Sensitive skin research - PLEASE HELP!

[Sarah01]

Hello, Very nice forums you have here!

I am a 17 year-old A-Level student studying textiles in England, and I am doing a project which is based on young children.

The title is called. ''A young child has sensitive skin, (eczema etc), design an item to help this child."

I have chosen to look into 'Organic' Cotton, : which is softer on the skin and doesn't irritate as much.

I need to gather information from parents that have had children with sensitive skin.

Would it be possible to give a short story reply to this post, telling me what problem your child had, and what you do/did to help your child. (creams, clothing etc)

Also, what are your thoughts on organic cotton clothing? Would you buy it? Yes? No? Why? Etc.

Thankyou very much for your help!

Sarah x

[circlemama]

Yes, I would buy products made of organic cotton. In fact, I recently purchased organic cotton gloves for my daughter, from a company in England.
My daughter gets eczema from anything other than cotton. She'll flare up from looking at synthetic, acrylic, polyester, etc.. We use lots of bathing and moisturizing to fend off flare ups. She is an atopic child, and food, stress, sickness and fatigue can spice up her skin.

[wendy1221]

My first son was allergic to disposable diapers. I had signed up for a diaper service before he was born (my main reasons for using cloth were cost and environmental, but his allergy cinched it), but he was also irritated by their diapers (they probably used bleach.) So I bought cloth diapers and could only use cotton on him. I took him to a walk-in clinic during an especially bad bout of eczema on his backside while visiting my sister (several hours drive from our town) and the doctor insisted the cloth diapers were making his condition worse. So I switched to disposables and it got so bad we had to go to the dermatologist who told me to never use anything but cotton against his skin and that the last doc was an idiot. (LOL)

When my 2nd was a small infant, I started sewing his diapers myself. I have been slowly finding affordable yardage of organic fabrics and I am trying to phase in all organic cotton diapers for my 2 youngest. My 2nd will probably be potty trained before that happens, but maybe Ill be better at sewing clothing by then. LOL!

So obviously, yes, I would buy organic clothing. Right now, the only thing in the way is cost. My husband is a PhD student, so money is tight. Once he graduates, or I start working again (he will surely graduate before that hbappens. LOL!), I plan on buying more organics. My main reasons are environmental and to expose my family to fewer chemicals, but the softness is a definite plus.

[JaneS]

Yes, we have bought organic cotton... especially pajamas since they are not treated with flame retardant. Not sure if it's the same the UK, but most nightclothes here in the States are treated with horrible chemicals in the name of safety, it's ridiculous.

We have been through many creams, scent free laundry detergent etc. but nothing helped my son's skin until we focused on his diet.