My 16 month old son sometimes has rosy cheeks at random times in addition to being in the cold etc. I noticed that sometimes, he'll just get one red cheek. It always passes, and I think nothing of it. Sometimes my daughter will say, "Mom, look at his red cheek!"
Tonight as I approached him waiting outside a cafe with his dad, in totally mild weather, I saw one of his cheeks was BRIGHT red and a little swollen. He was getting a little warm in the cafe (nothing drastic), which was why they went outside. It was still red when we got home, and I touched it and noticed it was REALLY hot. Just the cheek, not his forehead or body. It's still hot and swollen now, two hours later.
He had a few sips of orange juice at the cafe, but his cheeks have never gotten red after eating or drinking before, just randomly. They do look flushed after naps sometimes. He's never had a reaction to any juice. He didn't get a bug bite or scrape it on anything. It's not extremely frequent, but I'm starting to notice the mysterious red cheek!
What could this be? I guess I need to start research, but thought I would ask if anyone has had this happen and could steer me in the right direction. I'm clueless about allergies. His dad has a very slight dairy/sinus intolerance, but that's it for our family. His sister has excema, but he never has.
My son has no problem drinking all his milk, and doesn't get stuffy like his dad. He doesn't seem uncomfortable when his cheeks do this once or twice a month. I'm tempted to ignore it, unless it's a sign of something systemic I should know about.
TEETHING of course!!! Thanks, Mamas! This makes the most sense to me, and I didn't even think of it! I'll run it by the doctor too to be safe. Thanks for stories in common and good advice! I feel better!
Yep, you got it! Both of my kids had the same thing when they were teething. Sometimes one cheek and sometimes both! Sometimes just one ear or both! Hope his teething goes well . . . :)
If it doesn't bother him, I agree with Diane S. My daughter also had bright red cheeks when cutting teeth.
Good luck!
Why don't you call the pediatrician and ask? It does not sound normal.
If it is an allergic reaction you don't want to wait until it gets progressively worse and could be anaphylactic.
A., my son had the same reaction over the past year or so. I never found a real cause, but it seemed more prevalent when he was teething, especially with the one side turning red. It never bothered him and usually went away on its own. Now that he has all of his teeth, I haven't really noticed it any more.
My daughter's cheeks would turn bright red when she was cutting teeth. They would be red for a couple days until the tooth cut through. Sometimes it was both cheeks and sometimes just the cheek on the side where the tooth was cutting through. I have no idea why!
My son now two has had that happen on and off for the last 8 months. I think it is an allergic reaction but I'm not sure. The teeth thing could be right also. He never seems to get sick or it never causes him pain, so I just don't worry about it.
Hi A., my almost 8 mo old son has the same thing and it doesn't bother him so I don't worry about. My ears have always turned red, I am 31 and it has been happening since I was a baby, usually if I'm really tired. I can tell you it's not painful but I do feel them getting very hot when it happens. No one has ever found out why it happens and it's rare so I just deal with it. I'm sure your son will be fine :)
Happens to my son too... Does he have a runny nose? Watch which sleeve he wipes his nose with. He'll drag the boogers across his face, in one direction. The combination of boogers and a rough sleeve make for one, red, hot, raw cheek.
A., My 9 y/o son still gets extremely red, hot cheeks and ears especially if it is cold out. I use oatmeal lotion to soothe them. It always goes away on its own. Pediatrician could not find an answer for me. If you happen to get one, please let me know.
07/25/09 The pediatrician said my son's face was ultra sensitive to the cold and reflection off snow and water. We now use a sunblock cream (not lotion or spray) and it works wonders. No more hot,red cheeks!
My oldest two had something similar happen when teething...a red cheek was an indication that a new tooth would soon appear. You should certainly mention it to his doctor, though, just in case.
M.
This happens with my daughter randomly too and most recently(past weekend) her ears did it too. She's old enough to answer my questions and she doesn't even notice it's there...no itching, burning anything. She also gets them in other areas at times...much like hives but just red splotches again no itching or burning. A friend of mine said it happens to her daughter before or after colds. I just let it run its course, however, if you notice a change in breathing or his "norm" behavior, get him to a doc ASAP.
I have a three year old this happens to - although it is normally both cheecks. It seems if he's outside, or even inside and it is real dry. It never seemed to bother him, and I treated it as very sensitive skin - I put a little vaseline on his cheecks at bedtime to help moisturize and protect them.
A.,
I suggest you look into "phenol intolerance". There is a chewable enzyme supplement you can give before ingestion of phenol foods to help with this. IF it is phenol intolerance, as he gets older certain foods may affect his behavior.
L.
Chapped skin or maybe two year molars starting early?
A.,
Sounds like a food allergy. Luckily not one that is life threatening. Recently, through many visits to many doctors I found out that I have a wheat allergy. I am 36 years old and don't have any other allergies. I was instructed to go wheat-free (not just gluten free, but any and all parts of wheat I can't eat). After giving up wheat for about three months I had a strange reaction after accidentally eating wheat pasta. My husband absent mindedly cooked the regular pasta instead of the rice pasta and well I ended up eating about have of my pasta dish before he and I realized. My hands and arms started to itch and the tops of my hands turned slightly red. Then my face felt a little flush. Then my ears turned bright red and felt like they were on fire. My fire hot red ears lasted for a couple of hours and the itching subside after about 30 minutes. Of course I googled like crazy and sure enough found out all of those symptoms are of a food allergy. Frankly, I wasn't totally convinced the doctor was right until that reaction happened! So my best advise to you would be to keep a food journal of what you feed your son and note all symptoms. After a month or two you should recognize some sort of pattern which will obviously direct you to what food it could be. The following is some info I quickly found on the net which simplifies this mysterious world of food allergies. And what is states is true in my case... I did eat way to much wheat based food without even realizing it! Americans in general eat a lot of wheat! Good luck to you and great job being so observant of your son!
