One of the things I really take for granted is the super mild and agreeable temper of my baby girl, Lauren. It takes just a few days of her extreme crankiness and irritability to get me down on my knees and thank God for blessing me with the sweetest baby ever. So when Lauren was down with Roseola, I knew never to take her for granted again![space]
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Roseola Symptoms – What You Can Expect
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See, the last week had us up every hour after 12 midnight, soothing and calming down an irate feverish goblin, that kicked, scratched and headbutt us each time she jolted from her slumber.[space]
When she was awake, she’d want nobody, nobody but me. If anyone dared or attempted to take her away from me, she’d be so enraged she’d tear down the house with the sheer power of her screams. Our neighbours came by to see if we were torturing her.[space]
And since it’s the 7th month, Ghost Festival, I even wondered if she saw things she shouldn’t have and got spooked. I sang prayer hymns and she screamed even louder.[space]
High Fever of 40.1 Degrees Celcius
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On Thursday night, she hit 40.1 degrees celcius, and her arms and legs had mottling which totally freaked me out so we rushed her to KKH children’s ER. They did a blood test and it turned out it was a viral infection. No idea what exact virus caused it though, it was too early to tell.[space]
Treatment? Sorry No Treatment
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Verdict? No cure, just let her battle it out, we were told.[space]
So after 4 days of high fever where paracetemol was totally useless, her fever miraculously went away. And on the 5th day, a rash appeared all of a sudden. Ah hah![space]
Rash Appears After Fever Breaks
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This is the demon of a virus that transformed my lovely sweet cheeks into the frenzied, incensed terror that had us totally clueless what to do. The only thing that worked to calm her down, was for ME to carry her and bounce on the gym ball until she dozed off.[space]
If I so much as move her, she’d arch her back, wince and let out her war cry so shrill it’d pierce through our hearts and make us bleed through our eyes.[space]
She refused to eat more than a morsel and only wanted to breastfeed non-stop. Looking back, she hardly walked the entire 4 days cos she had to be carried 24/7 and had her face buried deep into my boobs.[space]
So yep. For more than half a week, I couldn’t brush my teeth, eat breakfast, take a shower or function as a human being because I had a berserker baby on the loose, strapped to me.[space]
The consolation? Babies usually only get Roseola once. Usually is the key word.[space]
In any case, when Lauren grows up, I’d get her to nickname her enemies Roseola.[space]
Update 02 OCT 2017 – Joshie Becomes a Cranky Baby
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It happened again! ARGH! Not to Lauren but to Joshie![space]
This time, it was the classic case of Roseola. Joshie was a chirpy bird by day, and without any warning, transformed into destroyer-of-peace by evening time. There were no telltale signs at all, and after dinner, he was sporting a 40+ fever. Yup. No other symptoms apart from the obscenely high fever and an inconsolable meltdown.[space]
Joshie’s fever spiked so high during the nights, I felt as though I was sleeping next to a furnace. Sigh. And similar to what happened to Lauren, Joshie jolted every 15 minutes while sleeping. Not sure why, but it seems like the Roseola fever has the tendency to cause kids to jolt in their sleep, and cause them to be livid about it.[space]
After enduring 3 full days of whining and whining and non-stop whining, his fever suddenly broke. And then, his whole body was covered in rashes. I didn’t get any photos of Lauren’s roseola rash the last time, so here’s Joshie taking one for the team. And for the record,[space]
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95 Comments
Jasmine
Hi did your baby get the runs here and there from it ?
Jolene Liow
Hi, nope!
Morgan Kohn
My daughter currently has roseola and it’s the worst thing every she’s so cranky and screams and cries all day long also wakes up during the night every 30 mins just screaming it’s been rough yesterday I was so irritated I just cried glad I’m not the only one who has went though this.
Jolene Liow
Yup!
Julia
We are going through this now! The sleeping part has been horrendous, the falling asleep then jolting awake and whining and screaming about it, and trying to soothe him half the time makes him more upset.
We are on day 2.5 of the rash…were your nights still bad during the rash stage? Everything I read says they should feel better and his sleep is SLIGHTLY better but it still wasn’t until after midnight last night that he finally fell asleep for good (probably from pure exhaustion) – I don’t know how many more nights of this I can take :'(
Jolene Liow
I’m sure you got your sweet baby back already!
Kori
I think my son may be going through this. Had. A fever out of nowhere Saturday night, highest it got was 102 axillary. Fever stopped Monday night and now Thursday a full body rash. Also did the jolting in his sleep which scared the crap out of me! Wondering how long the rash stayed?
Jolene Liow
The rash went away after a couple of days.
Matt Hougland
Thank you for this! We went through this with my son when he was about a year and a half. He is now 8. Our 20 month old daughter started with the fever and now has the rash. We remembered most of the symptoms from our son. We remember the doctor saying the same thing about letting it run its course. I am currently in our car in front of our house because our daughter won’t stop screaming and thrashing about. She started to get better today and then tonight started all over again. I know we’ll get through it but it is comforting to hear others with similar experience that got through to the other side. God bless all those kids with it and parents helping them through it.
Jolene Liow
Hi Matt! Indeed, God bless all the babies and parents who have to deal with this!
Leah Ann Lusk
Omg!
I have been carrying my 37 pound 18 month around for 6 days !! Fever broke days ago and rash is still here but she is still not eating much, just BF. Still a cranky sour puss !! Holy heck, this is tough!
Jolene Liow
Indeed! Hang in there, all will be well again!
Brady
Did your little one have fontanel bulge? Is that normal for Roseola? Anyone else see disorientation/constant balance loss? We went to the ER and it was diagnosed as Roseola. My concerns about the neurological symptoms were dismissed.. No one specifically said if this was a feature of Roseola.
Jolene Liow
Hi, is there a fontanel bulge when your LO is sitting upright? If there is, it warrants immediate attention. And no, there’s no associated disorientation/balance loss. If your LO is having problems turning their head left/right/up/down, it could be something more serious like meningitis. Please seek immediate medical help!