My 5 year old son complains he needs to scratch all the time. It seems to be mostly his scalp and face though he does scratch his arms some. There doesn't seem to be any thing obvious like a rash or lice or fleas or dryness that I can see. Anyone have any ideas? It has been ongoing, not progressing to anything else so its probably just dry skin but thought I would throw it out there for some input.
We don't use soap or shampoo of any kind at our house except for washing hands and dishes. In the bathtub we use baking soda and apple cider vinegar for cleansing. For laundry I use a combination, half detergent and half borax, with vinegar for the whites instead of bleach. I don't use fabric softeners of any kind. The detergent I do use is Arm and hammer Alpine scent usually though I do have some left over All free/clear that is for sensitive skin that I use once in a while. But the problem has persisted before I got the All. Maybe it is the Arm and Hammer detergent. I'll try eliminating that. and see.
What type of laundry detergent are you using? Fabric softner? A lot of chemicals in the 'popular' and the 'cheap' ones out there. This could be causing some irritation to his skin. Also look at the shampoo and soap you are using. Just because it says for children doesn't mean it is toxin free! Msg me if you want to know how I was able to get all the toxins out of my home and away from my children!
It seems like he has eczema, my son i sthe same way, and he also has had cradle cap before, so I would use a type of dandruf shampoo for kids, and use like aveeno lotion or hydrocortizone for his arms, or you could use aquaphor but its a little bit greasy lotion.
Try a different soap/shampoo.
Try a different laundry detergent.
Consider food sensitivities.
Could he have exzema? My son did. Got cradle cap when is was small, now he gets out breaks on his scalp and red on face, behind knee's. I use hydrocortizone (sp) I would also use dye free laundry detergent and no dryer sheets. or use perfume/dye free nu-soft.
