Is it ok to bathe a kid who has scabs on his chickenpox?

Question

He doesn't have them on yet. This is day 6 for him and keeps getting more. Ugh..so many of them! Some said bathe him every day since it helps, while others have told me not to.

Answer 1

Hi there! It is perfectly ok to bathe a child with chicken pox/scabs. On our move from Missouri to Texas, I had one healing from them and one just starting to cover completely in them. When we got here in Texas, he had full blown CP at the gentle age of 11 months, 3 weeks old. He missed the CP shot by one week!! Needless to say, how do you keep them from picking and scratching at that age....let them bathe all the time if that is what it takes. I put Aveeno oatmeal packs in the bath water, room temp water, and let him play till he was ready to get out. He had the worst case I have seen yet in my kids...covered from head to toe, privates the most, and there were big, ugly red spots all over him. I was worried about scarring on his baby skin...to my relief the baths helped him along. He is a very handsome 3 year old now, with smooth soft skin just like before. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

It doesn't say how old he is, but if he is old enough to understand and communicate then talk to him about the water. If you bathe him in hot water, (as hot as he can take without scalding) it will dramatically relieve the itching. It will itch like heck at first, but after a few minutes the itch will fade and usually not return for several hours. This also works very very well with Poison Ivy (which I get alot), mosquito bites, any kind of skin itch.

The heat causes cells to release histamine (don't know if I spelled that right). That's what causes the itch. The more heat the more histamine is released. Once it's all gone, that's it, no more itch. Usually takes several hours for your cells to produce more.

But he has to be old enough to tell you if it's too hot!!
You don't want to burn him!!

Start with only moderately hot water, if he's ok with that, then slowly add more hot so the temp changes gradually. Don't stay in too long, once it stops itching add cold.

Answer 3

My son just got over chicken pox. I let him stay in the bath as long as he wanted. Bicarb is good but I prefer salt in the water as it sterilises and helps protect against infection. I didn't physically was him, just let the water soothe, and wash when they've cleared up. If you're using calamine lotion to ease the itching the water will not was it off completely but don't worry. I also gave all my kids anti histamine from tje chemist and paracetamol, it really helps.

Answer 4

put some bicarb of soda in the bath - this will help dry the spots up

bathing him / her will help relieve the itching - as often itching can be caused by overheating and will give the child something different to focus on

dont use bubble bath / soap etc.. as this can irritate - just a gentle soak in the bath

Answer 5

Oh, poor kid....

Yes, but very gently if you feel you have to.

I had chickenpox and never picked at them or bathed or even touched them and each one left a scar. Every body is different.

Answer 6

Bathe him in Aveeno. The oatmeal in it is very soothing, and will make him less likely to want to scratch the scabs open.

Answer 7

Yes, just be gentle when you clean the child. It won't do any harm if the scabs come off, but you don't want to be ripping them off.

Answer 8

i let my daughter sit in the bath for hours when she had chicken pox and it didnt hurt her any she had them all over her croch and it helped stop the iching

Answer 9

ask the doc, normally children dotn get chicken pox anymore