Getting rid of Molluscum in a toddler
Dear Molluscum, you are the scum between my toes. I hate your stinkin’ guts! Love, The Rendon’s.
But really, if you or anyone you know has ever had to deal with this, then you know EXACTLY what I am talking about.
What is Molluscum Contagiosum?
I had never, ever heard or seen anything like this until Summer 2020, because what else could go wrong that summer, the world was already falling apart, right? Why not throw some Molluscum in the mix.
Molluscum is just a viral skin rash that causes pimple or wart-like bumps on your body. It can be treated with different treatments, medicines, or just like any other virus it can run its course and leave the body. It can be easily spread like a virus as well!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy for more information. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
How can Molluscum enter your home?
Summer of 2020 my kids had not had any social interactions in months. Schools were shut down, and I tried to find the best way to have them active, but safe. We did swim lessons at our local pool, and I enrolled my daughter in beginners tumbling class.
Now, I can’t really pinpoint which of these she might have picked it up from. Most likely it was from the pool, these are commonly spread through towels, and typical items found around a pool.
But, all I know is a few weeks later she came and asked what a pimple felt like? I looked at the crease of her elbow and there they were. The 3 MONSTERS that started everything.
But keep in mind this is probably late July at this point. And a timeline when dealing with Molluscum is crucial because these suckers just DO NOT GO AWAY!
So at this point, we aren’t really sure what they are, we decide to leave them alone. A couple of months pass and they are still there. I should also mention that she has picked at them! Despite me telling her not to, and it’s so important that your kids NOT PICK AT THEM! This is how it quickly spread around our own home.
Common in children
Now fast-forward and we’re in September and it’s time for her yearly checkup. We mention the bumps to our pediatrician and she utters these unfamiliar, daunting words… MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM.
And… like any paranoid parent would do, I GOOGLED! To my surprise this is common, in fact, 9 out of 10 cases are in children! I have 3 kids, and a million nieces and nephews and never heard or seen anything like this!
Our pediatrician told us it was viral, it would run its course and go away, she gave us a cream we could use, and sent us on our way. We didn’t end up using it, but instead, let it run its course and a couple of months later it was gone.
So we thought…
The never-ending spread!
Fast-forward again, and now one has shown up on our 4-year-olds back! With some more online searching, I realized these are often referred to as “water warts” so in my head I’m like ok, let’s treat them like warts. We bought this wart remover to try on the kids (now this remover is great for regular warts, not so much for Molluscum.) If your kiddos are suffering from warts, not necessarily water warts then I highly recommend this medicine.
Again, we let it run its course and about a month later it was gone, and we were praising the heavens.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy when you’re rollin’ with the Rendon’s…
And the spread continues
February 2021 I give my one-year-old a bath and realize her back feels super bumpy. At first, it looks like some weird rash. In the summer we dealt with heat rash with her, so again I thought of another weird rash. We switched her body lotion to Gold Bond eczema cream and changed her body wash to Aveeno gentle.
Highly recommend both of these products as they have made our skin so much softer since use! They also keep the skin less irritated and dry when dealing with the skin around Molluscum!
But in this case, the bumps never went away! In fact, they got big and started multiplying like crazy!
Before the end of the week, her back was covered and they finally began to look like….. you guessed it. MOLLUSCOM in all its glory back to haunt us.
How to get rid of Molluscum for good!
Unfortunately our one-year-old got it the absolute worse! After many trips to the doctor and it spreading like crazy, we finally decided to purchase this Molluscum medicine. Now this works wonders if you can handle the smell. It’s VERY strong but will do the job. With her being one we stopped using it because I’d have to send her to daycare smelling that strong!
So this left us with one more option, it was finally time to see a dermatologist and praise the heavens that we did! This terrible rash I guess you could call it, spread super fast in our girl. She eventually got one on her belly, her bottom, under her armpit, and even one on her leg. They were EVERYWHERE and I wanted them gone.
To get rid of Molluscum, there are two parts. Stop the spread, then treat the bumps.
A few things that helped us stop the spread:
-
We put a buttoned onesie on her EVERY DAY. The majority of them were on her back, with a regular shirt she could reach her back and spread them. This helped keep them isolated to that area and her unable to touch them.
-
New bath towels and washcloths at each bath. We do baths every other night for our kiddos and typically use one towel, hang it out to dry, then use it again for one more bath. But during our molluscum issues, we washed A LOT OF TOWELS!
-
No more scrubby. Typically I like to use a scrubby at bath, we switched to washcloths with her. I always washed her back LAST.
-
No sibling baths. To make bath time go faster we put our two youngest in the bath together, and we had to stop that. Any cut or opening in the other child’s skin can easily allow this virus to enter and continue the spread. Showers are best, but with little ones, that’s hard.
-
Wash hands constantly, we’re in the middle of a pandemic so this one is a no-brainer for the most part, but hand washing all. the. time.
Treatment for Molluscum:
After we visited with the dermatologist, she prescribed a compound prescription. This was our best option, as she was too young to do any of the invasive procedures they typically do. Now if you have an older kid there are other, faster methods, like having them frozen off, this can be done in the office. Again, my 1-year-old was too young for this procedure but could be an option for older kids.
I wish this was a blog about an easy at-home remedy to completely get rid of them, but it is not. If Molluscum is in your home you need to stop the spread and get it treated!
Let me tell you. A week after starting the prescription we could finally see results! Now, this is no easy way out. If you’re wanting something like that your best bet is to wait it out. I couldn’t anymore.
The stages of healing Molluscum with compound prescription
With this prescription, the dermatologist essentially told us that this would tell her body that this is a “virus” and start fighting it off and drying them out. That’s exactly what it did.
First, they really start to look like pimples. They become red and seem irritated, this phase didn’t bother her as much as the 3rd phase. It probably worried mama more than the others, but this ended up being a great sign! This is where I would especially use Aveeno and gold bond these products will help not irritate the skin around the Molluscum and keep your kiddo from scratching!
Then they start to “dry out” and scab over. And like with any scab they can become itchy so that was hard trying not to get her to scratch, but also trying not to scratch them in the bath when changing her clothes, or any little bump really. The scabs would fall off and we would get a little blood here and there. But I took this as a great sign! We were on the up and up to healing! And finally, we could see a physical sign of healing!
Within 1 month of starting the medicine, she was cleared of most molluscum! We still have some stubborn molluscum to get rid of.
But as always we’re fightin’ them off, and keepin’ it rollin’!
XOXO,
