Eczema: How to protect LO's hands while he eats?

[MegBusset]

DS (7mo) has eczema which is worst on his hands, which are often cracked and raw. He wears tops with built-in gloves most of the day, otherwise he will scratch them on anything he can until they bleed.

We have been weaning him for a few weeks now and have found that if he gets food on his hands it seems to make the itching worse, so he will then scratch against the high chair straps, tray, etc. So we have resorted to feeding him with scratch mitts on, but this is obviously only a short-term solution as a) he soon pulls them off so it's a battle to keep them on through the meal, b) they get covered in food and get all manky after a couple of washes, and c) it's preventing him really being able to try finger foods.

Just wondered if anyone had had this problem and found a solution?

ooh, been there , horrible.

I wiped the food off quickly and avoided tomatos as the acid was bit burny!!

I used to do a little bit more water play, get a warm bowl of water and some toys with lots of bath oil and aquascream floating in water. Play with him and rub extra emolient in fingers etc.
Then after a while pat hands dry and moisterize.

My ds has had major problems with eczema since he was tiny, he now wears the comfi fast suits all the time to stop him scratching (he's 13mths)so I have every sympathy. He also has the usual food allergies associated ie. dairy, egg, sesame & nuts.

Could you put a thick layer of Hydromol (emollient) on his hands before he eats? It might make his fingers slippery but he won't be able to scratch himself quite as hard. Or could you cut the arms off a couple of the vests and try make fingerless gloves from them (cut a thumb hold and hem the top). If you just kept them for eating it would matter if they were too manky. If they were pulled high up him arm it might take him longer to pull them off.

Good luck!