Itching making 7 month old uncomfortable and unhappy 24/7

[Summertimesaddness]

FTM to a lovely little boy who used to be easygoing in every way. He has developed a rash on his face and chest from constantly itching and scratching, he can't stop. He has to do it when he's feeding (he's formula fed as my milk never came in properly after a c section) when he's playing, when changing him and even during his sleep. It wakes him up to the point where he will only get some sleep if I'm next to him holding his hands gently so he can't scratch. I'm struggling with sleep deprivation. And it's breaking me seeing him so uncomfortable and unhappy all the time. I've been to my gp twice and they prescribed double base but he had a reaction and his skin was so sore that the gp thought it was infected. They then gave epimax but he has had the same reaction again. I'm scared to try another as they make the rash so much more painful and inflamed. The gp prescribed Puriton cough syrup for children from 12 months onwards but I don't want to use it as he's only 7 months. I just don't know what else to do. I've spoken to pharmacists who say don't put anything on it but then he's causing his rash to get worse by scratching all the time. Sorry for the long post and thanks if you've got this far. Anyone else had this with their LOs and have any advice that worked for them? Thank you

I would say he has an allergy. Unless washing powder or something has changed?
Make another GP appt x

Thank you for your response. I haven't changed his wash powder from birth and I always wash it twice, first with the powder and then with just water so his clothes are clean and they have no powder residue on them. I am weaning him so I'm keeping a food diary. I haven't changed his milk.

Do you have pets OP? My eldest 8 years old now but we had this when he was a baby. We had all the good allergy testing done etc and turns out he was allergic to our dog all along.

Do you keep scratch mitts on him? I used to sew socks to the babygro sleeves. Some children are allergic to any creams that have petroleum products in them.
Aveeno is based on oats and is the only shower gel and bidy lotion I can use. One of my dc was allergic to petroleum products and Persil. Avoiding both made a huge difference.

Thanks for your response. We don't have any pets. We haven't changed anything from when he was a newborn to now. Just introducing weaning. He's had no skin issues up until beginning of last December when he started itching.

I've sewn mitts into his sleeping babygros but he still scratches and rubs his face and chest until he wakes up. I tried aveeno baby before I went to my gp and he had a reaction to that too. I'm actually using bipanthen nappy cream to soothe it as its the only cream he can tolerate. I have to put it on when he's fallen asleep. It doesn't stop him itching and scratching though.

From your food diary, are you doing an elimination/ reintroduction programme?
It does sound like an allergy.

A food diary is a good idea. It would add up to an allergy timewise.

What is the rash like? Dry, red, scaly, hives etc?

It might be worth pushing GP for a referral to dermatology or pediatrics.

I am trying to do this but it's a bit tricky as I'm introducing weaning so it's trying different tastes. At the moment he's having baby porridge, fruit and veg purees. I don't think it's to do with weaning as the itching and scratching started before.

It's a very dry red rash. That gets angry the more he itches. I asked my gp if it's eczema but she said no as it's not in his arm and leg creases. She said it could develop into eczema if not treated but the creams so far have aggrevated it. She said it might have to be steroid cream but she and I don't want that as it's strong and he's only 7 months. But he's suffering without anything.

My cousin's baby had steroid cream at 5mo recently. It's ok for them to use as instructed.
It's worth a go rather than carrying on being uncomfortable and unhappy. See it as the better of two evils.
I hope it works out ok!

@TackyTimes thank you, that's reassuring to hear!

Not sure on the cause but look up Kokoso coconut oil. Extremely gentle, can’t be used from birth and really helped with my sons extreme baby acne. They have lots of examples of what it’s treated. Could be soothing whilst you find the cause 🧡

Piriton is safe for under 1s it just has to be prescribed under 1. Over 1 you can buy it over the counter without any medical direction

My daughter had it on prescription for hay fever and food allergies from about 7 months.

Look into food allergies -egg is a common source of eczema and avoid any creams that are food based so things like aveeno oat moisturizer or coconut oil until these foods have been deemed safe directly as they can cause allergic reaction where they have been applied too the skin. My friends son has an oat allergy and this was diagnosed after aveeno was used on his eczema and we were told not to use food oils (except sunflower and vegetable oil) in our baby massage course with our HV until the food had been used in weaning. This was before we had the allergies diagnosed and definitely avoid them after we started looking at allergies

My son had piriton at four months for the same thing I found aloe Vera gels very soothing for his skin we also used a thicker cream as well (I think an aveeno one) he still ended up with steroid creams but we eventually got a hang of it

Allergies can develop at any age, it could be something you think is okay like the laundry products!

Thank you all for taking the time to help me. The gp did prescribe a mild steroid cream and a paraffin free cream to try today. Hopefully it will treat the rash as we look into any allergies it could be. I will also be more confident giving him piriton now too. X

Hi, I know i'm a bit late to post on here, I tend to agree with some of the other posters that suggest laundry products. I have had a very similar problem and traced it to pretty much anything with artificial fragrance. Laundry products especially contain allot of toxic chemicals. Fragrances are some of the worst irritants and are becoming increasingly strong, causing allot of illness in children. Try going totally fragrance free if you can and that includes air fresheners and anything else. Our family was getting loads of allergies and headaches until we got rid of these products. Going fragrance free made a massive difference to us, so could be worth a go. Good luck and hope he gets better.

If you're weaning him, what is he eating now? My guess would be a food allergy. I'm seriously allergic to soy, which is in absolutely everything. I had random rashes and itching for years before I finally figured it out. Also consider food additives, preservatives, flavoring, coloring.