At the first consultation, Marcie’s doctor Prof Hugo Van Bever of NUH asked if someone in the family has eczema. I started tracing the family tree, and the eczema gene seemed to be mutating more powerfully (as you can see in the family tree, we could only trace to my mother-in-law who only recalled she had mild itchiness when she’s 20 year old. My husband only had localized eczema, and his brother had quite a severe case. Marcie’s eczema is quite bad before she went on the one-time oral steroid course.)
So, you know why I’m even more fearful of having a second child as I’m always thinking that the gene is mutating powerfully. Read this post on sibling eczema.
This is the sixth of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. For more cartoons, click here to view.
Are you considering whether to have a second child? I am, as Marcie is turning two years old, and I am really scared that my second child will have eczema. It feels like we’ve just got past the ceaseless scratching, the blood, the tears and still struggling with a good night’s sleep. Can I, should I, really have a second child?
I did a search online, and sad to say there’s no conclusive research on whether a second child will get eczema, here’s a quick summary of the research results:
1. Having older siblings have a protective effect on the younger siblings, because the younger sibling has more chances to mix with an older child, thus immune system more likely to be strengthened with more chances of infections
2. Having older siblings have NO protective effect! (so, you see it’s really contradicting) There are more instances of younger siblings with eczema due to filaggrin (FLG) deficiency, which is a deficiency in skin barrier protection. This FLG deficiency leads to dry skin, and increased chances of allergic march (i.e. getting asthma, allergy after eczema). When the younger siblings attended day care, there is less instance of this FLG deficiency.
3. There is a higher chance of the younger sibling getting eczema when both one parent and one sibling has eczema. There is also a stronger association between eczema in siblings and with parents.
4. Having more children protects the younger siblings. Problem is there is no answer as to how many children you need to have for one not to have eczema/allergy.
5. Younger siblings’ cord IgE is less, i.e. younger siblings have fewer instances of allergy than the older child. The first born tend to suffer from hay fever and pink eye from food or other allergies.
So, there you go, still no answer, anyone have more than one child, do share how the eczema in your children is. I’m really at crossroads…
A gentle note to all moms of eczema and allergy kids, especially those with an allergy to dust mites, don’t kill yourself over the cleaning… as advised by Prof Hugo Van Bever at sneezywheezy.com’s playgroup on Aug 24th, a thin bamboo mattress is best and sunning the pillows and mattress regularly helps to reduce dust mites. Don’t spend too much money on vacuum cleaners, make the home as less attractive for dust mite as possible by not having thick beds or thick curtains. Btw, construction dust is not dust mite as dust mite has to live around people.
This is the fifth of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. For more cartoons, click here to view.
If your child has eczema and has been avoiding a food that he/she has been tested positive in the Skin Prick Test (SPT), it may be time to review if there is indeed a true food allergy. Research indicates, as I understand from various online articles, that the skin prick test is a test of sensitization, and not clinical relevance. Below are some points on the accuracy of skin prick test:
1. Skin Prick Test is more accurate for non-food allergen, such as dust mite and pollen, than for food allergen.
2. Skin Prick Test is More Accurate in predicting when there is NO food allergy and Less Accurate in predicting a Positive food allergy. The implication of this is that children who have been avoiding food (for example more than 50% of those tested positive for milk and eggs, and more than 70% of those tested positive for peanuts) actually didn’t have an allergic reaction to these foods. (There is only a 0.5-10% chance that a child who is allergic to a food will test negative for it.)
3. Follow-up tests are required for skin prick test for children at different age, sometimes about 1-2 years later. The results can be different as children may ‘outgrow’ some allergy or develop new ones? (hopefully not…)
4. An oral food challenge is the most accurate (less than 5% incorrect).
5. For children with eczema, there is an 80% possibility that food that the child is avoiding turn out not to be one he/she is allergic to. Refer to this article for detailed research.
Despite above, Skin Prick Test still remains the most recommended first test for allergy, as it is by comparison simpler, lower cost, faster results, more tolerated (children won’t feel much pain, you can read this post on my baby Marcie’s experience) and more accurate than blood test. If anyone has an experience to share on skin prick test for your child, do comment below this post.
S$30+ for air-con servicing (S$100/time and servicing every 3 months)
S$30+ for doctor’s consultation and prescription (S$100-S$200/time and appointment every 6 months)
S$253 increase in monthly budget!
This is the fourth of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. For more cartoons, click here to view.
It’s time for the 1st meeting for the support group and it’s scheduled on 17 Sep 2011 (Saturday), 4pm at the basement (Children’s section) of the National Library. I’ll be there from 4pm to 5.30pm with my baby Marcie, and I have a little gift for all who RSVP you’re coming by 14 Sep (and actually turned up). (It’s a small sticker pack as stickers are really good for occupying tiny fingers!) So, be sure to email me at mommarcie[at]gmail[dot]com to get your sticker pack.
So see you at the Children’s section at the basement of the National Library, at the following address:
National Library Board
100 Victoria Street #14-01
Singapore 188064
The agenda for the meeting is simple, to get to know everyone else, so SEE YOU! (and don’t forget to RSVP me that you’re coming to get your mini sticker pack)
One of the most contentious parenting issues between my parents and I are over giving my baby cold water. From about six months old, when my baby Marcie was started on water and solids, I realised that she preferred cold water, refrigerated baby juice and fruit puree. My parents had always disagreed over the temperature of her food, even to go as far as suggesting it caused her eczema and low weight gain; both of which, I countered with (a) my baby whose eczema is triggered by heat really prefers cold stuff, and eating cold food is better than no food and (b) the low weight gain is due to abnormally high birth weight (heavy newborn at 4kg plus) and possibly, lack of good sleep.
So, is giving cold drinks to baby really that bad? My answer, if you do not believe in TCM, is no – drinking cold drink will mean that your baby needs to use energy to warm the liquid up, thus less energy for body functions. If you believe in TCM, the theory is that cold drink weakens your lungs, lowers your immune system and as my parents believe, causes asthma (which again is a myth). However, certain cold drinks (not due to the temperature) are indeed bad for your baby:
2. Sugary drinks that increase chance of tooth decay.
3. Artificially flavoured drinks which have been linked to ADHD.
As you can see in my baby bag, I always pack ice or cold drink (or both if going to the zoo). To me, if cold water can stop my baby from scratching, offer her (and me) some relief when dining out or when outdoors in a park/zoo, why not?
#1 – Ice (to cool the water and if necessary, for baby to play with to keep her fingers busy)
#2 – Water bottle with cool water + water bottle with normal water
#3 – Juice
#4 – 3 types of finger food to keep fingers busy – husks, fish crackers and grapes/cherries
#4 – Diapers, diaper changing mat, trash bag, baby wipes + one toy to keep fingers busy to prevent scratching when changing diaper
#5 – Tissue Paper
#6 – Fan to keep baby cool + can be used as distraction since baby likes to ‘catch the fan’
#7 – Antiseptic lotion, for use before applying steroid or just cleaning the baby from possible irritant
#8 – Moisturiser
#9 – Shoes, when baby is cranky and scratches, got to quickly wear her shoes for her to walk around
#10 – A Mom who has the strength to carry the heavy bag
This is the third of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. For more cartoons, click here to view.
Do you co-sleep with your child? Ever wonder if she sees it as you loving her?
Baby Sleeping – Was she scratching her head?
For us parents with eczema children, we know how difficult it is for our children to have a good night’s sleep. A lack of sleep negatively affects our children’s development and if music can help our children sleep better, why not? For me, I have been singing “ABC Song” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars” to my baby Marcie followed by playing the same compilation of Christian baby songs since birth. Marcie seems to sleep better with the music and her infant care teachers also commented that she looked visibly calmer when the music was played during her nap time. While there is no definitive research done on how music affects baby’s sleep, I found some good reasons for playing music to your child during bedtime:
1. We all know that music affects our mood and reduces stress (provided you are not listening to noisy music that stresses you out). As stress is a fairly common trigger for eczema, it is good to listen to music that relaxes your child.
2. There are several testimonies given by parents and sleep therapists that children sleep better with music and also can fall back asleep at night when music is on.
3. Bringing the familiar music on a holiday trip may help your child sleep better in a new place.
4. Research suggests that plant flourish better with classical music than noisy rock/punk music.
While music seems to be all good, do take care in your choice of songs; too simulating music is not recommended. Repetitive and simple music is best, and must be something that you can listen to every night. Some even recommended listening to nature sounds ‘white noise’ such as waterfall and raindrops that mimic the rhythms in the mother’s womb.
A side note
If you just google “music baby sleep”, you will find MANY websites offering music that will put your baby to sleep (this website says that hospitals are testing out their CDs). I haven’t purchased any of such CDs as I prefer to have my baby listen to Christian music and so far it has worked great for my sleep too. I suggest that we as parents relax a little, listen to some music and whatever makes us happy and sleepy may do the same for our children.
Eczema Mom is the bed, pillow and bolster for baby. Hubby has long been sleeping (gladly?) in the study room. Eczema Mom is wondering when baby will wake up scratching and how long it will take to comfort baby back to sleep… another long night with poor sleep lies ahead.
This is the second of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. For more cartoons, click here to view.
It all depends on whether your child is allergic to pet dog dander/hair and you can find that out by getting your child tested, usually through a skin prick test or blood test. If your child is tested allergic, then the best way to avoid triggering an eczema flare is to not have a pet dog. There’s website offering information that certain dogs are hypoallergenic because they have less hair/dander but studies have debunked that correlation.
Bedlington Terriers
If you have a pet dog, there are a number of ways to reduce the chances of your child coming into contact with the pet dog’s dander/hair:
By Keeping the Pet Dog Dander/Hair out of the House and the Air
By keeping the dog outside of the house and off the furniture, at least off your child’s bedroom
By minimizing materials that trap animal dander such as carpets and curtains, upholstered furniture, wool bedsheets (best if you have polished floor, plastic/wooden furniture and cotton sheets)
By removing airborne animal dander by using HEPA air purifier
By vacuuming frequently using a Miele or another HEPA filtered vacuum cleaner (my colleague’s daughter’s allergy specialist recommended Miele brand and I see it being recommended on most sites)
By Reducing the Pet Dog Dander/Hair that your Dog Shed
Wash your dog at least weekly with dander reducing shampoo
Wash your hands thoroughly (remembered watching on ‘The Doctors’ that a test done on various items of a dog owning family revealed dog poo even on the owner’s wallet)
The Good News…
The good news is that a study conducted by Dr. Tolly G. Epstein suggest that children who have an allergy to dogs AND who have exposure to dogs before the age of one year old has a lower chance (14% vs 57%) of getting eczema by age four years old, compared to children with a dog allergy and did not have a pet dog. (note to cat lovers: It’s the reverse, i.e. more likely to develop eczema after having a cat if already have a cat allergy 54% vs 33%)
And the other good news is that children who don’t have a dog allergy won’t develop one after having a pet dog (is that true? didn’t see this published much, anyone has experience?)
Hi there! This is the first of my “101 Things that Moms with Eczema Child Do Differently“, a tongue-in-cheek look at the many unique situations that we face. I’m excited about this cartoon series, as it injects some humor into this blog (and my life) and allows me to do some cartooning!
Here you see a very happy baby playing at the pool, and the next?
Fallen ill with stomach flu
That happened TWICE to my baby girl Marcie, as she always thought it’s funny to drink the pool water. Marcie has eczema and we brought her to the swimming pool from about nine months old, at the advice of her doctor. It didn’t do much good nor bad to her skin till one time when the baby pool was closed, we brought her to the 1.0m pool. Her skin improved markedly every time we brought her to the deeper pool and we thought it might be due to soaking in a deeper pool versus just standing mid-waist in the baby pool. But Marcie started getting more at ease in water and dared to walk off the pool into her daddy’s arms. That, on top of always trying to drink pool water, could have made her ill. So while it is good to go swimming with your baby, here’re the do’s and don’ts.
Do’s
Check with your baby’s doctor (I’ve read that some severe eczema babies not recommended for swimming)
Check with the pool staff on how they disinfect the pool if you’re really concerned (chlorine is supposed to be the least irritating of the disinfectants)
Apply sunscreen lotion before swimming (choose one suitable for baby)
Shower immediately after pool and apply moisturizer generously
Don’ts
If your child has not recovered from cold/fever for more than 10 days or has not recovered from stomach flu (i.e. solid stool) for more than 48 hours, don’t bring your child to the pool.
Don’t leave your child alone, drowning or water intoxication (swallowing too much water) is dangerous.
Don’t continue swimming if your child is shivering (hypothermia is a risk); bring baby out of the pool and wrap in warm towel.
Don’t swim for too long, limit to no more than 30 minutes for child below 1 year old
Feeling sad for Eczema Girl! Does your child sleep well?
Have you seen those rompers that has a mitten over the long sleeve to reduce damage from baby scratching? Recently, I keep coming across parents recommending such clothing as it worked for their children. So, I googled and the interesting thing is almost all of the companies that retail these clothing were started by moms desperate to find a solution for their babies scratching at night. That, to me, is quite inspiring, making something good out of managing eczema, which we all know is something we don’t wish on any child (AND it is the moms!). Below are some of the price comparisons (I haven’t bought any for my baby, so I can’t comment on the product; I also don’t get paid for this post).
Pounds 30 for a Poplin Sleepsuit – (can’t find made where, company based in UK) 100% cotton with 47th Element Silver Technology (according to their site, silver can prevent secondary infection and remove bacteria overgrowth). Clothes made with mid weight cotton, not too warm nor too thin to be scratched through. Tear-off labels on outside and no seams inside.
Pounds 17.99 for a full suit romper – (can’t find made where, company based in UK)
Uses Okeo-tex 100 cotton which reduces chances of allergy from dyes
Clothing using bamboo
Quite a few online shops selling organic baby clothing uses bamboo as the main material, citing that bamboo is hypo-allergenic, soft, breathable and thermal regulating. Also supposed to be 3-4 times more sweat absorbent than cotton and that since bamboo is not prone to pests, no pesticide is sprayed on bamboo and that there is anti-fungal property.
As a guideline, avoid wool and synthetic fibre. Wash new clothes to remove chemicals from manufacturing. If you are currently tying mittens on your baby, well.., one of the site wrote that it’s not recommended as it is the hand/eye coordination practice time for baby development and squashing the fingers together, make them even hotter and itchier and and the knot may lead to skin damage if baby uses it for scratching. Also, that it creates stress.. that I think is quite hard to avoid!
Do you co-sleep with your child? Ever wonder if she sees it as you loving her?
Taking a nap
About 60 to 80 percent of children with eczema suffers from sleep disturbance, resulting in about 2.5 hours less of sleep per night. As you know, as a parent of eczema child, our sleep is affected too! (and usually we get cranky, tired, irritable when sleep is disturbed for consecutive days, usually days when there is an eczema flare, resulting in more itch and more scratching)
I have often wondered if my baby has enough sleep and how does a lack of sleep affect her?
Number of Hours of Sleep for Your Child
There is no standard must-sleep-how-many-hours and if your child is putting on healthy weight gain and alert and happy during the day, you should not be unduly worried. My baby girl Marcie has always slept 10 hours per day, no matter what different routine we adopt to increase her sleep. The rough guide for a new born is 16 hours per day, 3-6 month old is 13 to 15 hours/day, 6-12 month old is 12 to 14 hours/day and 1-year old onwards is 10 hours/day.
How a Lack of Sleep affect Your Child
Sleep is important and a lack of sleep results in:
– Low weight gain, due to less growth hormones (lack of sleep may also lead to obesity and diabetes due to imbalance of hormone that regulate hunger and metabolism of sugar)
– Slower healing of the skin and aggravate eczema, lower the immune system (haven’t we fall sick before when burning the midnight oil?)
– Behavioral disturbances such as irritable, impatient, fussy, moody, hyperactive and impulsive
– Difficulty in concentrating, poorer memory (as long-term memory improves with adequate sleep)
– Accident-prone (think overnight drivers who suffer from lack of sleep)
– Tired (If possible, send your child to school later when sleep is badly disturbed by eczema flare)
All is not lost though, since (keeping my fingers crossed) eczema child is brighter (see this post) and the better the eczema is managed, the better the sleep will be. Read my 5 tips to help your child sleep better (I co-sleep with my baby and I think I will as long as she wants to and still scratches at night…)
TCM uses herbs, acupuncture and cream for treatment
TCM uses herbs, acupuncture and cream for treatment
You may have been asked by your friend to explore TCM (“Traditional Chinese Medicine”) treatment for your child and wonder if it is viable. I wondered the same and read whatever I could online on it. The information is sparse and prescriptions seem to differ based on the TCM doctor’s interpretation of your child’s condition after examining his skin, tongue, pulse and asking questions about his urine, stools, behavioural and sleep patterns. There is therefore no standard prescription and as a result, there is much less research on the effect of the treatment. Below are whatever I understood based on reading online.
TCM Treatment
The treatment is based on that the skin is affected by the ‘inside’ of the body and thus, herbs or acupuncture may be used to treat your child’s kidney, spleen or liver. The treatment is usually to remove toxins, phlegm, dampness and ‘heat’ in blood. Acupuncture for kids may use the Japanese system sho-ni-shin which does not involve puncturing the skin. Herbs, of up to 15 types, may be prescribed for you to boil and give your child. Cold compress using herbs, oatmeal bath, moisturizing herbal lotion may be prescribed too. Read more about TCM and eczema in this interview with TCM practitioner.
Versus Western Approach
There appears to be many similarities such as moisturizing, soaking in bath oil and control of allergic food. Diet control seems to be prescribed without conducting a skin prick test, and generally food such as cow’s milk, sugar, addictive, food colors and preservatives are to be avoided. I came across an article that suggested not having the child vaccinated as vaccination has toxin (I think vaccination is important and unless supported by strong medical evidence, we should not be excluding vaccination for our child).
So is TCM Safe?
I always think it is safer to consume something when the side effects are known then to consume something with no known side effects (since no one tested it)! The herbs that TCM prescribe may be anti-inflammatory, antihistaminic or immunosuppressant. The improved results may not take place at all or from 2 weeks to 8 months from what I’ve read on other parents’ forum posts or blog or research. The biggest question obviously is we know oral steroid works very fast but we know it is not for long-term use (in fact, my baby Marcie’s doctor said strictly once for Marcie), is it possible then for a TCM medicine to work equally fast and yet so safe that no side effect is known? So far, there are people online that sent their TCM medicine for lab analysis and found to contain steroids (equally, you will find others saying TCM doesn’t contain steroid), people who stopped the TCM medicine and the rashes came back or others who continue with steroid application while undergoing TCM treatment.
As mentioned earlier, the research is too little on TCM and for children, I personally won’t risk it, unless I have access to a lab and can test everything the TCM doctor gives my baby.
Pause for a moment and think how many times you have said “Stop Scratching!” today. I used to keep saying that to my baby girl Marcie until I read that it is not the best way to get her to stop scratching. There’s little research done in this area available online, but supposedly, asking your child to stop doing something is less effective than rewarding him/her for not doing it. Also, it can annoy/upset your child to be told consistently to stop doing something that they can’t control. My own guess is that they are smart enough to know that scratching gets our attention and even do it more when throwing tantrum.
Here are a few tactics for teaching our children not to scratch that I read online, some which I use:
1. Get your child to hold the itchy part tightly (supposed to help relieve some itch, but I don’t practise it as my baby is too young and likely result in her to focus more on the itchy part)
2. Distract the child (that’s what I do all the time, check my post on keeping fingers busy, coloring and I also learn sign language with my baby. Sometimes, at night, when she scratches while trying to fall asleep, asking her to show me a sign works)
3. Set up a reward chart with stickers to reward not scratching
4. Try wearing eczema clothing (I haven’t tried this but a parent have recommended to me)
5. Cut nails short (I haven’t cut Marcie’s nails for more than half a year cos she “files” them herself)
What is most important to me is to stop remarking to my hubby that it is his bad gene and also to banish the words “bad skin”. I noticed that my baby scratches even when alone, as scratching feels good, so I am also very careful not to imply she’s doing it on purpose.
I have drawn a picture book (published as e-book, “A to Z Animals are not scratching!” to teach young children not to scratch and also starting a support group for moms (and dads) who need people to understand what we are going through (and hopefully, we can reduce the inadvertent “Stop Scratching!” to our children!).
Is your child just irritable with his/her skin condition or has ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)? Just came across two studies in 2003 and 2009 that suggest an association between eczema and ADHD in children. 5.2% of 1,436 children with eczema also have ADHD versus 3.4% of children without eczema. Also the younger the child has eczema, the increased likelihood of ADHD. When I read this, I’m thinking “Oh no! Watching TV is already linked to ADHD (and we do let Marcie watch TV to distract her from scratching while we do some housework/eat a quick meal) and now eczema also?!”
The good news is that the studies do not suggest a causal relationship, not definitive and it could also be that eczema children see a doctor more often, thus more chances of detecting ADHD. It could also be that eczema children who suffer from lack of sleep get restless or cranky, and not that they have ADHD. The even better news I read online is that eczema children are “very bright” as the skin and the brain develop at the same time, so “very reactive skin and very reactive mind” according to Sophie Worobec MD at University of Illinois.
In case you are wondering if your eczema child has ADHD, as we sometimes wonder, below are some symptoms of ADHD:
– Can’t focus on the task, easily distracted
– Unable to pay attention
– Fidget when sitting/ climbing all the time
– Talk excessively, can’t play quietly
– Impulsive
The ADHD behavior has to continue for 6 months. ADHD, like eczema, is also linked to genetics and immune system. Having a daily schedule, immediate reward system for good behavior, eating high protein food (like meat, beans, eggs) and complex carbohydrates have been reported to help with ADHD (but again nothing conclusive). So.. while I can’t survive without letting Marcie watch TV and can’t do any better than what I’m already doing for her eczema, I will read more books and build more blocks with her.. hopefully, it helps.
2014 update: Read also Dr Cheryl Lee, dermatologist, views on ADHD, eczema and environmental pollutants here.
It almost felt like we paid 40 dollars for a coloring kid’s menu as the food was bad. Marcie’s eczema is triggered by heat and so we have limited restaurants to go to on a crowded weekend (and even more limited as we wanted to get fish for her). The poached cod fish in chicken broth was dry and tough while the danish fish and chips was way too salty to feed a young toddler. The only saving grace – Marcie loves to color the kid’s menu and was occupied the whole time without scratching.
That got me thinking that coloring page is incredibly useful to bring out over meals, even more so for an eczema child who needs to be distracted from scratching. I bought a box of crayons for Marcie and downloaded an ABC coloring page for her. Here is a compilation of A to Z Distraction tips for your eczema child.
Below are the links to find some nice coloring page printables for your child.
Woojr – Nice design, easy to print (that’s where I got the ABC coloring page)
Marcie had her half-yearly check-up last Saturday at NUH’s children clinic and we are happy that her skin is considered good enough not to use steroid. Instead, we ought to follow the 3 tips from her doctor, Prof Hugo (in picture):
1. Moisturize, especially after Marcie has got in touch with water (after a bath or swimming)
2. Use chlorhexidine before applying steroid cream to clean away the bacteria so that the steroid cream will be more effective
Update 2018: Instead of chlorhexidine gluconate wash, Octenisan is recommended instead as it is less drying. Do not use an antiseptic body wash daily as both the good and bad skin bacteria are washed off. Also, the antiseptic body wash lotion has to be left on the skin for at least a minute before rinsing off to give sufficient time for the antiseptic to work.
