What’s up with my babe’s skin?

Red, dry, patchy, oozy skin… These are just some of the joys of having a baby with ECZEMA.

Oh eczema. How I loathe thee. It began when Andi was about 8 weeks old. Right when I was ending our battle with her lip & tongue tie. (see other blog post🙄) It began with some redness on her forehead. Obviously I didn’t think much of it until it turned dry and scaly.. which then showed up on her inner elbows, hands, behind her knees and the worst, behind her neck. Next, it began to crack and ooze. This is when I lost my cool.

Andi was seen by the pediatrician who prescribed us an antibiotic lotion and a topical steroid to use for 5 days. I normally would NEVER agree to this but what was I to do? Her skin was literally cracking open, leaving the possibility for infection. So I did it. And it healed. But I vowed to never let it get to that point again.

So, to google I went and tried EVERYTHING. Milk baths, oatmeal baths, emu oil, Mustela stelatopia creams, baby Vaseline, aveeno, aquaphor, essential oils, dressed her in looser clothing, humidifier, eczema necklaces.. you name it, I tried it. Then I read to eliminate dairy from my diet. (She is exclusively breast-fed.) So I tried it. But after keeping a log, and being able to narrow down nothing, I spoke with my pediatrician again, and she agreed that this was not a food allergy. Her advice was to give her a bath every night, for no longer than 7 minutes in warm water, with a soap of my choice that had no fragrance and was natural. (We use Aveeno.) She also told me to keep her clothes cotton, pat her dry after her bath, and most important, MOISTURIZE her like a crazy lady.

That’s all it took. (Takes!) Our routine has not changed, we go about our day, but just take the extra step to moisturize! I use Aveeno eczema therapy moisturizing cream throughout the day (about 4 times a day,) once when she wakes in the morning, before nap, and a mid-day refresh. After her quick bath, we use the nighttime aveeno baby eczema therapy nighttime balm. I also slather her in aquaphor after each time I moisturize her. I know, it’s greasy, but it keeps that skin moisturized and protected, which keeps her (and me!) happy. I have noticed that on the days or weeks that we might have to skip bath time, or if I only moisturize her once or twice (life happens!) that her skin starts to flare and get dry. Once we go back to our routine, she’s as smooth as, well, her own bottom ☺️

Lip and tongue-ties, oh my..

Ever since we brought Andi home from the hospital, she has me questioning everything I thought I knew about becoming a parent. Having been a teacher for seven years in a preschool, I thought I knew everything there was to know. Breastfeeding? No problem. Diapers and what to expect in those dirty diapers to come? pshh.. got it. Sleep? Ha! my baby will sleep like a champ, it’s in our genes.

And so, all was well for the first few weeks. She latched like a champ. Had enough dirty diapers. We figured out that co-sleeping worked for us. Mommyin’ was easy!

Until it all changed. Fussiness. Gas. Constant crying. Her heart-wrenching faces of pain that I could not soothe. The only thing that seemed to help was nursing her. She would latch on and drink. Aahhh.. It was quiet again. But then she would arch her back and it would start all over.  What was going on!?

We made several trips to our pediatrician (who we love dearly!) and she went through the checklist. Colic? Nope, it’s not only in the evening. Acid reflux? Nope, she feels better once she spits up and sleeps better lying on her side next to me instead of raised on an angle. Allergies? Maybe. So I kept a log of what I ate to see if I could narrow down a food allergy. Well, turns out this log was useless. One day after eating eggs she would be gassy and fussy, and the next time she would be fine. This went on for a few weeks until I gave up. After speaking with friends and doing my own research online, I decided to see a lactation consultant. I can’t begin to explain how thankful I am that I decided to make an appointment with this wonderful person. I can honestly say she changed our lives, and more importantly, she helped my happy baby come back to me!

At this point, Andi was about 6 weeks old. At our first appointment, she watched as my baby latched on and nursed. She showed me different holds I could do, taught me to watch for signs of needing to burp before continuing, and finally weighed her after we were through. My milk supply was fine and it all seemed, “normal.” So what was it? Well, next she checked her lip tie and tongue tie.  TONGUE tie? I had never heard of such a thing. My LC explained that most doctor’s don’t really search for the possibility of a tongue tie, and that the combo of tongue and lip tie was most likely what was causing her fussiness. See, because her tongue was restricted from it’s full movement, my babe could not get a let down easily, which made it very tiring for her to nurse. On top of that, the lip tie was keeping her mouth from closing around my breast, which meant air was coming into her mouth each time she tried to suck. That’s where the gas was coming from! So in short, Andi was drinking air which made her gassy, and working twice as hard to nurse. My lactation consultant referred me to a pediatric dentist, and I did not hesitate to make an appointment.

A week later we were in the pediatric dentist’s chair, and I was told it a laser would be used, it would be no more than 10 seconds and there would be no pain for her. Ok. I can handle that. I sat in the dentist’s chair and held Andi tightly against me. It began. First, her lip tie was cut.  Next, her tongue tie. It literally did take 10 seconds and Andi did not make a peep! I think she was more annoyed that I was holding her so tightly out of my fear for her. We were done! NOW the hard part. For those that don’t know, the mouth heals EXTREMELY fast. For this reason, I had the hardest job in the world in front of me for the following two weeks. I had to KEEP the wounds OPEN so that they would heal slowly as to avoid keloids!! How, would i have to do that, you ask? By pressing on the lip wound and tongue wound for 10 seconds at a time, every two hours for TWO WEEKS. I don’t think anyone can understand what it feels like to have to inflict pain on your child every two hours for two weeks. Those two hours would creep up so fast, but the two weeks were dragging on for what seemed like an eternity! But in the back of my mind, through Andi’s screaming and crying out in pain as I pressed on her wounds, I kept thinking, I NEED to do this or else we have to do it all over again! Somehow, I managed to get through it, and the two weeks passed. We saw the dentist and were given the ok to stop, since the wounds took their time to heal and did not keloid over. VICTORY! But would this all be worth it? Would all of this help with my poor baby or did I personally put her through hell for nothing and be crowned the worst mother EVER?

What’s funny is that I didn’t even realize when it happened, but in the following weeks, I thought to myself, I have such a happy babe! Now she is 11 months old and I can honestly say that it was the best decision I made for her!

Yay for all the lactation consultants and pediatric dentists out there! You changed my babe’s life!

For all the things my hands have held, the best so far, is you. — Unknown