I have a 8month old he just started to crawl. He is with my MIL while i'm at work, she bathes him around 11 am, when i get home and he plays on the floor crawling and with his toys, & eats dinner he gets dirty! (we have 4 dogs and they walk in the house). I'm sure i could do a quick wipe down since he had a bath already but is there any harm in another bath before bed time? he loves to play in the water with his toys and it helps him sleep at night. He has Eczema and we use Cetaphil for dry skin. My Mom said just wipe him down, but i feel like he isn't as clean.. any thoughts..
thank you!
Guess we will be skipping the 11 AM bath! Thanks Mamas.. just as i suspected it might bother his Eczema :)
I found the more I bathed my son the worse his eczema would get. The best thing to do is just use a wipe and clean his hands and knees as best as you can. Or you can ask the sitter not to bathe him so that you can bathe him at night.
HI there, my husband has eczema his whole life and just from his experience too many baths may exacerbate the problem of dry skin. and for him and my kids who inherited the excema, udderly smooth udder cream works for us. perhaps the morning bath is unecesary?
You may be bathing your baby too much, which may be worsening the Eczema (atopic dermatitis) and can actually be setting him up for irritant contact dermatitis down the road, where exposure to soap can trigger a reaction (this happens over time when skin is exposed too often to soap or other chemicals - I have this on my hands and it makes my skin ultra sensitive, even to water, causing redness, burning, dryness and even bleeding).
Try skipping the morning bath and just bathing him at night or even every other day, focusing more on the folds of the skin and the diaper area. Here are some helful tips for the eczema, including what cleansers to use. Be careful with its recommendations for over the counter 1% hydrocortisone and steroids, your baby is too young for these.
My son is 22 months and during the winter he only gets showered 2-3 times a week. Anything more than that flares up eczema. During the spring and summer he gets a shower before bed everyday that he plays outside. He's a dirt magnet! We use Gold Bond Medicated Lotion when his skin gets dry and bumpy.
My daughter has eczema and we use Cetaphil, but our skin dr said to limit bath time to 5 minutes and limit the number of times we bath her in a week, so with that informatiom, I would maybe just wait to give him his bath untill before bed.
2 baths a day is definitely going to dry him out. I have heard with eczema to limit it to a couple/few baths a week. That is what I do with mine because I don't want his skin drying out too much (I have horribly dry skin). I save the super messy dinner like spaghetti for a time when I know he needs a bath already. I just wipe him down the rest of the time. I use cheap washcloths that get more than just babywipes, so that helps. I have a stack of washcloths that I got at walmart for like $2 for 20 and I keep them in my kitchen just for baby wipe ups.
I haven't read your other responces but wanted to chime in with what I just learned yesterday from a dermatologist:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/01/health/01case.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_###-###-####_treat-eczema-bleach-...
I think it actually works because my dd had it last year, but I haven't noticed it since the end of the summer when we were in the pool alot. She really doesn't have any problem with it anymore at all. (We were at the Dr for a rash my ds has).
If he has eczema you should really only wash him every other day, and avoid all soaps on his skin unless absolutely necessary. If he is getting dirty during the day then stop the 11am bath and just give him one at night before bed. Water can leach a ton of moisture out of your skin.
Eczema can be helped by using Omega Fish oil supplements. You can buy them liquid form (I really like Nordic Naturals) and just feed them with a spoon or dropper.
Also, use oatmeal and/or dry milk in the bath to help the skin.
I also use oil after every bath. Oil seals in the moisture after a bath and prevent the drying out. Almond oil is good, but you could even use olive oil. I just bought the Weleda's baby oil and I love the smell. Burts Bees makes a really nice one also. Try to get organic. Oil seals in the moisture after a bath and prevent the drying out.
H.
Maybe ask your MIL NOT to bathe him while she's watching him. 2 baths a day is excessive for a baby, especially if he has dry skin, and a bath before bedtime makes more sense, just to wash the funk from the day off, not to mention it's soothing and good bonding time (although I'm sure you're tired after working all day).
hi,
if your baby has Eczema he needs as less shower as possible. My baby had it too, really bad one, doctor told us to stop baths for couple of weeks. Eventually it helped. If in your case it's not so bad you can let him play for 5 min in the water with no soap and a lot of Cetaphil .
nat
My son is 2 1/2 and has KP. We were told to bath at the most every other day and just do quick wipe downs if needed.
If he has eczema, I definitely wouldn't bathe him more than once per day. (my son also had it as an infant.) More baths will just dry out his skin more. I agree with the others, also, ask your MIL to not bathe him....save it for before bed. That's a good bedtime ritual for you, anyhow. She should spend the time playing, reading, cuddling, going for walks, etc..
I don't know much about eczema but it is my understanding that the more your bath & moisturize your skin-right after before you dry off while the skin is still moist, the better to keep the moisture in. My Grandma used to get really bad dry skin & the Dr. told her she wasn't bathing enough...ask what your Dr. thinks
I have a 14 month old and a 3 1/2 year old. I was told that giving a baby too many baths too often, will dry out their skin and scalp. I would ask your MIL not to give him a bath till you get home and do it yourself at night. As you said it helps him sleep at night and i would do it every other day so he doesn't dry out as much. Just a thought, and if you think about it, babies don't get THAT dirty in a day!! if he does get that dirty, i agree with your Mom and just wipe him down between baths..............hope that helps!! :)
I would avoid more than 1 bath/day at this age. And in the winter months (tho I am sooooo not in CA!) even that is too often for my youngest as it just destroys his sensitive skin.
Tell your MIL not to give him a bath. We always did baths before bed. It was part of our whole family-time/bed-time routine. I would really really really have missed this time if my MIL (who also watched our boys as babies) had done it during the day.
If his skin is already dry, an additional bath is probably going to dry him further. Why not do an evening bath instead of a morning bath? Or just wipe his face/hands or whatever is actually dirty on him, instead of a full bath.
I am 54 years old and I have had really bad eczema my whole life, The best thing I have found for it is a nice long soak in the bathtub! I don't know what the current thought is now, but all during my younger years doctors told me to just take short showers. I took my long baths anyways because they made me feel so much better! Just be sure and use a mild soap, I like Dove, and don't have the water really hot. My dermatologist recommended a cream named "CeraVe" and I am getting some relief from that. It is over the counter and there is a lotion also. My theory is that by taking a bath the skin is able to absorb the water and is therefore less dry and itchy.
Water does not dry the skin out. It's the chlorine and the fluoride in the water that do. If you are on city water you may want to stop one of the baths, but if you're on well water or have a filter then water will not add to the eczema problem. Wiping him down will do as much to exacerbate a problem as rinsing him off.
Using a non-toxic cleanser instead of soap will help as well. We use natural products in our home so baby can enjoy as many baths as he likes.
Just my two cents...
M.
Greetings Ryans Mama,
As the mother of 5 3 boys and 2 girls that thought they were mermaids I don't see a problem generally-- BUT the key highlighted word is Eczema!
Everytime you bath, play in water it maked it worse. We have 1 child and myself with Porisis and we have had to be careful because of it. I know that my granddaughter is surrounded by dogs and with much cleaning they have managed to keep it to 1-2 baths a day. You might consider talking to your doctor about using Avon's Skin So Soft in the water-- a few drops is all it takes to make the skin not so dry, or use a good moisturizing cream on the body after the baths to make it kind to the skin.
If he has eczema, one bath a day is probably already too many baths. Eczema is made worse by bathing, and cetaphil isn't the same as his natural body oils. If you are worried about him being dirty at night, you should just bath him once before bed. Most people, including pediatricians, would say that you might want to consider bathing even less frequently. (My daughter has eczema, and I'm also an MD).
Babies under 12 mo. don't even need a bath but every two or three days unless they have a really messy incident or something. Baby skin is very tender and too much washing isn't good for it. If your baby already has skin problems two baths a day, even one bath a day may be too much. The only thing that is essential to keep clean is the hands, since they are in babies mouths so much.
I would have your mil not give him a bath in the morning so you can give him one bath at night. Esp with his skin condition.
I agree with Rachel, save the bath for the night time before bed. Our kids get a bath every other day. If they get real dirty from playing, food, etc then I just give their arms a good wash in the kitchen sink. I'm constantly cleaning their faces with a wipe too. 2 baths is to much, she can wipe him down if he gets dirty at her house.
