Facial rash

My granddaughter has many white lumps on her face and now on her eyelids


Is she just a few weeks to a few months old, these are so common as to be considered normal. If she is older do they itch which would make one consider allergy. If not I would not be concerned except I would check for tinea between her toes and treat it if present.
Dr D. Robinson

child sleeping excessively

Dear Tiffany,
Children sleep more with any infection - infectious mononucleosis included. Does he have any other features to suggest he is ill?
Is he getting enough sleep at night or is it possible that he stays awake using his computer or mobile phone. This is a very common event these days.
A scary possibility is of some drug he has taken is the cause.
Can you wake him? If not take him to an Emergency Department.
I think a medical check tomorrow would be needed in any case.
David Robinson

On 10/6/2011 9:44 AM, Tiffany wrote:
> Tiffany has left a
> new comment on your post "Infectious Mononucleosis
> ":
>
>
> I have a question my son who just turned 7 years old has been falling
> asleep at school i picked him up today from school and he was sleeping
> in the Principles offer for an hour an a half took him home which was
> 330 and its now 730 and hes still sleeping could he have Mono. hmm im
> not to sure how to come back on here so can u please email me
>
> thanks so much!!!
>
>

Labial Fusion in a 6 Year-old

My 6-year-old daughter has fusion of the labia discovered when she had a urinary infection. Her doctor has separated them with a probe which hurts and they fuse together again despite applying Vaseline as the doctor suggested.
She is now terrified of anyone looking except me (her mother) and says there is no problem. What should I do?

You could apply an oestrogen cream to the labia twice a day as this will encourage the fused area to break down without any trauma. This will happen anyway with the surge of oestrogen at puberty and if it is not causing any problems you might wait until then. If she suffers repeated urine infections then it should be dealt with now.

Toddler Chronic diarrhoea

My 21 month old was experiencing a severe 'smokers' cough for about 9 months and then developed chronic diarrhoea which was frequently very milky. Suspecting lactose intolerance I changed from cows milk to soya milk (not a good idea in infants by the way), his poo changed colour but otherwise was the same. I went straight to Jan de Vries (Auchenkyle, Troon, UK) he prescribed echinacea and a herbal bowel preparation and within 2 weeks his cough was gone and he was back to his normal poo pattern. He also recommended that I switch to Nanny's goat milk formula as cows milk is extremely high in protein and can be very difficult for some infants to digest. Don't know if this is in any way the same as very few tests were done but it might be worth getting the opinion of a qualified naturopath. DO NOT give herbal remedies without consulting a practitioner!!!!

Thank you for this account of your child's problems and their resolution. I am glad he is well again. Goat's milk is very low in folic acid but these days most commercially available goat's milk feeds have it added.I am not sure what role the echinacea played but in adults with certain conditions it should not be used - no problem for children though. Infants who are allergic to cow's milk protein are also often allergic to Soy.
I am very pleased that the diarrhoea has stopped.

Email Working Again!

David Robinson apologises that email questions addressed to Paediatric Questions and Answers have not been reaching him. Questions on any paediatric topic from babyhood to adolescence are welcome,and so are re-sent email questions.