Anyone else in baby acne hell?

[Biscuits & Gravy]

My poor baby. Seeing his skin just makes me hurt. I remember Nolan going through this, but I don't remember it being this bad. And I can't remember how long it lasted. Anyone have a clue?

[theboysmama]

I just received an e-mail forwarded from my midwife where she suggested the use of Selsun Blue Shampoo.

When you are giving your baby a bath, wet his face and anywhere else the spots are, then take a small dot of Selsun Blue Shampoo, being very careful not to get any in his eyes, rub it on the area and leave it there while you finish washing him elsewhere. At the end of the bath, take a damp washcloth and wipe the shampoo off in a direction away from his eyes.
It was a pediatrician, long ago who told me that baby acne is "cradle cap" on the face. It happens when flakes of skin get into the sensitive pores. He said to ignore what you read in books about scraping the scalp after applying oil, he said that that treatment makes it worse and that selsun blue shampoo will work for the scalp AND the face. He was right on. The first time I tried it, it took a few days to completely clear up the spots because they were so bad, but after that, I treated them as they appeared and they were gone in a couple of hours. It doesn't take much, just once per day as needed during bath time. If there are no spots, don't treat.

The e-mail also recommended making sure that you are using a gentle detergent on all of the babies clothes and anything that the baby touches like your clothes, your bed, blankets, etc.
hope this helps

[CAKJNH]

Originally Posted by Biscuits & Gravy

My poor baby. Seeing his skin just makes me hurt. I remember Nolan going through this, but I don't remember it being this bad. And I can't remember how long it lasted. Anyone have a clue?

I would make sure its acne first. DS has what looks like baby acne, but it turned out its not. Its like an allergic rash...can't remember the exact name. If you try to get rid of it (there's no treatment) you can make it worse & painful.

[Lemon Juice]

We were in acne hell. Ours started at 2 weeks and ended at about 4 weeks.

Baby acne is, from what i'm told is from the mother's hormones that crossed the placenta during birth. When it started I did a bunch of searches on mdc to see what to do. What I learned was to put breastmilk on it a few times a day. I did this and we are now free of baby acne....amazing stuff, huh?! More did appear eventually and I would put more milk on those. But after 2 weeks she's looking much better.

I personally would NEVER use selsun blue on myself, let alone my babe. Yikes! Baby acne is harmless so I don't see the point of putting something that is so unnatural on my infant's skin. BM works, maybe a bit slower, but is natural and so much better for babe. Oh and I found that putting milk on and letting it air dry helped more than rubbing it in and damping it off w/ a burp cloth, etc.

As for cradle cap, I always used olive oil and brushed off and never saw it return.

[ChesapeakeBorn]

Oh, yes. We have baby acne here too. DD never got it, so this came as a bit of a surprise. I've heard it is worse in boys. It started at 2 weeks and is still going strong at 4 weeks. Although it seems to have migrated down his face. I am pretty sure it is acne and not an allergic reaction, as the red bumps have whiteheads. We already use free and clear detergent and I have even tried playing around with my diet (e.g. no dairy), but to no avail.

I tried washing with mild baby soap and that did nothing. Now I just wipe his face off with warm water once a day. I did the breastmilk thing and that didn't seem to help, but maybe I didn't do it enough? I have noticed that he has no acne near his mouth where he is constantly covered in milk. Hmmm... Do you use the foremilk or hindmilk or does it not matter?

[hollyvangogh]

No baby acne here.

But I'm in acne hell. :

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Oh, how could I forgotten the magical powers of breastmilk!? I'll try that.

My mom is a NP in a NICU so she has a lot of experience with newborn stuff like this, and she says it is acne. It just looks different from what I remember ODS having, but maybe each kid is affected in a different way.

[namistenicole]

DD had it really bad from about 3-5 weeks. It really seemed to help to wash her face every couple days with Dr. Bronners baby soap.

[CAKJNH]

Ok so after some researching a bit more, it's called Neonatorum - which also is used in conjunction with baby acne. But it's not considered baby acne: in our case because DS had it at birth and baby acne comes on around 2 wks or so. So it's considered more of an allergy type thing, I guess.

The pediatrician said they're pustules that are similar to those that show up during an allergy test (the kind when they put a bunch of allergens on your back and if it reacts you're allergic).

But in the case of the baby acne in my girls, we never did anything and it went away on its own, anywhere between 1 & 4 weeks later (according to my baby books.) DH has cystic acne (has had it since adolescence) and we're hoping this will be their only issue with acne EVER! We were told the same thing this time, too. Just let it be and it'll go away.

HTH, Leanna

[jenniferadurham]

Evan doesn't have THAT mad of acne...I few bumps here and there...but I am going to try the Selsun Blue. Thanks for the advise!


Hope your babies acne gets better Biscuits & Gravy

[Biscuits & Gravy]

Well, I have a positive update. Yesterday he woke up and it looked even more awful. His skin was weepy and crusted yellow. I gave him a wipe down with a warm wet cloth, and then started squirting the milk all over his face. Poor kid was like a little baby bird saying "Hey! Mama! Put that milk right here!" Adorable. I repeated this a few times, and when he woke up this morning he looked a million times better. Hooray, once again, for the power of breastmilk!! :

[Lemon Juice]

Oh, that's great mama! I'm so glad it helped him! As for those trying, I do it a few times a day as needed...rub it in w/ my finger and let it air dry.

I would try California baby or the baby Bronner's Nicole mentioned before using selsun blue. Just a thought We gave Aya her first bath yesterday w/ California baby and it cleared even more bumps and such up and the cradle cap she had (altho she doesn't have it bad or that much...yet) cleared up as well.

[AmieV]

Hooray for breastmilk! I already cured a blocked tear duct that was making Willa's eye all oozy and gross with one treatment.

Ellie had terrible baby acne and it was right when she started smiling. I remember that because I didn't want to take any pictures of her first smiles at first because it looked so terrible. I don't think it lasted longer than a week though. Hormones are kooky things.

[chic2chic]

i've nicknamed my poor baby "acne boy"

thanks for the reminder about breastmilk, will try that asap.

[arahzel]

We used Cetaphil. Brenna's started right around 2 weeks, and has since faded since we started with the cetaphil. I just rub it into her cheeks at bathtime and wipe off with a wet cloth.

I know breastmilk is supposedly a cureall, but poor Brenna was breaking out worse where I wasn't wiping her cheek fast enough after feeding. I think the sugar combined with moisture drying against her skin was irritating it.