Does anyone else have really sore hands from looking after a new born?

[Sorehandsmum]

Hi all

I find myself constantly washing my hands as I look after my new born son (I think I may be a little paranoid and wash my hands a bit too much..!). My hands have got so sore and I'm in a lot of pain and it now hurts even just to pick him up now. Has anyone got some great tips in how to deal with this, maybe a great hand cream that I should be trying? Please help any tips appreciated!!

I don't think I'm as bad as you but I have sensitive skin and my hands get very dry from washing after using the loo and doing the dishes (no dishwasher.) I find Aveeno daily moisturising lotion really good - prefer the body cream to the hand cream for my hands as I feel it dries in quicker and you can use it everywhere!

I had the same, totally normal - regardless of any other reason there are endless nappies etc so you can end up with dry, cracked hands. I found using a moisturising hand wash then this:

www.bskincare.co.uk/products/Hand-Foot/Lavender-Hand-Foot-Cream-

which is brilliant. Congratulations btw!

I started making sure I used washing up gloves and I also use Flexitol hand balm which has made a difference. I still have a bit though and if forget to use anything then I start getting sore again. Putting on a petroleum cream barrier before changing nappies helps a bit too! Good luck!

Oh yes , I had this with my daughter, she was born during a cold winter and due to the weather and constant clothing and bottle washing my hands were red raw.

Soap and glory hand food is very good.

Hi- congratulations on your baby!
This is very common, I'm afraid, my worst bit was dryness/itchiness under my wedding ring! Lots of people swear by Norwegian Formula (there's a sensitive one too), aveeno, Nivea, etc but I found none of them helped me. The only one that did was clarins! But it is £££
Burt's bees do a hand balm, which was good too (smells quite strong if you're averse to that, but natural ingredients), it's in a tin, about £8 I think. Nivea creme in the blue tub did help a bit too, and that's pretty inexpensive.
This phase does pass as they get older, I promise!

Me too! Washing my hands all the time with a new baby. I find it helps to leave handcream in different places, beside the sink, beside the bed, in the car, etc. Then you’ll remember to use them.

I had this when my two were babies I was even more paranoid as they were both in special care for months so I spent most of the days and nights drowning my hands in the antibacterial gel even the smell now makes me want to heave!

Hand cream is a great gift for a new Mum as you are constantly hand washing!! Mine got really dry.

Thanks everyone for your replies, relieved to hear it is a common!

My friend just sent me this, annoyingly I can't get my hands on it for a while, but I love the idea of sending some as a gift to the midwives that looked after me! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/nursem

Harveyrabbit76 - you mentioned petroleum cream barrier. I'm not sure if you know much about hand cream , but this seems to be very natural and petroleum free etc. Do you think this will be less effective as a result?

Those creams look great! To be honest, I have tried so many things and I tried the Hydromol ointment on the advice of a pharmacist, it actually is paraffin based. I would also love to find something to get rid of it completely !

I found switching to soap rather than anti-bacterial hand wash made a big difference.

I did. I found the answer by accident when DS2 got mild eczema and I had to cover him in aqueous cream at every nappy change. Aqueous cream 6-8 times a day sorted my hands out beautifully.

My DH and I both got this. Aveeno cream was great.

I did both times. I second the recommendation for soap rather than hand wash - much less drying.

I found this, and only solved the problem by reducing the hand washing. Poundland sell packs of 20 disposable latex-free gloves for £1, and I used these for nappy changes. I also used kitchen gloves for washing bottles, scrubbing stains, etc.

It was a pain but my hands just couldn't stand up to the onslaught.

Wash your hands with dermol lotion instead of soap.

Put handcream on before you change the baby, then when you wash your hands the cream and dirt comes off and your hands are still protected.

I had a friend who washed her hands:

Before starting a nappy change
After the cleaning up part of a nappy change
After putting the new nappy on

You aren’t doing anything like that are you? Her baby rolled off the changing table during one of the hand washes.

Nursery staff seem to use disposable gloves for nappy changes and they do a lot of nappy changes, so that might work for you.