Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Modern Mamahood: Troubleshooting Baby Eczema


I was sort of in denial that my adorable little shnookums had baby skin issues. As she grew from the newborn stage into infancy and was coordinated enough to actually itch, it became much harder to ignore. Her skin was red and bumpy on her cheeks and by her elbow and knee joints. All signs pointed to baby eczema.

Over the course of a few months, with our doctor’s recommendation, we tried Aveeno Baby’s Soothing Relief Moisture Cream (recommended for eczema) and Aquaphor Healing Ointment and stopped with the bubbles and scented soap in the tub, replaced it with Aquaphor Gentle Baby Wash and ensured my husband stopped slathering her with the classic Johnson’s Baby Oil every night. Great suggestions, but nothing was working for her.

Finally when she was about 7 months, we brought our RJ in to the doctor to resolve the problem. He gave her a prescription for steroids, which was a scary way of saying low percentage cortisone cream. After a few days of usage on her trouble-spots, her skin was in the clear!


What we were left with was a WAY less fussy baby! Turns our all that itching was the cause of lots of irritability. Still, the problem was not completely gone; she’ll get outbreaks if she’s sweaty and sometimes if we introduce new foods, which I hear is common.

Since I love skincare products that smell good, I had to figure out something that would work for her sensitive baby skin that had a nice fresh baby-friendly scent. We've successfully reintroduced the Aveeno Baby lotion and for bath time we swear by the Oatmeal Ginger Almond soap bar found at Trader Joe’s. It smells delicious and the all-natural ingredients do wonders for her skin (and mine too -- I use it on my face!)

Delicious soap bar from Trader Joe's

Finally, I've got a child with that baby soft skin we all love thanks to lots of experimentation and finally listening to her doctor. Now let's just hope she doesn't inherit mommy's teenage and apparently adult pimple issues!



The Modern Mamahood Column on the Ladies Lotto Blog:
As our Ladies Lotto community grows and evolves, we now have quite a few mamas and mamas-to-be! The LL Modern Mamahood weekly column presents the issues and products related to being a Ladies Lotto Mama. Blogger: Lana Perry


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