29 answers

Excema and Poor Sleep Habits

Hello fellow mamas! I am going a little bit crazy with sleep deprivation. My daughter has excema and wakes up very frequently scratching herself, at least every 2 hours throught the night, if not more. She really resists sleeping at all, the only way I can get her to sleep, or back to sleep is nursing. I am committed to many of the ideals of attachment parenting, feeding on demand and co-sleeping among them. BUT, i am getting more and more tired and resentful. Because of the itching situation and because we have a small space, 1 br, i feel i cannot let her cry it out. Do i have any other options to get a little rest? Thank you and bless you all for doing the most important job there is!)

What can I do next?

So What Happened?™

Hurray! What a lovely wonderful community this is! Thank you all for the kind and helpful words. It is healing in itself, to know we are not alone...and only those who have been through something similiar can really relate to the maternal agony of seeing our little ones suffer...anyhow, we have been dealing with the excema for 9 months now and it is certainly better, due mostly i thiink to dietary changes and acidolphilus supplementation. Oviously, however, it is still a problem, especially at night. I have tried so many different things, but am going to check into the NAET thing and see if that helps...and i'll check out the dr. sears sleep book...etc., lots of great ideas... love to all and thanks for taking time out from busy lives to help another mama!

Featured Answers

My son also had excema which caused him to wake. It was so we took him to a dermitologist. It is a very common problem, like 20%. She gave him some RX which has taken it away. The good thing is that they do out grow it.

We went to the Phoenix Children's Derm. They are wonderful.

I would recommend going to the Dr. The Derm I used was Dr. Nguyen (pronounced Win).

Definitely try Arbonne's Baby Care products! Dont, walk, RUN! and get them :) Haha! Just kidding, but seriously I know what you're going through, and I couldn't live without them! You can order them online or request FREE samples at my website: www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com
Good luck!
~M.

Hi S.

I have found using Dettol Bath Wash and Omo sensitive has pretty much ruled out my son's and husband's excema.

Hope it works for you so that you're little one can sleep better.

I have also been told that Tea Tree Oil in a bath helps.

More Answers

Have you tryed Aquaphor Healing lotion... They have adult and baby lotion. My dermatologist recomended this for me and my girls. Also try a hydracortisone cream to relieve the itch. You should get a precription from your pedatrician and a referal to a good pedatric dermatologist. I also recomend Aveno... as the comment before me stated, DO NOT USE any perfumed products on her... this includes shampoos and baby lotions such as jhonson and johnson. In some severe cases she may even need precription medications to relieve the rash and get it to be more managable. Again check with your pedatrician.

As far as the letting her cry it out.. at 1 year she should be able to sleep through the night. You are such a great mom to be nursing!! (I also nursed both my girls and when we got our 1st son I pumped for him) When we got our 2nd baby boy (to adopt) he was 4 months old, his foster parents let him sleep with them. The first week was rough, but we let him cry it out... he sleeps wonderfully now. He is in our room in his own crib. It was well worth it for us to sacrifice a few days of sleep with letting him learn to self soothe to have the last 6 months of a full nights un-interupted sleep. It seems like you are doing a great job!! Keep up the good work! I wish you the best of luck with your baby girl.

1 mom found this helpful

I've had eczema my whole life and it's really not fun...My suggestion is right before bed, pour sesame oil or even olive oil over the areas that bother her.
If it's on her hands then put the oil on her hands and place some cotton gloves over it...if it's on her feet, place socks over it...if it's behind her knees make sure she wears long pants..(in other words lubricate and cover)
hopefully it will help both of you sleep (it definitely works for me)...
good luck

1 mom found this helpful

My youngest son, who is now 7, had eczema covering his entire body when he was a baby. I started giving him acidophilus every day, and although it took a while, it eventually cleared up. I also eliminated dairy from my diet. I stopped for the first six months after he was born, but had started again. Turns out he is lactose intolerant, but that not something an allergist or pediatrician can determine through scratch or blood test. There is a special breath test one can take after age 4. Of course, he had other symptoms too as he got older.
Good luck!
--H.
mom to 3 boys, ages 11, 9 and 7, and one of unknown gender on the way.

1 mom found this helpful

I am right with you w/ a 1year old dealing w/ eczema. What has helped us get sleep through the night is after cleaning the areas to use hydrocortizone and then lotion on the affected areas and then cover them for the night. This seems to reduce the irritation caused by movement throughout the night.

Let me know if you find any of these other suggestions to work in alleviating the eczema.

My son also had excema which caused him to wake. It was so we took him to a dermitologist. It is a very common problem, like 20%. She gave him some RX which has taken it away. The good thing is that they do out grow it.

We went to the Phoenix Children's Derm. They are wonderful.

I would recommend going to the Dr. The Derm I used was Dr. Nguyen (pronounced Win).

My daughter had really bad eczema and we tried everything under the sun that was homeopathic and organic, and much to my dismay nothing helped her little face and body. We finally (after much hesitation & after 5 months of discomfort ) tried the topical cream Elidel. It's a non steriod cream. Our Dr. highly recommended it for relief and guess what it cleared up in less than a week. Talk to your ped and see what he/she recommends. My sweetheart didn't have to suffer any more that was all the proof I needed. Best of luck, God bless,
L.

Hi S. -
My son has eczema and we've been through the same thing. When his skin has a bad break out our pediatrician told us to put cortizone on it to help with the itching. Otherwise we slather aquaphor on him two or three times a day to keep his skin hydrated. Hope that helps.
K.

Definitely try Arbonne's Baby Care products! Dont, walk, RUN! and get them :) Haha! Just kidding, but seriously I know what you're going through, and I couldn't live without them! You can order them online or request FREE samples at my website: www.mandyolsen.myarbonne.com
Good luck!
~M.

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