Sneaking in here.....

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Sneaking in here.....
6
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 7:47am

...While I can.


Today is our "official" first day together as a 6 person family. Dh just got off to work after being on vacation for a week. It took a little extra pushing to get him out the door...LOL!


All the kids are still asleep, so all is quiet here so far. We all went to the grocery store yesterday and I have to say that I am VERY grateful for the new H#B Store. They carry these great new grocery carts that kept the kids occupied. I think this must be the "honeymoon" period because we did not have to get onto the kids one time yesterday...lol.


I could not beleive how well the kids have been getting along. Nick actually found the one person that he gets along with and plays well with!!! He and the 4 year old played together so well yesterday my Dh and I were in shock! l0l


Thomas though had a hard time last night, poor little guy. He woke up crying and itching. He has mild excema and no one told us how to take care of him! That really pisses me off! We used shampoo on him that he was not supposed to use. Later alex told us he has to use a special kind! I could not beleive it! Alex himself does not know very much about it, since he is not used to living with his brother, just that he can have limited time outside, and can only wear certain kinds of clothing and can not use certain soaps or shampoos....so I am going to research as much as I can. I don't think thomas even has a doctor TO call if I wanted to....so I will have to get him into my pediatrician as soon as possible.


Alex seems to be taking this all very well. He expressed some anger last night at his mother, which I am taking as a good sign.


Please pray that today goes well for us. My two nephews are coming as well since I keep them during the day, they are 8 and 1 years old. Hopefully everyone gets along well, and I plan to keep everyone VERY busy...lol. I can't beleive I am surounded by BOYS!! LOL

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iVillage Member
Registered: 01-06-2004
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 9:58am
Glad to hear that you have them home.
Have you tried looking up Exema on the internet? Or maybe call your family ped and ask about what you should do for it?
Hope things go smoothly for you guys. And glad you had a good vacation..........

Lilypie Baby Days

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 3:25pm
Elocon Elocon Elocon. it's this absolutely wonderful rx cream for excema that works miracles even on the worst patches. the same company makes another cream called Elodril for use on the face, and they're both wonderful. both my kids have excema and it's really no big deal as long as you stay away from harsh soaps, shampoos, and laundry detergent. you'll probably need to get some Dreft detergent if you don't already use it, as that is the only one that doesn't make them break out. there's a special line of soaps, shampoos, and lotions that they sell at wal-mart, k-mart, and most grocery stores that contains colloidal oatmeal and is awesome for excema. i can't remember the name right now and unfortunately i'm out myself so i can't go look in the bathroom, lol, but if you look by the lotions you should see it. they use tan/natural color packaging, so they look different than all the other lotions.

it's not so much the sun that breaks them out (although it can if they get burned) it's usually the sunscreen. you need to get the most gentle perfume free, dye free, chemical free one you can find, make sure you get a hypoallergenic one.

if the itching is driving him crazy benadryl will knock it out.

anyway hth, and btw, i'm BEYOND proud of you.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 5:42pm

Clarity!


THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!


I have been searching the internet as much as I could today, and everytime I tried to research anything it always gave me sites to the medicines. I wanted info on what kind of detergent to use..so you answered that for me. Plus that is a HUGE tip about the sunscreen! I thought it was the sun, and never thought about the sun block! I also wondered if benedryl would be of any help so that was so cool that you thought to add that! This was exactly the kind of info I was looking for. After Dh gets home I am going to go out and get the stuff he needs. I already have the benadryl since my little ds has allergies and needs to ocassionaly take it.


And thank you for your kind words. It is so nice to hear! I usually only get that from Dh, so it really touched me!


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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-08-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 7:16pm
Hi - lurker here. First of all, I hope your family adjusts easily to the new children. God bless you and your DH for what you are doing for them.

My daughter also has eczema. There is an eczema board here at parentsplace.com (under kids health). There is alot of information from BTDT moms about various treatments, etc.

Again, prayers to you and your family.

Becky

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2004
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 7:35pm
Thank you so much Becky! I should have known there was a board for that on ivillage..lol! Thanks for the info..I will have to go check that out!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-12-2003
Tue, 07-13-2004 - 10:13am
glad i could help :) i remembered the line of lotions/soaps/etc, it's called Aveeno and it's commercially available and not very expensive (which is probably an important consideration since your family just doubled!) and seems to work just as well as the more expensive brands in my experience. about sunscreen: we use Nuetrogena (sp?) sensitive skin and it's never broken my kids out, so i'd say start with that. if that doesn't work i know that some dermatologists recomend using a simple zinc-oxide cream like Desetin, it will work fine as a sunscreen and won't break him out. (isn't that strange? bet you never knew diaper rash cream could double as a sunscreen did ya? lol) watch out for fabric softener, the dryer sheets do bad things to my kids. when you do get him to the ped ask for a referal to a derm, he'll probably need to see one a couple of times until you all get the hang of it. they'll probably start him on Cutivate, which is a strong steroid cream that can knock out a raging flare up fast, and then do Eledil/Elecon on the remaining patches and to maintain. i want to encourage you that exema is really no big deal in most kids. it's something you have to be aware of just like allergies or nose bleeds or bedwetting, but it's just another thing to keep in mind, not a huge life-changing disability. like i said, both of my kids have it and most of the time you'd never know because we have it under control and are aware of what breaks them out. alleria breaks if she drinks too much milk or eats lima beans or oranges, trist breaks out on his cheeks if we use mint toothpaste, and they both break out if their bath is too hot (be VERY careful to only give him lukewarm baths, a hot bath will cause a flare up in almost all kids) or if we use the wrong lotions, shampoos, soaps, or detergent. that probably sounds like a lot, but since we know all that and have been doing it for years it's no big deal.

when they do break out, do a little detective work and try to guess what did it, and if you can't figure it out just chalk it up to fate, lol. in my experience, dealing with excema has 3 parts: prevention, treatment, and comfort. try to prevent as many breakouts as you can, treat them when they happen, and try to make the child as comfortable as possible in the meantime. you can use otc hydrocortizone or the rx 2% mixed with Aquaphor (a vasoline like cream you can get at wally-world or K-mart) on breakouts to stop the itching and make them more comfortable, and do a cool oatmeal bath if it's driving them nutty.

anyway, hth, how's he doing btw? that's so pitiful about them being excited about lunch, i'd probably want to cry too...

how did things go last night? i remember in all my 'travels' the first night or two in a new place was so horrible and scary and i felt so alone, that was always the worst time. i hope they're coping well. are you thinking about getting them in some counseling? i know you're doing more things than superwoman right now, but that's something i would certainly look into when things settle down a little. they've got to be carrying around soooo much pain and baggage, and it might help them to deal with it. especially for the 10 yo, he's going to need to work through some of that pain before he hits his teens or he's going to be in a lot of trouble, at least that was the case with me. something to think about anyway, and you can usually find free or sliding scale therapy for kids. if you need help finding some i happen to be really good at that, so drop me an email if you want me to look for you.

thinking of you :)

hug them for me.