Sandpaper-like rashes/patches on 6-month old

[coffeegirl]

I've always had sensitive skin, like my mom did before me, and now my little girl seems to have it too, only worse. For the last couple months she's been getting this sandpaper-like rash on her legs, arms and back. Since it's winter she mostly wears footie pajamas or sleep and play outfits during the day and night, so I figured that maybe it was our laundry detergent. We switched to ALL Free & Clear, a small amount, for her clothes only. But I know sometimes one of her outfits will sneak in to the regular wash, where I use other store brands. I don't know if it's the detergent though, or not.

I only bathe her now with water only-- no soap except occasionally on her diaper area (where she's usually rash-free, ironically.) I've tried hydrocortisone cream, with Eucerin Calming Creme over it, and also Johnson's baby lotion mixed with Vaseline, because some of it seems to be exacerbated by dry skin. The cortaid/lotion thing seems to help a lot, up to a certain point. It gets rid of the active redness but the sandpaper-y patches are still there. Anyone know what this could be or how we can get rid of it for good?

TIA! :)

[porcelina]

My DS has this, and I have since realized that I have it too! The doctor called it eczema. He said to put Eucerin lotion on it. You said you have tried that and it didn't work. It actually didn't work for us either. I hope someone here has some suggestions!

[chattyprincess]

It is excema. And while using the cortisone cream will work it is only a temporary fix. Cortisone cream is a steroid cream and over use will cause that area of skin to become thinner and weaker and more susceptible to rash. It works because the steroid causes the rash to calm down and the inflammation to go away. This a very basic steriod explanation.

My first dd suffered with excema and we discovered that we had to switch everything to all free and clear, no more chemical filled lotions or body washes (www.cosmeticdatabase.org) is a great site. The biggest factor in dealing with excema is getting it under control and then keeping it that way. So start using a lotion on your daughter. We used the eucerin claming cream as well it worked great but we wanted to something more natural so we moved on...after the excema was under control and GONE.

Here is how we got in under control and kept it that way through very dry cold winters and hot summers.

All laundry in the free and clear. your clothing touches her body as well.

Dr Bronners baby mild soap. We bath every day, this helps wash any allergens/irritants off the skin and allows the skin to be free of dirt/irritants so that you have a clean "surface". I am assuming your lo has no hair but if she does and you are using a seperate shampoo/condish you must switch to something like california unscented babies, or aubrey organics. Bath with the soap nightly in a tepid to warm bath water. Heat will aggravate the excema causing it to flare up. after you drain the water rinse her body off with clear clean water to make sure any residue from the soap is gone. The dr bronners is a castile soap so it doesn't leave behind allergens to further irritate the skin.

Pat the baby dry, do not rub hard etc or you will again aggravate the skin. While baby is still slightly damp from the bath apply tiny amounts of cortisone cream to the bad patches of excema. then apply lotion to the skin. The eucerin will work great here. Or use california unscented babies lotion either is great.

Do this for 2 weeks. As soon as you notice the excema patches reducing in size and redness wean slowly away form the cortisone cream using less and less only ever use the tiniest amount you can for the area. once the patches are gone continue doing this forever. lol.

DO NOT change the soaps/lotions etc.for at leat 2 weeks. If you use lotion on yourself stop and begin using the same as your baby for the time being her checks and body is all over yours so you are just putting those irritants back onto her. It takes along time (min. 2 weeks) for the excema to clear up or begin to clear up. If after 2 weeks you notice absolutely no changes you need to evaluate the babies diet. Remove the most common allergens from thier diets (if they are nursing you must remove them from your diet as well.)

Since she is so young I am assuming its not so much diet as it is skin irritaion. The johnsons lotions, vaseline etc do nothing for the skin besides leave a chemical cocktail on thier skin. Read the labels, google the ingredients and understand what they do (www.cosmeticdatabase.org) is a great resources to check the safety of ingredients and products, type the name into the search engine and read all about it.

Babies skin is 10x thinner than our (or 100x I can't remember lol) so it absorbs things faster into and its also more delicate so things irritate it more (example being this is why babies are more prone to heat rashes then adults) you have to cleanse it and help keep it hydrated.

I battled this problem with dd1  for over 2 years before I finally found this routine and all this info so I am really glad to be able to share it with you guys hoping it will help. If you have any questions please pm me I would love to try to help in any way. My 2nd dd has not had a single skin problem yet since she has been on "the routine" since birth basically.... 

[chattyprincess]

I forgot to add. Once you start the routine you also should lotion baby head to toe in the morning as well. And try to lotion the patches every diaper change.

[coffeegirl]

Thank you so much chattyprincess. I took notes while reading through your post. :) I'm gonna try your routine.....get the Dr. Bonners, start using the F&C detergents on everything and keep up the Eucerin. I hate how greasy it is, but if it works, it works.

One more thing-- we do use the calming creme, which is what I was referring to above. Eucerin also makes some other lotions that are less greasy that also are for "sensitive skin", but not specifically for irritated skin like the Eucerin calming creme. Have you tried any of those, or should I just stick with the calming creme.

[ssh]

We've done similar things for my 5 year old DD's dry skin rashes. At it's worst it looked like sunburn and felt like sandpaper. I sort of skipped using lotion a few times once it was cleared up and it came back worse. So be sure to use lotion twice a day at least. I also notice having her wear 100% cotton, especially with pants and tight clothing, instead of synthetic blends really helped to. Loose clothing, outerwear, toys, bedding and pillows don't seem to matter. But pajamas and pants really need to be cotton. The skindeep site is really good. We use an olive oil soap, but mostly just water. The Aveeno daily moisturizing lotion works better for DD than Eucerin, but we weren't using the calming creme. We've only used a cortisoid creme on a couple of really bad areas, twice.

[Terrilein]

I never had good luck with the cortisone cremes on my dd. It took the same amount of time for the affected areas to heal without using the cortisone so we eventually skipped using it. What we did do was moisturize twice a day religiously. We did bathe a few times a week and mostly only in water. If soap/shampoo were necessary, then we used these quickly towards the end of the bath and thoroughly rinsed her off. Occasionally we'd do milk and olive oil baths or oatmeal baths, too.

good luck, mama, and I hope her rash clears up soon.

[porcelina]

Thanks chattyprincess, from me too! This is SOOO helpful! I'm going to try to do this too (though DS1 will no longer let me put lotion on him!)

Also, do you have any thoughts or experience with Cetaphil? This is what I've been using with DS2, who has even more sensitive skin than DS1.

[chattyprincess]

Originally Posted by porcelina 

Thanks chattyprincess, from me too! This is SOOO helpful! I'm going to try to do this too (though DS1 will no longer let me put lotion on him!)

Also, do you have any thoughts or experience with Cetaphil? This is what I've been using with DS2, who has even more sensitive skin than DS1.

 I have no experience with cetaphil. I have read about its use quite often but have no personal use expereince. with its use.

here is the ingredients list for cetaphil gentle skin cleanser. For one I hate parabens but that is not so much a excema issue as a personal issue. secondly Propylene glycol coats the skin keeping moisture in but not allowing the skin to breathe or allowing anything else to penetrate it, which if you are using this as a soap you are slowly just coating her skin in this not allowing her lotion into her skin.the cetyl alcohol and stearyl alcohol simply make the mixture more acidic and make it "feel" better in your hands (just like silcone/dimiethicone coats your hair to make it smooth). So basically just the sodium laruyl sulfate is cleansing, which causes lots of irritantion in skin and is a really harsh cleanser.

Water, Cetyl Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Stearyl Alcohol, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Butylparaben. 

Dr bronners on the other hand is a pure saponified soap. It uses oils that it saponifys into the soap and is very mild and non irritating

Water, Organic Coconut Oil*,Organic Olive Oil*, Organic Hemp Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Citric Acid, Tocopherol

personally to me I like to use the most natural products possible and this fits the bill. Its non irritating and has been around for 60 years....its never changed its formula because it has always worked just that well ya know? I would put all your children onto "the routine" using simple ingredients so that you know what they do and how they work. If you don't like the eucerin and are concerned about the super sensitive skin I would try something like california babies unscented lotion and the dr bronners and use those two things for 2 weeks and then evaluate if its working. Keep it simple, keep the ingredients simple. once the excema is calmed down you can switch around and find something else you like because then the skin will be "pure and non rashy" so you will have a baseline to know if it works or not.

And have your ds make a game of it, apply the lotion as little dots all over his body and have him rub them in. Race and see if he or ds2 can get themselves lotioned faster etc...the lotion is essential in making the skin healthy.

[chattyprincess]

Originally Posted by coffeegirl 

Thank you so much chattyprincess. I took notes while reading through your post. :) I'm gonna try your routine.....get the Dr. Bonners, start using the F&C detergents on everything and keep up the Eucerin. I hate how greasy it is, but if it works, it works.

One more thing-- we do use the calming creme, which is what I was referring to above. Eucerin also makes some other lotions that are less greasy that also are for "sensitive skin", but not specifically for irritated skin like the Eucerin calming creme. Have you tried any of those, or should I just stick with the calming creme.

I have never used any other eucerin products. We simply used the calming creme. We now mostly use alba unscented or aubrey organics unscented. I would just pick something and stick with it.I don't love the eucerin ingredients but it seems to really help calm the skin and mostiurize it and get it into a baseline of "normal pure and non rashy". Especially when using it as part of "the routine".

[McGucks]

If it is on the back of the arms and in the thigh/hip area, it may be a form of eczema called keratosis pilaris.  I have had it since I was a young teen and my 10 m.o. has it.  I hate it on me and it makes me super self-conscious.  I have posted about this before for natural remedies, none of which made the slightest difference (fish oil, different lotions, etc.).  Doesn't matter at all what kind of soap, detergent, etc. I have used.  There is no cure, but there are some prescription meds that can improve it in adults who will use the meds consistently.  Our baby's case of it is mild, but it typically worsens with age and hormones.  His could be described as sandpapery as well.  It doesn't seem to trouble him, so we don't treat it.  And, to hopefully put your mind at ease, there is nothing dangerous about this condition.  It is just unsightly.  Some people say it is itchy, but no moreso than regular dry skin.  One good thing about my son's having it is that it's put my mind at ease (just a bit) about how yucky I feel with it--I kiss my baby's all the time, just like I kiss the rest of him!  Good luck!