Is your child sleeping well at night?
More likely than not, children with eczema tend to have poorer sleep due to eczema flares or scratching. My baby Marcie at 18 months is still co-sleeping with us, and it has helped her to sleep better (though it hasn’t helped me to sleep better, but as you can appreciate, it is joy to see our children without bloody scratches in the morning).
Apart from co-sleeping, below are my top 5 tips to help our children with eczema sleep better.
1. Keep the room cool
Heat is often a trigger but do get your child tested to know what the triggers are for him or her. Marcie’s trigger is heat and we have the room cool (air conditioner at 22 deg C, fan at low speed 1 and humidifier).
2. Apply plenty of moisturizer
There is really no running away from applying moisturizer. Moisturizing keeps the skin from drying, which in turn reduces the chance your child will scratch. If you need help with the choice of moisturizer, you can read this post.
3. Keep baby fresh
As sweat can be an irritant to broken skin, I shower my baby later in the evening, after her dinner; or if she has already showered twice for the day, I will wipe her with cool boiled water using soft cotton pad. Of course, plenty of moisturizer after bathing or wiping. You can read about showering your child here.
4. Have her wear light cotton clothing
A few times, I put her in one piece long suit that really helps to keep her from getting to her itchy skin BUT it also makes her warm. You can trial and error to see if it is better to have her wear short sleeve or long sleeve. I’m sure you know by now that your child has a knack for finding ways to scratch, even when you thought he or she is ‘well protected’ with the pyjamas.
5. Treat the eczema rash
Do treat the rash.. I use steroid cream on alternate day or when the rash is persistent and looks inflamed. I read that wet dressings are effective but I don’t know how to do it. I just like to encourage you that steroid is not that bad if used appropriately, you can read about steroid safety here.
I also set up a bedtime routine of reading books, singing songs, turning off all the lights and playing baby christian songs. We also pray for good night’s sleep!
10 replies on “Top 5 Tips to help your eczema child sleep better”
I also have a son with atopic dermatitis.
His 8 months old now & his really having a hard time sleeping. The doctor also prescribed as the steroids ointment which I don’t use that much because of the side effects I read from an article about this kind of skin disease. I keep researching & trying to find something that might help his skin if not healed at least be better.
Understand your concern with steroids – it is safe for use if it is used not more than twice, of low potency for a young child and not more than 2 weeks i.e. should not be long-term rely on putting on steroids. It is good to take allergy tests and find out the triggers. It’s also a balance.. between not using steroids, and the itch being so unbearable that scratching so much (infection risk and complications risk) versus steroid side effects. Since the side effects come with prolonged, moderate to high potency use, it’s on balance reasonable to use steroids if treating a flare-up for a short period. Finding the triggers, good skincare + keeping the skin from staph infection are important.. hope all get better soon, hugs!
Thanks for your information! my daughter is 5 years old, she has the same condition, we are going to see a traditional chinese medical doctor tonight, want to try any thing possible to cure her eczema.
Hi Jessica mom,
Update me on the TCM 🙂 I haven’t tried it, for more on TCM, see:
http://eczemablues.com/tag/alternative-treatment/
Take care,
Mei
For wet dressing, you can find out how to use Tubifast Garment in this interview
http://eczemablues.com/2011/12/easy-to-use-wet-wrapping-to-keep-childs-skin-hydrated/
Hi Jancy, sorry to hear that your son has been diagnosed as having eczema but sounds like it’s a mild case since the doc didn’t prescribe steroids. Keep moisturizing as it helps to protect his dry skin. Feel free to contact me over em or twitter @marciemom if u like someone to talk to, can also join my support group, take care & merry christmas!
Hi,
My son is five month old now. We identified rashes on his chest and nappy area when he was 3m we noticed this but that time we applied some medicine for the allergy. Recently when we consult another doctor we came to know that it is Atopic dermatitis or Infantile eczema. It is spread to his thigh and lower part of head. Advised to apply moisturising cream to complete body. Prescribed “Cetaphil” lotion to apply after bath.
Hi Zeenath, I totally understand about not sleeping at night. I’m still co-sleeping with my daughter, and I think I lose about 2 hours plus of sleep every night to stop my baby from scratching. I notice that she sleeps better when tired and when the room is cold. Take care.
my daughter is 18 months old.she cant sleep in the night due to eczema.
Hi ,
Would like to join the group