infant son is scratching his face.?

Question

My infant son always wakes up with scatches on his face. I've trimmed his nails and filed them but he still scratches himself. I know I could put mittens on him, but he sucks on his fingers at night to put himself to sleep. Any other suggestions?

Answer 1

Could be exzema causing him to itch. My sons allergist said use lots and LOTS of lotion to help it. And dont skimp on price, there is a difference between generic adn brand name lotions. I didnt believe that either but found it to be true.

Answer 2

My son did this, and since he was my second child I was able to notice that he did it a lot more than my first child did. I mentioned it to the doctor, in addition to his other symptoms (always rubbing his face on me, dry patches of skin in several places, etc), and he was diagnosed with eczema. My doctor ended up giving me a few different prescriptions that helped. I have liquid Zantac, which is an antihistimine, to help calm down his system and keep him from feeling itchy all the time. I also got something called Alclometasone, which is a steroid cream that is mild enough to be used on his face. I put that on his forehead when he seems to be scratching it a lot. I even got some drops that I can put on his scalp if he's scratching his head a lot.

You didn't mention your baby's age. I know most newborns tend to scratch at their heads and faces from time to time, so it's hard to tell in the beginning if it is severe enough to need treatment. Eczema tends to show up around three months of age, but could rear its ugly head sooner than that. But if your baby is getting scratches on his face and head, and you've tried clipping and filing nails and putting mittens on him, you might want to ask your doctor if eczema could be the problem. One way for you to tell is to look at his fingers. Since you said he sucks on them, most likely if he has eczema they would be cracked and dry wherever he sucks on them (my son's are -- we have a whole different ointment for that).

I hope your little boy can find some relief soon! If your doctor doesn't give you the answers you need, don't hesitate to take him to someone else for a second opinion. One thing I've learned through two different babies is that sometimes it's good to have a different perspective from a doctor that you don't normally see. Actually, some of the best advice and prescriptions I ever got were from doctors on call when my doctor had the day off or was in a different office for the day.

Good luck!

By the way, make sure you are using a perfume and dye free laundry detergent (NOT Dreft, which is loaded with perfumes), and unscented baby soap for bathing him, too.

Answer 3

Is there any type of rash? It could be ezema. But, I dont think so it sounds like normal scratching to me. Mousterizing will help. But, it wont take care of it all together. Babies scratch.Somebody told you not to spare expense when using lotions. I disagree, the doctor told me the least expensive ones are just as good as the expensive one and not to waste my money. In fact my daughter had ezema. The mittens are about the only thing other than what you are already doing by keeping his nails short. So just mousterize and also try not to bathe too much. Bathing to frequently also dries out the skin. Doctor told me try everyother day as babies do not get that dirty. I wish you luck.

Answer 4

The only suggestion I can give you is to put the mittens on him. There is no other way that I know of. He will find another way to soothe himself I'm pretty sure. Sorry for the lack of info! I had 4 kids and the mittens always worked for me but mine had a soother at the time.

Answer 5

I would go with the mittens.
There are also some baby clothes that has little built in mittens for the hands.
I would try to get him to suck on a pacifier at night instead of his hands. That will be better in the long run too as he will use the pacifier instead of his fingers/thumb when older.

Answer 6

My son was the same way, and even thought he sucked his fingers at night we still had to put mittens on him. Give him a pacifier at night. My son wouldn't take pacifiers but we kept on trying to give them to him and finally he did. One that happened he didn't suck on his fingers for bed anymore and didn't have any problems with the mittens.

Answer 7

Let him suck on a soothie pacifier.. its shaped like his finger too. YOu could also buy those little bag outfits.. It has no feet just comes below the feel and scrunches up.. those outfits usually have infant mittens built in, so that you are not worried he will choke on a mitten.

Answer 8

My son does the same. I use cotton mittens. When I notice he's been sucking on them, I just change them and hand wash the pair he was just wearing. They dry over night, which is good when you can go through several pairs in a day.

Answer 9

Use the mittens that wont come off and if he sucks on the cotton, it wont hurt him anyway. Him scratching at his face is far worse than sucking on a cotton mitten.

Answer 10

Since you're trimming and filing his nails, I think you're doing all you can. Maybe offer him a pacifier to suck on instead of letting him suck on his fingers could help, if you let him use those. This way, you could use the mits or even swaddle him.

It's so sad how those cute tiny hands can be your baby's worst enemy! :( Good luck!

Answer 11

nicely the 1st element to do could be to maintain her nails trimmed. i be attentive to that i used to could shrink my son's fingernails each couple days reason his grew so rapid. attempt utilising those mittens as nicely. which will help sidestep the scratches on her face. Neosporen is prob your acceptable guess, yet like i reported get a number of those mittens, so aleast once you place the neosporen on, she gets it on her palms and positioned it in her mouth. basically watch her heavily. i dont think of neosporen could harm her, yet i think of its acceptable for the scratches, or you may basically enable them to heal on their own. Thats what i did whilst my son used to scratch up his face. He continually did it whilst he have been given rather fussy, and actually drained.