Dry skin

loubian

Hi, just looking on advice on a very common problem. My lo has dry skin on her face.. particularly her cheeks and around her mouth. It gets so bad that it cracks and bleeds and she is always scratching it. I've tried so many things - e45, silcocks base, oilatum (which has worked best). I put oilatum on at every nappy change, which is about 7 times a day. Is there any natural oils that you have found have helped? It really bothers her.

lainycool

loubian wrote: »

Hi, just looking on advice on a very common problem. My lo has dry skin on her face.. particularly her cheeks and around her mouth. It gets so bad that it cracks and bleeds and she is always scratching it. I've tried so many things - e45, silcocks base, oilatum (which has worked best). I put oilatum on at every nappy change, which is about 7 times a day. Is there any natural oils that you have found have helped? It really bothers her.

Coconut oil is probably one of the best natural oils that you can use and great on dry skin.

Moonbeam

bio oil is worth a try.

dollybird2

Aveeno cream is very good for baby's sensitive skin in my experience

loubian

dollybird2 wrote: »

Aveeno cream is very good for baby's sensitive skin in my experience

The nurse mentioned aveeno alright but is it just the normal cream or can you get a baby version?

clappyhappy

Have you tried Vaseline, my little guy used to get very dry skin on his face and hands. Tried everything, prescription and over the counter. My mother in law suggested Vaseline and it worked. Just lightly rubbed it in, he was 3 months old at the time, but he grew out of it thankfully. Best of luck!!

dollybird2

loubian wrote: »

The nurse mentioned aveeno alright but is it just the normal cream or can you get a baby version?

I used the normal one I think... I remember it was in a creamy coloured tube with a light brown screw on lid. I had tried baby oil, vaseline, silcocks base etc and nothing worked so I found the Aveeno cream brilliant. The PHN recommended it. Ask your pharmacist & tell them it is for a baby. If I recall correctly it cost about 7 euro for the tube. Hope this helps.

loubian

clappyhappy wrote: »

Have you tried Vaseline, my little guy used to get very dry skin on his face and hands. Tried everything, prescription and over the counter. My mother in law suggested Vaseline and it worked. Just lightly rubbed it in, he was 3 months old at the time, but he grew out of it thankfully. Best of luck!!

I was actually thinking of vaseline but forgot to try!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions so far

liliq

+1 on coconut oil. The 500g tub in dunnes for €5.99 is great, as good as the €20 odd ones in the health shops.
I also put olive oil all over my baby after drying him off after baths. He loved it, and it was the only thing I put on his skin (apart from water and bum creams) for almost a year!

nikpmup

+2 on the coconut oil - I also use almond oil on his skin, I put a capful in his bath, and massage some into his skin after the bath. I also use it on his scalp to keep cradle cap at bay. It's lovely stuff. The coconut oil is amazing. I use it on myself - add a couple of tablespoons of rock salt or sugar to a handful of coconut oil, mix it together and use it as a body scrub in the shower. Skin comes out like silk.

MurdyWurdy

Poor thing

I also recommend coconut oil. It's the only thing we use (on his bum mainly) and it's great. Dunnes have it in the oil section or you can get it in health food shops.

I use it on myself (a different jar from the baby bum jar!) as I get itchy dry skin on my shins since pregnancy. It works well and smells lovely

How Strange

Petroleum jelly aka Vaseline isn't great for babies skin. It's not a natural product unlike almond or olive oil. I only use products without petroleum jelly or parabens. I must try the coconut oil on myself and the kids.

pwurple

There are two things you want to try to sort with dry skin. The cause itself, and then give it a chance to get better. Around the face we found it was drying out fast from her being at it, and teething drool. None of the moisturisers or oils did much for that, made it worse if anything. What worked here was mittens, and a wetness barrier. Vaseline. It stopped the drool causing a problem, and gave the skin a chance to heal itself then.

If it's more like excema, or a reaction to something in the environment (wool, detergent etc) then finding the trigger is the trick.

Whether something is manmade or natural doesn't tell you a whole pile about skin reaction in babies. And I wouldn't assume natural is better in general either. Arsenic is natural. Loads of natural things can induce reactions. We had to eliminate all natural fibre clothes (cotton, wool etc) and rip up a wool carpet at one point... And instead stuck to polyesters for a while because her skin reacted to the natural fibres, but not manmade.

Finding what works for baby is trial and error I'm afraid. Do you suspect a cause?

Sligo1

Id be another one to recommend Vaseline! Reason I didn't post it initially was because I wasnt sure about putting it on a babies face? And im not sure about the complete ins and outs of using it on baby's skin as its not a natural product as such as another poster said. But I've put it on his bum etc and find it amazing to seal in moisture and act as a barrier cream. Its works better than any other cream ive tried on 'red sore bum'.

But I actually use it on on my face when I have those dry cracks around my eyes... Works a charm!