My Baby’s Hand Foot and Mouth Nightmare

Rosie got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease when she was 11 months old.  My poor baby spent the next few days in agony and we were in major distress seeing her that way. It was probably the worst parenting experience we’ve had so far. This is our experience with the nightmare that is Hand Food and Mouth Disease.  Let me walk you through her symptoms.

Fever

Rosie’s first Hand Foot and Mouth symptom was a spontaneous high fever. I (half) noticed Rosie’s fever when I woke up in the middle of the night to check up on her. She felt REALLY warm but since I was half asleep, I just thought the room was too hot. George and I didn’t realize it was a fever until the next morning – over 39˚C yikes! Rosie’s fever ranged from mid 38s to high 39s for the next few days.

Lethargic, Fussy and Irritable

Throughout the day, Rosie looked weak and absolutely exhausted. You didn’t have to be her parent to realize something was wrong. At breakfast, she didn’t eat her cheerios but just leaned her head against the high chair. Afterwards, she didn’t crawl around to play but just sat looking dazed.

By early afternoon, she was whining and fussing and only wanted to be carried. She went on a breast-feeding frenzy, probably looking for comfort. She’d try to fall asleep on my chest but every time I tried to put her down, she bawled. It was exhausting to literally hold her for every minute of the day but not going to lie, I will cherish and remember those cuddles forever.

The nights were hardest. This is our usual sequence of events when she is not sick: Rosie wakes up, dad soothes her back to sleep. If that fails, he picks her up to rock her. If that fails, I give her the boob. The boob is my fail-safe weapon. EXCEPT when she has hand foot and mouth. The first night, Rosie woke up and wailed to no avail. She fussed and fussed so we ended up playing for a few hours in the middle of the night until she was exhausted. After that, she still managed to cry herself to sleep but at least she slept. What an adventure!

Ulcers & Hunger Strike

Rosie stopped breast-feeding by late afternoon the first day. I didn’t understand why at first but it was because she had sores in her mouth that made it extremely painful. It was actually such a heartbreaking sight to see her struggle – she’d so desperately try to suck and then back away in tears. And that was the cycle – such and whimper and suck and whimper until she couldn’t handle it anymore. She also stopped eating solid food. (And just FYI, blisters on the hands and feet are a common symptom as well but Rosie didn’t really have any – at least any blisters to irritate her more than her eczema already does.)

I took Rosie to the doctor on the second day because she hadn’t been eating or drinking and her diaper was empty for almost 12 hours overnight (which is never the case). That’s when we got the diagnosis. We were relieved it wasn’t life-threatening but were bummed to hear that we just had to wait it out (7-10 days).

What I Learned About HFMD

Apparently it’s a really common disease for children as it is extremely contagious. Even so, I hope you NEVER have to experience it. BUT if this dreaded disease catches your baby one day, here are some tips:

• Your goal is to make your baby as comfortable as you possibly can

• Use Advil and Tylenol around the clock to reduce the fever and pain. I would give Advil, then Tylenol 3-4 hours later, and then Advil again 3-4 hours later.

• Feed her lots of cool liquids.

• I pumped my milk and fed Rosie with a spoon (or syringe when she was really irritable)
  • Rosie took well to lukewarm congee and smoothies.

• Give her lots and lots of cuddles!

That’s our experience with Hand Foot and Mouth Disease in all its glory. I’m crossing my fingers that this is the first and last time. What was your experience like?