Tummy Time

Most babies hate tummy time. Unfortunately, it's just one of those things that babies have to work on in order to gain upper body strength, to learn how to crawl. Here is Jasmine working on her muscles...

Organic Creams

For the past two months, I've been looking into creams and the ingredients that may help eczema skin. I've always been crazy over creams (I hate wrinkles and sun spots) so this is just another excuse for me to do more research. I can literally spend hours, standing in the cream aisle staring at creams.

The best cream must trap moisture in the skin, stop the itch if possible and work to improve the skin cells. It's tough to find a cream that will work on sensitive baby skin. With all the chemicals out there, you have to be careful with what you put on, since 60% of everything you slather on will be absorbed by the body. When was the last time you looked at the ingredients of your night moisturizer?

After trying all the creams that my doctor suggested (and none of them did anything), I've taken the natural and organic route. Here are the creams that I've tried (in alphabetical order):

Aubrey Organics Baby Lotion and Rose Hip Moisture Cream
Burt's Bees Buttermilk Lotion
Champori Anti-Eczema Cream
Dermamed Children's Healing Cream
Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream
Jason Natural Calendula Cream
Weleda Calendula Cream
7 Cream (new formula)

Because Jasmine has really sensitive skin, the only two creams that work so far is Aubrey Organics and 7 cream. I wish that these can coat the skin more but it's good enough so that she doesn't get flareups.

The reasons the others didn't work: Burt's Bees has fragrance in it. Champori and Gentle Naturals use petrolatum as the cream base (which is something I am trying to avoid). Dermamed had a strong scent, even though the scent is from oils (something gave her rash). Jason Natural uses potassium sorbate as a preservative . Weleda contains lanolin.

Your doctor may tell you to try Eucerin, Aquaphor, Aveeno Baby, Glaxal Base or Vaseline. Seems like all of these creams have petrolatum or mineral oil or parrafinum, not to mention some -parabens. I've read somewhere that basically you are coating a layer on top of the skin so that moisture can't escape but at the same time, the skin can't breathe. The skin needs to breathe in order to get the toxic stuff out. Note - everything I'm writing is from what I've been reading up so please don't pound on me if any information is incorrect.

I am hoping by using these natural organic creams instead, Jasmine will grow out of the eczema condition. If you have tried another line of natural creams that work for you, please send me a note so I can check it out. Thank you.

4 Months - Visiting the Doctor

Because of the Easter weekend, we brought Jasmine in for her 4 month check-up early. We were expecting the usual exams, head size, length, weight and of course, her dose of immunization shots. We have our Children's Tylenol on hand already...

(From Jasmine): I woke up this morning with Mummy lifting me up out of bed. I was thinking, what is she doing? I'm still sleepy. Let me sleep, LET ME SLEEP! Grumble, grumble. Then she plopped me onto her bed. I like Mummy's bed, it's so soft and big. Mummy scribbled something on a piece of paper and was making funny faces and dangling toys in front of me. Don't know what she was trying to do. And then something flashed in my eyes and I was blinded for a second.

Then Mummy dressed me in clothes and Daddy put me into the car seat. Ok, where are we going so early? Apparently, we are going to see the doctor; I like seeing the doctor. She always plays with me. Once we got to the doctor's office, Mummy took off all my clothes and the doctor wiggled my arms and legs, shined a light into my eyes and listened to my heart. She says I look fine for a 4 month old. Yay! And suddenly, I felt these sharp things in my legs...OW! They gave me 3 shots this time around, but it wasn't so bad. I didn't get a fever either so Mummy was happy about that. I weigh 12 lbs now.

My - How I've Grown

I was reminiscing of when Jasmine was born just a few months ago. I went through the photos we took of her when she was a newborn and comparing them to her now. Jasmine is almost four months old now. Take a look for yourself:

Newborn...........................................At 3 months old

In the above pictures, you can clearly see that Jasmine's legs now reach the Graco logo at the bottom of the car seat. You will also see that her head is much taller than the safety sticker on the left hand side.

Newborn:



At 3 months old:



In these two pictures, Jasmine's feet have grown to almost touching the bottom of the chair.

I can't believe how much Jasmine has grown in a few short months. I'll have to keep on taking pictures of her before she starts talking back at me....

Eczema Update - Elimination Diet

For those who know me, I've been on the elimination diet since the end of January, almost 7 weeks ago. At 5 weeks, there was no change to Jasmine's skin condition so I tightened the diet even more. I'm currently only eating organic beef and chicken, squash, pears and rice products (rice milk, noodles, bread, chips, cereal...anything that is made with rice). No salt or sugar or any of the bad stuff. Not much selection in terms of food, but I can eat as much as I want.

Over the past 2 weeks, there's been alot improvement in Jasmine's eczema. It's cleared up alot however, we are not sure if it is because of the diet or whether it is the cream that we are using or whether it's the new air purifier we bought. Jasmine is certainly enjoying her life better now without scratching her face off or being swaddled all the time. Here's a cute pic of Jasmine playing:

I'll be adding different foods every few days, hoping to catch any allergic reaction if it occurs. I'll provide an update in the next couple of weeks.

Eczema Update - Creams and Lotions

I've been meaning to update on the progress of Jasmine's eczema condition. We finally have it somewhat under control using topical creams and we haven't used the hydrocorizone cream in one week, yay! Of course, we are still trying to pinpoint the root cause of her eczema (if there is a cause) so that the eczema will stay away for good.

So far, we've tried the following creams and I've rated them out of 10. I gave a reason for each rating:

Creams that were ok:
Jamiesons vit E cream - 9 (very hydrating for the face, price is good too)
7 cream - 8.5 (works really well, more details on this below)
Neem oil - 8 (got the itchiness out but strong smell)
Aveeno baby - 7.5 (thicker texture and good for the body)
Glaxal base - 7.5 (can be used on the face and body)
Eucerin - 7 (not thick enough and constant application needed)

Creams that didn't work for us:
Dermamed childrens healing cream - 6 (all natural but strong smell, watery)
Gentle naturals baby eczema cream - 5.5 (too oily)
Champori - 5 (she was sensitive to a herb in the cream)
Weleda baby cream - 5 (she was sensitive to lanolin)
Penaten cream - 4 (yuck, thick and dry)
0.5% cortate - didn't work
1% prescription hydrocortisone - worked but thins the skin

Currently, we are using 7 cream and Jamieson vitamin E cream on Jasmine's face and then using Aveeno Baby or Glaxal Base on her body. The 7 cream contains calendula and neem, both are herbs that have special properties that help heal eczema. I put the 7 cream on for 3 days and her eczema cleared up 75%. Anyone who has eczema should definitely give 7 cream a try. What works for her may not work for someone else though.

I am hoping to find something not only that will moisturize her skin, but will keep the eczema away permenantly. If you have any suggestions, please feel free post your comments. I'd love to hear what else is on the market that will help.

Why is the Baby Crying?

On one of my usual weekday walks, I decided to stop into our local drugstore to check out some creams to help relieve my dry skin. The winter dry air sure isn't doing my skin any good. It's dry, peeling and itchy. Worst of all, I look horrible.

So there I was with my stroller and baby, walking into the store. Jasmine was really good, quiet and just looking around. As I walk into the cream aisle, Jasmine starts to fuss. I take off her jacket and push the stroller along, hoping that she will calm down so that I can look at creams. Then she starts crying. I knew that it was close to her naptime so I wanted to wait it out until she fell asleep.

Jasmine cried and cried and cried...and she got louder and louder. People around me started looking at me funny, wondering why I am letting my daughter cry her head off. I continued looking at creams, hoping Jasmine will fall asleep soon. After 5 minutes of her screaming at the top of her lungs, I decided to go. I grabbed one of the creams off the shelf and walked towards the cashier to pay.

While waiting in line, the lady in front of me tells me, "she is so hot, can't you tell from her face?" I just smiled and kept my cool. Then the lady tells the cashier, "that lady is just standing there, isn't she going to pick the baby up?" Then the lady behind me says, "it looks like she is hungry, look at her turning her head."

Gotta love it when other people tell you why the baby is crying. Why do strangers think that they know the baby better than the Mom does? Makes me wonder if this happens to all Moms. Next time, I'll have a comment prepared in case this happens to me again.

After making my purchase, I walk outside with screaming Jasmine and then suddenly, she stops crying. Jasmine falls asleep immediately. Isn't life grand?

OUCH....

When you hear the word "ouch", what do you think of?

When Jasmine was first born, she cried all the time. As first-time parents, Richard and I didn't know what the crying meant and spent countless hours trying to figure out what she wanted. Now that Jasmine is 3 months old, we find her needs quickly and get her to comfort within a few minutes.

We started our day like normal, feeding Jasmine and changing her diaper. Then we put her in her bouncy chair as we cooked lunch and watched some TV. Because Jasmine started scratching her face, we got our nail clipper out. Cutting her nails is no easy task. Pudgy fingers, wiggling arms and constant shoving her fist into her mouth, makes it a challenge.

Jasmine was content sitting in her bouncy chair and staring at the dolls in front of her and then suddenly...wah, wah, WAH! I turn around to look at Richard who has the nail clipper and claims "I didn't cut her". He takes a closer look and sees the cut. Richard informs, "oops, but there is no blood". Then 2 seconds later, blood starts dripping. But babies are so good, they don't hurt for long. Jasmine stops crying soon after.

Later that evening as we get ready for bed, I wash the last of the dishes in the kitchen. Richard is in Jasmine's room, changing her diaper. (Daddy Tweet should do the diapers more often). Suddenly, I hear a loud "BANG" and then loud "wah, wah, WAH". I dash into Jasmine's room to see what is going on. Richard smiles sheepishly and informs, "she hit her head herself". Apparently, Jasmine hit her head against the wall. How does a baby hit her own head?

To end the night, when we hear Jasmine cry, we know that she is in need of something that she can't get herself, unless of course, we are the cause of her cry.