Advice on nearly 2yr old boy behaviour

[Colonelcupcake]

Hi Everyone!

I have 2 sons one born 23/12/06 the other 20/12/07 and I am becoming concerned about my eldest's behaviour.

He is chroniclly scratching his body, it started with the back of his neck, then has moved on to include back of his nappy, side of chest, arms, thighs and cheeks on occasion, generally wherever he can get to, his skin isn't particuarly dry and gets moisturised with oilatum twice daily and has johnsons moisturising bubble bath.

What I am concerned with is that it is somehow an anxious behaviour as he is quite sensitive very shy and scared of anything new and unusual. (refused to go within 2m of santa scared to go on potty without nappy)

Any advice or reasons for his behaviour suggestions to help with either his sensitivity or scratching greatly appreciated.

Sam

lots of toddlers are scared of santa - i dont think thats unusual

i have a toddler with exzema and NEVER use bubble bath or soap on him. are you sure he's not sensitive to the bubble bath? sounds like he's itchy

Cut out all bubble bath and soaps first. Try changing your laundry powder, and not using fabric conditioner.

What you are describing is exactly how my sensitivity to some detergents first showed itself: I was itchy on the back of my neck, then it extended to the sides of my chest, my thighs, then my arms. If I sleep on a pillow that is not covered by my own silk pillow-slip, then my cheeks get itchy too. Unless the reaction is very bad, or combined with other chemicals, there may not be any rash showing.

And cut down on the moisturising. If his skin isn't dry then he doesn't need it, and the Oilatum may even be aggravating his skin.

PrettyCandles - I cuurently use Fairy Non Bio Liquitabs, what is best for sensitive skin?

He did get spots of what looked like excema when he was younger which dissapeared by the time he turned one and it just turned into the routine his skin tends to dry out when I don't use it though

I use Fairy non-bio powder. I chose it through trial-and-error. Maybe you could try changing his cream? I find that I can use a cream for a few years, and then I become sensitive to it and have to change.

You could also try giving him oat baths. Do you know about the porridge oats in a stocking trick?

I know about the oats but have not yet tried it, he is not just scared of santa the current list not complete of things he is scared of include

The ironing board
balloons
any stranger
piggyback rides
being sat on dining chairs
the air compressor
the lawnmower
stairs will go up but never down, even a 1 inch one
shiny floor surfaces
any unexpected noise or event

and I could go on

Does he talk? Point? You sound as if you are worried about his development.

He can kind of talk, I understand him most of the time, what I am more concerned with is how I can stop him scratching and if being scared of everything is normal, and how I can help him feel less scared.

In all other respects he is fairly normal (for a toddler )

Take him to your doctor....?

I would try a few days moisturising him with just olive oil, and plain bath water with nothing in, or a bit of olive oil. I think he is scratching because of a physical complaint..

Ok thanks for your suggestions I was just starting to worry that it was because he gets anxious or similar

Ds1 was very similar in terms of his fears. He was (and still is!) a very advanced talker, but he had a lot of strange fears for a long time.

It took me a while to work out that he was oversensitive to noise, so anything noisy was intrinsically frightening. Even now, at 8y, he watches balloon modelling and firework displays with his hands over his ears.

Our ironing board was frightening because of the noise it makes being set up, and then appearing to snap shut when I put it down. My mum often leaves her ironing board up for days at a time, so he never saw it move and was therefore not frightened of it.

Ds1 was also very worried about going down steps. He was OK with familiar staircases, as long as he wasn't rushed, but isolated little steps really worried him. The fact that yours is worried by shiny floors as well suggests to me that maybe he is having trouble processing the visual 'signal' - the sense of perspective that tells him how far the drop is may not be working yet, and a shiny floor probably distorts that as well. My mum had some visual problems years ago as a result of a head injury, and shiny or patterned floors caused her great difficulties.

Has your ds had an eyetest (optician, not school)? Might be worthwhile, and mention his problems with steps and floors.

Happy Birthdays

I agree about the eye test!

Also - my little one finds oilatum, bubble bath and aqueous cream very itchy making.

Defintely use olive oil as the moisturiser (actually best put on thinly while still wet from the bath and dab dry. Porridge oats in a sock and then put in the bath while it's running makes a fab soothing and moisturising 'soak'.

Also - add to diet oily fish! e.g. mackerel etc