Newborns dry skin

qwertytlk

Hi, my son is just over 2weeks old and in the last couple of days over noticed he has some dry skin around his ankles, it is not sore, red or cracked, its just a bit dry and flakey. Has anyone else ever noticed this on their newborn, what is recommended to use? My mam suggested i massage some baby oil into the affected areas but i have started to use anything like that on his skin yet. Only two days ago i started to add a small drop of Johnsons night time baby bath wash to the bath as i dont want to be putting too many perfumed washes etc on his skin yet. The dry skin was there before i used this. Someone else said silcoks base, but iv never used that either! Advice please!

xzanti

qwertytlk wrote: »

My mam suggested i massage some baby oil into the affected areas but i have started to use anything like that on his skin yet. Only two days ago i started to add a small drop of Johnsons night time baby bath wash to the bath as i dont want to be putting too many perfumed washes etc on his skin yet. The dry skin was there before i used this. Someone else said silcoks base, but iv never used that either! Advice please!

Avoid these like the plague they'll only make it worse.. it sounds like your little one could have eczema.. My little lad gets it too and I made the mistake of trying to make it better with the likes of the above.. Also don't use E45 cream, I was using it and the Pharmasist told me it's the worst thing you can do

Best thing you can do is cut out all the commercial baby products.. get yourself a big tub of Aqueous cream, it's about €5 for a large tub and you can get it in any Chemist.

What you do is, mix a good sized table spoon of the Aqueous with a jug of boiling water til it turns to a milky substance, then mix that in to your normal warm babybath.. don't add anything else, it acts as a cleanser too.. let baby soak in that for a good 10 minutes or so.. Then when baby is dry, massage more of the Aqueous, straight from the tub all over him.. it's just an emoliant, it won't sting or harm him in any way don't worry..

Then just let him lie in his nappy for a little while so the cream can soak in..

I've been doing this since my Son was only 6 weeks old, I've never used anything else and his skin is so soft.. he rarely breaks out in the eczema but if he does I just use a little bit of steroid cream, a very mild one (1% Hydrochortizone) and it works great..

I wouldn't go using any steroid creams until you've spoken to your GP though just incase..

Best of luck.

xxtattyberxx

as above aqueous cream or aquaphor , its cheap and cheerful and really helps. Like vaseline but stronger. Warm baths will also help flake the skin away but avoid baby lotions as his skin might still be to sensitive for it and could irritate the dry patches.

Your sweetie will look plump and cuter very soon.

How Strange

Great advice about the aqueous cream but I'd also be careful not to bathe him too much. Newborn babies have natural oils to protect their skin and too much bathing can strip the skin of them. Maybe I'm a bad mother but I still only give him a bath once a week with nothing but water unless we have a nappy disaster. He's starting weaning soon so no doubt he'll be getting scrubbed a lot more often

mkdon05

You could try putting olive oil into the bath. It worked a treat for my little one. And as above cut out the Johnsons stuff, its very harsh.

xzanti

mkdon05 wrote: »

And as above cut out the Johnsons stuff, its very harsh.

Definately.. If I have any more babies I won't be buying ANY of these things.. even if they don't suffer with eczema it'll still be just the Aqueous and water all the way.. they don't need all those smellies in their bath.. anyway, baby's natural smell is way nicer than bubble bath

obscurething

My daughter had exactly the same after using Johnstons in bath too. Nurse (who is also a midwife) in my GPs recommended Silcocks Base - have been using it since and no problems. It is very mild, we got it in Boots - would say you can get it in any chemist.

You use it as soap and as a moisturiser and it's made in Ireland.

mkdon05

Yea +1 on the silcocks base too.

work.inprocess

mkdon05 wrote: »

Yea +1 on the silcocks base too.

My mother's obsessed with that (she's a nurse) - find myself telling people to use it now :P

SarahJ

My PHN was telling me that my babies skin was like this because she was a week overdue, so it's her skin shedding. She suggested silcocks base before putting her into the bath, or else rubbing a small bit of olive oil into her skin

cbyrd

Silicocks Base is great and you can put it in the bath too. I wouldn't use the johnsons stuff it's full of salts and detergents.

I'd say it's just the natural flaking of the skin after birth..it happens in the creases of the skin mostly and you probably noticed it on his fingers and toes and the creases on his wrists too. .. it's normal, he's been a long time in water

Baby oil is too heavy for sensitive newborn skin and is not absorbed well at all, i've used aveeno cream on my lad too... he had very dry skin on his legs and arms . . . once a week is enough to wash a newborn cos even water has a drying effect on their skin ..

Das Kitty

2 weeks old?

Most babies lose a layer of skin in the few weeks after they're born (kinda like peeling after sunburn). I just let my lad's skin peel personally as he was born in winter and I didn't want him undressed too much.

egan2020

My daughter had the same thing when she was two weeks. I didn't use anything on it - it cleared itself up after another two weeks.

lynski

all three of mine had this and it is a normal early baby thing. it will peel off by itself - my last son took weeks for it all to go away.
I do not use anything with perfume, parabens or sls on my children and, i believe, as a consequence we do not have a dermatitis problem, in fact i only need to use a moisturiser occasionally . I use a range called naked from boots for our hair and boby wash or i use the lacura (lidl or aldi) baby stuff. for moisturiser again avoiding parabens in favor of boots castor oil and zinc cream for sore bums, le roche posey lipikir range for the rest when needed.

qwertytlk

Well he was twelve days over due so that could be what it is then. Think i will try the silcoks base, its not bad, and like i say its not irritated either so im not worrying about it, just dont want it to get worse. Thanks for advice:)

subrosachick

Green People Organic Babies Soothing Baby Salve worked well for my little one's dry skin. Sweet almond oil - available from chemists - is another option. A lot of newborns have some skin flakiness, especially if the mum goes past her due date;)

TommyTippee

Don't put anything on it. It will clear up within a couple of weeks.

Cat Melodeon

Silcock's base is the only thing that helps my lad when he's got dry skin. I also use the sweet almond oil on his scalp as he's still prone to cradle cap/general scabbiness when he's teething (he's nearly 2) and it very gently sorts the problem. I've heard other oils are good too - eg olive oil - but I like the smell of the almond oil and it's cheap enough so we go with that. Any chemist will stock both of those. I find the commercial baby products like J&J or store own-brands really dry out his skin.

Vego

aveeno cream the nurse told us to get it when our little one went in for injections..

Worked wonders ..better than advent magic cream

hunnymonster

http://www.makeitnatural.com/for_baby.html

I love the make it natural stuff. I've used the rub for sport fr a while so moved to the body creams to stop pregnancy stretch marks and now use the baby products on the little hunnymonster.

Katekat

My little one had the same - Silcock base or unperfumed vaseline also works. disappears after couple of weeks. little one still gets dry skin top of cheeks every so often and silcock or vaseline clears this in a day or two.