How to cope!

[MooMoo]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I do find baths helpful, barely warm and with either seaweed powder or bicarbonate of soda, both which help calm the itch, however its during the night that our problems arise, and we often have seaweed baths at 4am in a desperate attempt to calm skin again. I've also tried wet wrapping, which will work great one night and be a disaster the next. I have to keep changing moisturisers as they all start to sting him after a while. Also very thick ointments make him very hot which makes the matter worse. There are so many dimensions to his eczema its hard to keep up! But like Kelly said we'll just have to take it one day at a time, and meanwhile keep trying to find the cause of his problems. Awaiting food intolerance test results so fingers crossed that might be the answer to our 4am prayers!!

[Coldbolt]

Right well apoligies, i'm meant to say LUKE WARM bath, it's just warm enough but not cold, I'll find out what the Temperture is for that but for now, this is actually a plan you could try.

Now at 4am, that's the time your baby gets all Itchy, that's because your baby knows by it's brain, it's time to Itch at that time. It's the same as being tired at night time and well to wake up for work around that time, your brain eventually gets a pattern and figures this out. Unfortunately this is happening for the itching and because it's occured to many times "it's possible your child may have woke up early around these times and starting itching" that now it's become "routine"

Now if this is the case, you have to break it. You have to confuse the brain to forget the 4am time. Now she will Itch at 4am, but you want her to sleep through it so try this, it might be mean to do this but bare with me.

I would check you baby at 2.30am - 3.30am and if you can, actually wake her up and do give her a bath before she gets ITCHY. Make sure it's the Temperature the baby is happy with and get her all nice and supple before the ITCHING happens. When you take the baby out of the bath, put COD Liver Oil where the ITCHING or Patchers are worse, not too much, just enough to cover the skin and put CREAMS on, not Emollients because if what you are saying is correct, your baby might wake up again because she's aggravated from the Greasy skin. That's why I'm asking to put COD Liver Oil on cause it keeps in some Moisturize for longer than the CREAM.

Now if you do this in different times, but always before 4am where we believe the ITCHYING happens, eventually she will not feel ITCHY at night because you hopefully are preventing it from happening and it goes out of her brain. Therefore she will go to sleep and the brain not thinking that she will feel ITCHY at 4am and because you woke her up in different times, hopefully this exercise will then break that 4am wake up and let your baby have some peace.

Now why do I think this will work? Well if you go to another country, for the first couple of days sometimes people wake up in bad times until they get used to their surroundings, so that's by forcing themselves to stay up for so long until it becomes night and it breaks the body clock. We're trying this with your baby and hopefully this will work. It also means there not ITCHY because your doing it before it happens therefore the recovery stage is all the better.

I would love to talk to you at least one on one in some form of chat service, because I would love to be able to so say "I helped someone else, who had a child with Eczema to beat it" up to you really.

[AnnaB]

We have had to give in and use medication to help my daughter sleep through her eczema. We were all on our knees with lack of sleep plus she now does less damage now in a deeper sleep. She also has more energy for in the day. Hopefully it won't be making her feel to grotty when she goes to school, but there no way she'd of got through the day without falling asleep. Have you tried derma silk suits to sleep in. Look them up they are great and on prescription. Cool, dry and loose. Can be worn day and or night. It is really tough and few mums understand. A lot of friends started to only realise the extent of bad sleepless nights when the gp started to run major blood tests and prescribed meds to sleep. Talking of sleep, nite
Anna

[Coldbolt]

Hi AnnaB,

As long as the Medication helps, that the point of them. It's when they don't help is the issue. Can you tell me the medication used in your case? I have mentioned on my website about sleeping medicines but don't know enough about them, but I know there sometimes needed and I felt I was going to need them.

Talking about sleeping also, what my mother used to do also was to put on an Ionizer. It would filtrate the air of any Dust and Allergies and produce Negative Ions which simulates the outside air. Basically in terms of sleep the air is fresh and helps you to sleep alot better, which in alot of studies has been very true.

I actually wear an Ionic Bracelet which hows proven for my at least, to give me deeper sleeps.

[yorkie2703]

Hi
we also use the Aalgo Seaweed. It helps but our daughter reacts to the water so we find showers better.
(A quick in and out really) Also on a shower night we give her priton after.
As I love to unwind in the bath I can't and really know the benefits of a bath we can't use this on my daughter so we do an unwind of the day with her in a different way.
so at 6.30pm we turn the TV off - this is so she doesn't get over stimulated by cartoons etc, Get ready for bed space suit on and the lights low and a story. She pretty much has a good routine but the early hours our a nightmare.

Anyone and every child is different, what works for one doesn't work for another. Not many people can function without good sleep so what ever helps in your home do.
I find a can cope better with my daughters eczema when I have had sleep

Chin up xxx Fiona

[Heidijo]

just a quick question to people do any of you have problems with children that smell like "wet dog" when using greasy bath addetives and creams etc , we cant use them and porridge in the bath is best, but not good enough for flare up.

[Becky Dennis]

YES! I'm so glad you said that! my baby definately does on her head. It's horrible. She has Epaderm ointment in the bath and then 50/50 about 5 times a day and i've often remarked on the 'wet dog' smell. Not sure how you get rid of it though. I have used the oats but it doesn't seem to moisturise her enough. Although i do like the feel of it on her skin. Once her flare is over..... i'll try it again
b

[Heidijo]

my son is now a teenager so is a lot better we never found how to get rid of smell i think the grease locks in sweat or stops them sweating he now wont use the greasy bath stuff, so we just use as little cream as poss and wash his hair separtely over bath so can use a normal shampoo found head and shoulders best.