Having a sick kid is never fun for anyone involved. Especially when it’s your own kid. We recently lived this first hand when found ourselves driving our wee one to the hospital. Turned out it was nothing but a deep chest cold, but they did keep the babe in for observation. During this time names of major infectious diseases and bacterial infections were tossed around the room. Then there was talk of transferring her to a larger hospital. All of it was scary. It was scary and we were responsible. I was aware of this responsibility before but man; oh man did it ever ring true that day. Having a lethargic infant who can’t communicate how they’re feeling or what they want is not only heartbreaking but stressful. I want to take time out here, as I did in the hospital that day, to think and pray for all the families who feel this strain day in and day out.
We decided as a family (with the doctor) that we felt confident enough to take our wee one home and observe her from there, agreeing to drive to the next town if we saw her condition worsening. For all those who have experienced a similar situation (every parent!) you know the ‘am I making the right decision?!’ broken record well. I’m sure as our wee one grows from babe to toddler and from tween to teenager we will be singing right along as though we wrote the album ourselves. We couldn’t have been happier with our doctor, and now feel a little more secure in our decision making as parents (although I’m not sure we’ll ever be 100% fortified!).
While we were in the hospital I noticed that the tiny, dry, benign bumps that had been on our baby’s arms, legs and forehead for the last couple of months (ones the Dr. was never concerned about) seemed irritated. Although I brought this to the medical teams’ attention, they felt the spots were unrelated. Over the course of the next few days they exploded, expanded and looked pretty gnarly to be frank. I started researching the possibilities of what this could be in part ready to hop back in the car in a b-line for emergency (you can safely assume I was just a tad nerved up after sleepless nights and stressful days). With a big sigh of relief, the closest thing I could find in a few books was what sounded like a case of the rare breed of eczema called Nummular Eczema (tip of the day: did you know that there are 7 different types with varying symptoms?). These coin shaped lesions mainly on the limbs of the body can worsen by temperature changes, environmental irritants and stress (namely emotional). Knowing more now, I am amazed at how these tiny bumps became completely inflamed and spread during our stay at the hospital- a time where our wee one was in very obvious emotional distress. Although our baby could not speak, the reaction (as well as the wails) was indicative.
In our follow-up appointment I had brought along an organic, ‘free-from-the bad-stuff moisturizer’ that we have rarely used to ask if it would be alright to use on this condition. I think it’s a good rule of thumb to always start off with a natural product in a medical setting. The worse they’ll tell you is that they recommend something else. To my surprise the medical doctor looked at the ingredients and agreed on the moisturizer. In fact, he suggested we lather those spots with it. Why am I telling you this? Because it works like a charm! In three days of using this lotion 2-3 times/day the Nummular Eczema has improved a ton! Episencial Better Body Butter ($11 USD) is free from additives, parabens, hormones, preservatives, nut oils, gluten, SLS, Fragrances & petroleum (and more), and is made with a whole bunch of organic plant derived oils (so many!). This line was developed for babies and kids by Kim Walls, a mother and environmental activist. I have recently checked them out, and their website goes above and beyond my expectations. It provides tons of resources from baby skin care to breastfeeding to birthing choices to homeschooling, cloth diapering, & mother’s sanity only to name a few! When I first bought it I was just looking for a safe baby lotion…who knew that months later it would be shooing Nummular Eczema from my baby’s skin!
Other Natural Tips to Treat Nummular Eczema
-Keep the air moist, as well as the skin (cool-mist humidifier and healthy moisturizer)
-Reduce baths to 2-3 times/week. Use only warm water, no soap or shampoo until it clears.
-An oatmeal bath can soothe the itch. Place 1c. of oatmeal in a cotton bag or nylon stocking, hang under faucet and rub on affected area.
-Mangoes, apricots, carrots, yams, spinach and blueberries are good sources of beta-carotenes, which are essential for healthy skin.
-There are many other nutritional, herbal, homeopathic and other natural therapies available. Each mama needs to research and decide which is best for their baby chicks.
