New Title Courtesy of Casey because she’s awesome like that
That face was not quite so happy last night.
Last night that adorable face crumpled into screams the likes of which I’ve never heard before; sobbing, shuddering, convulsive screams of pain and terror.
Last night at kickball practice Monkey’s two year old toes were attacked by huge (everything’s bigger in Texas) red vicious Fire Ants. Those fireants got trapped between his big toe and the little piggie that stayed home.
By the time I could get to him and remove his sandal and brush them off he was lying on the ground screaming and writhing in pain and from what I could see, they had bitten him 8 times.
His foot swelled up and the screaming continued.
The writhing in pain.
The convulsive, hiccuping sobs.
My heart breaking.
After an hour or more of crying, benadryl finally helped, orally and topically.
Thank y’all so much for all the suggestions via twitter!!
I’m sharing them with y’all here:
- vinegar and water immediately will help
- 9:1 water:bleach will help for days
- Aloe or sunburn gel
- benadryl if you have it
- motrin
- baking soda and water paste
If you have any more suggestions or remedies for burning, blistering fire ant bites, please share them here. They’re like a plague around Texas during the summer.
The fever is gone today as is most of the swelling but he’s definitely clinging to me and much more somber than normal, so we’re going to go cuddle some more and spend the day running our errands with a Monkey (almost literally) on my back.
*I know that I’ve shared some bloody gory pics of my kids’ injuries before, but the swollen red, pus filled bites on his feet, are just awful to look at, so I’m sparing y’all.
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I’m re titling this post to “The ants can suck it, two by two. And then some.”
Poor little guy. We get those buggers bad here in Southeast GA too. We noticed some hills the last time we were outside, so we need to tend to them. Glad he’s feeling better!!!
Originaly Listerine poured on the bites or Lavendar essential oil (which you can carry in your purse) rubbed on the bites. The lavendar also works for mosquitoes.
Poor guy. I remember when we lived in Florida and the Chicken fell into a large fire ant nest at a park. It was awful. Her arms, legs, back. I kept the aveeno cream in the fridge so when I put it on her it cooled her off as well as soothed.
(((hugs))) to you and your little man.
We have fire ants on Florida too. I hate those things. Wicked, evil buggers.
poor little guy…. saw your tweets last night. sending him some kisses
xxxxx
OH MY GOODNESS!! I got bit the other night by ONE and I thought I was dying, I can imagine the pain your lil sweetie was going through. They are just awful. I hope he feels better soon. {{bug hugs!!}}
AWWWW! Poor guy! I have never seen a fire ant bite, but I know a simple mosquito bite can drive my boy nuts, so I cannot imagine a full course meal of his feet!
Oh, man. Poor little monkey! Kiss his little fat toes for me. (When they get better, of course…)
Oh no!!! That poor little guy! That is awful. Those freaking nasty a$$ ants! That really pisses me off! I would go back there with a can of Raid just to show them a lesson.
Hope he is feeling better soon.
Poor little guy! That stinks. Those Texas mosquitoes got my little ones. It’s not the fire ants but my little girl has the bites all over her little baby face.
I hope he feels better today. Poor kiddo.
Just straight vinegar, right out of the bottle, poured directly on the bite will take the sting out. It works for other insect bites too. Somehow neutralizes the venom. It’s best done immediately, but we’ve had luck using it up to an hour later. That and the 9 parts water, 1 part bleach solution.
And adding a tablespoon of bleach to a nightly bath will continue to disinfect the bites and any other cuts and scrapes to heal the skin even faster. We built our new house on an old pasture. Ants are EVERYWHERE and not real happy to see us.
Sorry about Monkey’s feet. That’s just awful. I’m glad he’s feeling better now with the drugs!
Can I put this on my “I’m thankful I’m not in Texas anymore” list?
Awe..poor baby! Hope he feels better soon!
~K
Oh no…that is so sad:( I hope Monkey is on the mend:)
That happened to one of my kids years ago (she’s now 37) and a woman started yelling for someone’s cigarettes. I couldn’t figure out what she was doing with them. Smoke at this time???? Well, she broke them open, dipped them in water and slathered the wet tobacco all over her feet. She had no reaction from the bites and barely had any spots on her. We don’t smoke but I keep cigs. outside all the time in case it is needed, and have used it many times with the same results. Wow, can you imagine, something good from cigs?????
ps: this needs to be done quickly, using later doesn’t work too well
Oh wow. that sounds awful. Fire ants are actually one thing we DON’T have. We are in the midst of tick season though. Blech.
Hope your little guy is feeling better!
Poor guy! I remember getting attacked by fireants myself, it’s a painful experience.
Poor Baby, I hope he feels better soon. Enjoy the snuggling while you can!
Fire ants are the worst! Poor guy! I grew up in Florida and it was the same plaque every summer. I never knew about any of those remedies, but I am definitely going to share with my sisters still in Florida! Thank you!
Poor little guy -and poor mommy – terrible when we can’t make it better right away – glad to hear he is doing a little better! Hugs!
Poor little guy! I was offline most of last night, so missed the Twittering.
Hope he’s better soon.
xoxo
Eww – I hate fire ants. They’re the worst. I remember when I was a little kid, I accidentally sat in a fire ant bed … yeah … um … it was unpleasant.
I don’t have any fire ant remedies, but I will say that if you’re ever stung by a jellyfish, just take the wet sand where the waves are breaking and place it on the sting. It’ll make it stop hurting. Weird, but true.
Ouch! Never had a fire ant bite before. My husband always tries to pee on the kids when they get jellyfish stings. He swears it works. I think he’s just making it up.
That hurts so much, I’m so sorry!
I had a mom in my ER the other day ask me if her child could get the swine flu, from the ants that bit his ankles….no, I’m not making this up.
Just in case you were wondering….
I cringe just thinking about it. YUCK. I’m glad he’s feeling better, and I hope that is the last time he ever has that kind of crap luck!
Oh the poor little guy! (And poor Mommy!)
(That picture is absolutely adorable.)
awww…poor monkey! i know from recent experience how much those fire ant bites can hurt. hope his piggies are feeling better soon.
Oh sad sad sad little Monkey. Sad sad mommy. Sad mommy’s friends. Bad bad fireants.
ohhhhhhh poor little monkey!! that’s terrible.
glad it’s getting better. (and my breakfast thanks you for sparing me from photos.)
i know what its like to watch a baby screaming from fire ants!
this happened last summer except my 2 yr old had bites EVERYwhere -all over his feet and up his legs. i’ve tried most of the remedies you listed but one new one i heard at that time was to put Maalox or Mylanta or Milk of Magnesia on the bites. I thought it was weird but after an hour of screaming i was desperate so i tried it and it worked like magic. i live about two hours away from corpus so i am all too familiar with the burn of those fire ants!
The first time Missy B was stung by fireants, Mr.T went outside, stood above the mound, hosed it down with lighter fluid and set it afire. All the while, saying ‘Now you BURN.’
As I typed that, I realized just how startling that picture could have been for an onlooker, but all these years I imagined the deepest of fatherly love.
Hmm.
OH NO!! Poor guy. I’m just catching up on your posts, so my sympathies come late. And I second that title of yours (which is the best blog post title I have ever read).