from home camping. It has not been a good night. We have had very little sleep:( My poor boy is so uncomfortable. The worst for him is the itchiness of his hands and feet. He has been complaining of a sore throat for 24 hours (I did not think at all it was hfm until I noticed to bumps on his hands, feet, bum and groin area. I have been alternating between tylenol and advil every three hours. I think this is why he is not complaining too much about his mouth ….. yet. Hoping to get out of this campsite by 6am and drive home. It will be way easier to have the comfort of our own home.
My 7 month old got this from going to the neighborhood HOA park or from other kids in the neighborhood. My 3 year old didn’t get it one bit. I now have 5 blisters on my feet and its sore like exposed skin when you walk on them. I am trying vitamins and oatmeal. He had them all over his legs and knees. They scabbed over. Horrible illness from hell!!!
thanks for this. yesterday night was a nightmare for our 15month baby. he’s much better this morning but no one had told us just HOW bad it could get…
I’m up right now with our 3 year old daughter who was just diagnosed with HFM (horrible blisters outside her mouth and a few inside, bumps on arms, hands, legs, and feet). Thank you all so much for reassuring me that this screaming, itching, crying, and hysteria is “normal”… night 1 is just starting.
I am up with my right month old. He finally is sleeping after 1 hour of straight crying screaming. This is horrible
8 month old **
My 9 month old has it right not and he just fell asleep after screaming for three hours. Day 2 is far worse than day 1. I hope his sister don’t get it. Scared of what is to come. ….oh wait, he is up and crying again.
My 18 month old has it. Only has blisters in his mouth but oh my gosh, there are so many!! On top and underneath the tongue, and all over the roof of his mouth. He’s miserable. He cried all night long, was inconsolable. I’m dreading what tonight will bring…. We are so tired! Praying our older children don’t get it!!
Thank you all for posting .Im a 51 year old caregivers.I was recently looking after a client with a granddaughter who had what we thought was the flu..That was on a Thursday the next Tuesday I broke out with a rash on my hand and it was That Wensday I was told the child didn’t have the flu it’s hfmd. I feel so bad I have been every where to the washer to the nursing home to visit my mom. I m worried about my husband.Today they called me and told me my mom is in the hospital and I’m scared to go I’m all broke out I’m really bad broke out in private areas.mine hurts my throat feels like nothing does any good. I’m trying not to feel mad but I feel angry. I no it’s no one’s fault but this is so bad .i find myself crying .its this bad on me I can amigan how your baby’s feel
What works on cleaning hfmd
I washing dishes I always put a half of top of bleach in my dish water.I have been washing the tub out and cleaning it with bleach.How long does this virus live on a surface.i have even spayed my important papers with Lysol and my school books.Do I need to wash my bed covers every day.please share what your doing to clean up.Im wearing a mask when I go out. Please share .
Does any one have a rough time line for this please? I’m hoping to see some light at the end of this very dark tunnel soon.
I’m a single mum to two my 22 month old daughter currently has HFM her fever started 5 days ago that seems to have broken but the ulcers in her mouth and her sore throat are bad. She is sipping water but nothing else. Not sleeping at night and that cry of pain is horrific. I’m tired and emotional and just want my princess better
How long did it last for your little one?
I love all this! As a dad to four, twins included it is rough on both myself and wife. I share everyday on my parenting platform called htttps://www.curiousbillgentlebull.com along with stories, tips and trick for this wild parenting world. I always appreciate the comments section! You and others are welcome to check it out.
I am 50 years old. No children at home. Live with my boyfriend and a roomate. Ive had hfm for 7 weeks now. Started out when i had cellulitis very bad on both lower legs. At er i asked doctor what the flat round patches on my ankles were, she said hfm. I asked if there was a treatment,she said no. For the first 5 weeks there were just these flat round spots on my ankles .then the outside of my foot. No big deal, but then about two weeks ago i started devoloping these spots on the bottom of my feet. They are driving me insane with the intense itching and burning. I want to scrape my feet on a loofah so hard but i know that wont make it stop itching it will only cause abrasions on my walking surface.. i know cause i tried it for a few minutes. It felt so good and so bad at the same time. Im currently parked in front of a 24 hour pharmacy at 3:42 am looking for a remedy. So far not much info on how to ease tgye aggravatingly intense itch. Someone said calamine. i will get some of that. Im also going to get a pain cream with lidocaine .My grandpa once told me tea tree oil cures any skin ailment. So im going to get that and apply it every hour. Ive had a flat spot on my inner armfor about 2 weeks as well. I thought it was ringworm because a couple puppies i got about a month ago had it. I treated the arm with antifungal cream made for ring worm. It seemed to help, the spot faded and is almost gone. But then… The itch.. its just like my feet. A panicky itch. Im wondering if it was hfm the whole time. I didn’t even think about that. I have none on my hands or face.. praise the Lord. But i am wondering how much worse will this bout get. My bf and rm have no symtoms.. yet. I hope they dont get them at all. So im off to venture inside to buy anti itch cream lidocaine cream, tea tree oil and antifungal. Probably some melatonin as well so i can fall asleep regardless of my feet itching so bad a sand paper scrub sounds relaxing. 7 weeks and getting worse… I cant imagine this continuing for much longer but i dont know what to expect. I will report back often with updates on what is working. Guess if i use all lotions regularly i wont know the single remedy, maybe it will be the tincture created from the mixture. For those if you going through it.. i feel your pain. Hope you dont feel mine! Good luck my fellow hfm victims. They really need to figure this thing out and get a vaccine and remedy that works quick. Ok, im out.. watch out store hear i come.. slowly but surely. Gloved up masked up and itchy itchy oh so itchy… Stay tuned….
My 2 year old son picked up hfmd from his childcare. Initially we thought he was just feverish from a meningococcal B vaccine which he got Friday, but come Monday he was still up and down, so I took him to the er thinking he’s had some delayed reaction. Oblivious to hfmd, I saw the blisters forming on his mouth but again thought they were part of vaccine reaction. Sure enough, I was told he had caught hfmd and to be extra careful cleaning his things and keeping him separate from his 5 month old sister.
The next day after midday, I instantly start to shiver, fever feel lethargic and that wretched sore throat. I went to get a COVID test concerned it was that, at the same time wondering if my first vaccine jab over the weekend was the cause.
Day after my son being diagnosed, I see a few spots appearing around the areas I usually have eczema, so still didn’t think anything of it. Fever had become better and my son had actually started to get back to himself with minimal fuss (very grateful!). That night, swallowing suddenly became very difficult, as if I was swallowing sandpaper.
Day 2 after son being diagnosed, my daughter is fevering and straight away knew that she’d picked it up off my son, meanwhile my hands were beginning to be covered in rashes. I also noticed it began to feel uncomfortable when my hands were closes to anything mildly warm, let alone hot. It eventually clicked that I had also contracted hfmd and that sudden realisation that the uncomfortable feeling I was getting was from these blisters that had formed deep underneath the skin in every (yes every!) finger.
My son by this point was fairly well, just probably a slight sore throat as he didn’t quite have his usual appetite back. My daughter continued to fever, but did feed and produce those important wet nappies which was a relief. For me, I started to feel blisters forming on my feet, but not so much that they were a pain. That night wasn’t a great night’s sleep tossing turning, though mind you since the day I started getting a fever I hadn’t slept well.
Day 3 after son was diagnosed, hands were covered in rashes and blisters continued forming in the tips, at least 5 blisters in each fingertip. Walking all the sudden became a bit more painful too. Throat was no better, and although I was actually hungry and craving for some food, the thought of having to swallow it completely put me off. By now my face was also popping up with blisters too. My son on the other hand had his ones behind his knees slowly clear up, whilst my daughter only had a very minor increase in her blisters but seemed happier her fever was gone.
As the day went on though, my foot blisters were becoming unbearable. Couple that with the fingers, it was like constant burning pins and needles. Just completely relentless. I knew come night time it was going to be horrible and that is why I’ve had to time to write this.
I simply cannot sleep due to the burning tingly sensation in my feet and hands. So far this has been downright one of the worst things I’ve experienced and I’m just hoping it doesn’t go on for too much longer.
Good to read these. My 21 month old son is going through it now. He is about three days in and once his fever broke things seemed to be looking up. Eating more, drinking more fluids and seemingly normal energy. Last night was rough for sure but tonight has been hell. Little man has been screaming and wailing and thrashing since we put him down. I feel so terrible for him and it’s so hard to listen to him be in pain like this. I am hoping he turns the corner in the morning and is able to sleep some more but he hasn’t napped for 2 days and isn’t sleeping at night. Had no idea HFM was this bad. Our doctor said “I’m sorry” on the way out the door after giving the HFM diagnosis and I thought that was weird…..I now understand.
It’s an awful disease. My two year old had it a couple weeks ago and was rather fussy and had the rash on his chin and his hands, but otherwise faired pretty well. He recovered quickly. My husband had blisters on his hands and mouth but recovered rather quickly. It’s weeks later and I have it now. Came down with a sore throat and fever initially. I was extremely fatigued. Now I have a rash all over my face and ears that is blistering and oozing and itches.. The rash on my hands and feet feels like pins and needles and hurts badly. My throat is still sore and I’ve hardly been interested in eating. They said I have a very bad case of HFMD and I have to wait it out, but I feel so badly and I’m terrified my 2 yr old will get it again and my 3 yr old will get it (she didn’t catch it the time her dad and brother had it)
What a relief to know other people have had similar experiences to mine! My 11-month-old picked up HFM 7 days ago. Her blisters seemed especially bad in the areas she normally gets eczema, and her lips were visibly swollen with sores. She’s eating and drinking normally again now and seems to be feeling more herself, but the blisters still have a long way to go before they’re fully healed. I developed a sore throat 2 days ago, then fatigue, chills, muscle aches, and a fever. Yesterday I thought the eczema I usually get on my hands was flaring up, then this morning it was obvious that it wasn’t eczema, but lots of little blisters. The top of my mouth, tonsils, and my throat are also covered in blisters and my sore throat is now incredibly painful. It hurts to swallow, talk, laugh, etc. I also seem to be producing a lot of really thick saliva, which is impossible to swallow. I spent most of last night hallucinating and tonight (03.15am) I can’t sleep because of itchiness and a painful throat. I feel awful that this is what my baby had last week! Hoping the sore throat eases off tomorrow, if nothing else.
Thanks for sharing. Our 2 year old is going through this now. Had 103-104 for a couple days, then yhe red spots started appearing. Normally a pretty chill baby she is acting as if she needs to get out of her own skin. Everything clearly hurts. I’ve never seen her scream like she is with this. Contortions herself and just miserable. I hate that any kid goes through this and that any parent needs to watch it.
Does anyone have any tricks? It feels like we have tried everything other than just dunking her in calamine. We are doing the same things everyone’s dr says. Alternate motrin/Tylenol and treat for comfort if possible. Nothing is working now. 2-3 days into this less than 2 hr sleep per day.
We only have one. Cudos to you who are dealing with multiples. My heart and prayers go out to you.
HFMD is the Devils Virus. My 21 month old son got it from daycare. Monday afternoon box fever started. The next morning he had spots on his arm. 12 hours later and he’s completely miserable. He has eczema to begin with, HFMD loves to prey upon the vulnerable skin! His mouth ulcers are nothing compared to the horrifying rash that covers his feet, legs, arms and hands. It’s 2 AM currently and my son has slept for probably a total of ten hours in the past 3 days. He’s only sleeping for 45 minutes at a time. We are EXHAUSTED. It’s so crazy discouraging to hear “there’s nothing we can do”… the doctor prescribed my son steroid cream, not sure if it’s helping much. We are rotating oatmeal and epsom salt baths with coconut oil and lavender. My poor boy just can’t get comfortable. He’s itchy and hot. Bright red blister patches cover his little body. We’ve tried calamine and hydrocortisone, rotating Tylenol and ibuprofen. Tried Benadryl but it turns out my son is one of those kids that becomes wired and restless. I’m really grateful he’s at least eating soft food and drinking fluids. My 8 year old daughter is staying with her dad until the blisters dry out and I disinfect everything. My friend just sent me a site of homeopathic remedies, which I will try tomorrow. Good luck, lots of love and reiki sent to you and your babies!