Sorry, ladies- two questions. The first is that a friend of mine has a 2 month old, and his skin is scaly. When you touch it, it feels rough. I told her that it just looks like dry skin, but she thinks it may be eczema (I have seen a very bad case of eczema on a different baby, and they don't look similar). I was wondering if it is maybe a mild case of eczema. If it is, what can she use to make his skin smoother? It does seem to irritate him. Going to the doctor isn't an option right now because they do not have insurance.
Second question, I was taking care of him for a few hours, and I couldn't console him. He is breastfed, and even though I offered him a bottle, he still seemed to want the breast. Any advise on what to do? TIA
For the dry skin or eczema, hydration is the key. Eucerin or the generic version works well. Petroleum jelly too. Apply generously at bedtime and then any other time in the day.
Okay I can help with one of the 2 questions! As far as the dry skin if that is really what it is, my doctor told me to get my daughter out of the bath and not dry her completely and lather her in vaseline then put her pajamas on. It usually worked in a few days to get it under control. I eventually started using aveno baby lotion for her and it keeps it from coming back. Hope this helps.
Regarding the skin problem, 2 months of age is typically when eczema (the umbrella term for atopic or contact dermatitis) will begin to show. Her pedi can verify(at the the next immunization appointment?). For now she should try clothing him in light weight all cotton clothes, washing all clothing and bedding in dye and perfume free detergant, avoiding all fabric softner and dryer sheets, and bathing him only once every 2-3 days. Be sure to use ivory soap (the most basic of all soaps) or Cetaphil(just continue to watch because cetaphil contains almond oil). Aquaphor (or equivalent) after baths will help his skin retain moisture. There is a baby eczema cream by Gentle Naturals that works great for as needed use.
This is everything the dermatologist recommended to us since our 2 yr old was diagnosed at 2 months. For her, though, it was also food allergies (she is allergic to casein which is a milk protein as well as all meats, nuts, eggs, tuna, and fish) so my breastfeeding her was making it worse, and the cetaphil :( Maybe he just needs some time to adjust to the bottle, or another style of bottle??
I hope this helps a bit, and good luck to your friend!
The skin issue does sound like mild eczema....all three of my kids had mild cases of it. Eucerin cream is the best thing for it. As far as wanting breast over bottle all three of mine were the same way. You just have to keep trying the bottle. Mine were very stubborn on this issue. And still my son never took one. If he gets hungry enough he'll take it.
On the dry skin, I would recommend Cetaphil lotion to help with it. There is a great presciption eczema medication, but if the doctor isn't an option and cost is a factor, I would recommend the Cetaphil. As far as the bottle is concerned - I was just recently able to wean my almost 15 month old because not only would he not take a bottle, but he also didn't want any part of a sippy cup. He did not take 1 single bottle in his life and it was not for lack of trying! I have a pantry full of different bottles, nipples, etc. NOTHING worked and I spent a fortune figuring it out. He went 8 hours without taking a bottle until I finally gave in and breast fed him towards the end when I was DESPERATELY trying to wean him. Some kids are just plain stubborn. They want what they want, so I ended up breastfeeding for almost 14 months. Good luck if you watch him again - get some ear plugs!
We also use Renew Lotion on our (soon to be) 3-year-old son, who was diagnosed with Eczema when he was about 6 months old. We tried all the "store" brands - Eucerin, Aquaphor, etc, and NONE of them worked....but the Renew worked within 3 days! Now when my son's skin gets dry, he brings us "his" lotion! Now, when he gets a "boo boo", he gets the MelaGel and brings it to me to put on his scrapes/scratches!
As for consoling a breast-fed baby, my husband's nephew was also breastfed, but he would not take a bottle when he was away from his Mommy, so my father-in-law just fed him from a cup! He never did take a bottle...it was either Mommy's breast, or her milk in a cup, and he was a happy little camper! Also, were you his first sitter? Since Mommy was gone, that may more than likely have been his "issue" when you had him, and the only thing that will "work" is for him to spend more time with people when Mommy is away. As he gets older, and learns to "play" (tummy time, etc), he will be okay with you watching him. Also, when you are offering him his bottle, you can try to hold it so he gets the feeling he is being "breast fed". That is how I held both my boys' bottles when they were newborns. (I was unable to breast feed either of them.)
HTH!
~J.~
____@____.com
Hi H.,
My initial response would be to use Aquaphor. We used it for everything when our babies were so small. My second suggestion is this...now, I'm not sure if this would be recommended for a baby so young, but my triplets' little cheeks have been so dry, red and "scaley" or chapped and our pediatrician didn't seem too concerned. He told me to put a dab of .5% Hydrocortisone Cream on them and it would help. (I got mine at Walgreens) Also Eucerin cream is helpful, but I'd ask a pharmacist or call a doctor before use, due to the age of the child. I hope that helps!
I don't know if it's eczema or not. But my son did (and still does at 25) had very dry skin. When he was little , our pedi. told me to put shortening ( Crisco) on him. She said it was all vegetable oil and would not hurt him.When he got older. she said Eucerin would help.
As far as the bottle, my son would not take a bottle either. He went 6 hours without one until I got home. This is after taking bottles at the hospital because of jaundice. He had to stay an extra week.I decided I enjoyed the time we were having and only took short trips away from him. He wouldn't take anything from a bottle ever. My mother did try using a sippy cup but he didn't take it. They are only little for such a short time.
Ditto on checking out Medicaid for the baby. It isn't hard to get and medical care is so important at this age.
My baby is almost 5 months old and does nothing but cry sometimes when I leave her. She's been introduced to the bottle, but only rarely has one, so yeah, I'm pretty much screwed if I want to leave her. I just might take some time. I only leave her for maybe 2-4 hours once a month, so nobody really has to deal with her that often. I would just keep trying. Good luck!
First off since he is breastfed she needs to look at her diet. Almost ALL cases of eczema are allergy related! The top allergens for babies are egg whites, peanuts, and dairy. My son was the exact same way and we finally got him allergy tested. It was egg whites and pork. Cetaphyl(sp) skin cleanser followed with aquaphor. If that doesn't work then she will have to go to the doctor for steroids. Dr. Sears has a section on his site http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t081800.asp
As far as consoling him, swaddle him. Bounce him, sway, or use a sling and wear him!
He's still quite young to accept a bottle if he's normally exclusively breastfed. Check and see if he's getting a bottle at home (if you plan on watching him more) and if he's see if she would give him one once a day or so. That way he can get used to it!
Not sure about the skin irritation, but as for the refusing the bottle....my daughter does the same thing. She's 9 months old and has refused bottles from early on. Which makes it very hard b/c no one else (not even my husband) can console her. So basically she's been attached to me and never left with anyone. So I feel for you! Has the baby ever taken bottles before? Since he's still young, the mother could try having someone else (usually works better if daddy or someone besides the mom) feed at least one bottle a day. Some people will say that if a baby is hungry enough, they'll eventually take the bottle. But this wasn't the case for my daughter...she went 7 hours without eating and just waited for me to come home. Let's just say I haven't left her much. Sorry I didn't really help much, but just wanted you to know that some breastfed babies are just hard to console if mommy isn't around...she's got all the right equipment :)
Best of luck to you and your friend!
About the breastfed baby...I breastfed both my daughters and neither one would take a bottle as a result. As you can imagine, this caused me considerable panic when I went back to work. My older daughter shifted her nursing to the evening and night hours, but would eat the baby cereal and food at day care. I also found a wonderful sitter who would feed her pumped milk from a medicine dropper. We tried all the different bottles and nipples and nothing worked until my sister-in-law fed her some water from a straw (finger over the end). My daughter drank it and wanted more, so we tried a medicine dropper and she happily took the milk. Needless to say, we switched her to a cup as soon as we could - back then, there weren't too many cups that had valves you could adjust the flow with. She learned to drink from a cup at 5 months old and never took a bottle. My younger daughter also learned at about 4-5 months old to drink from a cup when I wasn't available to feed her. Good luck!
1. Use Selsun Blue (the shampoo) in place of any baby wash /shampoo. Follow with Eucerin moisturizer.
2. Good luck with that one - my 4 year old wouldn't take a bottle. He ended up feeding all night and sleeping all day in daycare.
S.
Your friends baby sounds as if he has a skin condition called Ichthiosis. The skin is dry and scaly and as they get older it may look like fish scales on his legs or arms. Rub his skin with olive oil as it is absorbed into the skin and does not plug his pores. Ichthiosis is inherited though not every generation.
use only the mildest soaps or body washes and oil him after every bath and if his skin seems to absorb the oil quickly, repeat the application and let it soak in again.
My family has lived with for 4 generations that I know of and yes it seems to be worse in winter.
as for the bottle vs the breast...if you are trying to bottle feed pumped milk from Mom hold him close in the breast feeding position and use playtex nursers.
Very young babies can have all sorts of skin issues, so it may not be eczema at all. My oldest daughter had terrible "baby acne" for months! Anyway, try treating the scaly skin with Aquaphora ointment. It has worked well for all three of my children. As for the breastfeeding part -- I'm assuming there was breastmilk in the bottle you tried to feed him? Has he every had a bottle before? If not, then of course he wasn't going to be happy with it, even if there was breastmilk in it. Breastfed babies usually need a little training before they'll except the bottle. I breastfed all three of my children, and when then were about two months I started bottle-training. This way, if my husband and I wanted to go out, we could breathe easy knowing they would take the breastmilk from a bottle. Just remember that babies are initially unlikely to take a bottle from mom . . .
My daughter had "baby eczema" (which is not really like _real_ eczema), and I got two recommendations from pediatricians: one for Aquaphor, and one for Cutemol. You can buy either one at the drugstore. We used Aquaphor when my dd was REALLY little (like, a couple of weeks), and now break out the Cutemol whenever she gets scaly dry skin.
As for consoling him, would he take the bottle when you offered it? Did it have formula or breastmilk in it? It'll take him a while to get used to a bottle if he's used to only breast. Start him off with breastmilk, make sure its fresh and body temp, then try a couple of different bottles/nipples until you find one that he'll take. He may fuss a bit in the beginning until he gets the hang of drinking from a bottle, but he'll get the hang of it soon!
Arbonne has a great baby line that is all natural ingredients. I mix a few drops the baby oil, which is non greasy, and the baby lotion. I also use their body wash. It doesn't smell as good as Johnson and Johnson, but it works great! One of my girls had eczema and this is the only thing that has worked to control it.
The skin sounds a lot like my son's, his Dr. said it was in fact a mild case of eczema. We use Gentle Naturals Eczema cream. It is very thick lotion that I apply 2-3 times a day, we especially "lube" him up at nitebefore bed, it really helps. His Dr. also suggested using a very mild soap for bathing and keeping his bath fairly quick, soaking in water for long baths seems to irritate it more. Good Luck, I hope that helps.
P.S. your friend may want to look into children's medicade, it is a lot easier to get than one may think. There are a lot of state provided options for children's health care.
Ok, 1st the skin problem. I know when my younger son had an outbreak the Dr. gave me an anti itch vasaline based ointment and He had me mix it with another vasaline product. Any pharmacist and recommend which ones. I really like Eucerin. Try changing cleaning products, because some detergents can cause more irritation than others. I'm really sorry your little one has this condition. There are also online diagnoses.
About the breast-feeding I never breast feed, but I have baby- sat for my friends that did. I change the rules from the parents and I find activities and food (big key for me) that I can reward them with when they don't cry. You have to stick to your disciplines, a 13 month old can understand a stern look and a one minute time out, or a laying down time out with you then a reward. It works for me I hope you get a lot of Ideas.
Renew lotion is great for dry skin, eczema or not, (and even for diaper rash). It a Melaleuca product though. Right now, the membership is $1 instead of $29 and they guarantee all their products, so if it didn't work, she could get a full refund. Also, membership can be cancelled by the 25th of any month, so if she joined now and wasn't impressed, she could get out before April 25th and not really be out anything. If she'd like information about it, she can email me at ____@____.com
As far as the bottle--it may be the formula. I breast feed, but on occasion, my little one gets a bottle. He did just fine w/Enfamil Lipil, but when we used the fussy version, he wouldn't drink it. Maybe try a different formula....
