Birthmarks and Hemangiomas

Evangeline, you wouldn't believe how common it is to worry about how others might perceive our child's birthmark(s). I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times I heard people talking about Melissa's lip and asking if she'd fallen (either asking me or even worse, commenting to another in a condescending tone of voice). I learned early on to try to let most comments slide because I didn't want Melissa to see a poor reaction on my part -- thinking she'd mimic it as she got old enough to realize what's happening.

It's been a recurring theme here on the board, too. Over the years, I've seen this conversation come up a lot. You are definitely not alone. When a child's birthmark is highly visible, people do tend to look and question - especially if it looks like it could possibly be something other than a birthmark. I definitely always suggest to parents who have children with Mongolian spots and go to daycare to make sure the daycare workers are aware of what the mark is. Same goes for any hemangiomas that could be mistaken for an injury. IMHO, it's easier to put it out there yourself than to be questioned about it later.

My birthmark kid is now 14½ but I will always remember the comments/stares/etc. Luckily, she's got a great sense of self-esteem and doesn't seem to care much about what's left of her birthmarks. She knows she has the option of having her lip "fixed" but that it'll most likely never look totally normal and for now, she seems fine with that.