Sensitive to Baths

Hi J., my kids too have very sensitive skin, and we use and organic shampoo as a hair wash and body wash. Someone else had commented about not bathing as often -- my daughter had exema as a toddler and we found that to be effective too. I think too she's old enough to hear about "parts" in a general way -- the mom who put it as little girl parts and big girl parts had a great idea. Your daughter is totally age appropriate with her curiosity. BUT the yeast thing.... we have stuggled with yeast, my daughter had thrush her first nine months, then it moved through her G.I. track. It is very tough but there are super easy, very safe mainstream treatments. You CAN'T get a yeast infection by just sitting in a tub of water with no soap! (apologies to your pediatrician for disagreeing...) Yogurt with active cultures or a daily pro-biotic, which is made for kids will help put the good flora back in her G.I. track. Yeast really loves to feed on and grow with sugars, so watch the sugary treats too... it can really make it worse. Email me if you want to know where we get our stuff and I'll give you the store/brands.
L.

Hi J.,
There are some nutritional things that you can give her to help her not to get those yeast infections. What you're bathing her with could make a difference to. Send me an e-mail with your phone number & I'll call you with the info.

C.

Have you tried soaking in Baking soda or Epsom salt? I have heard that bathing in Dreft laundry detergent works but haven't talked with the pediatrician on that one yet.
Baths alone shouldn't be causing yeast infections. It sounds like the sensativity is a result perhaps of bathing while she still has the infection which would be painful. Is she still in diapers? cotton underwear helps and making sure she wipes from front to back. Also keeping the area dry (baby powder etc).

My daughter was diagnosed with dermatitis which is the worst case of eczema. We found that over the counter cetaphil works better than all the prescriptions. Both the body wash (which we use to wash her hair too because she was even getting yeast/dandruff on her scalp) and the heavy cream work best. The body wash can be used wet or dry so if she is experiencing pain during bathing, then you can just wipe her down a little with it on a clean cloth. We also like Aveeno products and their sunscreen. Bubble baths are a BAD idea for sensativity. Pure yogurt with no sugar should help a little with the yeast and if she is potty trained, letting her go to bed without underwear to air out might help as well.

The body curiosity is a non issue in my opinion

J.,

Try a hand-held shower. There are versions that attach directly to the tub faucet and others that replace your current shower head. We have one of these in our bathroom and use it to shower off my son all the time. We can stay at the side of the tub and not get wet while we spray him down. Be sure to put a bath mat down on the tub floor so there's no chance of her slipping.

Hi J.
My daughter is also very sensitive to baths and lotions. My pediatrician told me that little girls should never soak thier bottoms in water that has soap, bubbles or shampoo in it. Now, my daughter's bath water is just water. If you need to wash her body, I would suggest using Cetaphil liquid soap. You can buy it at Target. Its a bit expensive so if you can't afford the soap, I'd just wash her with water - no soap. The Cetaphil soap doesn't bubble and it doesn't need to be rinsed off. On days when my daughter washes her hair, she does it in the shower. I haven't had bath problems since I changed to clean water baths.

It sounds like you need to look into using natural products for cleansing your daughter. You may want to go the Nature Sunshine Website www.nauturessunshine.com and give them a call for suggestions on any items you can use. Another valuable site may be Nikken Products and their website is www.nikken.com.

Hi my name is A.. you may or may not agree with my response. I feel that your dd is old enough to be told the difference between your parts and her parts(in an age appropriate way). I told my daughter that our parts were the same but I had grown up girl parts and she had little girl parts

Have the "yeast infections" been confirmed by culture? How is your child's doctor recommending that you treat them? The verdict is out on whether or not yogurt with active cultures may help, but it certainly won't hurt to give her yogurt to eat. Also, be sure to keep her cool and dry in the area--change underwear frequently. Use a soap such as Aveeno bar for dry skin (it is non-soap and non-alkaline so perfect for her particular problems) and never use antibacterial soaps. How often does she shower? She needs to only every other day, but if she's dirty from playing outside or whatever and needs a bath, sometimes just rinse her with water especially in the genital area.
And as for her curiosity with anatomy--of course that's totally normal. I wouldn't try to avoid the subject, just give her age appropriate information in a sensitive factual manner. You don't want her to get the message that the subject is off limits or "bad" in some way or to get a shameful message about her or others body. She needs to know about all of her body parts!

I work in the medical field, there are over the counter pills that keep the bacteria in the vagina at a normal rate. Or, she just needs to eat lots of yogurt, its the same bacteria. If she prefers the shower, I would suggest a sprayer nozzle attatched to the shower head, you supervise, and teach her how to shower using the sprayer nozzle. I would also suggest a culture, and maybe second opinion.

Have you tried just using baby bath on her? That's what I use on my kids. I got the big pink bottle with the pump top and put a couple pumps into the bath when it's running. The only thing I really wash is their hair and face and then rest is just via sitting in the water.
Best of luck,
J.

My daughter was the same way.. She is 16 years old now and still till this day can only use Dove soaps shampoos exc...
Good luck I know its a hard thing to deal with...

I don't know if this will help but, not alot of people know this but get ready for a Shock. You would not belive what companys put in baby and kids stuff, even what they put in our stuff it is sick. I have very sensitive skin also. I don't know if this will help but any salon product might help. For example Paul mitchels baby don't cry shampoo, you can put in the bath and use it as shampoo, it is super great. Don't use anything with fragrece. Sorry my spell is not the best. If you are still having problems message me and i will see what else i can help you try. For some reason i have found out that docs don't know about this kind of stuff, and the companyies you know just do what they have to To make a buck. The sick and shocking thing that i know for a fact and the first time i heard this it made me sick, but Johnson and Johnson put eye numbing agents in the baby shampoo so the baby can't feel that the shampoo is burning ist eyes, the baby don't cry is the only tear free shampoo out there.
Hope it helps S.

Check the water, I used to get them all the time, then we moved. Good luck

I give my daughter a hand shower. I use a cuop to get her wet then I sop haer up a use the cup again to get the soap off. You could buy something to fit the faucet, But we move around alot I found that they do not fit all faucets, So a cup works just as well. Good Luck. And as for your doctor I not think that would be normal or ok for her to get yeast infections. Have you tried seeing another doctor to get a second opinion.

I have a 3 year old daughter that likes to take showers once in awhile. We don't use a hand held shower head, just a regular one. She is able to get her hair wet on her own. I just reach in around the curtain and shampoo and soap her up, then she rinses off. It works pretty good. As far as the yeast infection, I too would get a second opinion and make sure they culture it. I don't think a child that age should be having recurrent infections. Yogurt can help, if that's what it is. Good luck.

J.-
My daughter has a genetic neuromuscular disease that also happens to make our kids very "yeasty". You can buy something called acidophilous at any health store and sometimes at WalMart. I get it in capsules and empty the powder into her feed for her g-tube, but you could just mix it with juice. I would try giving her 2 capsules a day. It is very good for anyone and natural. Her nutritionist at UW Madison Children's even gives it to her own healthy children. It also helps the GI system. You can give up to 4 capsules a day without any concerns. I bet that will help! Good luck!