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The mystery of the blue legs
Filed under: Just For Moms, Toddlers Preschoolers, Health & Safety: Babies
Doctor Google has failed me.
Normally, when I type in a random toddler ailment, I am rewarded (or perhaps punished?) with 867,000 blog posts and articles and newspaper archives about whatever topic I'm currently panicking about. Toddler won't stop coughing? 739,000 results in Google. Is lime-green snot normal? Over 31,000 returns. And what is the cause of blue legs? returns just under a million and a half web pages, but none of them are helping me. I know a lot about blue diapers now, and how jeans can turn one's legs blue -- but I have no idea what is wrong with my toddler.
Nolan was cranky at daycare today, kept waking up from his nap in a coughing fit. As a result, he was crotchety and nonsensical by 5:00 PM, hysterical and spinning like a miniature drunk. I put him in the tub early, with intentions of putting him to bed early, but when I got him out of the tub I noticed something alarming. His legs, from the knee cap down, were purple-blue.
Alarmed, I manipulated them and he got quiet. I rubbed them but no colour returned. I wrapped him in a towel and headed downstairs to stand by the fireplace. I called his Dad told him he'd better come have a look.
Ten minutes later, the colour started inching its way back to his little sausage legs. Fifteen minutes later, they were almost completely normal. I think, though, that I'm going to take him to the Doctor just to be sure. Doctor Google evidently isn't helpful when it comes to blue toddler legs.
Normally, when I type in a random toddler ailment, I am rewarded (or perhaps punished?) with 867,000 blog posts and articles and newspaper archives about whatever topic I'm currently panicking about. Toddler won't stop coughing? 739,000 results in Google. Is lime-green snot normal? Over 31,000 returns. And what is the cause of blue legs? returns just under a million and a half web pages, but none of them are helping me. I know a lot about blue diapers now, and how jeans can turn one's legs blue -- but I have no idea what is wrong with my toddler.
Nolan was cranky at daycare today, kept waking up from his nap in a coughing fit. As a result, he was crotchety and nonsensical by 5:00 PM, hysterical and spinning like a miniature drunk. I put him in the tub early, with intentions of putting him to bed early, but when I got him out of the tub I noticed something alarming. His legs, from the knee cap down, were purple-blue.
Alarmed, I manipulated them and he got quiet. I rubbed them but no colour returned. I wrapped him in a towel and headed downstairs to stand by the fireplace. I called his Dad told him he'd better come have a look.
Ten minutes later, the colour started inching its way back to his little sausage legs. Fifteen minutes later, they were almost completely normal. I think, though, that I'm going to take him to the Doctor just to be sure. Doctor Google evidently isn't helpful when it comes to blue toddler legs.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
4-12-2007 @ 11:01AM
j-mom said...There is an auto-immune condition called "raynauds" that has similiar symptoms. Those with this disease, when experiencing heat or cold (usually extreme, will have their extremities turn blue/purple.
This is this first thing that jumped to my mind when I read your post, as my mom has this condition.
Just a thought....not to scare you or give you a false diagnosis.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 11:26AM
hp said...My son's arms have done that in the bath (gone blue from the elbow to the wrist) when he was younger (4-6 months). He has some problems with regulating his overall body temperature and he likes flaying his arms around out of the water.
But I haven't seen it in a while (he's almost 9 months now).
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 11:46AM
Catherine said...My son had this happen when he was an infant. I would be holding him and look down to see his whole leg purple. I always thought I was holding him too tight and yes, it would go away once I adjusted his position.
We have poor leg circulation in our family, so I just figured that was all it was. I should have checked with the dr, but I never di.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:34PM
Redifer said...I immediately thought Raynaud's, as well. My MIL and DH have this. MIL's is extreme to the point of losing digits, and has paired itself with scleroderma and lupus; DH's is still very mild because of preventional treatment.
There's some great info here:
http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/raynaud/ar125fs.htm
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 11:49AM
Amy said...The technical term for blue discoloration of the skin is "cyanosis." Maybe that will help your googling.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 12:26PM
Tamyu said...That does not sound like Reynaud`s - Reynaud`s is usually extremely painful when the blood does come back, and it usually only effects the outer extremities. (Fingers, toes) Not all of the legs. If that were the case, I have no doubt he would have been screaming in pain.
I suffer from a rare type of circulatory disorder (I don`t know the English name for it, argh) which the doctor`s first believed might be Reynaud`s, so I did a lot of research.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 1:05PM
Angela said...Honestly, my first thought was, "is it the same leg that he hurt a month ago?" Maybe it's related to that somehow. I agree, go to the doctor, they can diagnose much better than google.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 3:14PM
Ginny said...I wrote a reply to this this AM, so forgive me if it eventually shows up. ANYWAY - This is the first time I've heard of someone else experiencing this. When my son was an infant this happened to him too. My MIL was watching him for me and she said when she went to check on him (he was taking a nap), she found his legs blue. She called 911! The paramedics checked him out and by then his color was returning so they didn't take him to the hospital. I got there soon after the paramedics left and took him to the pediatrician. The blue coloring started coming back at the Drs. office and I was glad he was able to observe it. I can't remember what he said was wrong, but he pretty much told me just to let him know if it happened again. All this time, I have suspected that my MIL allowed my baby to nap on her waterbed and that he had nearly suffocated. I guess I can let that go now. :) I would like to know what your dr. says about this. Good luck.
Reply
4-24-2007 @ 8:52PM
Lynette said...We are experiencing ongoing battles to have what is the cause of this same problem in our almost 1 year old son. As a baby he had pyloric stenosis then in Nov 2006 his arms started turning blue, then we noticed they also started flushing hot & red. Now his legs do it as well. He has very high blood pressure so an echo was performed to rule out coarctation of the aoerta. We are due to see the specialist again in a month. Anyone with a similar experience would be welcome to reply
Reply
5-03-2007 @ 4:04PM
Kim said...Just yesterday for the 2nd time my 13 month old's arms down to her fingers have turned blue. The first time this happened (about a month ago) 2 fingers remained pink. As the color came back she would have pink/reddish patches on her arm. Initially the doctor called in Raynauds and said that it was a reaction to an antibiotic. Yesterday she started a new antibiotic. I gave her one dose at 10 am. At 3 o'clock daycare called and said that her arms were turning purple again.
By the time I got her the ER the color had went back to normal. The ER doctor does not think that it is a drug reaction and actually had no answer for me. I plan to meet with my peditrician today and discuss this further...it is very scarey!
Reply
5-13-2007 @ 8:19PM
angela said...This same thing is happening right now to my daughter. She's 16mo old. It started 2 wks ago with her hands and arms turning purple and it would last up to an hour or so. Then I noticed one day her toes were solid purple and yesterday she was purple from her waist to her toes. I freaked. ER drs don't want anything to do with it unless they see it. Her peds dr doesn't know either. Says it can't be her heart because she has no murmur. We're waiting on blood results for lead poisoning and lupus-related diseases. SHe's so healthy and normal, I can't imagine what this could be. I think its poor circulation - do they do anything for that in babies? Is it dangerous? And when it happens, the purple part of her body is so cold feeling, but the rest of her is warm. I've spent hours on the internet looking up things.
Reply
6-08-2007 @ 3:21PM
Melissa said...Regarding blueish legs and hands
Reply
6-22-2007 @ 8:33PM
Melissa said...Hey, sorry for the last post! I too have just
recently experienced my daughter's feet/legs and hands turning purple
She is 1 year old and this has just started happening in the last
month or so. I've been doing lots of research and nothing really
helps. I am scared that it is something serious but hoping its only
minor! I have a dr.'s appt this coming week and am hoping to get to
the bottom of the problem! She is also teething...she just got her
first tooth and Im wondering if that could have something to do with
it?I'll let you know what I find out.
Reply
6-08-2007 @ 8:42PM
Melissa said...Hey, Im back...decided to take my little girl to the local clinic here this evening beacause I was so worried. The Dr said because it was the extremeties, it was nothing serious. They'd worry more if it the lips were blue. They checked for a heart murmur and everything sounded "normal". Very glad to hear that. She too is a very active, healthy baby. My daughter gets like this when being held for long periods or when in her high chair. The Dr said nerves can get kinked and that is what seem to be happening(basically circulation). She said to change her position when this happens. She had a name for the condition but I forget the name. Hope this helps! Im still going to run it by my family Dr this week but its just to be sure.
Reply
6-08-2007 @ 9:59PM
suzanne neeley said...I was surfing the net to see if could find any information on extremities turning blue in infants. I have an 8 1/2 month old who woke up from a nap on Wed with purplish/blue hands and feet. The returned to normal after about an hour. When he woke up on Thurs morning the same thing happened and his lips were also a little purple. We took him to the pediatrician (of course he looked normal by then) and they didn't find anything wrong. He does have a heart murmor since birth so they sent us to the cardiologist last night for an Echo. The cardiologist said it was definetely not related to his heart as it was a localized response but did an Echo to appease me. All was great with the heart. He said sometimes kids will show this response to an infection. Wouldn't you know that my son began to run a low grade fever today. He is teething and is on the cusp of a tooth busting through. I thought that was curious when I saw Melissa's post. Mabe there is a relation to the teething? Let me know if anyones pediatrician comes up with a better explaination.
Reply
6-11-2007 @ 12:03AM
shoshee said...My brand new grandsons legs turn blue when we are holding him in a certain position to feed him or when he's in a car seat. My daughter will get him in to a pediatrician for an exam this week but meanwhile we are careful to keep his legs at the same elevation as his heart. We don't know why this is happening and even tho color returns quickly we are very worried. Any ideas would be welcome.
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