to think that if an HV makes the comment...

[nickelbarapasaurus]

"some of the answers you gave on the MH questionnaire make me a bit worried you might be prone to PND", that it might be worthy of a follow-up?

from someone ?

that was the comment my HV made (about 5 mins before she suggested that i should go to some of the Children's centre sessions, even though she knows i work 6 days a week, because she had to visit me in the shop ) when DD had her 12 week check.

she's now 6 months (28 weeks today) and i've not heard a peep from any HV since.

bf group, good idea - I do have a couple of rooms upstairs that anyone can use (i have a lady who does musical bumps on a wednesday morning)

baby yoga?
I've never considered the idea, myself, but I'm willing to hire the room to anyone!

this eczema is driving me mad, too.

I'm convinced that everything they give her makes it worse.

I asked for a lanolin-based one because the lansinoh really worked, but she gave me e45. her skin is well scaly now, and she scratches and scratches.
she must have scratched in her pram, or when asleep, because she looks like she's been dragged over tarmac!

Eczema is horrid, I've had it all my life - they always apprently told my mam I'd grow out of it, but I didn't :( That said, DD had it when she was tiny, and she does seem to have grown out of it now fingers crossed
I always found that a lot of the creams made me itch more, and what works wonders for one person, just won't have any effect on the next person.
This will sound eewwww but you could try just oiling her. When I was pregnant and couldn't use any of the steroid creams, I literally used to wallow about while DH poured cooking oil over me and rubbed it in. It played havoc with the towels and sheets but oooo the relief! (I'm allergic to baby oil of all things found out the hard way too! so we couldn't use that)
And a lot of people find either oatmeal or rooibush (redbush tea) in the bath helps.
Don't bath her too often, water has a drying effect too - it's very much trial and error at first, but keep trying and you'll find something that works.

Dp has eczema and finds the opposite is tru, he has to keep it really clean to keep it at bay. Ask the gp for hydrocortisone cream... It works miracles.

I saidto the doctor about 8 times "should we be bathing her every day?" and the doc kept replying, yes, wash her in plain water and this bath oil then cream her up.
I hadn't been washing her every day, just around her bum when changing her, and wiping with a wet flannel every couple of days (bathed in a bath once a week). I thought that I should probably do as the doctor said - after 3 days, her skin looked very scaly and sore.
we've gone back to the flannel method (with the oil in the jug)

We had to use olive oil when she was first born, and went back to that for a while, but it just wasn't strong enough (that was when we went to the doctor the first time). they gave us diprobase then, because it looked sore - that just irritated the hell out of her, so we started the lansinoh, and that was great.
why couldn't they just have given us something like that? (not lansinoh because it's very sticky and gloopy)

I don't know whatto do, really - we've been told to give it 2 weeks (and we've got a return appt), but I don't know if i should keep going with something that just doesn't appear to be working.

Is she old enough for antihistamines? They can really help stop the itch, but obviously you need to make sure they're suitable for her to take.

Nickel, for the excema ask to be given Epaderm. It was the one thing that finally worked for my ds. It's almost solid in the pot, very waxy, but does the trick where other thinner creams just irritated him.

dunno about anti-hs - i'll ask :)

the doctor basically said that they'll keep trying her on stuff until they find something that works.

E45 does have lanolin in it - I know because my DD reacts to lanolin and E45 makes her sore.
I'm finding Aveeno good at the moment - good for in between flare ups and keeping it at bay.

yes, it has about 1.8% - big enough if you're allergic, not big enough for DD :)

I also signed up to www.itchybaby.co.uk
:)

((hugs))

I don't know of she's too small for it nickel but my seven year old dd is itchy as heck and has been since birth and we have tried all sorts. She won't let me put lots of them on because she says the cream burns or itches but we found lush dream cream which is great for her, she smothers her legs in it when she's feeling bad.

It's horrible watching them scratch.

You'll can work out who I am perhaps if I said she's getting some books for her birthday??

I hope you feel better soon. Be kind to yourself.

And what about a craft group - maybe for kids? You could even maybe stock some little craft kits and then have a group in either with or without parents to make things?

Summer school holidays are long and most of us who don't have the children in full day care are looking for reasonably priced interesting things we can do with them to stop us all going bananas...

Ds used to have eczema. I found it really helped to smother him in oil when he'd just got out of the bath, then lightly pat him dry with a soft towel. Sometimes the creams are hit and miss, you have to go through a lot to find the right one.

i can't use lush products myself (i go all itchy and runny eyes before the box is even opened- i've never been brave enough to go as far as to try it), so i wouldn't dare, but thank you for the suggestion :)

I've noted your craft idea, thanks (and hope she likes her books! )

Missed the bit about eczema.

We use doublebase 2 x daily, clobetasone ointment 2 x daily, fucidin where he's scratched himself raw 2 x daily, eurax anti-itch 1 x daily, E45 anti-itch 2 x daily and 2 x 2.5ml doses of piriton daily. Oilatum in the bath (only bath once a week, less if I can get away with it!). Yet still it drives him and me mad.

What's going on with the diet? You're still bf I think I read? Have you excluded anything from your diet? If not, it could be worth trying to get rid of dairy but it must be absolutely excluded and for 3/4 weeks to really see if it helps.

Ask for a referral to an eczema specialist. We've got an appointment for July 12th with a nurse specialist who's meant to be a miracle worker. She'd better be. Neither of us gets any sleep at night and with working during the day there's no opportunity to catch up there!

Seriously though - don't just ask for things. Shout for them. NHS resources are finite so in practice they are reserved for the people who need them most (as they should be) but the next category is those who shout loudest!

i can't cut out dairy what would i eat?!
seriously, though, the doctor said it's unlikely to be my diet, and didn't want me to cut anything out yet to see if the cream worked first. (i might keep an eye on it, though)

yours sounds awful :(

i sometimes feel like bathing her in wee, because at the moment, inside the nappy is the only part of her body not to be itchy and scaly.

she's asleep !!

on me, but hey! she did initially wake when she heard the tapping, but now she's fully fast on

i can't move, though and my side is being stretched.

and it's half 5! i need to close!

No more chocolate It's what keeps me going!

I'd disagree with your GP. There's plenty of evidence for babies having reactions to foods through BM. Unfortunately most of it's anecdotal but strong evidence is building. My own nephew was diagnosed with multiple food allergies before he had tasted any of them. He had very bad eczema. I stopped bf this time round at 7w but my ds is allergic to dairy. I think a lot of his unsettledness etc was due to the fact that there was dairy in my BM.

Other than losing your major food group (chocolate and cheese ) what have you got to lose? It could be worth it. And def go and get a referral. When eczema is affecting your daily life then whatever you're doing is not working. There are other things which can help but your GP doesn't have access to them.

Hi it seems your thread has moved on from your original question about the HV who I think probably should have followed this up yes. But as everyone is giving you business ideas for your shop now I thought I'd add that if you want schools to be interested you could try contacting the LEA, in Brighton and Hove where I teach there are a couple of independents who have stalls at LEA conferences/trainings etc.
Hope you are able to feel more positive soon.

can't i cut out other stuff than dairy? like cabbages?
i'll think about it.

thanks chiger - i hadn't thought about going through the LEA rather than to the schools themselves - that's something i will definitely try :) (they tend to be able to flag stuff up to schools, and not get thrown straight into "junk email" folders)

it feels like a long time since this morning.