Natalie's World

Friday, September 19, 2008

Grr! Stupid eczema!

I either have to find a really decent soap (most likely a BAR soap) or cut Natalie down to ONE bath a week. I found a dry patch of skin just under her elbow the other day. Compared to her cousins, she has VERY mild eczema (probably due to the fact that she was breastfed) but all the same, she's got it. And more than likely, there was no way to avoid it. My dad has some BIG time issues with his skin. He was only able to use one kind of soap and even that dried him out so he RARELY took a bath and by rarely, I'm talking less than once a month, he had that many problems with it. So, I think my sister and I got mercifully got skipped but our kids get to suffer for it and thus, I have been spending the last almost three years trying to find a soap that will not irritate the heck out of Natalie's sensitive skin but what it really comes down to is cutting her baths pretty much to once a week. Anymore than that, and she starts drying up. I thought I would try twice a week for awhile because she's a toddler and she gets dirty from going to the park. Not to mention, people think you are out of your ever loving mind if you don't bathe your kid at least once a day. I'm not joking, I have seen people practically threaten CPS on moms who bathe their child less than at least every other day. So, not too long ago, I upped it from once a week to twice a week. And even that is too much. I will NOT give her steroid cream just to be able to give her a bath more than once a week (seriously, this has been suggested to me). And we do use lotion on her after every bath. Usually, I use body butter from the Burt's Bees brand.

So, I'm totally open to suggestions. I'm finding most of the commercial body washes for kids to be too harsh for her and to have a lot of chemicals she doesn't need. I have used a homemade casteel soap but that's running out and I have nowhere to get more as the owner shut down her business. I've used the California Baby soap but considering just about ALL liquid soaps have some form of citrus acid in them (and I HIGHLY suspect that Natalie is sensitive to citrus acid--and this would be since birth) I'm really beginning to think that it's going to have to be a bar soap. Even Dr. Bonner's which many swear by has citrus acid in it. I've heard from some that using only baking soda seems to work out pretty well so I may have to give that a go as I'm already using baking soda for washing hair. I'm just finding it all very frustrating right now. Even worse, Natalie really likes to take a bath. She enjoys swimming in the tub but I have to watch and make sure I don't overdo the bathing with her. Even worse, more than likely, there will NOT be a bathtub in our apartment in South Korea. That's another thing that's not overly popular over there along with ovens and dryers.

So, I'm not quite sure what to do here. At least, if I do cut down to one bath a week, she doesn't break out. Her cousins break out no matter how many baths they get a week. And naturally, I want to avoid having to use steroid creams. Once in a GREAT while is one thing but I do not want to have to use it on her all the time. Skin problems are just SO frustrating! I'm grateful that that is pretty much the extent of her issues but still, it's one that is very frustrating to deal with.

| posted by Janeen at 1:24 PM

1 Comments:

Stacey had this to say:: Hi there! I realize this post is pretty old, but hopefully I can offer some insight :)

I personally have extremely sensitive skin and eczema. It is a constant nightmare trying to find things that work!

Here are my suggestions. Pumpkin patch soap from Rocky Mountain Soap Company. Also, the unscented body butter is amazing!
http://www.rockymountainsoap.com/productList/1015197/1000144

If you find this is too pricey (though the soap is a good deal, since it lasts sooo long) you could try the pure olive oil soap from here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6452708

And to moisturize her dry skin, you could try coconut oil. It looks like a solid when you get it, but it easily melts just with a warm touch. Use it twice a day, morning and night, and especially right after a bath.

For washing her hair, have you tried the no-poo on her(i know you have personally, since I found you on DS :) ). The baking soda would be amazing for her skin, and is actually a great bath additive.

Another thing that is really soothing is to add about 1/4 cup of olive oil to her lukewarm bath water. Let her soak in it for about 5 minutes, no longer. Long hot baths are the WORST for eczema. Short lukewarm baths are actually very very beneficial. It allows the oil time to soak in, but doesn't allow the water to dry it out.

Hope that was helpful ;) If you want, you can always PM me on DS. My username is delicatefade.; Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:55:00 PM

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