Hi there,
I'm new to the site but desperate as Google hasn't yet found me the answer to my problem!
I have a 5 month old baby who has suffered from eczema since 5 weeks. We have been swaddling him for sleep/naps since then to stop any scratching (although he also loves being swaddled). He rubs his eyes until they are red raw if I don't. He is still in his Moses basket (mainly because he mashes his face into the side/top of the basket for comfort - yes, he's a weird little thing!).
The other night I watched him flip himself over onto his tummy on the monitor, swaddled, and so he was unable to get himself back. I stopped swaddling and used some mitts called Scratch Sleeves which have silk gloves, in the hopes they'd be more gentle than the cotton ones I have previously used. These are too abrasive and at 2am this morning he looked like he'd been punched in both eyes and I had to put him back in his swaddle for fear of him totally ripping his face apart. I also reinstated the rolled up towels I'd used until he was 3 months to try and stop him from flipping. I feel like I'm going backwards!
This morning I woke to find him again on his stomach, struggling to get back. A friend with an eczema baby suggested letting him sleep on his tummy (unswaddled, of course) to stop him having such good access to his eyes (I have no problem with this, I'm a tummy sleeper too!) but he hates it.
I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place of trying to keep him on his back, but keeping him from scratching his eyes out. Obviously at some point I have to move him into his cot, where I'm sure I'll encounter another world of pain as he searches desperately for something to nuzzle his face against! He already sleeps with a Jellycat comforter rolled around a muslin which he likes to bury his face into. I'm thinking of buying a microfibre towel and fashioning some kind of wedge-pillow which won't move around the cot. The stuff you think of at 2am....!
Any advice would be so gratefully received. Thanks in advance.