6-Month Old Daughter Grabs at Herself - and Eczema Questions

The evaporation/ cooling effect from a wet diaper to air could be the simple explanation at the grabbing... or it could be a yeast infection (they don't always drip, sometime just a little redness is all that's visible) especially if you're using baby powder -stop- they aren't talcum any more. They're cornstarch (aka sugar... aka food for yeast)... or it could be simple exploration.

For skin irritation...

- have you tried a simple oatmeal bath?

- ditto on rewashing and double rinsing

- talk to the Ped about the stinging with the Cetaphil... it may be that the stinging is "supposed to happen" for the first day or so (fun :P)... or it may be that there's something else which wouldn't sting that they could recommend.

Good Luck

The diaper area exploration is just that probably. She's exploring a new part of her body that she is now coordinated enough to reach and it feels good, so she wants to touch it. She'll outgrow that. We simply told our (now 22 month old) daughter that we only touch that part of our body when we're alone at home. As she gets older, we'll talk more about it, but she doesn't grab herself in public or stick her hands down her pants and that is really the goal for right now. If she starts masterbating at 4, that's fine with us! :)

My daughter also has eczema and we've found that cetaphil does help as a daily maintenance when it's not all flared up, but when it's flared up, lots of naked time and a little direct sunlight help a lot. The sunlight does seem to help the most when the affected area is getting sun, rather than just the areas that don't have eczema. We walk outside to get the mail or go for a 5 minute walk around the park, that kind of thing 2-3 times each day and that does the job. If she has on sunscreen, then we go play a the park or things that take more time, but still get sun on her. My MIL is a physicians assistant and she suggested sun exposure to us last year and it worked like a charm all summer and most of the winter. I'm not sure if a full spectrum light bulb would work the same, but it might be worth trying. We also found that fragrance free neutrogena hand cream (http://www.neutrogena.com/econsumer/ntg/productdetail.bro...) helped this winter. It's really thick so we only put it on the affected areas after bath, sometimes at diaper change, and before bed. It definately helps! Our pediatrician advised us to only use fragrance free products because of the eczema. We use cetaphil or California Baby wash in the bath and threw out the Johnson's and Johnson's because that was making it much worse. Hope that helps and if I can be any more assistance, please e-mail me!

Hi,

They do grab for anything at that age, don't they? She will explore and then get over it in a few days.

My daughter was born with similar skin and she's much better now that she's almost one. Having a humidifier on at night really did it for us. It keeps her skin much more moisturized. Also, bathing every day and locking in the moisture with Vaseline helped us get through the worst dry skin times.

Good luck!

Not all skin irritations are visible to the naked eye. So... you said that this was triggered by a laundry detergent. Take all of her clothes and wash them again, and this time rinse them twice. In the first rinse add a quarter cup of white vinegar to the rinse water. Agitate and rinse, then rinse again in clear water. Some washers have a double rinse cycle, if not, manually reset the washer back to rinse after it has spun out on the first one.

For her itch, you mentioned that you've use Aveeno cream. Try giving her an Aveeno bath. The collidial oatmeal is really soothing or if not that, try baking soda in her bath.
Eczema can be very painful and aggrevating. It might be caused by allegies. Talk to your pediatrican about a child dosage of antihistamine. That might help, greatly. Also going through an allergy screening to see what she is allergic and sensitive to.

I wish her well, I wish you peace, Mom!

Congrats on your baby girl!

I think she is just "exploring" when you take the diaper off. It feels different when the air hits her skin so she reaches for that area. I seem to recall my kids both did that too.

As for the skin problems, I use a soy-based soap that has been very helpful for me and a number of other people have also reported improvement after using it. If you would like more information visit:
http://www.bellamiacandle.scent-team.com/products/bellaba...

If you'd like to try a free sample, just PM me.

I have an aloe vera plant and use it frequently for burns and itches. You might go to an Super Supplement store and get an aloe vera ointment there. I also use arnica lotion for muscle pain relief but it will also help for itches.

I hope that helps.

For my son's eczema, I have had a lot of luck with Aquaphor 2x per day. It has the consistency of Vaseline and stays on the skin for a long time. I also use Aveeno baby wash which is much creamier and leaves his skin feeling like it has lotion on it. Also, our pediatrician advised baths every 3-4 days to prevent drying the skin further.

Our doctor recommended using products that are dye-free and perfume free to help with our son's skin sensitivity. Unfortunately, the baby detergent you're using likely has both. We've been using the ALL or Kirkland brand with good results. We use California Baby unscented lotion as well.

Good luck, it can be frustrating! We were prescribed a topical steriod ointment to use when the rash gets really bad. It's totally safe because it's such a small amount and we're only using it for flare-ups, not daily. You might look in to that if natural remedies aren't giving her relief.