[mommyto2guatboys]

Okay my youngest son who is 3 now has always been the kid that is never really sick, but if someone has something he'll get it, if he rubs against something a rash will appear. Well just this year it has been getting ALOT worse. The other day he got bit by something, assuming a misquito and it swelled up the size of probably a half dollar, he got another rash that i throught was his pants rubbing seriously probably 3 inches long by 2 inches wide, that turned out to be some kind of bug bite. Well today was the kicker, worst so far. We were playing at a park, when all of a sudden my son runs by me and I notice his ear is huge, he said nothing bit him but I couldn't figure out what else it could be. It literally was probably triple the size of his normal ear. It was so red, hard, puffy, swollen, itchy, horrible looking. I took him to the doctor and ofcourse he said that he just has bad reactions to bug bites, I am just scared that maybe the next ones will be worse. Then the doctor noticed a rash my son has and was amazed at it, he said it was contact dertimititis, so pretty much a reaction to something that touched his skin, he gets it all of the time. I was just wondering if anyone else's child gets such bad reactions? What do you do? Put on it? do to prevent it? any ideas would be helpful.

thanks,
Magen
My family!

[devildogwife]

I still as an adult have really bad reactions (huge and incredibly swollen, hard and red and warm, and sometimes cellulitis) to any kind of insect bite. If I'm outside in the evening, I wear jeans, tennis shoes and long sleeves (even when it's 90 degrees) and spray all of me with bug spray, including my hair. Not super comfortable at all, but much better than itching for days on end. It does the job. For really serious bites, I have to go into the doctor for steroids. Otherwise I'll ice the bites and use BandAid Gel on them (it's a clear gel you can get at walmart) which works better than any cream I've ever tried.

[SKL]

My younger daughter has somewhat sensitive skin, and is "allergic" to bug bites. Usually she has a relatively bad reaction to the first few bites, then seems to get some immunity until the next summer. This week she has a particularly ugly mark on the back of her neck. It looks like a boil the size of a half-dollar. But it's not bothering her much, so I am just monitoring it. I asked the doctor what symptoms would justify bringing her in, and she said: size bigger than a half-dollar, pus-y, narrow red stripes, fever.

[angieandstever]

When my daughter gets bug bites they are horrible. They itch so bad. The sometimes ooze with a clear looking sticky liquid (don't know how else to describe it). I always feel so bad for her when she gets them. They leave scars too which take a long time to go away.

She got one on the 4th of July and I put cortaid on it and a bandaid over it for 2 days and it is going down pretty fast. If we do nothing, then she itches and it just gets worse and worse. After the bite on the 4th we changed her into leggings, tucked in socks (cute look, I know!) with a short sleeved shirt and a ton of Off and the bug bites stayed away for the rest of the night. Good luck!

[kirbystarcat]

My little guy has ridiculously sensitive skin. We have the same thing happen with bug bites, and he seems like a bug bite magnet. We went camping last weekend and no one got bit but him and they devoured him. I am a huge fan of liquid benadryl---our doctor helped us with a dosage suitable for a child of his age/weight.

He is also always rashy from something or another. We try to keep him in clean high percentage cotton fabrics. I use a lot of eucerin lotion and aquaphor on him.

This, of course, is in addition to his really bad acropustulosis that he gets on his feet, and sometimes when he has an especially bad outbreak, his hands too.

Our son's relief center and many others in VN are notorious for being scabies infested. Apparently there is a correlation between children who have had a bad case of scabies in the past and various skin issues. Skin issues get discussed A LOT on Vietnamese boards.

[mommyto2guatboys]

thanks for all of the replies, I posted the pics of his ear on my blog, check them out their crazy. The pics I took were 7 hours after I noticed it and had gone down a lot, it was about 3 sizes bigger then the pics. Today the ear is still red and hard and swollen, crazy! Thanks for all of the suggestions we will be trying them all.

My family!
Magen

[momof8]

Our 10 yr old son has always had major reactions to bug bites too. His forehead swelled once to where it resembled Frankensteins forehead. Poor kid! And his ear...Ross Perot here. Anyway, we just give him Benadryl. Others of my children get a bite an virtually no reaction. He has just always been extra sensitive to bug bites and guess always will be. We also put Benadryl topical, anti-itch cream on them.

[Travelkid]

Jamie has awful reactions to bug bites too. I try skin-so-soft, off - you name it, I've tried. Try to keep him covered liketh eother post mentioned, but that is hard on hot summer days.

We find the best way to make them heal is to put on either a hydocortisone cream or antibiotic Cream (depending on severity) and cover with a band-aid.

[jpeel99]

My son is the same way (we had the ear thing a couple of times too ....I gave him benadryl for that)

I buy a non-scented mild children's soap and a lotion that was from the health food dept. made for skin issues like this. We try to avoid bugs somewhat, but he's a 3 year old boy, right????? I just put bug bite cream on him right away.

You can't put him in a bubble, so you can just do the best you can!!!

[NJNative]

The two best things in the world are Benedryl spray and hydrocortisone cream. They have saved me from many days of miserable itching. As soon as you notice the bite, spray the Benedryl spray on it. Most of the time, that's enough to stop the reaction cold.

If, however, the bite starts to itch again, spread hydocortisone cream on it liberally. It should take care of it. And I used to get bites that got to be the size of a golf ball, red, itchy and actually painful.

My niece has the same trouble with bites, and my sister-in-law couldn't believe how well the two remedies worked for her.

For some reason, it seems the people who are sensitive to the bites get the MOST bites!

Good luck.

Robin

[joepegcamp]

My son has the same reaction. He had bug bites on his ears a few weeks ago and looked like Dumbo.

We give him Benadryl for the more serious bites. For the minor bites, we have the benadryl cream that stops the reaction.

I've always been weary of the more potent bug repellants because of the DEET. But it's the only thing that works for my kid. We bought the Deep Woods bug spray and spritz before he goes outside. We do this every single time, regardless of time of day. For his face, I bought an organic spray, and I make sure I get his ears, his scalp and the back of his neck.

Finally, we found something that works.

Does anyone know if kids outgrow this?

[NJNative]

Well, I am 54 years old and I haven't outgrown it yet...LOL.

And if I go outside in the evening, the mosquitos send out an APB that the buffet is now OPEN!