9 month old has rash around mouth

Hey everyone! This is probably one of those DUH questions, but my little boy has a rash around his mouth. He uses a pacifier - only for sleeping. He eats stage 2 baby food along with finger food. He doesn't have any teeth yet, so the drool is a-flowin' most days. Strange thing is, his fists also get a little rashy by the end of the day too, so I'm wondering if it's something other than his own saliva. At any rate, do you have any ideas on what I can do to get rid of it? Or is this one of those 'this too shall pass' things. Thanks in advance for your responses!

Jenny:

Hello to you and it sounds like you're wonderfully happy! That's great! I am to and you know what - having 6 kids has trained me in so many ways. When it comes to rashes though, most likely, it's the saliva which God designed to break down food. It has an irritant in it which causes redness. My recommendation for a tight budget would be petroleum jelly. If you're a health nut and would like to venture out a little bit, I have a website that I get some really wonderful products from. Have a blessed day!

Michelle

My DD is 5 and still gets that rash around her mouth and she never took a paci.....she licks her lips a lot and the entire area gets red and chapped and irritated, summer or winter, chap stick works really well and is fairly safe for them to lick off if they do. good luck.

It's most likely a drool rash. My dd gets one when she cuts teeth. It can get really bad. My suggestion is to put Aquaphor or Vaseline on his chin. If you're concerned about him getting that stuff in his mouth, Lanolin works too. It's for mom's nipples while breastfeeding, but it's safe for baby too.

Hi Jenny,

The rash is normal on the hand and around the mouth - its from teething/drooling. I used to just make sure I bathed my daughter everyday and put fresh lotion on her. I use Neutrogena Emulsion on her because she's got fair, sensitive, Irish skin!!!! It works wonders!

I hope this helps!

Kati

HI Jenny,
Odds are that the drool from teething is causing the irritated skin, however, when a child is allergic to a food the result of the allergy tends to appear the mouth. I would keep a diary of what food you are feeding the baby and think back to when the rash appeared and try to remember if you introduced anything new. I would also call your ped to be on the safe side.

With the air being so DRY indoors and the weather the way it is, I would tend to lean toward it's his own saliva. Leaving just a small amount of wetness on your hands each time after you wash them would lead to the the same thing as an adult. His hand and around the mouth are wet all the time, and therefore causing breakdown. Aquaphor is safe for around the mouth and on the hands. When I worked at Children's in Cincinnati a year ago, we often put it on lips of children of all ages when they get dry. It's water based, and therefore completely safe!
But sitting here typing makes me want to ask if his feet have a rash on them. Fifths Disease, or Hand-Foot-and Mouth Disease, does go around this time of year. I haven't heard as much about it this year as I did last, but if there is a rash on the feet, I would definitly get him to a doc. I'm not really sure what the disease is except that it has a rash on hands, feet and mouth.

Dear Jenny,
I'm no doctor but it sounds like your little pumpkin has a food allergy. Has it just started? Since he is on Stage 2 foods did you go through the tedious stage of one new food a week to see if an allergy develops? If not you may have to back track and start over in the Stage 2 and just feed one type of food a week. If you have done this, my skin around my mouth and my lips are chapped, peeling and red and I'm 35! It could simply be the weather! P.S.-No question is a DUH question! LOL!

You might want to check your little one out for hand foot and mouth. It's a virus that is going around - nothing worse than a cold, but really contagious to a certain point. You might notice little red bumps or blisters on hands, foot and around the butt. There is really not much you can do for them at this point. The worse part is if the bumps turn into blisters inside their mouth - that hurts.

Hope this helps!

I babysit & see many kids get a rash when they are teething. There doesn't seem to be anything you can do about it.

I don't know the cause of the rash but it is probably the contstant drool around mouth from teething. And sucking on hands and pacifier. I think at night if you can sneek in and remove pacifier after he falls asleep it would give the skin time to heal. I think you also need some kind of barrier. Chapsticks and vaseline are OK but they contain alcohol and can be drying to the skin. I am a consultant for BeautiControl and we have a great lip balm that I use on my whole family. Our lip balm does not contain alcohol. It is rich in Vit. C and Wheat germ so it is very healing. You should give it a try. I would be happy to talk to more about it. Respond to this e-mail or call me at (330)966-1174. I look forward to hearing from you. Jennifer Friedl

I am a 43yr. old part time dental hygienist with 3 sons 15,13,& 7. Married for 19yrs. Dental Hygienist for 22yrs. and BeautiControl Consultatant for 1yr. I love all aspects of my life!

hi Jenny,
Drool is horrible stuff and leaves nasty rashes. I personally used Lansinoh breat ointment on my daughters chin when she wen through drooling and finger sucking, it is all natural and safe to use in mouth areas since you dont even have to wipe off to nurse. Good luck!

My daughter had the same thing. She's 14 now. But, she had what is called eczema. It's a type of skin disorder. It will get better with creams and time. But she will have it the rest of her life. Nothing to worry about. Dry skin and it itches. You need to take your baby to the doc and probably will be sent to a dermatologist. I'm not saying that's what your child has but it's exactly what my daughter had at that age. The rash was around her mouth, it also got on her legs some, on her hands and wrists. The more they scratch the worse it gets, so try not to let him scratch. If you see him scratch, stop him, and rub it for him.
My daughter still has it to this day but it does get MUCH better. She itches some on her arms and legs now. No more rash on the face. I hope this has helped you. Good Luck!

When our daughter was teething really bad and drooling like crazy, she started getting a rash exactly where her pacifier was. Our pediatrician suggested we use vaseline on the rashy area. The most important time to apply the vaseline is just before bed time. So, each night, we would get her ready for bed and vaseline her up and then give her the pacifier. Even after one night you could see an improvement :-) I hope this helps.

Small world, my 6 month old has the same thing. Does it look like chapped skin? If so my doc told me to use vasaline. Hope this helps.

I was just reading in What to expect the first year book about teething and one of the signs could be a rash around the mouth. This could be true of your son especially since he does not have teeth and is drooling.

My daughter had the same thing. I put some Arbonne diaper rash cream on his face, which helped, but it was persistent in coming back until she stopped being so drooly. It seems like the constant state of being wet irritates their skin. If the rash sticks around after he's stopped drooling so much, it could be an allergic reaction to something. So, maybe just keep an eye on the things that are coming in contact with his face and hands on a regular basis to start eliminating things. I hope this passes soon for your little on. There's nothing worse than having an ailing little one that you can't help! Good luck!

When my son used a pacifier only when he was sleeping he got a horrible rash too. We figured out it was because he was drooling at night and with the pacifier there, the skin was getting irritated. We put Aquafora on it every night, but it didn't completely heal until we took his pacifier away (and even then it took about 1 1/2 weeks).

See a doctor It could be an allergic reaction to something ..or it could be due to the weather being all messed up. That's what the doctor told me to do, try Cetaphil lotion. I got that for my middle child, due to the fact that she broke out with bumps all over her face, especially the mouth, it too was all over her arms and I thought it was warts at first...but it wasn't. It cleared up my daughters skin within 3 to 4 days.

wooden or natural material pacifier or something for mouth and wash them intea tree oil and bottled water(not Dasani)