Tuesday, August 18, 2009

You're Not Going to Believe This

I noticed, right about the time that the baby zits should be showing up (right around three weeks), that #7's skin was becoming increasingly red and rough--a lot like sandpaper. I let this go for a couple weeks thinking it would remedy itself.

As it continued to get worse, I started to remember two and a half years prior and #6's skin at this age. I had taken him in for a check up to find that he had eczema, but he had it more than over his face. It ran down his chest, torso and down his arms. As I recall, I took him in thinking he had some kind of disease. As it turns out, eczema is the term used for extremely dry skin.

This is the solution the doctor gave me. It works and quickly. I did it twice with #6 and made his skin beautiful once again.

You get two 100% cotton sleepers (I found them at Target, but they were called "union suits"). In the evening, bathe the baby and slather him/her all over with Vaseline petroleum jelly. Get one of the sleepers wet all over in hot water and wring it out. Put that on the baby over the Vaseline. Put the other sleeper (dry) over the wet one. Swaddle the baby and put him/her to bed for the night. In the morning, both sleepers will be dry (or nearly so), and the baby's skin will be beautiful.

I did this with #6 in November. I thought he'd be freezing in the night, but he slept very comfortably. Unbelievable, I know.

As for the face, I tried an experiment with #7. You can't very well, wrap 100% cotton over a baby's face for bedtime, so I put Vaseline on one cheek and Cetaphil (a lotion that my brother used for his eczema when we were kids), on her other cheek and put her to bed one night. In the morning, the Vaseline cheek seemed redder and bumpier. The lotioned cheek seemed a bit better, so I resorted to using Cetaphil lotion (a bit expensive but great lotion not just for eczema) nightly for about three nights and from time to time now if she looks a little bumpy. Her skin is now great.

I know this isn't a daily problem for most people, but keep this in mind for future reference. Just in case you ever need it. It really works great!

6 comments:

1000 Miles in 2021 said...

my kids are afflicted with this. Kathryn has had it so far only under her chin where she drools, so the doctor prescribed me some powder, which helps dry it up. But once its dry it gets bad a different way- so I too use Cetaphil. Poor baby- she scratches at it and that makes me feel so bad.

Anyway- if it gets to her body I am trying your way for sure.

Jana said...

WOW!!!That is great. My 10 yr old has escema too really bad on her arms. In fact she has some scars from scrathing at night. We use one of my husbands old socks to cover her arms and she put a presecption cream on her arms under the sock. That seems to work a little. I haven't tried Cetaphil on her. I will go look at it. My 1 yr old was born with escema on his forehead right between the eyes. After I stopped feeding him formula it went away. So I think that both my kids might have a little allergy to dairy. My 10 yr old use to drink it like water until I read about this and cut down on how much dairy they both have. Great tip!!! Have a nice week

CB said...

I have never heard of this remedy but I could see how it would really work.
That is awesome and I am so glad your sweet babies skin is looking better :D

Tonya said...

I would have NEVER thought of a wet suit under a dry one. It really does seem that it would be so uncomfortable! That's awesome that it works. I'm glad her skin is under contorl now. I have never used Cetaphil either, but have looked at it several times...just wondering if it would be good for my break out prone skin. Hmmmm....

Oyama Family said...

Graham got some on the back of his head where he rubbed it so much and the doc told me to try "Aveeno soothing releif moisture cream"- it worked awesome!

Meghan, Carson and the Kiddos said...

Wow! I've never heard of that but I think I'm going to try it with Will. All my kids have had dry skin as a result of my genes and cetaphil has always helped, but I can't shake Wills. I will try the vaseline thing for sure! Cetaphil is all I use...It feels like heaven after a nice long shower!

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