Two days ago, Jada woke up with itchy red bumps here and there on her body. As the day progressed, they got bigger, itchier, and spread everywhere. She had hives. She’s had them a few times before, but I’ve never been able to put my finger on what causes them.
Her poor little face. It started out like this:
And then a little bit later it looked like this:
Then it got worse:
Both cheeks were like this, and her ears were very red and swollen as well. Her entire body was covered in a horribly itchy rash.
The doctors have never really been any help when she’s had hives in the past. All they tell me is to give her Benadryl, which I don’t like to do. So, instead of drugging her up, I began searching for a more natural treatment.
The first remedy I came across said to fill a bathtub half full with water, and add 1/2 cup of baking soda, and 1/2 cup of cornstarch. I ran a nice warm bath, and did as was suggested. Jada hopped in and soaked for a while. I also poured 1/2 cup of old fashioned oats (oatmeal) into a sock, tied it off, and threw it into the bath as well.
When I got her out I was horrified to find that she looked twice as bad as she did before the bath! She stood there scratching like crazy, and looking so pitiful.
I got on the computer and searched for another remedy. Someone said that baby oil worked for them, so I covered her in baby oil. It didn’t do any good. Finally, I got desperate and found some medicated itch cream in my cabinet. I could only use a little bit of it though, as it warned not to apply it to large areas of the body. I dabbed some on her cheeks.
As I kept looking online I came across the same baking soda/ cornstarch treatment again. Though this time, the directions were more specific. I was to give her a COOL bath… not a warm one! The warm water activated the histamines which caused the rash to worsen.
Before she went to bed, I gave Jada another bath. This time with really cool water, with the same mixture as before. I rubbed her body with the oatmeal sock. She was cold, so we made it quick.
I was very pleased the next morning when she woke up and her skin was completely cleared up! Yay!! We went outside and the the kids played while I did my chores. Jada and Titus were in the trees, collecting honeysuckle and having a wonderful time.
But when we came back in for lunch I noticed something… Jada was breaking out again! The hives were back, and spreading very quickly. I made a paste out of cream of tartar and water, and rubbed it onto the spots as they appeared. This was very effective at stopping the itching, but the bumps were spreading so quickly, that soon her whole body was once again covered.
Another cool bath, with 1/2 c. of baking soda, 1/2 cup of cornstarch, and an oatmeal sock did the trick.
I’ve decided that it’s probably the honeysuckle that is breaking her out. She was playing with it before her first batch of hives, and quickly broke out once more after playing in it again. It could be something else, but we are definitely staying away from the honeysuckle!
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