Chicken pox is one of those illnesses that toddlers suffer from at one point in their young life. But like other illnesses, it’s short lived and can be easily avoided through vaccination. One thing you have to control is the rushes that can leave scars on your toddler’s skin.
Chicken pox is an infection caused by a virus called the varicella-zoster and is very contagious. It’s actually a children’s disease so expect it to hit your toddler. Children below 10 years of age are the main victims of this. Nevertheless, once your toddler has it, he can never have it again. However, if children older than 10 get it, serious complications may arise so better have it now than later.
Signs and Symptoms
- Rash is the most evident symptom of chicken pox. Spots appear in crops and turn into small itchy blisters that spread all over your toddler’s body. Some toddlers may be covered with spots while others have only a few or in some cases, none at all.
- Fever, sore throat and headache are also common symptoms together with your toddler feeling tired and hungry. Some children get rashes but none of the fever.
- If your toddler caught the virus, an incubation period of 14 to 16 days happens before the symptoms kick in.
- After the red spots finally appears, it takes 1 to 2 days for the red spots to go through all its stages-blistering, bursting, drying, and crusting over. Expect new red spots to appear every day for the next 5 to 7 days.
Toddler Care: Treatment and Remedies
Vaccination is your toddler’s best defense against chicken pox. Doctors recommend that you give your toddler the first shot at 12 to 15 months, and the second dose at 4 to 6 years.
If your toddler already caught the virus, the next best thing to do is relieve the itching and fever. You can give him a cool bath every 3 to 4 hours. Sprinkle some baking soda or colloidal ointment (specifically made for bathing) into the water for added relief. After the bath, put calamine lotion on the itchy spots.
Try to keep your toddler from picking and scratching his sores as this can slow down the healing process and leave ugly scars or worse, lead to infection.
Like any other diseases, prevention is always better than cure. Don’t forget to get your toddler vaccinated for chicken pox and minimize the risk of having to deal with this illness. In any case, having a medical kit that has all the pain and fever remedies can greatly help in case the disease strikes on your toddler.
