[gigismom]

I have posted here many times regarding my baby's rash on her bottom and on her chin. I have come to the conclusion that she has an eczema type rash on these two areas because they come into contact with wet fabric. I change her very frequently though. The only ointment/creme that does any good is cortizone and aquaphor (YUCK!) They both help tremendously but still not completely gone. She scratches both areas frequently. I have a terrible time changing diapers because she is grabbing and scratching. I have come to realize that the rash gets much worse after scratching (duh...) So I can't decide which came first, the rash or the scratching. I changed detergents but maybe should change again. Could this be an indication of intolerance of something in breast milk? DD1 had dairy insensitivity but no rash problems. This baby has no other symptoms of that. Is there some other type of creme I could try to relieve the itching? What detergent should I try?

Thanks again for your wonderful help

jen

 

[Magnoliamama]

If the rash is on her chin and her bottom, that could be an indication of something she is sensitive to in her diet. I was just reading a Dr. Sears chapter in his book on parenting high-need children (for a different reason), and he reiterated this possibility. My oldest dd had major allergy issues in her infancy and she had an eczema rash literally everywhere until we fixed them. If it is diet-related, then no cream is going to fix it unless you also tweak her diet and yours if you are bf-ing. So - it's worth checking out as a possibility. The other thing I thought of is that sometimes my children get rashes when they are sick and/or going through major teething - the extra acid in their digestive system gives them rashes. The rashes go away when the sickness or the teething ends.

Detergent: use a free&clear type for her clothes, too, like Tide Free or Cheer Free (like you would for diapers), and do an extra rinse; see if that makes a difference.

Trust your gut instincts - if you think it's diet related or something else, then keep investigating it. Hope this helps!

ETA: aquaphor and a prescription cream helped keep my oldest daughter's rash in check, but it did not cure it. Fixing the diet did cure it. I know that there are lots of moms on the breastfeeding support forum that could give you likely culprits and help with tweaking your diet. I'm no longer bf-ing

so I have forgotten all the good advice.

 

[musicmaj]

My son has bad, bad eczema. I also have some eczema patches and itchy skin. In my experience the itchy skin comes first, then the scratching, then the eczema. In our case the eczema is caused by allergies. At the first sign of scratching, I give my son antihistamine and put him in a one piece outfit or overalls so he can't scratch himself all up. (He is almost three though and this is hard.) I only use prefolds and wool covers on him when his eczema is flaired up. (like right now.) If he gets over heated or has too much elastic it makes things worse. I do have to fight to keep his hands away during diaper changes or he will scratch himself raw in the time it takes for me to get him rediapered.

I will still occasionally use aquafor on the diaper area because it works as a great barrier to keep the wetness away from a raw,scratched, eczema patch. I have to be very careful about that because if he scratches his diaper area he is prone to bacterial
infections. I like to use natural, mineral oil free, creams on the rest of his body. California baby calendula cream works wonders for us.

 

[cjr]

plain lanolin will help with the dryness and itchiness until you can figure out the true cause. My dd has excema, but only in the winter so I know it's not allergy triggered. I use a little lanolin and it really help tame things. I would not use the lanolin on the diaper area because it will coat your dipes and cause them to repel. Unless you cut up some pieces of fleece to use as liners.