Lottie is 7 weeks old today. When she was born I noticed that she had a little pale pink mark under her ear. It kind of stayed the same colour and shape in hospital and when the paediatrician visited I’d forget to ask him. I guess I though it was a little birthmark that would stay that way. Well then of course once we got home it started getting bigger, darker and became more raised. When the child health nurse visited she explained it was a strawberry hemangioma and would fade away….eventually. I’ve since read it might be by the time she is 7-9. She said the paediatrician probably didn’t mention it because they are quite common and generally go away.
I have to say that I didn’t know it was going to get so dark or big and I’m not sure it’s finished growing (which is of course a worry) but I’ve now researched it (more than a few times, if I’m honest) and not too worried. I have to say ours is more like a raspberry in that it has little raised bits like a raspberry but I just keep an eye on it every day. The kids think it’s cute and like a paw mark and that she’s a fan of paw patrol already. And when they saw the word hemangioma they decided to call it hermione granger!
You can read a good explanation of them here and I have to say that I was surprised 1 in 10 babies have them because we’ve never had one and I’ve never seen a baby with one before. It’s definitely been something new for us but in the whole scheme of things isn’t too much of a worry. But of course I do hope it doesn’t become an issue for her as she grows up. I’d love to hear if you’ve had one in your family and what happened to it…….
Cory my grandson had one on his forehead and it disappeared I think, before he was 5.
Linda
Our daughter Ruby developed one on her cheek at about 6 weeks. She is now almost 7 and it has lost all it’s redness – leaving just a small mark. Her’s was very warm to touch.
I had one as a baby on the top of my head. It went away and now I have a mini MINI bald spot. My son has one on his cheek. It never raised and is a straight line. He just turned 5 in March and you can still see it. It’s maybe gotten lighter over the years, but we don’t even notice it anymore Bc it’s just a normal part of his face now. He, also, has one on his ….privates…..which I actually haven’t looked at recently. If a child has 3 visible ones they have to look internally. My other two children don’t have any…..but have other birthmarks.
My daughter had one right on the top of her head, we use to call it her strawberry kiss. It began as a tiny red spot as a newborn and over the first few months it grew to about 15mm round. It became raised and looked very much like a raspberry in texture. Before the age of one it slowed down in it’s growth and then over the next year it began to shrink. By her second birthday it was losing it’s bright red colour and becoming more flat. My daughter is 6 now and the birthmark has almost disappeared completely.
my sister had 2, one on each arm. one was about the size of a 20 cent piece & was on the back of the top of her arm, the other was a little larger than a 50 cent piece & was at the very top of her arm edging into the armpit. They were both raised as you described like rasberries but had flattened out & faded by the time she was about 2. She is an adult now & if you look closely you can see a very very light mark but not solid more like spider web. You really have to know you are looking for it to notice it now
My little girl has one under her right ear, started out the same as your daughters. The paeditrician said it will be gone sometime next year
oh she’s so adorable xxxx does it bother her at all?
Little Lottie is beautiful!
My son had one on his scrotum – was huge. All gone by the time he was 3… Community Health Nurse gave me a lecture on nappy rashes… She would not believe me that it was a birthmark!
are you kidding? I still remember I would get nervous visiting one child health nurse and I stretched the singlet so much to go over my big girl’s head that it ended up ripping and she said uh oh stretched it too far! I was stretching so it would go over easy as I was convinced she was judging me dress the baby:)
I wish I was joking. He was also born with this strange dark brown birthmark on his calf. It was like a stripe of poo. At least 5 lectures in hospital and at checkups about hygiene for babies. They don’t even seem embarrassed when they are wrong…
It makes her even cuter. I have had mine since I was born. It’s the same shape, colour and size it has always been. I am 46!
My first daughter has one above her eyelid.
We ended up taking her to a paediatric dermatologist because of the position it was in.
Anything close to a sensory organ should be treated. She could have lost her eye sight if we left it.
She was on propanalol from approx 8 weeks old until one year old.
She still has a pink mark but it is not raised and we have spoken about it with her. It doesn’t bother her and we figure it will more than likely be gone by the time she turns 9. (She is almost 5)
I just got sick of random people asking stupid questions. Did I burn her? Did I scratch her eye? She would be so cute if she didn’t have that mark ??
Th medication was stressful (it’s a blood pressure medication) but so glad we did it. If it was somewhere insignificant I would not have treated it, I would have left it to grow then eventually invert. That wasn’t an option for us.
We all forget it is there until someone asks if it is a mozzie bite or if she scratched it (or the daycare photoshops it out and we demand the original photos with it in ?)
Try not to google it too much mumma! (coming from a mum who googled waaay too much ?)
My daughter had one on her abdomen when she was born. My husband was present when the doctor did his rounds and the doctor pointed it out saying “Don’t worry, it will go away, your little girl will be able to wear a bikini one day” My husband said “Oh no, she won’t be wearing any bikinis!” LOL
My daughter (a twin born at 35 weeks) had one too which was on her forehead and grew to the size of a large cherry tomato by about 7 months, and which time she was started on propanolol (spelling?) as well. It shrunk and faded but she was left with a pale pink deflated balloon type mark. She has had two plastic surgeries, one at 3 and another about 3 3/4 years. She’s been left with a small straight scar, and the surgeon suggested she may need a ‘tidy up’ when she is a teen if it bothers her. She wears a fringe most of the time now as at 6 it occasionally bothers her when people ask about it.
We had the same experience as Natalie. My daughter’s hemangioma was just below her lower eyelid. We also did the propanalol and within a year or so she was off the medicine and the spot was no longer red. (it would bulge and turn dark red whenever she got upset!) She is now 4 1/2, and the skin is a slightly different texture but pretty hard to tell anything was there. If it wasn’t on her eye, we would have just let it run its course. Her Dr had one on her arm as a baby and was able to show us how, as an adult, the spot is colorless, and the skin has just a slightly different texture.
I had one on my thigh as a kid, about the size of a plum at its biggest. There is the faintest of marks and a slightly soft spot, but it is only noticed if I point it out. I think it was gone by the time I started school.
My daughter is now 29 but was born with one about the size of a 5 cent piece on the top of her head. I was asked at the time by some strange man while pushing her in the pram if I had out a cigarette out on her head…..what a thing to say to a new mum. Anyway it did eventually fade away.
My eldest had one. Right on the top of her head!!! (And not a lot of hair to cover it sadly). It completely absorbed by 2 and caused no issues. Two other close friends had daughters with them in very prominent positions on their face. And very large. One has already completely gone and she is 3, and the other’s had disappeared by start of school. They had theirs “watched” but there was no need for action. I understand they typically cause no issues. Try not to worry…
My niece had one on her head , she had light hair so it was very obvious. Everyone commented on it which frustrated my sister . It faded over time and was gone by 2 or 3 from memory . My older niece used to call it her sisters ‘Dottie’ , so that’s what we all called it too lol. She is now 10, has no memory of it and no marks plus beautiful thick hair. I do remember another little girl with one on her cheek, it was there for a long time , she is now 18 and has a small mark but not obvious like it was
Lotti is beautiful. My eldest was born with marks on her abdomen, the back of her head and her shoulder blade, that were almost skin colour but not. They quickly changed into a strawberry hemangiomas and grew. They stopped growing after a few months and now she is 9 there is no redness, just a pale patch with capillaries in each place where the birthmarks were. I think they were gone by the time she was about 5. She had no issues from them at all.
Hi Corrie
Adelaide, one of my twin daughters (now aged 18) had one of these on her chest when she was little. At first we thought it was where one of the monitors had marked her skin (she was 11 weeks early) but then it started to grow and go a raspberry colour like Lottie’s. It stayed that colour until around the end of kindergarten and grew to about the size of a ten cent piece. At that point it started to fade and flatten. It is now skin colour but a different texture to the surrounding skin – sort of like a blister that has fiattened out and gone a little wrinkly. Unless you look really hard you wouldn’t know it was there although it was an easy way to tell identical twins apart when they were little. Adelaide loved what she termed ‘my mark’ when she was younger and was quite disappointed when it started to fade. We were told laser was an option but we never bothered given where it was. Family friends are having a series of laser treatments at The Children’s Hospital at Westmead though for their little boy. He has a large port wine/strawberry birth mark that covers a large portion of his cheek up towards his eye and the medical advice they received was to do it. It is making a significant difference so if Lottie’s grows ot really bothers her that may be an option for you. As you say though, in the grand scheme of things it isn’t a big deal especially as it is tucked near her ear.
My niece was born with quite a large one on her check. My brother decided to have surgery when she was around 18 months old and get it removed due to it’s size and placement on her face. She is now 23 and you would have no idea she ever had it.
I had a prominent one on my forehead. It never concerned me and was completely gone by the time I was 10.
Lottie is just so adorable. I have known of raised birth marks and of them disappearing by childhood. Love the cute shape of Lottie’s. I think it’s natural to wonder and have a bit of worry about something you’ve never come across before. Keep the baby spam coming. I’m loving all these posts and photos about Lottie and the other kids. Happy Birthday to Emerson too.
My daughter had a small heart shaped one on her inner forearm.Fiattened out by two. Faded away by five.I Always thought it was cute.It becomes part of them. Lottie is gorgeous.
My sister had one covering her foot. It was totally gone by the time she was 4.
My little girl had one on her arm in till she was about 4. It seemed to show more in warmer weather & went purplish when it was cold. We have had many people in our family that had one so I was not overly concerned but was also glad when it started to fade. We used to call it her little kiss mark where mummy used to always kiss her.
I only ever had a problem with it once when I took her to a agency for child modelling & the lady told me she wouldn’t get any work because of it. That day I decided I didn’t want her is that industry anyway where people are so shallow.
I’d never heard of this until my niece was born with one on her chest and now a couple of my friends have had children born with strawberry marks on their forehead. My neice is now 4 and her mark has definitely faded but is still present. It’s certainly nothing to worry about.
I can’t believe how quickly Lottie is growing. Time just flies.
My son has had one on his back since birth. He is now 5 and it’s no longer raised and is definitely fading away. x
My second daughter had one on her leg, not small. It got bigger until she was one year old and darker. After that it faded out a little bit more every year. She is now 18 and you only can “see” it in summer, when she her skin is getting darker, this area stays a little bit red. We didn’t notice it any more when she was about 4.
All the best for sweet little Lottie,
Elisabeth
My daughter had a strawberry nevus, which is the same thing. Hers was very large on her head and as her hair didn’t grow it was obvious until age 4. We loved her mark and never tried to hide it so imagine our shock when a professional photographer suggested turning her head so we “wouldn’t have to see it”. I said we loved it and then finished the photo shot right there!!!!
Her mark has faded to a tiny freckle and is now covered by hair. We were told that it would fade after the age of 4 and it did, she is seven now. Also we were told to be careful with combing over it, apparently they can be quite fragile and bleed. We never had an issue with it though.
A friend would tell her daughter it was an angel’s kiss (angel, wearing lipstick, kissed her before she was born). It’s faded now.
Hi Corrie, my 3 year old daughter was born with one at the top of her leg, sitting just where the leak guard of the nappy falls. It is about the size of a 20c piece. We were not told much at birth, simply not to worry, it would go away. Although I am very vigilant with nappy changes, at 12 months old it ulcerated. It went from a small scratch to a huge ulcer, they bleed a lot if scratched, which is what I think she did during a nappy change. I took her straight to emergency and was sent home and I was told to simply keep it clean. Given the place it is in, no amount of cleaning could help and it went from a scratch to , well it still makes me angry and teary. Back to emergency and an appointment with a specialist. She was given special patches for it, something which should have been used from the start, and also lazer treatment. It took almost 4 months to heal. Hemangiomas need to be kept from drying, so even though she is toilet trained, I use a nappy cream daily and use wet wipes instead of toilet paper. My advice would be keep her fingernails short and smooth, and I wish you all the best.
Our youngest had one, she is now just 6 and it is almost gone ! I remember she was about 3 weeks old when I first noticed it inside the crook of her left arm. The Dr prescribed cortesone cream as at that point it was just a very red raw looking mark. I thought as it was inside her arm I had caused a rash from not drying her properley. Soon it became raised and very red…I did some googling and diagnosed her myself with a strawberry birthmark. I think it started fading from about the age of 4. The only issue we ever had was when she had a little too much sun one beach holiday and it bled :(. Lottie is just divine !
My daughter had one on her breast and was only red and looking like a raspberry. It wasn’t there when she was born but started to grow as she was a a few weeks old. It also grew under her skin so I was a bit worried about it. But the peadiatrician told me that they van grow until the baby is 9 months old. Then it will stay like that for a while and over time will dissapear by it self. My daughter is now 9 years old and it is almost gone.
Don’t worry about it it will go away by itself. I took photos of the raspberry to see wether it would change over time…..
My daughter had one on her breast and was only red and looking like a raspberry. It wasn’t there when she was born but started to grow as she was a a few weeks old. It also grew under her skin so I was a bit worried about it. But the peadiatrician told me that they van grow until the baby is 9 months old. Then it will stay like that for a while and over time will dissapear by it self. My daughter is now 9 years old and it is almost gone.
Don’t worry about it it will go away by itself. I took photos of the raspberry to see wether it would change over time….. Good luck!!
My oldest had one – we saw a plastic surgeon who showed up photos of much bigger ones. Very few require an operation. Sarah’s disappeared by the time she was five. She never had any issues, and frankly she is the smartest one in the family – Harvard and now med school. So I would just let it take care of itself.
My second son had one over his right eyebrow at birth. Like Lottie’s it became darker and more raspberry like and I was worried sick! I was told it would disappear over time and it did. He has no mark or anything to show it was once there. He is now 31 and very good looking! hehehe
oh I know all that worry, I think we’re in a stage where it’s not growing at the moment but now we think maybe her head is getting bigger so it doesn’t look as big