Will "stork bites" go away? Not trying to be superficial...

[sunwillshine]

So, when DD was born, she had very dark, almost purple "stork bites" on her forehead, eyelid, and upper lip (note quite a day old, below).

I feel like they've faded some, but they're definitely still noticeable at around 4 months. 

Anyone else's children have these "close to the surface" capillaries that presented as birthmarks, but then began to fade?  Some days I feel I can hardly see them, others (esp if she's upset) they're clear as day.

Thanks for any feedback.  :-)  I think DD is the most beautiful baby ever, obviously.  I'm mostly just really curious. 

[Knitting Mama]

My Cecilia has an "angel kiss" on her left eyelid and a "stork bite" on the back of her neck (they actually go hand in hand, according to my ped, which is interesting!) Anyway, she's 10 months now and they are very much faded. You can only see the eye one in certain lights now. I think it will be totally gone by 1.5 or 2.

[Snapdragon]

my 10 month old has one on his eyelid and some small patches on his nose. Some times i barely notice them and other times they are very clear. I was told when he was born that they will fade, and they called them stork bites- but they haven't gotten any lighter. They are not as dark as the ones in the op pictures. I think at this point they might just be a birth mark but I guess time will tell.

[sunwillshine]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cecilia's Mama 

My Cecilia has an "angel kiss" on her left eyelid and a "stork bite" on the back of her neck (they actually go hand in hand, according to my ped, which is interesting!) Anyway, she's 10 months now and they are very much faded. You can only see the eye one in certain lights now. I think it will be totally gone by 1.5 or 2.

Cady has them on the back of her neck and head, too!  :-)  Thanks for sharing your experience.  BTW, she is such a cutie-pie in your user pic! 

[Knitting Mama]

Thanks, mama! She's my dream come true.

[TabithaB]

When my son was born he had a "stork bite" above his eye.  I asked his doctor when it would go away and he said he would let me know in about 8 or 9 years on it.  Needless to say.  It is still there. 

[ellemenope]

DD was peppered with stork bites when she was born.  The worst was on her right eyelid.  It was very purple.  Then she had a streak of them very similar to your DD's that went down her nose and above her lip.  There was even some blemish right under her lip.  She also had one the size of a nickle on the side of her head, covered by hair, and the traditional nape of the neck one.

She was also born with a small red blemish right next to her right ear that over the course of about a month grew to the size of a gumball (compound hemangioma).  This was our main concern.  We were just really thankful that the other marks did not grow like that one.

At 2.5, you would have no idea.  I will always notice, but I don't think anyone else does.  The stork bites might flare when she gets upset, but I am madly in love with each and every one of them, and they are nothing anyone would question.  I love how her nose is always a little bit rosier than the rest of her face.  The hemangioma is almost always covered by her hair now and is much duller, and will be surgically removed when we are ready for that.

[Beltane]

Our DD will be 6 months in a week, and she also has the stork bite on the back of her neck and had the angel kiss over the left eye and one on her forehead.  The eye has faded a lot and most of the time doesn't show, but when she gets upset it becomes more obvious, but nothing like the first month or so!  The forehead faded some but is still always there as is the back of the neck.

[Tilia]

IME, they fade.  DD is 5 now and they are almost gone.  She had a bunch of red squares at the nape of her neck, and half of her nose was red when she was born.  They are mostly gone now.

[northwoods1995]

My 2 yo DD has a few--forehead, nose, and back of neck. They have faded (especially the forehead and nose) but I can still see them. I'm not sure they are really noticeable to anyone else unless she is upset.

I have one on the back of my neck still--and I'm in my 30's.

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by ellemenope 

 I will always notice, but I don't think anyone else does.  The stork bites might flare when she gets upset

Same with Cecilia!

[CBEmomma]

ds1 had a bright stork bite on the back of his neck when he was a baby. He's 3.5 years now and it's gone. ds2 is 9 months and still has a faded one on his forehead. I think it'll be gone soon.

[SilverFish]

my dd has exactly the same pattern as yours, except she's also got a mark on her nose, and her right eyelid is almost completely red. she is almost 1 and they have not really faded much in my opinion. they're not obvious in photos anymore, but quite clear in person. anyway, we will wait and see. they are very easy to remove... it would be a simple laser treatment by a dermatologist. if they were still there when she gets older and she's not comfortable with them, i would be willing for her to have that done.

it sounds from other pp's like they might be gone by the time she's in school, but it made me feel better when the ped told me how easy they would be to remove if it came to that. maybe it is superficial, but i get it :)

[Anastasiya]

My dd's are very similar- a big one at the nape of her neck and another right where your dd has hers on her forehead. They have faded, but I can still tell where they are. And yes, they always flare up when she's hot, crying, or upset. Oh yeah, and she's almost seven.

[tzs]

we had on the eyelids and at the back of the head. at 16 months the eyelid marks are gone as are the ones on the head....although i thought i noticed it was still a little red patch underneath her hair. 

even at 4 months or so they were pretty faded. i remember a friend of mine calling them her "battle scars" and being bummed they were faded because she looked less tough.

[mockingirdQ]

My seven year old had a set of large jagged ones across his forehead when he was born - my niece always called them his Harry Potter marks since they were shaped like lightning bolts :P

At one, they were still dark. At 3 or 4, they faded a bit except when he cried or was upset. Now you can barely see them if you know what to look for. One day you'll just look at your child in a photo and realize how much they have faded...

-Jan

SAHM to Todd (age 7) and Sean (8 months)

[sunwillshine]

Originally Posted by SilverFish 
 ...it made me feel better when the ped told me how easy they would be to remove if it came to that. maybe it is superficial, but i get it :)

:-)  I'm glad some other mama's "get it."  I guess my biggest concern will be whether she'll be bothered by them if they stick around.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences!  Like I said, they already seems to be fading quite a bit, so I'm inclined to think they'll continue to do so.  There's some photos of her where I don't notice them at all anymore (But notice in person, still, for sure).  I am sheepishly admitting that sometimes I airbrush her photos.  Sometimes I worry that makes me a bad, appearance-obsessed mama... but then I remind myself that a pro photog would offer the same service.  :-)

Still, many of her photos I leave alone... I think the "battle scars" (like that term, tzs!) give her a subtle uniqueness that it beautiful (see below, from her 100th day).  I'm mostly just been wondering whether they're likely to stick around... 

Thanks again!!!

[tink79]

All 3 of my girlies have had stork bites on their foreheads and reaching around to the back of the head, neck and upper back.  DH has it too but his isn't noticeable unless he gets overheated, then it comes out. 

My oldest DD is 7 and hers isn't visible anymore.  My younger two had more pronounced marks and they are faded somewhat but still very visible.  I suspect they will fade somewhat over time but will always be there.  Someone once stopped me when they were babies and told me that they were both marked with a "V" because they would be Victorious.  I'll take it! LOL

Here they are at a couple of days

About a year and a half

And at 3 1/2 

[sunwillshine]

Tink79, your girls are absolutely gorgeous!  Thanks for sharing the pics! 

V for Victorious... LOVE IT! 

[AnnieA]

DSS 10 has one on his forehead right between his eyebrows and one on his neck at the base of his hairline. They were more apparent when he was younger and have now almost completely faded but like other posters, they become very prominent when he's hot or upset.