Weaning BF baby at 6 months .. are dry skin patches inevitable

[Twiglett]

Well really its baby excema I suppose but only on limbs and shoulders .. and in patches

She's still totally breastfed and has only eaten fruit, vegetables and baby rice so far so I can't really see any potential intolerances (no nightshades, tomatoes or dairy) .. been weaning for about 2 weeks now

Just wondering if the patchiness is a developmental thing (no history of excema in family) or if I'm missing something / doing something wrong

thanks

twiglett you've done really well. ds1 has ezcema, but ds2 hasn;t. Just dry patches of skin. I don't any johnson products, usually emoillents for the bath and skin from the GP. What are you using? I think the key is to keep their bodies well moisturised. I think the central heating isn't helping at this time of year. ds1 has suddenly appeared with dry patches on eyelids. and it's the only thing i can attribute it to.

thanks Sandi

Its only aqueous cream in the bath (as a soap substitute.. occasionally dentinox on cradle cap but more likely aqueous cream) .. then post-bath massage with vegetable oil (olive or sunflower) and that's about all on skin

the dry patches are just getting raised and red and more prevalent on limbs (rather than just the 2 patches I would say shoulders and upper arms are covered)

Is there anything I should rub into it?

Don't know the answer Twigs, but once again we have the same. (Not that I can see the patces under the pox spots atm). We have now introduced potential allergens, but they didn't make it any worse, and the patces definately appeared when he was only having veggies.
I have gone back to giving ds massages with wheatgerm oil after his (product-free) bath, jsut to keep the skin moisturised.

Twiglett - my dd had these dry red patches too, particularly in the latter half of her first year. And I do have eczema, asthma etc etc in my history. But I could never establish any link to foods and in fact now she's 2.4 and has had clear skin for almost a year.

You're doing all the right things - just keep well moisturised (aqueous cream is great). Don't use soaps or shampoos. Use cotton clothign - especially next to the skin.

Eczema is often worse in winter - I think in my case it's a combination of air conditioning and lack of sunshine (I once had sun-lamp treatment on the NHS for my eczema ).

Lots of babies get these patches and then grow out of them - only really worth worrying if they get really extensive or if they're irritating your dd.

I think the thing to remember is that excema is not always related to diet. ds1 developed (mild) excema at 3 months, way before he had anything other than breastmilk, and it was never obviously worsened by anything he ate or drank. Its pretty much gone now but he will always have dry skin. Obviously I didn't do a dairy exclusion diet myself so I guess I can't completely rule out a link to diet, but certainly nothing obvious. You've done great. Dry skin/excema is phenomenally common in children, I don't think its always possible to avoid it whatever you do.

Hi Twiglett, just to say that dd2 had this quite badly (partic. behind her knees). We used aveeno and NOTHING else in the bath which helped a bit but tbh, it just stayed around until she was about 22 months when it disappeared... no sign of it now although I do cream her up after a bath and keep her nails short.

ahhh poor Prufock-letts .. hope they feel better soon

remarkable how we seem to be in synch isn't it

thanks all for advice and comments .. much appreciated