MyItchyBoy's posts
12 Jun
Eczema: 5 dilemmas for parents in summer
Eczema is a pain any time of the year and each season brings it’s own problems – too hot, too cold, too dry, too wet (and too much time indoors!). Summer though, seems to bring most of my dilemmas over …
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21 Apr
Allergies: Eating out in Edinburgh
Plans for the big Scottish Adventure began to take shape earlier this year as we realised how many years have gone by since we last visited and MyItchyBoy could no longer remember going. A train was booked, accommodation sorted and …
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24 Mar
Food allergies: How to deal with kid’s parties
We have yet another birthday party coming up. I don’t know the parents – or even the child particularly, so we’re instantly on allergy alert. Here’s our list of things to think about when the invite arrives: MyItchyBoy is now …
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17 Mar
Packing an everyday bag for your allergy child
We have a bag for MyItchyBoy that goes everywhere with him. Over the past few years we’ve learned the essentials we need to keep in there. Ask your local pharmacy if they can sell you a small medicine bottle. Ours …
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5 Mar
Preparing for your child’s Allergy Appointment
How to prepare for your child’s Allergy Appointment Check your appointment letter to see whether there will be any tests done on the day – skin prick or blood test. Also check if and when you need to stop giving …
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17 Feb
Handling soft play with an eczema child
If your child suffers from eczema, beware the soft play party invite if you’ve never been before. Soft play places are noisy, full of kids going crazy and lobbing plastic balls at each other and therefore usually one of the …
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20 Jan
Eczema: Finally some true respite!
Since November 2014 we’ve had an amazing breakthrough with MyItchyBoy’s eczema. MyItchyBoy has had eczema for over five years. Not just a little bit, but the kind of eczema that takes over the life of the whole family. The hospital …
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6 Jan
Christmas 2014 – allergies and eczema
A bumpy start to the holidays MyItchyBoy missed the last few days of term before the Christmas holidays as he was running a high temperature and was clearly not well. In an attempt to bring the temperature down, I gave …
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2 Nov
Eczema: guilt-ridden, relentless helicoptering!
There has been much talk over the years of allergy parents being forced to become the much-mocked ‘helicopter’ parent out of necessity and panic over their child. Watching everything your child eats and touches and is given to avoid an …
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24 Oct
How we’re preparing for winter 2014 – Eczema & Allergies
This week is Indoor Allergy Week in the UK and comes at the time of year that we’re all starting to realise that winter really is on its way. I thought I’d share a few things that we’re doing to …
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7 Oct
10 Tips for Travelling with an Allergic Child
Here are my top 10 tips for travelling with an allergic child that I wanted to share after our experience of MyItchyBoy having an allergic reaction on holiday this summer: 1. Agree beforehand who is best equipped to deal with …
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7 Oct
Allergic Reaction on Holiday
Finding somewhere to take an atopic child on holiday is hard. For MyItchyBoy, it’s not just the food allergies, but eczema too. We have to find somewhere not too remote (proximity to medical services and availability of food), somewhere not …
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18 Apr
Will my son make a great pharmacist one day?
MyItchyBoy’s arms and legs are itchy and sore and it seems nothing we are doing is helping. Our last appointment with the dermatologist, lots of scary-sounding solutions were brought up. Since then, he’s been on a two month course of steroids. …
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21 Mar
Welcome to the food allergy Smug Zone
Oh yes, it is possible to be a smug allergy parent. Not often, I’ll agree, but possible. Usually eating out for our family is fraught with hours or days of planning, menu scanning and waiter interrogation. However, there is one …
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5 Feb
Eczema is bad for my health – part 2
Ok, so I might be admitting here what a twit I can be, or maybe just highlighting what a danger nocturnal parenting can be. The other night I’d just started to drop off when the inevitable ‘Mummy!’ came from the …
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13 Jan
Dermatology appointment – debrief
Well, it didn’t help that last time (4 mths ago) as well as this time, MyItchyBoy was seen in the Dermatology Department. Sound odd? No, I know, a dermatologist in the dermatologist department, right? Well, yes, but when you have …
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6 Jan
Dermatology appointment this week
We have a consultant dermatologist appointment this Wednesday. It doesn’t seem to be the same person we saw last time. I started making a list a few weeks ago about the things we want to ask about. I contacted the …
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18 Dec
Food allergies at Christmas – 5 ways to trip up
Christmas is a great time of year for kids. Fact. Christmas is a bit trickier for kids with allergies. Fact. Here are my top five obstacles to be tackled in the run up to Christmas for MyItchyBoy: 1. Advent calendar …
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27 Nov
Instant way to get more calcium in your dairy free child
Yes, there is an instant way! MyItchyBoy was given this straw in a party bag at the weekend. This is the best thing he’s seen in ages it seems. Plus, it has magic powers. Amazing! Want your dairy-free child to …
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15 Nov
Choosing a school for an allergic child
This post is inspired by a post by Nutmums.com. This time last year we were busy trying to sorting out a school place for MyItchyBoy before the January deadline. I know there are allergy parents out there right now worrying …
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11 Nov
How quick is your morning routine?
Do you know how quickly 4 year olds can get dressed? Did you know they can get dressed by themselves? This wa s all a bit of a revelation for me last week. We stayed with friends who have a …
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18 Oct
Who’s responsible for my son’s eczema?
Last night I went up to clean my teeth on the way to bed and passed MyItchyBoy’s room. That sinking feeling came over me as I heard the *khuh-khuh* noise of MyItchyBoy scratching his skin. I poked my head round …
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9 Oct
Bananas, Pineapples and Eczema
Does Pineapple make eczema worse? For a couple of years now, MyItchyBoy has been eating and enjoying dried pineapple. It never seemed to cause a problem for his eczema. Or did it? He’d usually have the crispy type of dried …
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18 Aug
How do you take emollients out with you?
So we can manage MyItchyBoy’s eczema properly, we have always taken a small bottle of decanted emollient out and about with us. We use it quite often, especially on long days out when he needs a cream top up during …
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16 Aug
Allergies and eczema: starting school
So, over the next couple of weeks, we are going through all the necessary preparations for school. MyItchyBoy starts this September but not before I seriously get my act together (I hope!). MyItchyBoy at school Prior to the end of …
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8 Aug
Summer Sports Camp
Over the first two weeks of the summer holidays, MyItchyBoy spent 5 days at a local sports camp. The 5 days were spread over the fortnight as he is still only 4 yrs and I figured that with such a …
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3 Aug
3 things we use to deal with eczema
Our super useful supply of cloths 1. Cloths to wipe our hands on We are still using the packs of muslin cloths that we bought before he was even born. Thankfully they are still in one piece, despite endless laundering, …
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16 Jul
Huge improvement for MyItchyBoy
MyItchyBoy’s arm last week This morning, putting cream on MyItchyBoy, I felt very emotional. Why? Well, this morning, about 80% of his skin feels weird. Yes, weird. Perhaps not to a parent whose child has never suffered with eczema, but …
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11 Jul
5 Things I Hate About Eczema
I hate eczema. It really sucks. Aside from watching MyItchyBoy suffer on a daily basis and the feelings of desperation, helplessness and failure that goes with it, there are a few other things that I really hate about eczema too. …
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28 Jun
5 Treats for Allergic Kids
Caveat first: These are a selection of pre-packed treats that MyItchyBoy enjoys without any adverse reactions. This post in no way suggests that your child will be fine if they are allergic to any foods. As much as I like …
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28 Jun
My Super, Super Itchy Boy
We don’t usually get much sleep as it is but this last week or so has been harder than normal. We have been struggling with MyItchyBoy’s itchy eczema a lot over the past few months as it is, but at …
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28 Jun
What my son’s eczema taught me about my own skincare
There are very few positives I can take from having a child with eczema, but learning about my own skin and how to treat and protect it has been one of them. We moved house last year and lost an …
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10 Jun
Our adventure into a salt cave
We live not too far from a couple of salt therapy places, but have never actually been before. However, it has been a tough week or so for MyItchyBoy with his eczema and so I thought that it would be …
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31 May
Eczema friendly bedding: What I’ve learned so far
For a child with eczema, like MyItchyBoy, having the right bedding is key to a good night’s sleep. Tiredness makes an already itchy child more itchy and tired, grumpy parents will find coping with the daily trials of eczema harder …
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23 May
Eczema: the impact on family life
MyItchyBoy has suffered atopic eczema since he was a few months old. His wrists are almost always dry and itchy but eczema on the rest of his body depends on so many other things. He has food allergies and …
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13 May
Eczema is giving me piles – of laundry!
There are so many times that I wish MyItchyBoy had ‘normal’ skin. However, this week, my sighs and desires for normality come from the combination of a backlog of laundry and the change in weather. Due to the eczema that …
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28 Apr
Eczema Egg Challenge
So, did I mention, we can now give MyItchyBoy eggs? Well, when I say eggs, I mean we can bake cakes and buns and things and actually put real egg in. Yes, real egg, from chickens. It may sound like …
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25 Apr
Making others aware of allergies
Over the next few weeks MyItchyBoy’s nursery are covering the topic of food and healthy eating. I’ve asked if they could take the opportunity to introduce some food allergy awareness to the older children as part of this. Like many …
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26 Mar
Help me! What is he allergic to???
Right, a few weeks back I got a call from MyItchyBoy’s nursery. I was told that he had a red eye, that it possibly looked a bit swollen. They were concerned enough to call, weren’t sure what had happened. They …
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26 Mar
Solving the Sleep Issue
For a while now, MyItchyBoy has had trouble sleeping. That is to say, he has no trouble sleeping when he’s asleep and is settling as well as can be expected from a procrastinating genius that all 4 year olds are. …
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7 Mar
An image of my son in war-time Britain
MyItchyBoy is starting to grow up. It’s true. Apparently, they all do it…. For him, part of being more independent and responsible is looking after his skin and managing his allergies. This is a lot of top of the normal …
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7 Mar
Eczema is bad for my health
And at the moment, it’s not even my eczema. I read the reports in the press earlier in the week about how all parents are pretty much screwed as a lack of sleep is apparently so bad for your health. …
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7 Mar
Sleep is apparently great for you – if you can get it!
I am getting fed up with New Year! New You! magazine articles telling me that the secret to happiness, health, success is a good night’s sleep. Simple! Great! How??? The only suggestions they have on how to achieve this are …
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6 Jan
What to do with too much cake?
As a family, we’re not so easy to accommodate for food if you’re not used to catering for allergies. Unfortunately dairy and eggs are so prevalent that label reading is essential. For someone not initiated into the world of scrutinising …
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22 Dec
Exciting discoveries in Gran Canaria
Earlier in December we were lucky enough to spend a lovely, sunny week in Gran Canaria. This post is about a couple of the products we enjoyed discovering on this trip. As mentioned in the previous post, we were lucky …
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22 Dec
Fun in December Sun
A holiday in December is always good I reckon, especially somewhere warm and sunny. We recently spent a week in Gran Canaria and we had a great time. It was a great holiday for MyItchyBoy. He was easily amused with …
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30 Aug
Taking allergies on holiday
Having recently tried to book a cheap break in December for the three of us, I have once again been left debating with myself about what risks I want to take when it comes to food. Staying somewhere ‘safe’ is …
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21 Aug
My hot night of three in the bed
Yes, we had another hot night down south – over 20 degrees. MyItchyBoy was already suffering an eczema flare-up from Friday so the heat was not at all welcome. We had all the windows open throughout the house as well …
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13 Aug
I have had a lot of empathy with my son and his eczema this week due to the insect that has had a few bites out of my leg. I’ve woken up three days in a row with a new …
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2 Aug
Good cotton pjs for eczema kids
After the usual hunt for pyjamas for MIB that are the right size, 100% cotton and not extortionate in price, I was really pleased to find a two pair pack in the supermarket. I usually find it so hard to …
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10 Jul
Itchy Skin week here
A tough few days with itchy skin for MyItchyBoy at the moment. A bit of a runny nose and chesty cough and he’s flared up quickly in about 24 hours. It doesn’t help that he had one night with a …
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27 Jun
Sticky Child
Finally, the sun is starting to shine. And with it, comes warmer weather. Hot days and nights are not always a good thing for a child with eczema. We are fairly lucky that heat itself doesn’t seem to worsen MIB’s …
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7 Jun
Our latest blood test experience
A while ago MyItchyBoy showed signs of a reaction to fish. Since then, we have had a consultant appointment and agreed to go for another RAST test. This is mainly because I hold no faith in the scratch tests since …
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30 May
Sunscreen vs. Eczema
Have sent MIB (my itchy boy) off to nursery today with a hat but no sunscreen. Am I a bad mother? Nope, just an indecisive one. Too early in the morning to decide whether or not he’ll definitely need it …
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