Newborn with very dry skin - what to use

[Wills]

Hi, my dd2 has extremely dry skin. The health visitor has suggested olive oil in the bath which apart from making bath times even more interesting () does not appear to have any effect. I'm loathe to use Johnson and Johnson products because I've not heard anything good about them Can anyone suggest anything else?

Wills
My ds had very dry skin when he was very small. I used oilatum in his bath (and never used soap, even for hair washing) and moisturised with oilatum cream on very dry bits.
He is now nearly one and his skin, whilst on the dry side is fine.
I only used ecover washing detergent and fabric conditioner.
Hope this helps

We use grape seed oil, which seems to help. How are you doing Wills? Fancy joining us on the August baby thread sometime?

Don't use Oilatum unless you do a skin test first! I used the cream on DS2 and his cheek immediately came up scarlet and much worse than it was before. Best to check first.

We rubbed olive oil onto the skin. Makes them smell like a turkey though. Flax oil or hemp oil (from healthfood shops) is good as well- and good for them.

I used oilatum when ds1 was older, but stuck to olive oil, hemp oil or flax oil when they were younger. I think my favourite was hemp oil (nicest smell)

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Oilatum cream is best avoided in my opinion as it contains lanolin, not usually any good to eczma, groundnut oil does it not contain nuts?

I got prescribed bouble base for ds which is a heavy duty moisturiser, he has bad eczma and needs it applying pre-bath and after bath and during the day to keep on top of it.

Never used soap on him (not even shampoo) and try to avoid bathing as much as possible as this will dry the skin out even more. And in the bath just so that I know he is clean I use oilatum bath stuff (does not contain lanolin).

I've found that various things work better on various areas so these are just for the basics.

I had this with my ds - the health visitor presribed Aqueius cream (i don't think you need a prescription for it). It cleared it up in about 3 days and it was nice to give him a rub down with to be honest, it relaxed him.

I use aqueos with calomile for his face, although you can only get plain aqueos on prescription.

I used Balneum Plus for dd which was good. Similar to Oilatum but stronger.

Olive oil made her head smell of cheese which made me feel sick.

The best aqueous cream is boots own brand- some of the others have something irritating in them (can't remember what- possibly edta).

E45 cream products are very good.

Agree with Jenie, bathe as little as possible. I've had eczema for years myself and dd shows signs of being the same.
If I've learnt anything over the years it's water which has the most drying effect on skin.
I might be shot down for this but I've never believed it necessary to bathe children every day.

sorry but this is not what dermatologists recommend now. Ds1 had sever eczema and the dermatology department were very keen to emphasise the importanc of batihing daily, or even twice a day. Bathing is essential if you have eczema to stop infections. The thing is you must never bathe in plain water and never use soap. Things like oilatum or other oils in the bath and use aqueous crema or another emollient for washing, then more emollient once you come out of the bath.

The national eczema society is a good source of information.

I highly recommend that you don't use oilatum, balneum or e45 as too many children have bad reactions to these.
jimjams, I agree that you need to bathe for ezcema to trap moisture in the skin, but if it is just dry skin, I agree that water is actually very drying. I would bathe her no more than every other day or every 3 days, using a tiny bit of aqueous cream as soap. Then I'd massage her with a very light and benign oil, like grapeseed. Keep well away from groundnut (made from peanuts) as it is thought that this can cause oversensitisation and peanut allergy which is the LAST thing you want....

good luck!

oh yeah for dry skin I'd do the same as you, except I would bathe but with some aqueous cream whisked up in the bath, and hemp oil rubbed on afterwards. I think we're pretty similar there! On the other hand I agree newborns don't really need bathing every day- and not bathing probably wouldn't make much difference- although I would still try to rub in hemp oil once a day. (And haaving a newborn would probably forget!)

Def avoid groundnut oil. The vitamin E capsules are very good, they are meant to be eaten as a supplement but can be broken open and rubbed onto dry skin. Some people find petroleum based products drying so maybe try avoiding those (aqueous, emulsyfying oitnemnt, vaseline etc) and try natural oil instead.

I'd recommend Aveeno cream. It really helped my dd and I know others have also found it helpful. It is made by J&J though, but I wouldn't let that put you off.

www.netdoctor.co.uk/medicines/showpreparation.asp?id=4785

Wouldn't use anything in the bathwater which makes them even more slippery. Tried Oilatum with DD1 who went very dry at about day 3 and stayed that way until she was about 1. Oilatum didn't do any good and made the bath go horrible.

Do you have hard water? We have very very hard water here and I'm sure it causes havoc with their skin. certainly notice the difference in our hair when away from home - don't know if there is anything that can be added to bath water to make it softer.

Agree that massaging something into their skin is lovely (if you can find the time ) - if you don't want to use JJ products then why not have a look at the greenbaby site - they've got loads of organic products including alternatives to baby oil etc.

Jimjams is that right about dermatologists recomending more baths? It must be or you wouldn't have said it. Only had ds at the doctors a couple of months ago and was told to only bath him every 4 days and to clean grubby areas with oilatum in water.

This has improved his skin a bit but he still has bubbles (iykwim) on his chest and back and cracked skin in his creases. His legs look better though.

I do agree with Jimjams re: dermotologists advice treating eczema. I would just add that dry skin and eczema are different things and one does not necessarily lead to the other.
Aqueos cream is water based and readily available also quite safe to use. I too second the hemp oil.

Just pulled this thread back to find out about the eczma bit, when I took ds to the drs the dr ran his hand all over ds he said that he could feel the eczma just under the surface and that I should up the cream applications and reduce his baths to every 4 days. And to keep this as a permanent thing.

When I tried to feel for the eczma I couldn't feel anything? What should I be feeling for that I can't see? Am I just being stupid? Why every 4 days and not every 3 is 4 a magic number? Oh the confusion.

I used aqueous cream on dd2 when she was newborn and it worked brilliantly - and I only bath her every 3 or 4 days which I think helps too.

Jenie - I'm certainly not an eczma specialist so possibly the others will have a better response however dd1 had eczma and her skin was never soft it always felt rough. Like very soft sand paper whereas dd2 (who has the dry skin) has very smooth skin - its just dry and flaking.

HTH

dont use johnsons and johnsons products, very bad for babies skin imo. my 2 both peeled head to toe when they were newborns, cracked skin, not nice at all. i've always used oilatum, not had a problem with and have started using the plus varity as well to keep infections at bay, tho i dont think u can use this if baby is under 6 months. avoid lanolin, check some aqueous creams as some do contain lanolin, dont use r45 products. infaderm is pretty good if your babies skin is just dry and eczema, makes lovely bubbles, which my kids miss out on . erm, trying to think what else. yeah, dont bother with fabril conditioner as even the sensitive ones can makes babies skin sry, if u want to keep the clothes soft use a tumble dryer.