Hand, Foot, and Mouth in Toddlers: Symptoms, Management, and What Actually Helped Us (Besides Wine and Screaming)

Daycare: where you pay good money to take your child so they can catch diseases with unimaginative names. Then you get to look after your child yourself at home, like you do every other day… and, by the way, you’re still paying those daycare fees.

We’ve now had hand, foot, and mouth disease in our house twice this month. That makes me kind of an expert, right?

We had to keep our son home from daycare at the start of the month because he had it. He went back for two weeks, the skin on his hands was still healing, and then he got it again. So, he was home with me once more, making it a total of two out of four weeks he’s attended daycare this month.

I thought I’d share my experience… with a side of sarcasm, of course! Hopefully, this helps other desperate parents out there.

First of all, the name is terrible. The blisters can appear in many areas of the body, it just so happens that the hands, feet, and mouth are the more common ones.

Secondly, it’s a viral infection, so “disease” seems like such a harsh label. I thought scientists liked naming diseases after themselves, but I’m guessing no one wanted this one on the day it was discovered.

Symptoms

In both cases, it took us several days to catch on to what was going on. The symptoms were ninja-like, managing to disguise themselves as other common ailments.

Red rash: Our son started with a red rash on his face. Since he suffers from eczema, we assumed it was a flare-up. On the second occasion, I even took him to the pharmacy when it got particularly bad. The pharmacist looked at it and prescribed a hydrocortisone cream, so he didn’t pick up on it either.

It wasn’t until a couple of days later, that small bumps started appearing in some of the red areas. By this point, we already knew he had it and was showing other symptoms.

I’ve since learned hand, foot, and mouth, like many viruses, can cause eczema to flare up and become infected. So, always be on the lookout for eczema flare-ups, as they can be a sign of other illnesses.

Dribbling and pain when eating: This was the second symptom he showed during the first bout, and we mistook it for teething. He’d try and eat something and when he put it in his mouth, he’d cry out and take it out again. He was also dribbling a lot more than usual. Since he’s only 18 months and still has a lot of teeth to come through, we assumed it was just teething.

During the second round, the mouth pain didn’t start until after the blisters appeared on his hands.

This pain comes from the “mouth” element of hand, foot, and mouth. They can develop painful blisters and throat inflammation, making eating difficult.

Lack of appetite: I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve put a carefully prepared meal in front of my son, and he’s thrown most of it on the floor. Once again, I mistook this symptom for fussy toddler syndrome. In both cases, our boy was a little off his food for a couple of days before we realised what was going on.

I was a little suspicious when he started refusing his evening bottle, but I also put this down to the possibility of him becoming a strong, independent baby who just didn’t want it anymore.

Trouble sleeping: On both occasions, he had a few restless nights where he woke up crying a lot. I can usually feed him and get him back to sleep when this happens. Since he wasn’t feeding properly, there wasn’t much else I could do for him except give him pain relief for the supposed teething issues I thought he was having.

One morning, I tried to get him to sleep on the lounge with me. Then the cat started meowing for her breakfast… and then he started meowing back. I eventually gave up, and we started our day… at 4:30 a.m.

Runny nose and cough: Hand, foot, and mouth can also cause cold-like symptoms. Our son permanently has a chesty cough and a runny nose now, so I can’t be sure if this was a symptom or just ongoing daycare snot.

Blisters: After a few days of sleepless nights, fussiness, dribbling and eczema flare-ups, I finally noticed tiny blisters forming on his hands. Most of them were quite small, but he did have a few larger ones as well.

The blisters on his feet appeared later. They were also very small ones on the soles, and didn’t seem to bother him.

He also ended up with some blisters on his upper thighs, bottom, and neck.

Once I found the blisters on his hands, I knew exactly what it was. It was a huge relief after days of watching him suffer from various symptoms. I knew something wasn’t right, so it was actually quite a weight off when the blistered penny finally dropped.

Other Symptoms

Some of the images I found of hand, foot, and mouth make it look quite horrific. I consider us lucky that our son seemed to only have a mild case of it each time.

Another common symptom is a fever, but he didn’t experience this at all.

In extreme cases, the virus can affect the brain and heart, causing stomach pain, shortness of breath, and even seizures.

Management

There isn’t really any treatment, except to wait it out and manage the symptoms.

Pain relief: Paracetamol or ibuprofen can be given to relieve symptoms of pain and fever. We gave our son both for pain relief, but he was still experiencing a lot of pain while eating, so I’m not sure how effective it really was.

A doctor once warned me that ibuprofen is harsher on the system than paracetamol, so I usually save it for nighttime because it lasts longer. I gave paracetamol during the day.

Diet: We gave him soft foods for a few days. He especially loved yoghurt pouches… until he discovered custard pouches. After that, he would push the yoghurt aside and say “Yellow,” because the custard pouch was yellow.

Although he wanted to take his bottle, every time he put it in his mouth, he would push it out again. I found giving him his milk in a sippy cup with a spout seemed to be better for him to manage.

I also fed him lots of pasta. However, I don’t recommend anything with a spicy sauce. Unfortunately, I tried that before I figured out what was wrong with him.

Cuddles: I prescribe a large daily dose of cuddles for this illness. They can’t sleep or eat properly, and they’re just feeling generally miserable, so lots of love and distractions are needed.

Signs in Adults

Both times I think I caught it. Adults have similar symptoms to children, but they are often less severe.

The first time, I had a sore throat and lost my voice for a few days. This is a common symptom in adults.

The second time, I had a few minor blisters on my hands, and I suffered the tragedy of having to cancel my monthly book club and wine-drinking plans.

To make up for my loss, I bought a bottle of wine on one of our outings and finally figured out what this pocket in my nappy bag is for!

Final Thoughts

Hand, foot, and mouth is highly contagious and spreads through contact with fluid from the blisters, saliva, and poo, so good hygiene is always the best practice.

After a person has been infected, their bodily fluids can remain infectious for up to a month. No wonder this virus is constantly doing the rounds at daycare!

Most daycare centres require you to keep them home until the blisters have dried out, but it sounds like our son will still be carrying the virus for a few weeks after that.

He's back at daycare now, so I look forward to seeing what he brings home next!