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Lorraine
EricaAs I walk into my son’s nursery after a long, hot, sticky summer night I notice that my two year old has little red dots all over his chest and back. At first I absolutely freak out thinking that my son has the chicken pox….but after two hours of compulsive googling “small red spots” I uncover that I can take my son out of quarantine. As it turns out the red dots are just a heat rash.
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Whew, heat rash I can handle….or can I? How does one treat a heat rash? Do I rush my son to emergency, do I buy a vat of calamine lotion and dip him into it, or do I bath him in arm and hammer baking soda? No, what I uncovered was the best way to handle a heat rash is to do what no mother is comfortable doing… NOTHING! Ensure that your baby is not too hot or moist by putting a fan nearby or keeping your little one in the shade. But, other than that…there isn’t much to do but wait for the little yucky bumps to disappear.
Heat rashes are just nature’s way for our bodies to combat the heat. They don’t itch and they don’t burn….they just sit there and look terrible. Once the weather cools down the rash will go away on its own and my son will go back to having the beautiful, soft, baby skin that I love to hug and kiss.
So step back, take a breath and don’t let the heat rash scare. As I am not a doctor, I do recommend ensuring that you verify it is a heat rash and not something more serious. If your child has any other symptoms or the rash does not fit the profile of previous heat rashes, your best course of action is always the doctor or at least the nurse’s hot line.
Filed under: Baby Tagged: | Baby, Family, heat rash, infant care, Motherhood, Parenting, rash
I looks much more nasty than it is…I agree and I do think they start getting over it at about the age of one or so….thank goodness….great post! love the new name!
The first time my daughter had a heat rash I was frantic – I had no idea what it was either!
I found a cool cloth was helpful, along with a big-assed glass of wine for me…
Thank you, 3 month old son has a rash right now I was worried it was measles I just don’t know. I’m going to google it thank you for the advice it is probably nothing!
I find that sunscreen brings out a heat rash on my toddler. Of course we have to slap on the sun protection, but it either reacts or blocks the pores and he ends up with a nasty heat rash on his neck and shoulders. It looks itchy and sore, but it doesn’t seem to bother him as much as it bothers me.
Gosh, yes I can imagine how scared you must have been. We worry about anything and everything, we parents!
So glad you found a way to resolve it, and your advice here is, I am sure, invaluable to many parents.
CJ xx
Kids skin will absorb the chemical uv-absorbers, synthetic preservatives, and artificial fragrances 1.4 times faster than adults. Their bodies are also not as effective at handling these chemical imbalances. Try using a natural sunscreen solution that contains zinc as it’s active ingredient. There are a number on the market, but the top ranked sunscreen by the EWG is Soleo Organics All Natural Sunscreen, shameless plug, check out the EWG findings here:
http://www.ewg.org/whichsunscreensarebest/2009report
Best Baby Sunscreens Here:
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?category=babysunscreen