Eczema and Helmet Update

I went to the Dr.’s yesterday with Charlie because his eczema had gotten worse. I also wanted to make sure it wasn’t a heat rash. The Dr. confirmed it wasn’t heat rash but just a flare up from the eczema. Poor Charlie. He used to just have it on his arms, now its on his stomach, back and around his neckline. The Dr. said to keep applying aquafor and lotion as much as possible. The dry winter air isn’t helping at all so we need to keep it hydrated as much as possible. She said babies with excema can sometimes be more prone to allergies. She suggested I not eat dairy for two weeks and see if it helps. If it does, re-introduce dairy into my diet to find out what he is sensitive to. Today is Day 1 of no dairy. I love dairy but I think I can go 2 weeks without it. Looking at Charlie and the redness all over makes me want to do this for him in hopes it will make his skin better.

I keep telling Rob our baby is broken. My main worry when I was pregnant was having a healthy baby and Charlie was/is as healthy as can be and he is such a sweetie and only gets mildly fussy. I know I should be happy, and I am happy, but I feel like he keeps having issues left and right. Here is a run down:

1.) Baby Acne – I knew most babies get this but I thought Charlie’s was pretty bad and it lasted for 3 weeks.
2.) Puffy Nipples – I don’t know the medical term but babies nipples can puff up due to the increased estrogen from mama. The Dr. said in some cases, milk can even come out of the nipple. Yup, Charlie lactated a little.
3.) Clogged Tear Duct – Not only was it clogged, it got infected resulting in crusty green goo around his eye. A few days of prescription drops and it went away.
4.) Baby cold at a few weeks old – Couldn’t breathe through his nose well at night so we had to elevate him and run humidifier at night. Also try to get the boogies out with the nasal aspirator. Luckily, this only lasted about 4-6 days.
5.) Eczema – Never thought he’d have it. He doesn’t seem bothered by it but I really hope he outgrows it like some babies do.
6.) Flat Spot – I always thought babies that had flat spots had parents that never picked them up. I now, unfortunately, know more about this topic than I ever wanted to and now know that babies that have flat spots aren’t neglected by their parents.
7.) Spit Up/Projectile Vomiting – Never really thought about this but man is it a pain when your baby spits up over and over and over. Its hard getting babies in and out of clothes and just when you get it on and reaching for a bib, baby spits up and you start all over. This has gotten better for Charlie but we’re still wearing bibs all the time.
8.) Cradle Cap – I had never even heard of this. Charlie still has it but its better. It was really bad for awhile when we didn’t know how to treat it. 1-2 times a week I put baby oil on his scalp and scrub with a soft brush. Apparently cradle cap is more common with babies with lots of hair.

I know most of these things are normal but I never thought about these things before.

At my Dr. appointment yesterday I told her we have been repositioning Charlie the last 4.5 weeks to try to reshape his head. She said she thought she could see improvement but she really couldn’t tell because he has so much hair. She gave us a referral to a specialist and we had the appointment this morning. They told us they often see the flatness of first born babies and males. Apparently some babies get flat spots from inside the womb. Its hard to know for sure when they started getting the flatness. The specialist said she was happy we were there with Charlie while he was pretty young so they can do a scan of his head and use it as a baseline in a month. Often times parents are sent to these places and its too late – it wasn’t caught when their babies are young. She put a little beanie on Charlie before he went in to get scanned. Doesn’t it look like the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou?

Charlie going in to get scanned.

She said she really doubts Charlie will need a helmet. There is some flatness but most babies have a little flatness with Back to Sleep (the campaign to have babies sleep on their backs rather than tummy to reduce the risk of SIDS). We think our Dr. was just being cautious. I’m still worried, but I do feel a lot better after going to the appointment today. We go back in a month to do another scan and see if its gotten better. If it has, I don’t think we have to go back. If its the same or worse, we will probably need to go back at 5 months. She said the 5/6 month timeframe is when parents need to decide if they want to go the helmet route then most babies wear the helmet for 4-6 months.

Here is what the helmets look like: