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It's been no secret around here that little Moon has been struggling with her skin since turning one month old. What started as some normal bumps, led to what appears to be eczema behind her knees, then eventually her neck folds, and arm creases. Per our pediatrician's recommendation we started doing bleach baths three times a week and switched up her baby wash and lotions. While those helped initially, the rash never went away, and after three months eventually grew worse.
Ruling out her body wash and lotions, we thought the issue was our new house. I mean we did move into it shortly after she was born, and the previous owner had a cat. Pet dander, particularly cats, are one of the leading allergens that triggers eczema in babies. For months I was a nervous Nelly about putting her down and potentially exposing her to more allergens that may have been left behind in the rug or cracks on the floor. I worked myself up avoiding the rugs and floors, and finally realized I can't hold her 24/7 and she needs tummy time!
Protecting from dirt, dust, and allergens with Swiffer
Tummy time is essential for her to explore and move about. It's how she builds strength and coordination. I finally got over my floor anxiety when I realize her skin wasn't getting better by avoiding it. I also started using my Swiffer religiously.
We keep Swiffer products from Sam's Club on hand as a quick and easy way to remove any dust, dirt, or allergens lurking on the floor before we put her down. The Swiffer Sweeper Dry refills trap dirt, dust, hair and crumbs while Swiffer Wet has powerful dirt-dissolving cleansers that pull dirt from surfaces and lock it away. Used together, these products are perfect for making sure that your floor is ready for any and all tummy time activities! They give me peace of mind too when it comes to protecting our daughters skin with eczema from further allergens. Shop them here!
Once we became diligent about making sure the floor was clean thanks to Swiffer, we started realizing that sometimes her skin would stay about the same, and other times it would become much worse. Of course loads of people suggested it was something in my diet causing her allergic reaction. Eczema has been linked to gut health. Since she has never really been fussy as a result of her rash, we decided to hold off on doing any sort of elimination diet on my end, and instead just go very slowly while introducing solids and see how she responds.
Investigating her rash further…
Well the first day we gave her avocado she was a little rashy – but it wasn't alarming. We gave her such a tiny sliver though. The next day I gave her about a quarter of an avocado and her arm was sitting in a pile of it. When I cleaned her down her entire arm that was sitting in the pile had broken out in the worse rash I'd seen yet. It seemed clear to us that she had some sort of topical allergic reaction to the avocado, though her lips and mouth seemed unbothered. We did some research and found that a baby latex sensitivity may be what's going on since there's a link between a reaction to avocado and latex.
Great. At least we got some clarity.
No more avocados and stay away from latex.
Only, we went to put her down for a little naked tummy time a couple of days later (to let her air out), and her entire torso become inflamed. What the heck?! We were diligent about our Swiffer sweeping so we were confused… until we realized that we had done tummy time on the yoga mat I had left out from my morning workout. Upon googling, we discovered that this particular yoga mat had latex in it. OY VEY!
So here we are a month or so later, waiting for our next appointment with our pediatrician to figure out next steps. One little hack that seems to have been working really well for us has been switching her baby wash and lotion between two brands every so often. It seems to confuse the skin and keep her looking her best. We've also diligently checked all the other household items for latex, stopped avocados, and are keeping up with our Swiffer Sweepers to keep her skin looking at good as possible!
3 Favorite Tummy Time Activities For Baby With Eczema
I know how challenging it was for me to dive into tummy time because I wanted to protect her baby skin with eczema as much as possible. But I also know how important it is for her growing development. Here's what our favorite tummy time activities have been over the last six months with her changing eczema and our skin rashes she's had:
Chest-to-chest
Since I was nervous about putting her on the floor right away, we did a lot of chest to chest time while I sat on the couch or bed. Swiffering was obviously still essential during this since we have a little dog who loves to run on the couch and bed and will happily bring any dust or allergens from the floor onto those surfaces.
Reach-and-roll
When she was learning to roll, we'd like to put something just outside of her reach and see if she'd roll to get it. Truthfully, our daughter is efficient so she'd typically just go for the item with the closest arm and wouldn't really want to “roll” for it unless it was a high ticket item like a phone. Despite never giving her screen time, she seems to know exactly what it is and is obsessed with getting her hands on it!
Book walls
As she's gotten a little older, we've moved onto lining up open board books for her to look at, grab at, and play with. She becomes fixated on the different colors and textures. We move their distances around too and it's so cute watching her wiggle worm her way over to them!
Swiffer Dry and Wet Refills at Sam’s Club helps us maintain a clean play space. You can also save money on this great deal happening from 8/21-9/15 you can get $3 off in Instant Savings offer on Swiffer Dry/Wet refills at Sam’s Club!
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