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Friday, January 6, 2012

Scary Name, Minor Problem

Lizzy has had a rash around her mouth for a couple of weeks now. At first I wasn't too concerned, because the child can (and does) use her tongue to "wash her face" - and it's scarily flexible. She can get it all the way up to her nose and down to her chin. Impressive, but disgusting, like Abby's party trick of literally putting her foot in her mouth.

But it's getting worse, so I was worried about it developing into impetigo or thrush (which she had as a nursing baby) or God forbid allergic eczema (which was the first symptom of Abby's severe nut allergy). That last was my biggest fear - with a half sister on the one side with severe allergies, and a half sister on the other side with asthma, she's pretty high risk for such things. So I took her to the pediatrician across the street, who diagnosed it as something that gave me just a momentary heart attack, until I realized what the words meant.

Lizzy has salivary dermatitis.

Sounds awful, doesn't it? But like some other medical terms Abby and Lizzy have encountered in their young lives, it's a very fancy name for a very minor problem (as I write this, Lizzy is jumping up and down, shrieking, "salivawy duhmatitis!" over and over). It's the same thing that teething babies get on their chins and chests from all the drool; the reason we put them in bibs even when they aren't eating. The core issue is that she licks her lips too much.

Solution: get her to stop doing it. Then we have another problem; most treatments that taste foul enough to stop her are also not okay to ingest. So we go the middle route - instead of making it taste terrible, make it have no taste at all. Hydrocortizone cream twice a day (after tooth-brushing) and this baby brand of lip balm, which is completely unscented and boring. And constant reminders to not lick her lips.

We'll see how it goes.
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4 comments:

  1. The RambleInnJanuary 6, 2012 at 1:38 PM

    You can also try the Lansinoh cream for breast feeding...a cheap and easy solution and is only food grade lanoline. It also provides a fabulous moisture barrier against the saliva that is much harder to remove than the hydrocortizone.

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  2. JennTheGamerMomJanuary 6, 2012 at 1:47 PM

    I was going to use Lansinoh (my go-to balm since I nursed Abby, nine years ago!), but my local Walgreens didn't have any handy. So I got one of the other things on the list the doctor gave me instead.

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  3. S0rcyJanuary 6, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    I had this problem with both Talon and Caitlyn. The problem was simple, the solution was obtuse.
    Most children, being children have a quick and constant mindset. If the constant action is broken, they are apt to replace it with something else. Caitlyn often stuck her tongue out when she was concentrating on artwork very hard. If she had enough of the artwork, her tongue went back in her mouth and everything was fine. If I interrupted her and did not give her another activity that gave her the same flow, say I had to pick her up quickly and put her in the car to go pick up Talon, out came the tongue and the licking started. She was replacing one activity with another one, one that soothed her (to me) inordinately active mindset.

    Planning carefully can help. Just wearing them out doesn't always work. Try keeping them in the same frame of mind when changing activities. If they are doing this while engrossed in an activity, try changing activities, instead of doing drawing, play a little in the backyard or a nice romp around the living room. Even just a slower activity may be in order, cuddling on the couch. Make sure they don't have to go to the bathroom if they are potty training.
    Children have such complex mindsets. If you only treat the symptom, it may stick around for a long time.

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  4. JennTheGamerMomJanuary 6, 2012 at 3:53 PM

    S0rcy,

    Hoo, boy, do I remember weaning Abby off sucking her thumb. It took *years*. There were deals made with her dentist and with her doctor. She could not stop. You know what worked?

    We got her a "real grownup manicure". That's it.

    Early on she would come to me and say she *really* wanted to suck her thumb, and I'd hand her one of Lizzy's sippy cups. Now occasionally I'll catch her stroking one thumb with the other, and within days I can usually anticipate a request for a trip to the nail salon. But for $12 a couple times a year? Yeah, absolutely.

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