Teething - Fort Collins,CO

My 2 year old son has eczema and it started at a very young age. He was covered in it as a baby, but now at 2 years old, it's finally clearing up. It's only on his wrists and backs of his knees sometimes. The doctors told me, "If it smells good, it's bad for him." This was a pediatric dermatologist at Childrens' Hospital. Try Cetaphil or Eucerine (you can get both in generic. I recommend the Wal=Mart version of Cetaphil.) There's also a Huggies lotion now that is unscented and safe for eczema.

My son is six months and is having the same problem. It is just from the drooling. Put a thin layer of vaseline on his upper lip and chin. This will protect the skin. I do this for my son and it works. Hope this helps.

Hi K.!
AH the teething stage!
I can't recall my son drooling as much as your baby seems to be, so I can't remember if he was quite as chapped...BUT I would like to offer some products that I remember using, (still do) on his chapped cheeks and skin...you may have tried them already, and I would definitely ask your doctor, in case it is ezcema, but there is Baby Magic, by Playtex, a daily protection lotion for faces, says it helps, "protect against sun, wind and DROOL". It's PABA and fragrance-free. SPF 20 so good if you take your baby outdoors. All it says is to ask a doctor before use on children under age of 6 months. So that's your call. I even use it on my face when we're out in the sun. AND to this day my lil man has the driest skin, well dry face mostly, and after his bath, I use Johnson's Baby oil, BUT I use the one that's in a spray pump, so I spray a little on my hand and soak it into his cheek's. I've been using that for a couple of years on his face now, and he's never broken out or anything, and it only takes a tiny bit. I don't like him sticky! And the only other thing I can think of is good ol' Vaseline Petroleum Jelly, (even great on sore lil cheekie-butts, if you don't have diaper rash cream on hand). But maybe just use it during the night, or else everything will stick to the areas you applied it to! But it works so well overnight on sore noses, or dry dry skin! And it's very safe and repels moisture and is fragrance free. I don't know. But these are just suggestions. Since your baby boy is still young, it's always best to at least call the doctor and see if they have any advice over the phone, they may want to see him, and then they can go from there! Hope it all works out for you. We don't like when our children are uncomfortable!!! Good luck!

My daughter developed eczema a few months ago. We try to use non-petroleum and natural products when possible. We've had great success with ShiKai Chidren's lotion with borage oil. You can get it at Whole Foods in Boulder. It cleared up her eczema within a week and with daily use, she is eczema-free. The only trouble spot is behind her ears where she scratches when tired. Good luck!

Hi K.,

If you have any Lansinoh (used for sore nipples) left over from breastfeeding, you could try to apply some of that to his face. It might be easier to do when he is sleeping. Because it is so thick, you can warm some up in your hands before applying it to make it easier. It is pure, anhydrous, and works wonders on sore, cracked skin.

I hope that helps.

K. L

When my son was teething he would drool a lot too. What I did to prevent his cheecks and neck from getting irratated was to put a small ammount of vasaline on as a barrier between the skin and drool. Also vasaline is a great way to prevent diaper rash.

Hello! Both of my children have extremely sensitive skin on their faces, so I can completely relate to the dry, scaly and bright red cheeks and chin. (My kids upper lip also bothers them). I tried EVERYTHING to fix it also. Most of the lotions actually burned and they would cry. Finally I found a product that works and I totally swear by it. It is called SOOTHE & PROTECT BALM and is made by JOHNSONS under their SOOTHING NATURALS line. It looks like an oversized chapstick and comes in a light green packaging. It is only about $4 and is the only thing that has ever worked on my kids faces. I know you can get it at Target, and probably WalMart.

Hi K.,

I really like Lansinoh for seriously "chapped" skin. It's usually marketed for breastfeeding moms with sore nipples, but I've used it on cracked lips, fingers, and even on a healing tear after my second birth. It's good for "moist wound healing" in general.

While it is hypoallergenic, a rare person will react to it (especially if they're also allergic to wool).

I don't know a lot about eczema but it's possible that your child is allergic to the lotion or maybe to a new food?

Our son had a similar problem and really fought any lotion we tried to put on his face. I reccommend using something along the lines of stuff they reccommend nursing mother use on their nipples when they are sore. Good luck!

Hello K.,

Ezcema is no fun.. I can actually help you. I shop with an amazing health and wellness company that has the best products I have ever used. No toxic ingredients and we have the perfect product to keep your babies skin looking and feeling moist again. If you would like the information just let me know. Have a great day! C.

Hi Carole- Have you tried Arbonne baby products? They are gentle and have great recommendations from pediatricians for helping excema, without steriods. BOth my kids have extremely dry cheeks and it really helped thier dry skin. Also teething is not the only reason that kids drool, some kids like my 3 year old son, just don't know what to do with all of that saliva. He still drools now and he's had his teeth forever. My daughter who is 17 months is cutting teeth left and right and she never drools. Let me know if you'd like to try the Arbonne, I am an independant comsultant for them. They have a 45 day money back guarantee, so if it doesn't work for your son you can get your $ back. My cell ###-###-####

Hi K.. The one thing that was recommended to me that worked really well was a product called "Aquaphor". It's usually in the baby aisle at Target and the other places I can always find it is Walgreen's baby aisle and Babies R Us. We put that all over my daughter's lips and around them and chin area. She would get such a rash from the drool and even after teething from her pacifier. Now that she has given up the pacifier, we rarely need to use it. Hope that helps.

Hi Carole.

I agree with the moms who said this is probably due to the drooling. Here are a few more suggestions:

Invest in some small bibs that have rubberized, waterproof material on the back of them to help protect his shirt front and chest. Next, you need to put a moisture barrier on his chin and neck. I have not tried cetaphil or eucerin. You will want something that is not dissolved with water like lotion, but something that serves as a barrier. My 9 month old baby is a drool factory right now as well. I have used Mother Love Salve and Nipple Ointment (mainly because that is what I have around). These are both made with natural ingredients, so they are not toxic if he should get them in his mouth or eyes. These also work great for nasty diaper rash ( and cracked nipples, incidentally) and any other skin breaks. I have found this at Whole Foods and the Food Co-op on Mountain ave. My baby gets bright red scaly dry patches on both of sets her little fat cheeks. This usually helps.

As far as exczema goes, I think that it is early to call this exczema. Also, bear in mind that this is Colorado and very dry. You can try having him sleep with a humidifier iin his room to help add moisture to the environmnet.

Hope this helps!

Instead of lotions, have you tried something more oily, like Aquaphor? My two sons have ezcema on their legs and that is one of the things the doctor gave me. (it is available OTC among many other options.) He told me that lotions don't work that well for severely dry skin. But something like Aquaphor will produce a barrier and keep moisture in their skin to heal it and keep other moisture out (like from bathing). As far as turning into ezcema, I don't have an answer. I know that a lot of water (like long bathes or lots of swimming) will exacerbate my older son's son ezcema.

I don't think it will turn into excema - according to my pediatrician, excema is more of a hereditary skin condition. I would try hydrocortisone 1%. My dr. has recommended this for my baby in the past, but you might want to check with your pediatrician just in case. You can buy it over the counter almost anywhere. Good luck and I hope the teething goes well!

Hi K.,
The teething, drooling stages.....not fun. My boys are older (16 months) so they don't drool anymore but they are getting their first molars and are miserable. I feel so bad for them, I rememeber the drooling stage. I think they drooled for a few months before they actully teethed. It seemed to take forever. I work from home, by business focuses on natural products. They have a very good lotion for sensitive, intense dry skin. I use it on my boys' cheeks, with the wind here in Wyoming they get very dry, I also use it on their legs when they get dry patches....it clears them up quick. If you are interested let me know. I would be glad to share the info with you.
J.
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We moved from NY to CO when my twins were 9 months old. My daughter started getting that scaly dry skin and they had me putting prescription creme on it but even though it worked it took a couple of days and it had some steroid in it. So I put her in the sink for her bath, I put like a 1/4 bottle of baby oil in the water, she had oil everywhere and she was really slippery so be careful. The next day the dry skin was gone and I did that about once a week for about 8 months and now I maintain her skin with baby oil gel.

Best of luck,
K.

My baby was (and is) very sensitive to lotions with fragrance. Try Eucerin, the heavy cream that comes in a tub. Or, a very low-powered Cortisone cream (ask your doctor). You could even try Vaseline. Lather it on before bedtime and it should heal overnight. Also, use a humidifier to keep moisture in his room--that should help too. Good luck!

Have you tried Aquaphor ointment? This worked well for my daughter, but you have to be very religious about applying it often (every few hours). It works nice because it not only moisturizes, but it also creates a barrier.

My girls had this same problem and I found that washing with a bar soap, per doctors orders, i used aveeno, at bath time, and then drying well, and then applying aquaphor to the area helped tremendously.

I have ezcema and it can be a pain if it is not taken care of. One thing I would suggest is keeping his face as dry as possible, I know with teething that sounds impossible. The only thing I have found that keeps mine under control is Jergen's Ultra Healing lotion. If lotions do not seem to work, You can use desitin (the lotion kind) and use that in the morning. It is used as a barrier between the mostiture and the skin. Make sure that you rub it in good enough so he does not get it in his mouth or anything like that. If this does not work, I would take him into the doctors and get it checked out.

I used vaseine on my little guys cheecks, chin, throat, and even chest to protect from the saliva. Worked great. My son has very sensitive skin to fragrence too.