2 year old constantly itches potential allergy? Habit?

[Harvey19]

Hi,

My nearly 2 year old has scratched for as long as I can remember. He has always had pretty clear skin so no visible sign of a problem. The main areas he scratches are his thighs, the right more than the left especially where he had his injections as a baby. When he irritates that area by scratching you can really feel the lump. Is it normal for 2 year old to still have the lump?
He also scratches on his head, back of neck, bum cheeks, and just above bum below nappy line.
We have contacted the doctors so many times and been prescribed so many creams but nothing really works. We have noticed the last couple of weeks very small raised lumps randomly appear over his body and he is now really scratching them.these appears the same time he had a cold so thought maybe viral but he is still getting the occasional one. He scratches to the point where he sometimes bleeds! It’s awful to watch
Just no idea what it could be
Is it possible to be an allergy? My 3 months old has got a milk allergy, could his itchy skin be a sign of this? How do we good about testing for allergies?
Just at the point now where it’s gone on so long there’s got to be a reason
Any ideas and help would be really appreciated!
Thanks

If it's everywhere then it could be soap/bubble bath or washing powder on clothing that's your DC is reacting to.

There's also something called the scratch itch cycle which creates a delightful catch 22. You scratch because you're itchy, scratching aggravates the skin making it itchy which makes you scratch more.

I would get rid of all soaps in the bath and just use warm water, you can put some raw oats into the toe of a pair of tights and hang them under the hot tap so the water goes oaty which is really soothing on inflamed skin.

Do daily checks for sore looking patches and treat those quickly with a thick emoliant cream designed for excema, something like zerobase. A pharmacist will be able to help you find something.

If your DC scratches till raw then make sure fingernails are trimmed and filed and if necessary cover up their skin overnight, DD would scratch the backs of knees till they bled in her sleep, her sheets looked like a murder scene some mornings. We resorted to buying the smallest size of tubigrip we could find and using that to cover her knees after applying lots of cream. That way she physically couldn't get to the skin to scratch it.

I have no idea if it's the same issue but we had exactly the same with my 2 year old. She was itching all night and it was waking her up. I had tried everything as she was getting zero sleep.

Randomly a few months ago she started being sick and it lasted for weeks and the doctor suggested it could be a milk allergy. We have cut all dairy from her diet and the sickness and itching has stopped completely.

Thank you for all your tips I will definitely give the oats in the tights a go. We have tried not using soaps, bubble baths etc we've been prescribed e45 wash, oat based washes/creams nothing seems to have helped. We are using fairy non bio washing pods maybe I should try a different brand see if it makes a difference! Thanks

I am tempted to cut out dairy out of his diet for a week or so just to see if there is any difference as it’s been going on so long I just want to get to the bottom of it. He was quite a grumpy baby, suffered with wind and reflux and those were some of the symptoms my 3 month old had and is now dairy free. Also when we started weaning my 2 year old I remember he could be quite sicky after yoghurts which is what’s swaying me towards thinking could be allergy related.
Thanks for your help!

@Harvey19 hope it works OP! Keep us updated!

It sounds like it could be an allergy to me. Have you tried giving piriton?

Perhaps it could be a milk allergy but my guess would be something airborne such as dust or pet hair that is getting directly onto his skin.

If you he scratches a lot at night I would also recommend scratchsleeves for sleeping in.