Toddler Health

Caring for a Toddler with Mouth Sores: A List of Foods and More

Hand, foot and mouth disease was something I had never even heard of. When my toddler suddenly had small pimple-like sores on his butt, I assumed it was just some sort of yeast-based diaper rash or another bane of his eczema. Later, when he complained his tongue hurt, and I found a mouth sore, I assumed he had a canker sore. On both counts I was wrong. My toddler had hand, foot, and mouth disease. Despite being called a “disease,” hand, foot and mouth is actually just a common childhood virus.toddler with mouth sores food list

While symptoms may vary, I learned when my second toddler began showing signs of this highly-contagious virus you’ll likely see red spots or fluid filled blisters on the hands, feet, and mouth — hence the name. A toddler with mouth sores from the virus will experience raw, painful marks much like canker sores.

Toddlers and infants also often get sores on their butts in the diaper region. Fever, irritability, loss of appetite, and fatigue are other common symptoms. Hand, foot and mouth is contagious only when sores are present and active, meaning they haven’t burst or begun to heal. Much like chicken pox, hand, foot, and mouth is generally a one-time type virus. As there are a few different strains, you can get it more than once, but never from the same strain.

Sadly, because hand, foot, and mouth is caused by a virus, it can’t be treated with medication directly. All you can do is treat the symptoms. The virus generally resolves itself in seven to ten days. However, even seven to ten days can be a long time with a whiny toddler with mouth sores who is in pain and may or may not be able to eat or drink comfortably. Fever and discomfort can benefit from a bit of Tylenol or ibuprofen, but the biggest issue I had was trying to find things my toddler could eat. This is what I learned…

Things to avoid for a toddler with mouth sores:

-Bottles: The sucking motion can be quite painful. On the upside, I used this opportunity to wean my toddler off the bottle at bedtime. Soft-nippled sippy cups seem to be OK.

-Spicy or acidic foods: If you’ve ever had a canker sore you can relate; acidic food in particular, such as citrus, is not recommended.

-Chewy or crunchy foods: Chewy foods tend to stick to the teeth, mingle with saliva and aggravate every sore in your toddler’s mouth. My toddler was particularly annoyed that eating candy hurt. Crunchy foods can scrape against sores causing bleeding or at the least, more pain.

Foods that are good for a toddler with mouth sores:

You want to aim for soft, easy-to-swallow foods that are neutral or base in nature. Dairy-based foods, for instance, are almost always neutral or base. Cold foods can also be very soothing. Here are some ideas to give you an idea of what works:

-Ice cream or Popsicles
-Yogurt or cottage cheese
-Jello or pudding
-Apple sauce
-Mashed potatoes
-Oatmeal
-Clam chowder
-Chicken or beef vegetable soup (do not use a tomato base)
-Seafood or chicken Alfredo, or any white-sauced pasta for that matter
-Macaroni and cheese

In the event your child’s mouth hurts so badly they simply won’t eat, push water. Dehydration is one of the biggest risks of hand, foot, and mouth and other conditions that cause mouth sores. I found my toddler handled milk well during the short period he wouldn’t eat. You can opt for Pediasure dietary supplements if your child will drink milk. They have a touch more sugar, so you may have to dilute them with regular milk, but they can help fill dietary holes from not being able to eat. Ovaltine or other milk-mix-ins may be another option to add some calories. Rest assured that your child won’t die or become skin and bones from a dramatically decreased diet a few days. As long as he or she is getting liquids and peeing regularly, everything should be fine.

Feel free to add your suggestions for a toddler with mouth sores in comment.

You also might want to give this little known complication of hand, foot, and mouth a read, I was pretty freaked out when my kid’s finger and toenails started falling off.

Stuck in My Toddlers Nose! Removing a Foreign Object From a Child’s Nose

One of my sisters has seven kids. There’s probably not anything her kids, nor any kids, could do that would surprise her at this point, but I remember back when she only had one kid. I remember when her first born was giggling away at his all-smiles uncle dancing about with corn on his teeth and in his nostril. I remember when said toddler  rammed corn in his own nose in imitation, let out a giggle-snort and sucked that bad kernel right up his right nostril. I then remember said sister flipping out and having to call the ER for instruction on how to remove a piece of corn from a one and a half year old’s nose. I also recall the ER clerk laughing almost as hard as said toddler at the dancing-corn uncle.

While this story always gets a laugh at holiday gatherings where that toddler is now a teen, when your toddler has something in his or her nose, it’s not so comical. A toddler with a nose obstruction often sneezes a lot, or even gags, and it can be scary — not just because we all remember our own moms telling us if we put our finger too far up there we’d poke our brains, either. It’s because anytime anything is wrong with your child, it’s scary. So, what do you do if there’s something stuck in your toddler’s nose?stuck in my toddlers nose

Assess the situation:

Before doing anything at all, stop and tell yourself to stay calm. If you’re calm, your toddler will be as calm as someone with something lodged in their nose can be, I suppose. In the majority of cases, while the object may annoy your child, it won’t hurt him or her. Find yourself a good light source, preferably something you can manipulate like a flashlight and have yourself a peak at what you’re dealing with. You want to answer two questions:

1. What’s stuck in your toddler’s nose? (On the off-chance you didn’t see what it was going in.)
2. How far up is what is in your toddler’s nose lodged?

Avoiding a laughing ER clerk:

If the object is close to the entrance of the nose or could be easily removed, simply get some tweezers, tip that tiny noggin’ back, brave the screaming, and remove said object. An infant nasal aspirator could possibly work depending on the item stuck as well.  It may even help to simply have your toddler try to blow their nose. Often toddlers who don’t know how to blow their nose can still imitate the action if you do it first, so you may have to play monkey see, monkey do.

Some parents have luck with a bit unorthodox approach. First, lean your child back. Plug the nostril which isn’t currently containing something it shouldn’t, and then blow into your child’s mouth. Just one strong puff, and in many cases it flies right out, such as in the video below from Juggling the Jenkins:

When to call in professional reinforcement:

You could, of course, call a sibling with seven kids if you’re at-home-removal fails, but if you can’t get the object out, you will need to contact your doctor. In most cases, immediate removal isn’t necessary and the ER isn’t in your future.

Immediate care cases include:

-Batteries.
-Chemicals or items that contain chemicals, for example, a piece of a cigarette.
-A food stuff that may swell as a result of nasal moisture. Beans, in particular, seem to end up in
noses often.
-Something sharp.
-The lodged item is so far back in the nasal passage it’s affecting breathing, or has been inhaled into the throat or lungs and can’t be removed.

In all other cases, just getting into a clinic as soon as possible is fine. As an added note, if you remove an item and continue to see signs of a nasal blockage, you should see your doctor, as well.

Signs of a nasal blockage:

You thought I’d skip this part didn’t you? Truth be told, sometimes you may not even know your child put something in their nose. In these cases, watch out for:
-Frequent, unexplained or extended nose bleeds.
-Excessive nasal discharge or infection (not sure what an infection looks like? read about booger colors.)
-Sneezing, coughing, and other signs of an irritated nasal passage.
-Excessive picking of the nose.