Mother's Instincts in Proactive Prevention

After all the advice and opinions I received from family, friends, acquaintances, and associates, as well as my own research and recollections from my experiences with eczema and my siblings’ experiences as well, I decided to use bits and pieces of the suggestions, research and experiences as well as bits and pieces of the doctor's suggestions and allow all of these and my mother's intuition to guide me to what was best for my baby to heal her skin.

Trusting my instincts

In hindsight, there were some concerns and doubts in mind about using the Selsun Blue on my baby’s face, but I did it against my better judgment with trust for the professional who suggested it. Given the resulting splotches of discoloration all over my baby, Tamia’s face I discovered that I should have gone with my first instinct. From that point on I decided to do just that. I decided to allow my instincts to guide me as to what to do. I also decided to be proactive about preventing flare-ups and breakouts of her atopic dermatitis.

Being proactive with bathtime

After comparing and contrasting opinions and considering what I thought would be best for my baby and her breakout I decided it best to just use water to wash her face until the discoloration was gone, but to use other products on her face after bath time. I decided to use Aquaphor Baby Gentle Wash and Shampoo and Eucerine Baby Wash and Shampoo to wash her during her bath times almost every day (sometimes I gave her baths two days in a row if she was messy enough.) The doctor suggested trying to her bath her every three days as baths could be challenging on her eczema, however, given her acid reflux and messy diapers, it was challenging enough to only bath her every other day. After bathing her first with the Baby Aquaphor then again with the Baby Eucerine, I would bathe her again with the Aveeno Baby Cleansing Therapy Moisturizing Wash (with colloidal oatmeal and soothing oat essence), which has recognition from the National Eczema Association. I used the Baby Aquaphor first then the Eucerine because the Eucerine seemed a bit more gentle on her skin. I save the Aveeno cleansing wash for last because it was the most gentle of the three. It had a light pleasant fragrance to it, which was against the advice of most, most said not to use anything with fragrance, however, the Aveeno wash left her skin feeling much softer and seemed to be very soothing.

Continuing to monitor

In the weeks that passed her light spots cleared, however, her original skin pigmentation never returned. Her face remained much lighter than it originally had been. Even now, at eight months old, her face is still much lighter than it was prior to her first severe breakout.

When her face finally did heal I begin to use the aforementioned products (Baby Aquaphor, then Baby Eucerine, then baby Aveeno body wash) on her face in addition to her body. Afterward, I would use the hydrocortisone and then use Aquaphor or the Parent choice version of it. Though time-consuming, this process seemed to maintain her skin health, for a time at least. Going with my own instincts proved to be the best choice for my baby.