could this be chicken pox?

I will be (strangely enough) glad if this is chicken pox, because it will stop the stupid "discussions" with my ped over not getting the cp vax. Anyway, I have never experienced this except as a baby under 1 year, and I don't remember much! (I do remember some, but that's because I always remember stuff from babyhood, but that's OT.) Here are my questions and the background:

Does cp begin with cold-like symptoms? Ds just got over a cold, so it was weird to see him get another one so soon - he feels warmish, but not warm enough to take his temp., and he does not feel terrible.

His appetite has been off - again, nothing dramatic, just a little off.

A rash has broken out on his tummy today, after about 3 days of the cold symptoms - just a few red dots, some kind of funny shaped and long, some tiny.

The cold symptoms seems to be clearing up, with a cough hanging on.

His sleep has been erratic and restless (read: ), with skipped naps, alternating with sleeping like a log (last night).

he has not been exposed to cp that I know of. Any thoughts? I'd appreciate any advice.

[hbmamma]

That's how it started with my dd. All she got was little red bumps then they broke open (dead give-a-way on the CP thing ).

Your dd started out like a cold, too? I did not know that about cp. Were her red bumps on her tummy, around her belly button? That seems like a weird place to me, but I guess it varies. If it's not cp, I have no idea what it is!

[hbmamma]

Yup, overall crankiness with slight fever, cough, runny nose - then the bumps were on her arms and tummy. A couple were on her back. (CP mostly shows up on the "trunk" of the body first - then moves onto the limbs).

Either way, I hope your little one feels better soon! 

(I thought at first she just had a cold with bad bug bites )

I can understand how you would think that about a cold and bug bites! Esp. if you live around here, where the mosquitoes are always waiting with knives and forks and little napkins around their necks.

Well, I will see how it plays out - funny, I was at the HFS today and thought, I should look at homeopathic remedies for chickenpox while I am here, but my budget was tight and I thought, nah, I bet it's just an allergic rash. We'll see! I will search this forum to find tips on treating it at home and making ds more comfortable. My little guy is very sturdy and healthy, so I'm sure he'll be fine. I am just not looking forward to the week coming up...

Watch it not even be cp.

Okay, so I wonder if cp can be this mild - the rash is obvious, and some of the spots are large and irregularly shaped, but his appetite was way up and the rash has not spread since I first noticed it early this afternoon (or has spread minimally), and he seems to feel pretty good. I wonder if it could be cp if it's this mild.
...or does it get worse and this is just how it starts?

[Mamatoto]

Can you take a pic?

That's what I'll do! ...he's asleep now though. That reminds me, I have to cut his nails.

I will take a pic tomorrow if they are still there - if they are not, I guess it wasn't cp.

Well, no use posting a pic because the rash is nearly gone! It was either the mildest case of cp ever, or something else. The bumps looked classic, even with a raised middle, but they just went away rather than becoming blisters and crusting. And ds felt much better today and ate a lot. He has another bump on his neck but it went away (almost) too. The ones on his tummy became light scabs such as you get with a scrape. Crazy!

[hbmamma]

When my DD gets hives, it appears on her tummy in a rash like band. It usually clears up in a day or two. Maybe your ds had a reaction to something? I first noticed the hives after my DD ate oranges. We now know that she has a food allergy to them.

I was wondering about an allergy, too, but I could not for the life of me think of anything he had eaten that was unusual - could he develop an allergy to a food that has henceforth not caused problems?
Today, the spots on his tummy are lightly scabbed and hardly noticeable, but he broke out with some others on his face during the day. And his nose is still stuffy with a slight cough - unusual for him to have that symptom this long - and he seems "off." It may be the mildest case of cp ever, because it sure is mimicking it, just very, very mild.

honestly, I am baffled!

[hbmamma]

Yeah my DD ate oranges for a long time before we started to notice the allergy. It could be that he might just have a cold while he's breaking out in a hives?? It may be best to keep a journal of what he eats and note any changes both physically and emotionally that may be an indicator to a food allergy.