Yesterday wasn't *all* bad...

[conuly]

After her nap, she felt much better, so we played. And then when Jenn got home...

See, my mom and I (and sometimes Jenn) do this thing where we spontaneously harmonize nonsense lyrics. Or semi-nonsense lyrics. And Ana was sitting with her mom repeating "I want milk. Please want milk?" while Jenn tried to convince her that no, snuggling is better than milk. Which sets me up to start singing "Iiiiiii! Want to snuuuuugle! Iiiiiiii! Want to snuuuuuugle!", causing Jenn to harmonize with me - and Ana joined in, singing her milk part. And when Jenn and I would switch what we were singing, Ana would too. It was great. I couldn't be happier if she'd started playing cards with us.

She's asking why questions all the time now. Weird thing there... when she gets a time-out, afterwards Jenn and 'dul want her to say sorry. I don't care so much about whether or not she's sorry as whether or not she acknowledges that hitting/biting/whatever is unacceptable, but, eh, not my kid. So she'll say sorry, and then to clarify, I'll say "For what? Ana, you're sorry for what? Why are you sorry?" because it's all rather pointless if she doesn't connect the bad behaviour to the time-out, right?

She's now generalized the phrase "for what" to mean "why". So if you ask her to do something and she doesn't want to, she'll turn around and yell "FOR WHAT!" When she's just asking a question, she either uses why or the compound form "for why". Too cute.

Anyway anyway ANYway, I need some help. For the past couple of days, she's had these... hives. And they'll appear in one spot, like her knee or her ankle or her arm, stay there for a few hours, and then disappear only to reappear elsewhere. There seems to be *some* connection to sleeping, they're more likely to show up when she wakes up, but they also show up when she hasn't been near her bed or any of its accoutrements in ages. We're completely baffled. Any ideas?

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

Lots of possibilities, and if it continues, it may need checking with a doctor. But my first thought is that can be quite common with contact dermitis. Which you get when you have contact with something you're allergic to or something that is a skin irritant. The most common thing to cause this is a laundry detergent. My lothario and I have only found one laundry detergent we can use that doesn't make either of us itchy or break out. (We use All, but that won't work for everyone, it's finding what works for you that matters). The odd thing is, I don't break out all over if I use the wrong detergent. Some parts of me seem more sensitive than others, so usually my legs get itchy but I only get hives near my wrists. He reacts a little differently.

So, my first step would be trying a new laundry detergent and washing some clothes and the bed things in it and see if that helps. If it doesn't, I'd try changing a few other factors of things that she has near that area of her body.

But there are other possibilities, including certain parasites, or a more general allergy, like to something in the air... but that would be more likely if there were lots of flowering things around, which is unlikely at this time of year. Possibly she could be allergic to a pet.

[conuly]

That's the *other* thought I had, even using the phrase "contact dermitis". Excepting that as far as we know, she doesn't have any such allergies. Her laundry detergent hasn't been changed, nor the type of fabric on her bedding or clothes, nor her diet (just to rule out a food allergy). No pets, unless you count the baby.

I suppose it's possible she has an allergy to something in the house that we don't know is there - mold or so. We were going to take her to the doctor today, but by the time 'dul showed up, the rash was all gone (only to reappear by the time her mom came home. Gah).

[leora.livejournal.com]

Oops, I meant contact dermititis... lost my place in writing it. Just so you know the common term.

People can develop an allergy at any time, so it's still a possibility. She could have just developed one. I'd try changing things to see if it helps. However, a doctor is a good idea, as just because it comes and goes doesn't mean it isn't an issue. And it's likely to keep doing that. Although if it completely disappears and changes locations enough, that rules out some of the nastier parasites (they're not actually that horrible to deal with if that were it, but they just creep me out because they burrow under human skin).

[conuly]

It just started - had this been going on longer, she'd've been at the doctor anyway, but because it just started we looked at it like "Huh. What on earth will we show the doctor?"

[leora.livejournal.com]

Good point. You should take a picture so you definitely have some evidence if you need it. I'd still try a new detergent, and probably vacuum the area and dust a bit. Vacuuming might actually make things temporarily worse, but better once it airs out a bit. Sometimes when my breathing problems start becoming more active, cleaning up a bit helps.

It's probably just some mild environmental irritant though. But she'll certainly be happier if it can be found.