Eczema and Being Kind to Baby's Skin when Washing Baby Clothes

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.  

When my bundle of joy popped out (literally,  thanks to a C-section but after 18 hours of active labour), he was gorgeous, with lips that looked like a dark pink rose bud. Daddy got to hold him first and I lovingly gazed on. Aaron having sensitive skin was not something I had given thought to before he was born, but I guess you should always expect that a child will inherit something from one or both parents.

From the minute we started trying to conceive, my health and the knock on effect it would have on his, as his carrier for 9 months, was always my first concern. So alcohol, aspartame, caffeine, etc... they were all ditched!

Once home, post-birth, every time that he wanted to be held, he was held. My Mum was with us for 9 weeks, and had an old school approach of "put him down or you'll create a rod for your own back" but I had read a book that explained the first 3 months were like a 4th Trimester, so I held him every time he wanted Mummy, hence I got very into baby wearing, carrying him in a sling, often doing so even for his afternoon nap (like on holidays in Ireland where he did not have a cot - we didn't start co-sleeping till he was 6 months).

I practiced most elements of attachment parenting, but only when they came natural to me, or intuitively something felt like the right thing to do. Like for example I could never let him "cry it out" or even do controlled crying. It didn't surprise me at all when I later read up on the research about the neurological damage that can occur when a baby's crying is ignored.

I often forget how bad baby Aaron's eczema was within those first precious few weeks of his life. So bad in fact that it was on his face! If it wasn't for photos I would rely on memory which would say he only had it on wrists, ankles and the back of his knees. 

Truth be told he was born in June 2010, and very early on and in July 2010 his face was covered. Moisturising daily helped with the soreness and dryness. It did not alleviate the redness. Daddy simply thought he had inherited his eczema.  I don't have too many photos of it as my tendency was to take flattering photos, but you can see it above - it was sometimes worse than that. The facial eczema cleared instantly however, as soon as I changed him to dairy free formula (I was combination feeding, so he had top-up bottles due to my low milk supply). The reflux and colic also cleared up pretty much immediately. It was these and not the eczema that prompted me to go dairy-free with his formula, so the side-effect that the eczema almost cleared was a bonus. I didn't get GP or Health Visitor advice regarding the milk - I just worked on gut instinct - forgive the pun! But I think as Mums we often do. 

For the first year or two he continued to suffer on his body as described above (legs and arms), but mildly. I later addressed this by ceasing using softener when washing baby clothes an actually in general doing the laundry. The difference was instantaneous. I got this tip from Twitter funnily enough.

However, I later used a different washing/laundry detergent and he got a really bad flare up, all over, so I changed to a market leading non-bio. Until recently I thought they were the only brand gentle on baby's skin.

However, I have now discovered Persil Non-Bio and Comfort Pure.

Yes, this product is a #CollectiveBias #Shop, but so protective of Aaron's skin am I, I bought Persil non-bio BEFORE applying for the shop, to test if it was for me! I wasn't going to be work on something that would be harmful to Aaron in any way. So the capsules you see photographed below, I bought prior to this "shop".

I've now used all of the products, and with the addition of the Comfort Pure the smell on laundry day is fabulous. For me I need incentives to do laundry. A blue sky (such as there is today) is welcome, as it means you know you can get it all dry - naturally! The feeling I get when the laundry is up-to-date, folded and put away is second to none. It really helps if it all smells great too. Products that are sensitive are of particular importance given that Daddy suffers from eczema too, so it is a family priority to get this right!

(Aaron's reaction above was when I told him his best friend and mine - Mum Husband & Son - were coming  for 3 days - they are here now).

Tommy's Charity has teamed up with Asda to do an onpack promotion on Persil Non-Bio and Comfort Pure. When I did my shop the stock was not in yet, but a very helpful team member checked with his Section Manager who said the stock is on "shipping" and they are expecting it. They know about the #Mums4Tommys campaign.

Persil non-bio and Comfort pure will donate a total of £100,000 to Tommy’s (registered charity no. 1060508, SCO39280) to support their research into the prevention of miscarriages, premature births and stillbirths.

Tommys are such a great charity. I have absolutely no personal experience of the above (touch wood) but I can only imagine how much support I would need and therefore respect their work and their cause so so much.

The member of staff who helped me, when I was trying to find the promotion/display was very understanding and let me take a pic of the aisle where you can find the product

Aaron has had diarrhoea since Friday night (a reaction to handling a hamster); he had the option to stay in the car with Daddy, but opted to stay close to Mummy, so came food shopping with me. I tucked him safely in the trolley as I knew he was too weak to be walking around or to do his normal RUNNING around. Quite early on in the shop he fell asleep. Today Thursday 28th August he finally seems like his normal self and has his full appetite back.

Comfort Pure is in the neighbouring aisle, in a rainbow of coloured products that you cannot miss. There is an adjacent computer which happened to have a helpful staff member on it

Like with food, it is often the products without colouring that are the least harmful.

Since becoming a Mum out of all the household chores that I now do more of, laundry has to be my absolute favourite. It's a task where you can really see progress. NOTHING I love more than knowing the laundry is up-to-date, smelling wonderful, all folded and neatly put away. The last few days have seen a grey sky, but so happy was I that the rain stopped, I made sure I used the breeze/dryness to get our clothes dry. Thankfully today there's a beautiful blue sky.

I am the sort of person who would normally have a laundry "day" but the weather is currently (since August's arrival) so hit and miss, so wet, that literally you do a wash whenever you can, whenever there is a day that looks like you can get it dry!

Today, Aaron's finally on the mend, and has his best friend here for 3 days, which means I have mine too, as she is his Mum. We're both delighted to see them. Although I can't forget how ill he has been this week. Often times falling asleep on the sofa like below, despite growing out of afternoon naps a long long time ago, although these have been all late evening ones. 

It's been a tough week, with lots of cuddles, but it means I have been able to snuggle in to that sensitive skin, and have quality sofa time with my boy which is particularly poignant given that he STARTS SCHOOL next week. Days spent on the sofa will be a thing of the past. So maybe this "sick" time was a blessing in disguise. Time to nurture and connect with my son before he heads off for 14 years of compulsory state education *gulps* - no we can do this! I do still need to get his polo shirts though (I have all other items of school uniform) but at least I have new products to keep them smelling beautiful. Ooops I just remembered we have not bought his SHOES yet. We bought the branded (logo) items from school on the last day of term, so I had previously felt ahead of myself. Time now this weekend to get back on track ready for 3rd September *sniffs*

Back to this shop... for us, Persil non-bio and Comfort Pure are a winning combination; more information can be found here: "We're Number 1 for Sensitive Skin".

Ariel 3 in 1 and Eczema - An Honest Review

I have always used Ariel Liquitabs and love them, but at £11 a pop, they're a little pricey, but worth it for the fresh aroma on laundry day and I am always a person to go with what I perceive to be the market leader.  I am a snob like that! 

Anyhow at the end of the Summer I was asked if I wanted to review my favourite product's new brother - the 3-in-1 version!

Now, I write the following with trepidation, but here goes.

I got through 2 boxes of it - one sent for review and one that I bought, when it was on a promotional *new* item offer.

A long time ago, probably well over a year ago, I was advised on Twitter to stop using softener, so as to help Aaron's eczema.  His eczema disappeared within a week.  The only thing that would make it come back, was if he got yoghurt on his wrist and didn't wipe it off, or if he wiped his mouth with the back of his palm and it wasn't cleaned immediately.  But waking to scratch in the middle of the night, red patches, red inner elbows, all gone!

So imagine my surprise, when I'd more or less forgotten about the eczema, and assumed he'd perhaps grown out of it, when as a direct result of using the Ariel 3-in-1s it is back, kicking and screaming.  His inside arm, inner arm by his elbow is on fire red, and he wakes up at night to scratch (like the old days) and (which he did not have before) there are lots of patches of what feels like sandpaper areas of skin on his chest, tummy, back and lower back.

Now the PR is probaby wondering why I haven't reviewed the item, as it was probably sent to me September time, but I was waiting to see if it was definitely this! It is.

Anyway I did 4 loads of washing today, and the 4th load used the final one.

So I will update this post in a few weeks, to see if it clears again, like it cleared before, when I gave up softener.

For any of you, who LOVE your washing to smell GREAT, if you have children who do not have eczema, then I can't recommend the product enough.  It takes the chore out of laundry when you get a spring in your step from it all smelling great.

BUT that is not a price worth paying, for my poor boy's skin being on fire, and it is getting worse not better, so we won't be buying it again.  Sorry Ariel!

EDIT: 18th July 2014

Since I wrote the above, we now only use Fairy, and Aaron's eczema completely cleared up. He only gets dry inner elbows occasionally now. I now swear by Fairy and use it everyday. So gentle on his skin, and no more flare ups. We've used it for 8 months now, and I am happy with it in every way:

Absolutely no compromises. I get my fresh laundry day smell and he gets a product that is:

"huggably soft for sensitive skin" 

as they say themselves.

I have not received anything from Fairy, so this post is neither paid for, nor compensated nor is it biased.

Liska x

Dairy Free Baby

I haven't written enough about it on this blog, but when Aaron was a week or two old, he had really bad colic and reflux, and I hadn't established breastfeeding yet (did so late at 6 weeks - read about it here).  Anyway, even when I did, it was combination feeding (breast and bottle) until 13 months of age.

As soon as I saw the colic and reflux I said to my Mum that I remembered a friend putting her baby on dairy free formula.  I guess now I could have gone on a pregnancy forum, but at the time I went on Facebook to ask my friend.  She said it was Cow & Gate Infasoy and that it is NOT prescription only.  In fact I buy it in Boots predominantly and occasionally Tesco.

Although it is not prescription, it does say check with your Health Visitor first.  As I only ever had one short visit from one, I did not do this.  I went with my inner wisdom and it's more often or not the right thing to do as a Mum.

I saw an immediate improvement in Aaron's eczema, colic and reflux and have never looked back.  When I was combination feeding I noticed that on days that I breastfed less, Aaron would sometimes get constipated, so I simply ensured that I breastfed a lot the next day, or if this was not possible, increased his water intake.

You can read more about constipation in babies here.

I have recommended Infasoy to quite a few people in the last couple of years, but as everyone is so into the theory that dairy is best, they seem to rather have the dairy and then take medication as well.  To me, I'd rather deal with the cause, than consume the cause and then consume further things to "fix it".  Some babies don't do well with dairy - fact!

I haven't subscribed to the dairy is best theory for a long long time, and always personally (for me and hubby) have Rice Milk in the fridge.

Anyway Aaron loves his Cow & Gate Infasoy so much he still has it now, morning and night (and sometimes just before his afternoon nap but not on nursery days).

I have tried to convert him to soya milk but he's not having it - my boy knows what he likes.

Bye for now,
Liska x
New Mum Online

Boots Baby Sensitive Bath range - product review

Hi

For the purposes of this review I was sent the following:

• Boots Baby Sensitive Moisturising Head to Toe Wash.
• Boots Baby Sensitive Moisturising Bath.
• Boots Baby Sensitive Conditioning Shampoo.

I haven't been paid to write this review and all of the opinions expressed will be mine and Aaron's.We received the above products Wednesday morning and I used them in Aaron's bath that very night and again this morning.

Aaron has eczema, which when he was born, was on his:

• neck
• eyebrows
• ankles
• wrists
• back of knees
• He also had the worst cradle cap I had ever seen (I'll write a post at a later date about that).

The first thing I did was change him to non-dairy formula (we are combination feeding: breast and bottle and still are at 8 months in)... We changed to Cow & Gate Infasoy (which I always buy in Boots) when Aaron was only a few weeks old.  The colic disappeared and the eczema got noticeably better.  It completely disappeared from his face immediately and the back of his knees.  All that was remaining was ankles and wrists.

A few weeks later I noticed on the packaging of sudocrem that it is good for eczema so I put it on Aaron's ankles at EVERY nappy change.  Within days they were no longer dry and no longer red, and this improvement held even if I stopped doing it.  Now I only have to do it weekly and sparingly ... and now normal moisturisers do not irritate it.

So.... I digress, back to the bath products.... so the only remaining eczema of note was on Aaron's wrists which for some reason I never gave the Sudocrem treatment.

What delighted me about these Boots Baby Sensitive products is that his hands felt softer after the 2 baths and his wrists are no longer red.... I can't believe it to be honest, so I took a photo of them:

The one concern I had was that we have always used Johnson's Baby Bedtime bath products (the bubble bath, the wash, and the lotion) and they are "no more tears", but fret ye not.  The Boots Baby Sensitive stuff did go in Aaron's eyes at one point and did not upset him at all....

We use the Infoderm shampoo (in the photo) due to how bad Aaron's cradle cap was when he was newborn, but I find that this Boots Baby Sensitive Conditioning Shampoo is sensitive to Aaron's scalp.

I do however ALWAYS oil Aaron's scalp after a bath and at the moment I am using Kamillosan, which is 100% natural cradle cap oil and is very very good.  I know Health Visitors always recommend Olive Oil but I never got on with it to be honest.  When Aaron was a few weeks old his cradle cap was really bad and nothing helped.  Back then a colleague gave me "parafina ciekta" which she got from Poland and that got rid of it).  We use the Kamillosan now for maintenance on a daily basis.

Being sensitive, there is hardly any smell off the Boots Baby Sensitive products.  And according to Aaron there must be very little taste too.  We have been using the Johnson's Baby Bedtime bath products for months and he does everything to get some bath water in his mouth as he clearly loves the taste of the lavender (which is the bit that helps the baby sleep - supposedly).  With these Boots Baby Sensitive products he makes no attempt to get water in his mouth.

Conclusions:

• The Boots Baby Sensitive range is gentle on sensitive skin.
• I can say it is suitable for mild eczema.   I can't comment on severe as I do not know...
• I would say its claim that it is moisturising is true.
• It is affordable.
• The packaging I would say is nicer than Johnson's and looks less clumsy in the bathroom.  Look at them side by side in my photo and let me know if you agree?
• My one criticism: why oh why are 2 of the products the same colour... and the bottles are even the same shape and size.  When trying to keep an eye on baby, Mummy wants to grab the right item easily...!

On a final note I have never ever bathed Aaron daily and I do believe that is another reason we have stayed on top of his Eczema.  The following is an extract from here:

For most parents, evening bathtime is part of their baby's daily routine. However, it seems daily baths could be increasing a baby's risk of developing eczema.

According to the National Eczema Society, the higher levels of water used in baths today could be linked to the increased number of babies suffering from eczema as too much water and many bubble baths dry out skin.

In the 1940s, only 4% of babies were diagnosed with eczema in comparison to 25% of babies in 2010. There was a 41% increase between 2001 and 2005 alone. Margaret Cox, from the National Eczema Society, believes that daily bathing is the reason.

Skin experts believe that daily bathing removes essential oils from the skin's surface, causing it to become dry and exposing babies skin to the risk of allergy and developing eczema.

I partly agree with the above, but I would say that the increase in eczema may well have also been linked to an increase in dairy consumption - that's just my opinion don't shoot me!

Bye for now, Liska