AnnE-girl Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Dd had what looked like a mosquito bite about an inch below and to the side of her eye that I first noticed last night. During the day today it's gotten more swollen and puffed up under her eye. DS and a few extended family members react pretty dramatically to bites sometimes, so I wasn't alarmed but decided to try Benadryl because she was getting uncomfortable. The stuff we had was expired so we went to the drugstore and I checked with the pharmacist that I had the correct stuff since we don't usually need allergy meds. The pharmacist said that if the Benadryl doesn't help by morning, it could be a some kind of infection and to take her in to the weekend clinic. So now I'm a little more worried and wondering how many doses of Benadryl I should expect it should take if it is just an overreaction to a bite. I gave her the smallest dose for her age at 6:00. Should I wake her 4-6 hours after that to take a second dose of just see how the one dose does by the morning? I haven't had to give my kids Benadryl very many times to know how quickly it should work for something like this. Her eye has been itchy and a little uncomfortable with the swelling, but she's been acting fairly normal aside from being ready for bed earlier than normal after taking the Benadryl. Thanks for any words of wisdom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I didn't want to read and run. No real advice but it is probably a mosquito bite. When my dd gets bit they puff up insanely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJ. Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 My oldest gets huge welts from mosquito bites. I would keep an eye on it but I wouldn't worry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terabith Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 How old is she? When I was 15 or so, I was bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes and had a pretty severe reaction. For several years after that, even a single bite would result in a huge reaction/ swelling. I was told to take two Benadryl and three aspirins. The Benadryl reduced the histamine load and the aspirin thinned the blood. It was pretty effective, but I wouldn't give it to a pre-pubertal child without a doctor's permission because of the risk of there being a viral infection. I would definitely wake her in four hours and give her a more substantial dose of Benadryl. The only reason to take her to the weekend clinic, in the absence of any systemic symptoms, would be because it's close to her eye. Not that it's going to make her go blind, but it can be pretty uncomfortable. They can give a steroid, which can improve things quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 DS looked like he had a really badly broken ankle from three huge bites one summer and last year my nephew looked like an alien from one on the bridge of his nose and a couple on his forehead. That's why I wasn't so worried until the pharmacist said something. She's only six, so I went with the smallest dose in the age 6-12 range. I will wake her up for another dose before I go to bed. Thanks for the advice and reassurance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I have seen mosquito bites on children's faces swell pretty badly. I would take her to the doctor if it keeps getting worse despite the benedryl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RKWAcademy Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 My daughter has a big reaction to mosquito bites. When she was about 4, she had a bite on her upper eyelid right beneath the brow. It swelled her entire eye and the skin was a bit off colored - not blue or red but just not the same color. The next day it was actually worse. I'd given her benedryl. I took her to her doctor who told me it happens and there is nothing to worry about. I stopped the benedryl and we just had to wait. She looked like she'd been in a fight for many days. Then it was gone. I wouldn't worry about it unless it gets substantially worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammi K Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 My daughter routinely got so swollen she would develop cellulitis on the bites on her face or head. The bites would get puffy, swollen, weepy. She finally outgrew the extreme reaction as she got older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 My daughter routinely got so swollen she would develop cellulitis on the bites on her face or head. The bites would get puffy, swollen, weepy. She finally outgrew the extreme reaction as she got older. My son got periorbital cellulitis earlier this year (origin unknown) and our first response was to try Benedryl because it looked like an allergic reaction. As soon as we took him to the doctor, she told us to send him immediately to the hospital. After several days of IV antibiotics he was as good as new. I had never heard of this before my son was diagnosed with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 dd gets huge reactions from mosquito bites also. We normally try to carry benedryl cream with us on walks and get some on the bite quickly. While the cream doesn't reduce the swelling much (I don't know what size they would have been, but she still gets quite a big lump) it does make her more comfortable. Follow up with the pills later. It takes a couple of days for the swelling to go down and then she has a bruise for at least a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 I also would consider this a normal reaction to a mosquito bite. My 15 yo has similar reactions to mosquitoes, ants and--new this summer--centipedes! She actually had an oral round of steroids for the centipede bite. It is pretty hard to overdose on Benadryl, so I would not hesitate to load her up at the maximum dosage for her weight if the bite is making her uncomfortable. I have read something on here about combining Benadryl and Pepcid, maybe? Might want to google that or, you know, talk to an actual medical professional before proceeding. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnnE-girl Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Well this morning I can see the bite next to her eye has gotten smaller, but under her eye is still very swollen. We're heading to the weekend clinic just to be cautious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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