Seeking Advice Re: 7-Month Old Who Scratches

Wow, S., it seems you've done just about everything I would have done... the mitts or socks seem like the best. That way if she scratches she's just "rubbing" the area. I would look into an allergic reaction to the detergent you may be using on her laundry... things she has skin contact with everyday... or perhaps the bath soap, get or lotion you use.
Otherwise, just keep moving her hand, gently away and put her woobie next to her when you see her reaching to "scratch". Eventually she will hopefully replace the woobie for the skin area she is scratching.
Best of luck.
Lily

S.,

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Hi S.,
I never respond to these things either but my son does the EXACT same thing. He is almost 11 months old now. He does have eczema. They call it "the itch that rashes" b/c they just itch all the time and then scratch and so secondarily cause skin lesions. The itch is definitely worse during times of "stress" (as if they could have anything to stress about!). No really, stress meaning they are tired, hungry, bored, etc. Definitely talk to your pediatrician and consider going to a pediatric dermatologist and/or allergist. I have gone to all three (multiple times!). There are definitely things that can be done but it is an ongoing condition. First of all, you should be using all hypoallergenic products on him and you. He should be bathed daily in tepid (not hot) water and you should put lotion on him immediately after (something with no fragrance i.e cetaphil). Try to keep him in all cotton clothing and perhaps even use seventh generation diapers. These are all things that I do. We also end up using steroid ointment when necessary. Finally, consider a food allergy. With my son, I don't think his current eczema improved or worsened at all with diet changes but b/c kids with eczema are also very prone to food allergies I actually just had him tested. He will be one soon and I wanted to be sure I knew what was safe to feed him. It turns out he's allergic to milk and eggs. Bummer. But if your son is too and he's nursing or getting regular formula this could be exacerbating his itch.
Feel free to email me if you have any questions - I can give you lots more info! I've been dealing with this for 9 months now and have been VERY proactive about it so I have lots of different doctors opinions, suggestions, etc...
Good luck,
R. (____@____.com)

My 7 month old is also a scratcher. He scratches his knees,
and now that he's wearing shorts, he sometimes scratches
them bloody.

We suspect he has asthma as he has gotten bronchiolitic 4
times already!!!! So we have spent a lot of time at the
pediatrician. One time, he had the bloody knees, and the
ped suggested using an over the counter hydracortisone
cream. It helped a lot. Now, when I feel his knees are
rough, I just use a little of the cream.

As others have posted, asthma and eczema often go hand in
hand. And we know from his wheezing that we have the
asthma thing going on.

I do notice my son likes to scratch fabric a lot too.
We have a canvas toy box with faces embroidered on it and
he loves to scratch at those faces. he also really seems
to like scratching our carpet and the leather sofa.
If you rule out the eczema, maybe you can try giving your
daughter other textures and see if she prefers something
else to the "woobie."

My daughter does the same thing. She was diagnosed with excema. She scratches behind her ears so I use Aveeno baby shampoo. She scratches her rear end and leaves nasty looking marks. I feel so bad for her! I have found that vaseline on her rear end works good. Her cheeks get red marks on them, and thankfully she doesnt itch them. I put Aquaphor on her cheeks and that helps. There are many products out there. You just have to do trial and error, with the possibility of getting a prescription through your doctor. I have tried lots of different lotions on her. I have heard to keep them lotioned up constantly. In the winter months I put lotion on her morning and night, and then at every diaper change on her rear end. Hope this helps you! Good luck, there is nothing worse than when your kid is in pain or discomfort. They say that they will most likely outgrow it. So there is some hope.

My son did the same thing when he was a baby. We gave him a soft toy to hold that he would use to rub against his head instead of his fingernails. We got him this bunny from Under the Nile (http://www.babyworks.com/catalog/product.asp?dept%5Fid=54.... It is now his best friend and it really helped with the scratching. He also just outgrew the phase. I think it is like us rubbing our eyes or some other habit.

Good luck.

Hi S.,

I son does the same exact thing. I try and keep his nails smooth with a nail buffer. And I use vasalin for his face because he would make it bleed. He has excima so the best thing so far is the vasalin and I do not see his face with scratches or any irritated spots only when I am lazy and don't keep up with it. Your not alone. :) Try it, what could it hurt. Good Luck! :)

I know what you mean. I have a 5 months old daughter that scratches as well when she is tired and wants to sleep. But not like as you desribe your daughter doing. Have you ever consider having her checked with her pedi doctor for allergy reactions to foods or maybe she's got a reaction to the detergent you are using on her clothes? i would check on that first then resort to doctor.

My daughter was a scratcher too. Although the difference is she preferred to scratch me and her father rather than herself! She only scratched her own head when tired or nursing. She is now 8 months and has grown out of it. But if a new texture is presented to her she will scratch it. It sounds like your daughter's scratching could be a combination of her exploring textures and calming an itch. I would mention it to your pediatrician. Mine told me that she was just curious and to give her a variety of fabrics to play with. You can try this and if it still persists talk to your ped about the possibility of eczema or another skin irritation. Good Luck!

I realize there may be many reasons a child will scratch constantly and I can see how this would worry you. In my opinion I believe it's nothing to worry about, unless she does develop little bumps, dry skin and irritated red skin which would be a sign of excema and most babies who have excema do develop asthma when they are a little older...something I've been through with my older daughter. Babies develop many ways to soothe themselves. I know some babies who pull their hair when they are tired and actually get hair in their hands from pulling so hard. It may be something as simple as she is over tired and needs a little change in her sleeping routine. You may even think you have a very structure sleeping routine for her and she gets plenty of sleep but this is a sign she may need to take naps a little earlier or is getting too stimulated before she goes down to sleep. It's amazing the importance of sleep in a baby. I nursed my boy till he was two and was determined he had a sleeping disorder because he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming and kicking me out of anger. He would cry for almost the whole night and wake up almost evey hour. The doctor kept saying you need to stop nursing him at night and all this will stop. I tought she was full of it. All this couldn't be because I was nursing him at night. I eventually stopped and guess what.. a few weeks later he slept through the night. I never thought this was possible. He got into a habit, was losing sleep and suffered. I think that's what's going on with you. I really don't think it's all that complicated. Your baby gets over tired and got into a habit to soothe herself and it seems worse as time goes on because she's getting bigger and stronger so she can scratch herself harder and reach more parts of her body.

S.,

As an occupational therapist, when I read your post sensory integration came to my mind. It could be that she craves tactile inputs and is able to calm or soothe herself with this behavior. I would talk to your pediatrician about it and maybe get a referral for a pediatric occupational therapy evaluation to determine or rule out any sensory issues. There are therapeutic strategies and recommendations to treat sensory needs. Hope this was helpful.

My daughter scratched a lot when she was an infant as well. She would wake up with these huge scratches her face. We finally realized that she wanted to hold something in her hand, and was trying to hold onto her chubby cheeks. So we gave her a baby sock to hold in each hand, and that helped the problem. She still scratches her arms and legs from time to time, as she has eczema, but doesn't go near her face anymore.

Even if you don't see any type of irritation on her skin, she may have eczema. I would mention this to your pediatrition and see if they have any helpfull hints to see if they can help. Good Luck and don't give up on figuring it out.

Hello S.,
Please look into your family history to see if anyone has eczema allergies , or asthma. I say this because my 2 yr old has had eczema since he was a wee little baby. Everything you have just descibed ,I have been through and I am still going through it. So please take her to your pediatrician and let them help you with this matter. Believe me, you will be glad you did.All three of the conditions I mentioned go hand-in-hand with each other. For example all three have run through my family, out of my 5 children, 2 have none of these, 1 has just asthma, 1 has just eczema, and 1 has both eczema and asthma. I hope this helped you and yes there is light at the end of the tunnel. If taken care of right away, children tend to either outgrow these conditions or are at least able to handle them better with the right info on there condition.