What to Do If Your Toddler Gets Into Poison Ivy
You probably never really thought that there could be a ton of poison ivy just hanging out in your back yard waiting to be discovered by your little ones. But what do you do if your child suddenly begins complaining that they are itchy? How can you tell if they have poison ivy? The first thing that you need to do is take care of your child. Usually your child’s skin will look red, and swollen, and in some cases blisters will appear. This is of course in addition to all of the itching. It will take about two weeks for your child to completely heal.
The blisters will eventually form a crust on top and just flake off so you will not have to worry to much about them. The main problem will be the continuous itching. Try putting them in a cool bath, this will help to minimize some of the itching. After their bath apply some calamine lotion. This can be found at just about any store and supermarket. Apply the lotion over any area that they indicate to you is itchy. If the rash looks to be a lot more severe and your child continues to complain it may be a lot more serious, so you should immediately take them to the doctor. They will be able to tell how serious the condition is.
If it looks pretty bad to the doctor they will usually prescribe a liquid or a pill called an antihistamine. This will help to reduce the redness and the itching, and will help to make your child a lot more comfortable. There are also additional medicines that can be prescribed by your doctor that can be applied directly to the rash. Remember the most important thing is to make sure that your child is comfortable.
Once you have taken care of your child and they are recovering, you will need to find out exactly where the poison ivy is at in your yard (if this is where they got the rash). First take a look online to find a picture of what poison ivy looks like. It does change it’s appearance along with the seasons, so make sure that you are looking at the correct picture. One helpful website that has these type of pictures is www.kidshealth.org.
This site will tell you how to find the poison ivy, and how to safely remove it from your yard. Never wait to remove the poison ivy. If you fail to take care of it right away then you may end up forgetting about it, and you will have to go through all of this again the next time your child touches it. You should also take the time to educate your child. Show them pictures of what poison ivy looks like. This way even when they are away from home they will be able to identify it and stay away from it.
