My son had the hives tonight and ER doc had no clue why?

Question

My 5 1/2 month old son broke out in a big case of the hives tonight. I was so freaked I took him immediately to the ER. They were all over his arms legs and around his mouth and neck/ears. I asked the doctor why he got them and he said he had no clue, but prescribed my hydracortisone for infants and sent me on my way. Now, I'm supposed to watch out for labored breathing. Has anyone had this happen to their child before and did you figure out the reason why? I haven't introduced any new foods, no new detergents and the baby soap I used today for his bath was the standard Johnson & Johnson baby bath wash. Does anyone have any suggestions or had this happen to their baby before?

Nope no fever.

I wondered about the J&J baby wash...I've not really used it very much in his bathes before. I'll have to use something different.

WELLL....I never thought of that, but I did take him into my work today and tons of people were holding him. All ladies that could possible wear perfume. About 1 hour after the work visit is when he broke out.

Answer 1

Is it possibly from the weather? Dry skin can be caused from severely cold weather the hives might be from the dry skin?
-or-
Did maybe a friend or relative hold him that might have had fragrances in their clothes from detergent?
Just because you didn't use any new detergents, did anyone else that held him?

Answer 2

Is he running a fever?
Our son had hives and a fever when he was 2. We took him to the Urgent Care place- it was viral. The next day and a half later- he was completely fine.

Without a fever though, I haven't a clue.
I hope he is feeling better really soon. You worry more when you don't know WHAT caused it and how to prevent it next time.

Good luck!

Edit: Try Dove Soap.
Me and both younglings have sensitive skin- and that's what I use on them. I started the baby as soon as she was born because she got a rash from something, but it looked more like Prickly Heat.

Edit: Mommy of one is right- if someone holds your baby with strong detergent, that will cause a rash- normally a contact rash though- in the place that they were held. My mom uses Tide and when she was holding our daughter, the baby got a rash on the side of her face- where her head was resting.

Answer 3

Some kind of allergy to maybe something blooming or in the air outside this time of year maybe? DO you have any pets that maybe he could just now start showing allergy signs for? Our son started breaking out on his chest a few weeks ago and the dr. just gave us the hydracortisone, too, which works as long as we keep using it, but as soon as we stop it pops right back up. I'm still not sure what it is either. Sometimes after I wash our clothes seperately they all get thrown into a clean pile together for me to fold. I don't know if there could be some kind of detergent transference (if you use different soaps on the clothes). Our son never showed an allergy towards out cat, but we are starting to believe he is just now starting to show signs of it and is why he is breaking out.

Answer 4

My daughter did the same thing when she was a couple months old I freaked! It turned out to be the j&j lavendar bubble bath AND the soap! I have to buy hypoallergenic stuff...I took her to the dr because she broke out in hives and also was given the cream and it took 5 days for them to fully go away and her skin be back to normal. Good luck and I sympathize with you on this one!! Wishing you the best!!

Edit: we had been using the soap since she was born and she was fine, then when she was 8 or 9 weeks old she totally broke out! So just cuz you have been using it all along doesn't mean it isn't that.

Answer 5

Hasn't happened to me but my brother used to break out in hives sporadically as a child. Turns out that the washing machine was not always rinsing the clothes that well, especially if it was a large load and he had a sensitivity to the laundry soap. Running everything through for a second rinse took care of that.

Could be a sensitivity to just about anything. Was he around or held by someone new or someone wearing perfume/body spray? Exposed to a new animal? New toy? Was he someplace new today? Or even out of the house? New package or brand of diapers or wipes? Some babies are just really sensitive to certain fragrances/perfumes that we don't even notice.

If this starts to happen occasionally you will have to start playing detective to figure out what is causing it. This means questioning anyone who holds your boy what laundry detergent/fabric softener they use, what perfume they wear, etc.. until you track it down. But the best place to start is to take his clean clothes and blankets, crib sheets, etc.. and run them through a second rinse.

Answer 6

sometimes it can take time for an allergy to develop... it may not have been something new.

my daughter, at 2 years, broke out in hives one night... really bad... and had lots of soft tissue swelling - her upper lip, her outer labia, and her eyes.

the only thing she'd had that was fairly unusual, but by no means totally new, was a half dose of ibuprophen because she had complained about her head hurting (I suffered from migranes as a child, so when mine complains about a headache, that's the only time I run for the medicine w/out questioning her), plus it was passed her bedtime and I wanted no fussing at this point. just 10 minutes later we were helping her out of her clothes and panties for her pajamas and night time diaper when we noticed some patches of hives... it seemed to hit her body before her face - especially her labia, but once it hit her face, that's when the soft tissue swelling had us dressing her quickly and heading for the car... by the time we arrived at the hospital her eyes and lip were horrible, her lip was so big it was covering her nostril, and her eyes looked like someone had inserted marbles into her tear ducts.

as soon as we walked in they gave her 2 injections and started an IV line w/ different allergy meds... after they drew a few vials of blood for testing, they said it was not viral, nor any kind of infection, that it was most likely an allergic reaction. the ER docs and her usual Ped. who saw her a couple of days later all agreed that it was the ibuprophen.

this WAS NOT the first time she'd had some ibuprophen.

she'd gone through a small infant dose vial, and one children's strength bottle already - mostly during teething and a nasty bout w/ thrush that was super painful. so this was the 3rd time I'd bought some!!

she's 4 and a half now, and I recently asked her ped if we should have her tested, or should I just give her some one day to sort of double check if that's what it was or if she's outgrown that allergy. her suggestion was to wait until she was a bit older, but that yes we should - just maybe when she's 8 or something.

Answer 7

If you have been using the same bath wash that wouldn't be it he would have had the hives before now, have you put on any new after bath products or bathe in something different or use perfume for the first time today? or anyone else that he may have come in contact with him it doesn't necessarily means you change something with him it could something someone else had on or wearing that caused him to break out, my daughter just has to smell shell food and will break out.........good luck trying to track it down................

Answer 8

I have the same problem with my boys.
Is suggest you have an allergy test done on him. My kids are allergic to heaps of different fragrance and soaps. I couldn't work out why they kept getting break outs of hives.
Hives usually go away after a day or so. Just keep them clean and he will be fine.
xxxxx

Answer 9

1

Answer 10

I would switch to perfume and dye free laundry soap and baby wash for sensitive skin. Aveeno works great and they have scent free baby lotion. My son got my husbands extremely sensitive skin and if he gets in contact with something he will scratch himself bloody.