It's Winter!
Old man winter has come knocking on our doors. At east here in the western hemisphere. With the change in temperature, comes dry itchy skin and an increase eczema flare ups. In my family we all have experienced eczema at some point, so here are the rules I have developed along my journey.
Rule 1
Go within...
ok, as much as I enjoy my zen moments, and strive to infuse zen into my household, this is not what I mean. What I mean here is, eczema is usually an outward manifestation of some type of internal inflammatory process. What is your child ingesting? If you are breastfeeding, what are you eating? Have you gotten a blood test to see if your child has any food allergies or sensitivities?
When my eldest son started his eczema journey,
- I basically had to overhaul my diet and his diet.
- I had to start really monitoring what he eats and how his body is reacting to it.
- I tested him for food and environmental allergies as well as sensitivities.
- I really monitored what was going into his body and mine since I was breastfeeding him.
Rule 2
Go without...
So now that you have gone within and monitored what's going into you and your children's bodies, you have to now pay attention to the part of the environment you can control.
What I mean is, what are you applying onto your children's skin? Check the ingredients list, even if it's natural, look up the ingredients and how it will help your children's skin.
Do the products you use have alcohols, sulfates, chemicals that are drying, chemical preservatives? What about what you are cleansing your child with, does it have any drying agents? What's are the ingredients? How will those ingredients impact your children's skin? What about the detergent you use to clean your children's clothes?
So I went through a lot of cleansers, body washes, eczema cleansers, etc... I did a lot of investigating, finding out what each ingredient is and how it impacts the skin, even if it's natural.
Earlier in our journey, I found a cleanser that was gentle enough and not drying and stuck with that. Now, we have created a gentle head to toe cleanser that is not drying, skin softening and promotes healing and it is coming soon to our store.
What water?
We love giving our children calming baths, especially when they have a flare up...
But what type of water are you soaking your child in? Chlorine although a great disinfectant for our water supply, it is extremely irritating and drying to the delicate skin of your baby.
Chlorine can cause eczema, acne, premature aging, depleted proteins and dry skin.
I had to start using a shower filter that filters out chlorine and I only use filtered water to bath my children. That has really had an impact on the health of my children's skin.
For the flare ups, I soak my baby in our Eczema Tea Bath 2-3 times a week and it leaves her with soft supple skin, and soothes away the itching and irritation.
Rule 3
Stop the itch!
Eczema can be very itchy. What was great for me is that my elder son did not have much itching with his eczema flare ups, but my second child, oh boy was he so itchy!
I really had a challenging time with his eczema journey. He would scratch when he was hungry, angry, irritated, having a tiny tantum and even when he was just relaxing, I would catch him digging his claws into his eczema patches...
Here's how I stopped the itch...
- I stopped the itch by making an effort to not let him get too stressed out, or irritated, while still instilling some boundaries.
- I kept his patches from getting dry, because when the eczema patches get dry, they can crack and itch like crazy.
- I moisturized his skin with our signature Baby Body Butter, 3-4 times daily to stay on top of the dryness.
- I tried mittens, and also kept the affected areas covered.
He inspired the Eczema Tea Bath and did a lot of soaks in it.
Rule 4
Cleanliness, Cleanliness, Cleanliness!
Like I was saying before, my second child gave me a run for my money with his eczema journey! He would scratch and scratch until he was bleeding. I would cover his affected areas but when he woke up from his nap or in the morning, I would find his legs (where he had eczema) were bleeding and his nails were covered in a mix of blood and scabs.
He ended up with infected eczema patches and that extended the length of time it took to heal his eczema.
Hand washing is so important! did you know that 20 seconds of handwashing with just soap and water reduces bacterial counts by 90%?
How did I implement cleanliness to heal his eczema?
- First before applying anything to his skin, I washed my hands thoroughly including my nails.
- I washed his eczema patches about 2-3 times a day with our mild head to toe cleanser.
- I washed his hands, cleaned out his nails several times a day, especially before sleep.
- I changed his washcloths and bath towels every other day.
- I made sure he had a dedicated jar of Baby Body Butter just for his skin and one dedicated to his diaper area.
With these practices and wonderful products, I'm able to keep my children's skin eczema free, soft and supple. When flare ups happen, which is so rare now, I continue to follow my rules, and use all our amazing products and within a few days, the eczema is gone!
While eczema may have environmental causes or be hereditary or both, you nor children have to live with it's effects... try these methods, try our products. Be committed, dedicated, and patient and you will see desirable results.
Thanks again, leave your insights and experiences in the comments section and share with our community. Also share this post with someone you know who will benefit from my insights.
