My 8 month old daughter has had a rash/skin irritation on her face on and off for probably the last 3 months. I was worried at first that it was a food allergy of some sort since my older daughter has them and I am paranoid about that now. But it never seemed to be linked to food and it doesn't really go away much, plus is isn't hives. It's more like raw skin on her face on one side of her mouth. And last night my husband finally figured out that it's from her hand and shirt rubbing on her face from her sucking her thumb. She only sucks her thumb when she's tired and going to sleep, but the irritation looks just awful. I've tried hydrocortisone ointment and lotion but nothing seems to work. Anyone else experience this or have suggestions? Please help if you can, thanks!
My 8 month old is a thumb sucker too. The thing is CONSTANTLY in her mouth it seems. I use Lansinoh cream on her chin and cheeks. It's non-toxic, so I don't worry about her getting it in her mouth like I do with the other stuff. It's mainly for breastfeeding moms, but I've found it works wonders on lots of stuff.
i use chapstick on mine put it on the area and it wont hurt them if they get it in their mouth.
YES! As Shaun said, Lansinoh cream is the answer. My sons looked horrible with the wet face rash from thumb sucking. Once it healed up a bit, Johnson and Johnson makes a stick, it's sort of like chapstick for baby's face, that worked great. I still use it (they're 2 1/2 now and still sucking away...) and occasionally use aquaphor, too. But for a baby that young the Lansinoh is really the way to go. Put a tiny bit between your fingers and rub it for a bit to warm it up and thin it out. Then just smooth it on as often as needed.
Oh, I'd not recommend hydrocortisone unless you know it's safe in the event it's ingested.
Our son has always been a thumb sucker. He's almost 4 and still does it when tired. He's never had a rash like this, but he has had several chapped thumbs in the winter. We asked the pediatrician who recommended Aquaphor.
But, I'd honestly recommend seeing the pediatrician to confirm this is really what's happening. Our son is jokingly called Linus (from Charlie Brown) because he's such a massive thumb sucker. If it is an infection of some sort, treating with the recommended products may be more harmful than helpful. It's possible it's something like Eczema that would present similarly (our daughter has been treated for eczema since she was ~12 months and had it around her mouth as well as other areas).
A&D Ointment - the cure all :-) LOL Joking aside, I actually do use it for lots of skin irritations.
My baby had a spot on his chin for 6 months too! At his well check up the doctor said to just keep it as dry as possible or have one of those barriers on it. I alternate between Lansinoh, Hyrdocortisone, aquaphor and plain old neosporine.
Good luck
E.
My daughter had the same thing except from her paci and what worked for us was vitamin E oil, vaseline and right before bed I would use neosporin(antibacterial ointment). You will have to be consistent in your usage of these products because as long as she thumb sucks she"ll have the red marks. I did notice my daughters spots were basically non-exsistent in the late spring/summer months and I think it was the cold weather that was making it worse.
try original chapstick - that always worked best for us
