Shayla's baby when his eczema was at its worst

Just over a year ago I gave birth to a beautiful boy who was perfect in every way. We had a traumatic forceps birth and I was administered antibiotics during labour as he arrived a few hours short of 37 weeks gestation.

As a result of the traumatic birth, we both ended up with injuries, which then lead to a range of issues and we couldn't establish breastfeeding.
About three months later, he was diagnosed with colic and reflux and at about four months I thought he may have been lactose intolerant as his dad has lots of allergies, so we switched formulas. Around five months he started teething. A rash appeared. At six months we introduced solids and that's when the eczema came up.

We watched our perfect boy scratch himself until he bled. His skin became just horrible from the oozing and scratching and he continued to scratch and bleed. We tried everything, from putting socks on to using creams, including hydrocortisone to no avail.

We started researching high and low about supplements, eczema triggers, alternative treatments etc etc. We tried homeopathy and naturopathy and some more lotions and potions with only a limited and short-lived success.

We then bought the ScratchMeNot sleeves and are using them during the night now only, but to start with we used them 24/7. Although they didn't help him sleep better they prevented the night time horrors of scratching and bleeding and both of us waking and crying non stop throughout the night.

I then in desperation decided to place an order with New Directions and Nessentials that included all known oils, butters, extracts you name it, as I discovered that all of the eczema products contained parabens and/or alcohol. Parabens, preservatives and alcohol aggravate eczema and my boy was also allergic to a number preservatives. I started testing every oil on his skin and watched for a reaction.

Shayla's baby 4 months later

Long story short, it is now about four months later and his skin has cleared up. The eczema on the back of his knees is gone, his feet and hands are clear, the only remaining bits are on his back and face but he doesn't scratch as much and almost looks normal.

The moral of my story is: trust your gut, if someone tells you that they'll just grow out of it, you don't have to listen to them and helplessly wait for that magic age when your child will stop suffering. There is nothing worse than watching your child suffer and not being able to help them. We saw so many experts too, to no avail. We also took supplements that include probiotics, zinc, fish oil, to name a few.

Another good thing that came out of it is that I started my own business selling the balm that was so good for my boy and I have had lots of positive feedback about it. For more details and to check out the before and after pictures go to: https://www.facebook.com/mabebeau?ref=hl.