Our Battle With Eczema

If you’ve been following the blog since the beginning, you’ve heard multiple times that Kairo had pretty bad eczema as an infant. I’m finally dedicating an entire blog post to discussing our battle and how we managed to overcome it.

Days after Kai was born, he developed baby acne all over his body. We didn’t think much of it at the time because baby acne is extremely common. Eventually the baby acne turned into dry and scaly spots, and around 2 months, his skin became blotchy. By 3 months his skin was so itchy that his face was red and beginning to crack.

A couple weeks after Kai turned 4 months old, I decided to take him to an allergist because I assumed a flare up this bad could only be caused by a food allergy. Trying to keep him from scratching was also becoming harder as he acquired better control of his limbs. We were still swaddling him at night (and did so until he was almost 7 months old), but he was becoming strong enough to break out, so we had to get to the root cause of this.

The allergy test revealed that he was “allergic” to nuts and eggs. I honestly am not fully convinced that the results were accurate, but being desperate for a solution, I cut all nuts and eggs out of my diet. I was breastfeeding so I assumed things I ate were being transferred to him through my milk. The allergist also prescribed some drugs to help control the flare up (hydrocortisone and an oral anti histamine). Giving Kairo these drugs really devastated me but we were VERY desperate to find some relief for him. After following the recommended treatment, we did not notice any significant improvement.

While all of this was going on, I was experiencing the WORST eczema flare up of my life. Kairo was about 5 months old and my mind was finally coming out of the “new mommy fog” so I was beginning to think clearly, and I wondered if the eczema flare up he was experiencing was related to mine. I scheduled an appointment with my acupuncturist to figure out what was going on with me in hopes that it would shine some light on what was going on with Kai. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, they believe that treating the mother is the best way to treat the child (when they are infants).

Here you can see the eczema on the crease of my arm and on Kai’s face.

My eczema has always been triggered by stress and I was going through a pretty difficult break up. On top of that, dealing with the new responsibilities of being a mama was really taking a toll on me and my body was reflecting what was going on internally. The advice my acupuncturist gave me was to work through my emotions. She told me to let it out! She also encouraged me to take Kai on walks and sit outside and talk to him about how I’m feeling. He will listen and he understands.

I went home that day and did everything she told me to do. I started taking therapy and my healing seriously and I started walking and talking to Kai. While I was working to heal myself emotionally and physically, I was also learning about herbs and natural remedies for eczema and began playing around with making my own lotions. His face was where he experienced the most severe eczema, so I made a lotion using my breastmilk, beeswax, and vitamin E oil to help repair the skin on his face. I used that on his face for about 4-5 months, applying it any time his face looked dry. For his body, I created a body butter using shea butter, calendula infused oil, and castor oil. We’ve been using this body butter for almost a year now and we apply it at each diaper change.

As those who suffer from eczema know, it never fully goes away. It’s always lurking in the background waiting for the right trigger. But I’m happy to say that there are no noticeable indictors of eczema for Kai or myself right now. I believe the herbal remedies I created paired with the reconciliation of my emotions is what has helped heal our eczema.

During Kai’s flare up, I begged my acupuncturist to see him and tell me what to do to address his needs, but she told me something that has stuck with me to this day “as his mom, you’re his first doctor, teacher, and friend. You will figure it out.” That was obviously not what I wanted to hear, but looking back, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Victory doesn’t feel as good when it isn’t earned on your own. And when it comes to your child, no one knows them better than you. We can access all the solutions to our problems just by giving ourselves time and trusting that we will be guided to what it is we need to know. I had never in my life been interested in learning about herbs and making lotion until I needed to heal my son. I would’ve continued to avoid dealing with my emotions had I not realized it was manifesting as eczema in both Kai and I.  And I most certainly would not have vented to Kairo, but I’m grateful I did because I was able to practice what I teach. I want Kai to see me as human, not a supernatural being who doesn’t feel.  I hope that this was just the first of many opportunities I will get to be vulnerable with him. Mama is a human too.  

Problems pop up in our lives to help test and stretch us. As mamas, it’s easy to consult the doctor first, but I want to encourage you to unlock your inner knowing. Continue to observe your little one and as issue arise consult yourself first. I bet the answer is lying there waiting for you to discover it. Our babies are learning so much through their interactions with us. We take this responsibility very seriously!

You got this!

Until next time,

Stay ViKtorious, Mama!