Dry, Scaly Skin on 6 Week Old

Hi C.,

When my son broke out with a little baby acne my pediatrician suggested rubbing just a little bit of A&D ointment on the affected area.

My DS who is 5 months has the same issue! He does have a dairy allergy as well. The pedi recommends Eucerin and plain unscented dove soap! Nothing with fragerence and she said believe it or not that Aveeno is the worst on really dry baby skin!? (which was what I was using) The big tub of eucerin works good. Also my SIL's DS has eczema really bad and her dermatologist told her to give him a bath in NON-iodized salt water. Works like a charm! Good luck!

Hi C.. Aquapor is a great lotion for babies and even for toddlers and preschoolers. I personally don't think it is safe to put lotion on his face yet.

C. B when it comes to infants, I would consult your pediatrician. Most doctors say do not put anything on their faces. Some ba develp baby acne which will go away. It could be eczema, which is dry skin, is anyone else in the family have eczema. Keep the face clean with mild baby soapy no lotion is really required on such young skin. When in doubt at the babies two month check up ask the doc.

C.,
Ingredients in lotions is so important to watch. A lot have mineral oils in them which is not good for our skin. The molecules are too big to absorb in our skin. You know how it feels putting on some hand lotions that just sit there and feel greesy and not absorbing. I am a consultant for Arbonne skin care line. The line is fabulous and is safe and benefits the skin. There are no harsh chemicals, mineral oils, dyes etc used. They have a babies/sensitive skin line called ABC or Arbonne Baby Care line. I have some pictures of children with skin issues that the line was used and cleared up. I also have several client that had great success. You can look it over at www.Arbonne.com. I can send you some, not sure where you are located. I highly reccommend the line I know I love the skin care for myself.

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Arbonne Consultant #15201597

I know of a lotion that's awesome all skin types. It's safe for babies and adults. It's call Renew Intensive Skin Therapy. Cliinically Proven solution for softer, smoother, healthier skin. Renew's exclusive, nongreasy formula provides faster, better, and longer-lasting relief from severely dry skin than the leading dermatologist-recommended lotion.

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P.

Hi! If you are still nursing, you can add flax oil to your salad dressing each day and eat more salmon (or take essential fatty acid supplements) to boost your supply and what you share with the baby. Several people in my family are low in EFA's. You can also add green food (in powder form added to applesauce or grapefruit juice or capsules to swallow-I use Perfect Food it makes me really soft and keeps the bowels regular, too.)I remember that I was dehydrated while I was nursing and that didn't help me or the baby.
If you are finished nursing, it is not so easy. Like you said, who knows when the formula is reacting badly. When your little one is old enough for food (my Naturopathic Doctor suggests food past age one) you can add green food to THEIR applesauce (unsweetened cause seems to taste the best. It really fixes up my youngest son when his stool is hard or when it comes in little balls) and flax oil to the sauces they eat. We add flax seed (tastes nutty) to shakes. Dehydration may add to the little ones challenges, too. I hope these help. -L.

Talk to your doctor at your next appt. It may be eczema. If it came when you put him on Formula, he may have a dairy sensitivity/allergy (that can go away later) and you may need to put him on soy-based formula. All three of my children have eczema. I think it's heriditary for us. It doesn't matter if they're on dairy or soy. It started around 6 weeks for all three of them. I have prescription creams that work wonders and I use Eucerine cream daily all over their bodies too keep the flare ups down.

The Aveeno might be ok, but I would steer clear of anything w/ fragrance. Try simple vaseline. Its natures remedy for alot. I reccommend slathering it on the babys bottom after every diaper change and wipe to ward off rashes. Its wonderful. Also ask your ped. about the rash. Make sure its not something more serious that needs meds.

Hi C.,

Both of my kids have issues with dry skin as well. I've tried many lotions and creams, but the one that by far has been the most effective is Aquaphor. It's made by Eucerin (sp?) for extremely dry skin. You can buy the type that's specially-formulated for babies, which comes in a smaller tube. Most major drug/grocery stores sell it. It's pretty thick, so you only need a thin layer, but it should do the trick. If not, he may need some cortizone, but check with your pediatrician before using this, since cortizone can thin skin, especially newborn delicate skin!

Good luck - your son will most likely outgrow the problem if it's just eczema.

K.

Hi C.,

Is this your first baby? I was so full of questions with my first two. When the third and forth came, it was all par for the course and there was very little that I didn't just seem to know....smiles....we really do learn a lot with experience.

I put the Aveeno and Johnsons on all four of my children's face and it did just fine.

Another thought that I had is whether or not anyone is kissing your baby on the face. The germs in our saliva can irritate the skin and give a dry scaly appearance. The baby is born sterile and must be slowly introduced to germs.

Kissing on the lips, however, is a very good thing to do because it passes the good bacteria to the mouth that will get swallowed and move to your baby's intestines and turn into the intestinal flora that will help give wonderful bowel movements. Did you know that the bowel movement is made up of 60% good bacteria!?

Well, I hope you find some of this to be helpful.

I wish you well!

T.

Hi C.!
I had the same problem when my son was newborn. Turned out that he had eczema - he may be allergic to the formula. The best advice I can offer is to only bathe him once a week - otherwise his skin could get overly dry and become painful. I was a freak about cleaning my son's face, and his "dry skin" actually started weeping. Also, the worst thing in the world for an infant's face is a baby wipe. That may sound like common sense, but nobody told me. I used aquaphor on his face to help the eczema, but it never really did anything. I then found out that anything petroleum based is bad. I ended up using a cortizone cream. It is a bit of a controversial treatment, so definitely do your research and ask your doctor before using it. I will say, it cleared his eczema up fast so I only needed to use it very sporadically. Best of luck... My son is almost 16 months old, and we are still dealing with the occasional flare-up....but they are much fewer and far between now...

And another thing - Remember that 99% of the baby product industry is trying to sell us products that are completely unnecessary - think about how many products we have for ourselves that are unnecessary but we mentally think we need them. For example - BABY OIL - who actually needs baby oil - nobody. In fact, studies have shown that baby oil is in fact bad for babies. Yet it got its name as a product for BABIES. While I know some people swear by Arbonne, and my sis-in-law is a rep, there are still ingredients in their products that either do not HELP eczema, or are just simply not necessary - that is my experience, and I do not doubt that other people have had good experience with their products, but my gut tells me to use "products" only sparingly. My doctor has always told me to apply a THIN layer of unscented and mild lotion to a baby's skin while it is still damp - JUST after a bath and only if dry skin is a problem. Just like with adult skin, lotion will not absorb into dry skin!!!! Warm, damp skin will absorb lotion much more effectively... My research let me to this conclusion - I'd rather use cortizone rarely and sparingly and have it do the job, than coat my child's face every day and every night with a petroleum based product that doesn't work (which I did for WEEKS.)

Try aquaphor. Its 51% petroleum jelly and CVS makes a generic. It worked great on my sons irritated cheeks and chin from drooling. Good luck.

My son was allergic to milk. It didn't show until he was about 4 months. I even had to change my diet because I was nursing... Just thought I'd throw that in there becuase it sounds like he may have an allergy. Our dr. suggested Eucerin or Aquaphor. Both are good. I think I preferred the Aquaphor. You can always use good ole Vaseline....

I would try Cetaphil lotion. I used it on my newborn. It works like a charm! You can find it at CVS or most drugstores. I have tried the generic but found the real stuff to work better. They have a no perfume added version. It's a little pricey but it is worth it. You'll see improvement almost right away. If it doesn't clear up, talk to your Pediatrician or give the nurses a call.

Hi C.,

Babies have this dry scaly skin for a while. It will clear up on it's own eventually. Don't worry. Use baby lotion. As you already know, be careful not to get it into his eyes.

Don't worry. Dry skin on babies happens all the time.

Hope this helps. D.

Hi C.,

My 6 week old baby girl has the same thing. I bought the aveeno baby wash and the aveeno fragrance free moisterizer. It really helped her skin. I realized when I use the Johnson & Johnson lotion & baby wash she breaks out and gets the scaly dry skin. Mine is breastfed so I know it is not caused by formula.

Take care!
C.

Hello C.,

I use, with both of my boys, "California Baby." It is an organic line that you can find in Whole Foods.

I use their "sensitive skin" shampoo/body wash, everyday lotion and a calendula lotion that it is really good with dry scalp, etc.

The products are gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nuts-free, etc.

good luck
M.

Hi C.. For your son's skin you can try Aquaphor. Its a healing ointment for dry skin. My daughter had dry skin around her eyes when she was around that age and I used that and it went away. If that doesnt work, then maybe its something that the baby's body has to grow out. Worse case scenario, take the baby to the doctor. Good Luck.

Sounds like he's not getting the fatty acids he needs for a healthy skin. You may want to look at the ingredients of the formula and switch if necessary.

It's definitely something he's eating.

Assumning you have discussed a formula allergy with his pediatrician... I wouldn't worry. Most newborns have dry skin for a couple of months, especially on the face, hands, feet. Test a little of the lotion on his chin and make sure it does not irritate, but it should be fine to use the same stuff as his body. Keep it away from his eyes as that will irritate them. I also have used Burts Bees products on a slightly older infant in the winter to deal with dry skin, they make some "chapstick"-like face products which are less drippy.

I would recommend talking to your Pediatrician. They will be able to rule out any health issues versus something a little less severe like eczema.

I know you've received a lot of info so far on this subject but my son had the same issue on his arms & legs. I tried everything you could think of, even Aveno. I recently have started using a cream called RENEW(for extremely dry skin-people w/ Eczema swear by it) from a company that has safer products for our families. If you research these lotions that are on the market currently, you'll find ingredients in them that are not safe and could be the reason why the skin is not healing.(www.costemticsdatabase.com) I used this lotion on my son for the first week and noticed it clearing up and it has been gone since. If you would like more info on these products and want to try the lotion you can go to my site(I work from home w/ a company called The MOM Team). The web site is www.happiestathome.info, then go to the guest room(username-helping password-others). Towards the bottom of the page is a link(Melaleuca.com) to the company. You can browse in the Product Store to find these products as well as the lotion. Let me know if you need any help. I really recommend this lotion for your child...it works!!!! Hope this was helpful, take care.
A. H

My boy had dry skin on his face, too. I use Aquaphor cleanser and Aveno moisturizer. It works great and is safe!

My son had the same problem! I use Aquaphor for babies and it cleared right up!

Hi C., I'm a C. too!! We have been to 2 pediatricians and 3 dermatologists and they all said to use Aquaphor by Eucerin on faces. (you can also use vaseline) - These are both great for them (they started us early) it's just moisture in a bottle. I would steer clear of using ANYTHING else on his face. Take from me... been there, done that!

C.,
My baby had the same thing for many months, then I tried using Cedafil for washing and their mosturizer and her skin is like new. She had terrible excema as well and it is entirely gone. Hope this helps. You can get it at any drug store. Dermatologists recommend it as well for anyone who has skin problems.

T.

My son and daughter have dry skin on their cheeks, lower legs, and sometimes other parts of their bodies as well. Winter always makes skin dry out, and if your baby is prone to dry skin anyway, it makes it worse. We use the store-brand version of Eucerin cream (in a tub). The best time to put it on is right after their bath because it helps trap in the moisture their bodies have just soaked up in the tub. The dryness should clear up somewhat or altogether as the weather gets warmer and has more humidity. It may come back next winter the same or to a lesser degree, or he could grow out of it by then. Don't worry, though, he'll be all right!

I used to work for a dermatologist and we always told our patients that vasoline was best. Apply it to his skin while still a little wet. This works great, I use it on my step-son. You can use it on his whole body. If you don't like vasoline (some ppl think it is greesy) Always use a cream instead of a lotion, a cream is thicker and lotion is water based which doesn't help keep the moisture in his skin. Hope this helps.
J. S.

The same thing happened to my son. You don't need to wash his face, just use a wet washcloth. I put Aquaphor on during the day and hydrocordisone (sp?) at night, and that seemed to do the trick.

Hey C.,

When you bathe him use Cetaphil soap during his bath time and then the lotion after, should clear his dry skin right up.
K.

Hello I have a 5 month old and she had that same problem. Her doctor told me to just keep her face dry and I started to put vaseline on her face once a day and that helped.

My son was a scaly mess! I swear by Aquaphor for babies. It's amazing. I use it everywhere from his cradle cap to his diaper rash!