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does anyone's baby have mongolian spots?

post #1 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:08pm
Thread Starter 
A few of my children including my 5 m.o. have/ had mongolian spots-- bruise-colored spots at the base of the back ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_spot ). I was told by a pediatrician that these are very common in babies of mixed race, east asian babies, and native american babies.

DD's spot is a little hairy and what's weird is I just noticed it... at 5 months!! She also has a sacral dimple right below it (like a fissure in the skin at the base of her spine) as did my DS. I don't know if it's related to the spots.

If your children did have mongolian spots, when did they go away?

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post #2 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:12pm
My son , Kylin had them.He is AA. I remember taking him to the er for an ear infection and a medical student thought those were BRUISING from abuse...!!...Doctor did come in and correct him AFTER I corrected him.
I can't remember if Aja had them , she is 1/4 caucasian.

Bryson is biracial and is pretty fair..he doesn't have any.
post #3 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by momz3 View Post
My son , Kylin had them.He is AA. I remember taking him to the er for an ear infection and a medical student thought those were BRUISING from abuse...!!...
Ooooh that was always a huge fear of mine! DS's spots really did look like bruises, I never let anyone see his back. My baby's spot is a little raised and fuzzy so obviously not a bruise.
post #4 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:29pm
my son (half tibetan) was born with a large one on his bum. he is only 8mo so don't know when it's going away, although i will say i kinda like it (is that weird??) and it was one of the first things we looked for to see if he had when he was born.

doctors around here are used to everything so we've never had any problem like PP describe. when he started daycare they asked about any "identifying marks" and i told them about the mongolian birthmark just as a precaution.
post #5 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:30pm
my 3 year old has one on his back. he was a few months old when i first noticed it, too. all 3 of our nephews on my husbands side have them as well. i made sure to mention it to my dr and have her make a note in his records since it really does look like a bruise on his back.

eta: sorry, i just realized this is in the multicultural forum.
post #6 of 104
11/30/08 at 7:49pm
my son had one until about 2 years old.
post #7 of 104
11/30/08 at 8:28pm
my dd is 6 and hers you can barely see now. but it is still there - v. v. faint.
post #8 of 104
11/30/08 at 10:54pm
My ds2 has 2 on his little tush. One isn't very noticable but the other looks like a faded bruise. I'm part Native American and my ex was 100% white. Apparently 100% European descent babies get them about 10% of the time but most of that 10% is from mediterranian descent, which ex doesn't have. For Native American babies it's supposed to be around 90% of the time so odds are he got them from me. My ds1 didn't have one though and he's the one that looks more native.

ETA, my ds2 is 2 1/2 and they're still there.
post #9 of 104
12/1/08 at 8:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by aja-belly View Post
my 3 year old has one on his back. he was a few months old when i first noticed it, too. all 3 of our nephews on my husbands side have them as well. i made sure to mention it to my dr and have her make a note in his records since it really does look like a bruise on his back.

eta: sorry, i just realized this is in the multicultural forum.
That's really interesting, I wonder if they have asian or NA ancestry they're not aware of.
post #10 of 104
12/1/08 at 12:20pm
DD has them on her butt, 3 of them. (DH is Japanese.) They DO look exactly like bruises! In fact, when she was born her doc took pictures of them and put them in her file just in case anyone ever thinks they are bruises. I think they are cute.

She’s 3.5 and they show no signs of fading, the doc said sometimes they go away by adulthood and sometimes they don’t.
post #11 of 104
12/1/08 at 2:54pm
My dd is fully AA and born with one on her butt and on her shoulder. She's 8 now and they are completely gone. I read about them in Dr. Sears book so I knew the shoulder one was a spot, but lol, I thought the one on her butt was from the dye stuff they put on the umbilical cord to dry it up! It was exactly the same color. It was so funny when I was in the hospital trying to wipe it off.
post #12 of 104
12/1/08 at 3:32pm
My ds had 2, one on his butt and one at the corner of his eye/bridge of his nose. The one on his nose faded and finally went away at about 2, but the one on his butt went away at about 1.

I was always afraid someone would think I beat him, too. It's surprising how many people haven't heard of them.
post #13 of 104
12/1/08 at 4:09pm
We are not a multicultural family (husband and I both identify as white), but do have Native American ancestry. My daughter had a great big, black and blue Mongolian spot right at the base of her spine. She's 7 now and it went away, or at least faded a lot, between 3 and 5, IIRC. I had her pediatrician put it in her notes that she had that birthmark (easy, peasy since she examined her as a newborn, too) and I made sure to mention it to any babysitter or daycare provider (at least the director and main teacher) so that they knew to expect seeing it during a diaper change. I also had the fear that we'd be accused of abuse, so the mentioning it ahead of time and making sure that it was "recorded" was basically a CYA.
post #14 of 104
12/1/08 at 4:12pm
My little girl (Vietnamese) has a mongolian spot right on her rear end. She's had it since she was adopted (4 months old) and it's still there (she's 22 months old). Her ped just noted it in her chart in case she ever went to school or had someone that questioned whether it was a bruise or not.
post #15 of 104
12/1/08 at 5:34pm
Izabear does! I'm glad we aren't the only ones! When she was born I was snuggling her close and rubbing her adorable nakee-butt, then with horror I realized her entire rear end and almost up to her shoulders was bruised! Thankfully our pediatrician walked in right around then, calmed me (and DH) down, and explained it was these mongolian birthmarks and not actually a bruise. He said they would continue shrinking throughout infancy and should be gone into childhood. She is 7 months now and it has gone down to a quarter sized bruise looking spot around her tailbone. I'm guessing it will continue to get smaller as she gets older, we aren't too concerned anymore...but at least we know what to expect! LOLOL
post #16 of 104
12/1/08 at 6:19pm
Thanks for clueing me in to what they're called! Yes, DD had one at birth, and then for a while after, but I no longer notice it- perphaps it went away or it's still there but covered by her chunky donka-donk.

She also has a huge California-shaped tan birthmark on her right shin, and one of those red, vessel-looking marks (strawberry-marks) at the base of her neck.

My pedi also said skin markings are common in mixed-breeds and they only worry if there are an excessive amount because that would indicate a genetic disorder.
post #17 of 104
12/1/08 at 6:36pm
also the placement of those at certain places do mean something is up. esp. if it changes. i vaguely recall reading about a mark at the base of the spine (dont remember what the mark should be) means something could possibly be wrong. my dd has a birthmark at the end of her spine - but its just a birthmark.
post #18 of 104
12/1/08 at 6:38pm
We do not consider our family multi-cultural but our first son has a mongolian spot. The mws asked us about ancestry but nothing related that we know of. We always consider it our little family mystery.
post #19 of 104
12/1/08 at 6:40pm
My younger 3 are half-Hispanic, and the oldest of them had a large, dark blue spot that spread across the lower back. It looked like a distinct bruise. Luckily I knew what it was, but I was afraid other people wouldn't! He is 5 yrs, 8 months now and it's almost faded completely away.

My other two "hispa-casians" do not have them. The youngest, in fact, is so fair-skinned and light-eyed that he doesn't appear to be biracial at all.

Oddly enough...


Quote:
Originally Posted by meowee View Post
She also has a sacral dimple right below it (like a fissure in the skin at the base of her spine) as did my DS. I don't know if it's related to the spots.
All I can say is, I never thought about it, but it must be. My son also has a dimple just below the mongolian spot. I always thought it was just some odd little thing, but maybe it is related in some way! (It could be just a wildly improbable coincidence, too... )
post #20 of 104
12/1/08 at 9:47pm
My daughter’s father is South Asian and I am biracial, so she got the double whammy. Her entire bum is covered and there are smaller ones on her shoulder and shin. When I first saw them I kept asking the nurses “What did you do to my baby.” After they calmed me down a bit they explained it was common in biracial babies.
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Parenting › Multicultural Families › does anyone's baby have mongolian spots?