Daughter Licking Lips Constantly

Vaseline works well if you put in on the lips like a lip balm and then all over her face too if you want. Kids seem to do that a lot as soon as the weather gets dry and colder.

You already got a lot of great suggestions, one more thing though: make sure that she drinks enough. The dry air in the winter pulls a lot of water from our bodies - my lips get terribly dry and cracked if I get myself dehydrated and it can take a week to nurse them back to normal - I have noticed the same in my 4 year old.
Good luck!

I lick my lips constantly when they are dry, because the skin "pulls" annoyingly, and licking softens them temporarily. But in dry weather, it also increases the dryness and chapping.

Aquaphor or vaseline may be helpful. But after living with dry lips/skin for my whole life, I finally discovered one lip balm that actually, totally, eliminates the dryness over just one or two days if I apply it every few hours. It's called Lip Cream, by DHC, and has pretty clean ingredients (a major requirement, for me). I also gave a tube to my grandson, who often has chapped lips, and he gets good results, too.

Here's the Lip Cream. It's not cheap, but usually goes on sale in January or February, so I stock up then: http://www.dhccare.com/DHC/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=13. (I have noticed this product offered on a few other websites, but the price is jacked up quite high.)

I also have some help from an application of Lansinoh (the sore nipple cream) on lips and face. Because it's so thick, it's a good barrier against cold, dry air. It's best to rub it evenly on my hands and pat it onto my skin after a hot shower, when my skin is still warm enough to melt it into an even, light layer. Organic olive oil is good applied this way, too.

My son has gone through a couple bouts of this lip licking and under his lower lip was soo red and chapped. I would apply aquaphor after he was already asleep to keep him from licking it or wiping it off with his sleeve. All the other lip stuff would hurt or taste too good he would just lick it off so it was pointless. It will pass

Sometimes it can be a nervous habit too!

I think my daughter does it when her nose is stuffy, she's breathing through her mouth, and then her lips get dry--so she licks them. I can't get my daughter to blow her nose to try to prevent the cycle.

Aquaphor. My 4 yr old son does this too, and Aquaphor (white petroleum) is the only thing that helps. I especially put it on his lips and around his mouth at bedtime, and by morning the area is all cleared.

Hi H. B,
We go through similar things....
Our pedi dermatologist told us the following:
1. Wash face only once in winter -- at end of day. Dry thoroughly.
2. If you need to rinse in between, always dry thoroughly :)
3. Put on moisturizer on dry skin so that chapped skin does not get more chapped (I did not know this :)
4. Aquaphor she said is a good balm, but does not necessarily penetrate. So, you may want to use a cream to moisturize, and on top of that add aquaphor or a balm throughout the day...

Hope this helps, Jilly

Increase the omega-3 oils in her diet. This would include fish, fish oils, butter from grass-fed cows, eggs from chickens that eat insects, and meat from grass-fed animals.

Meat, milk, and eggs from animals in confinement won't work. "Organic" and "free range" animal products from the grocery store usually won't work, because they aren't actually running around eating green grass and insects. Your best source for truly free-range animal produces is usually a Farmer's Market, and even there you need to ask a lot of questions. Eggs from truly free-range chickens should be a deep orange, about the color of pumpkin.

The easiest source is just to get some fish oil supplements. The tastiest is the organic pasture butter from Organic Valley. See link here: http://www.organicvalley.coop/products/butter/pasture/

I have consistently found that increasing the omega-3 oils in my diet is far more effective at dealing with chapped and cracking lips/hands than anything I can add externally.

One of my grandsons went through this for years, every fall through winter. He loves being outside, no matter the weather, spends a lot of time skiing and snowboarding and licked his lips and under them and would develop the worst red, swollen chapped lips. (With him he licked his lips because they were chapped and sore, he hoped it would make them feel better.) His cheeks were also always chapped and what worked on them and under his lips was Moisture Therapy cream (in a jar) and on his lips the Moisture Therapy SPF 15 lip balm, both by Avon. (They come out with new versions occasionally but the original ones in the white and blue packaging is what he uses.) They're hypoallergenic and great for young skin (he was about 2 when I started using them on him) and now that he's 13 I still gave him some of both about a month ago for the next few months.

Reward her to keep the lotion on her lips. She is only four so keep the reward fast and often. If you do a good job today you get an extra cookie at dinner, and if you lips look much better by saturday we will go buy you something special.

Try vaseline or menthalatum on her lips, and vaseline on her face. Neither tastes good. Remind her that she is hurting her lips and face and offer her small rewards to not do it. She has gotten into the habit, and the habit is hard to break.

So sorry!
Dawn

I put Mentholatum on my boy's where their skin is chapped around their mouth and lips, it seems to clear up within a couple days. My youngest always asks for it, so it must be soothing to him.

Hi--
Dry lips are the first sign of dehydration---she needs to drink more water. Taking omega 3 fatty acids will also help---you can get kids chewable gummies at any of the health food stores. I usually go to Vitamin Cottage. My kids love them!! Also, try putting coconut oil on her lips---the medium chain fatty acids in the oil help heal the skin.
J.

if it's red a chapped from constant licking, she may have lip lickers dermatitis. An over the counter hydrocortizone cream should do the trick.