The skin of a young child is very sensitive. All you need is an unchanged diaper for a long time or overheating your toddler and the trouble is ready.
Babies and slightly older children are very often prone to skin problems. Avoiding these troubles and fighting them effectively depends largely on the caregivers.
Smooth baby’s bottom?
The skin of a baby who is still using diapers is exposed to contact with urine, faeces, and bacteria from the diaper. In such situations, diaper dermatitis often develops. The baby becomes restless as it itches and the skin burns. When we take the diaper off, we will see redness. When the ailment worsens, erosive lumps also form, which may be covered with purulent discharge.
Diaper dermatitis is often the result of improper baby care. It is worth remembering the rules of baby care and see a few novelties – after all, we took care of our children a long time ago … So: the first rule – changing diapers frequently. The baby’s buttocks can be washed with water without soap or wiped with special wipes. Only special baby lotions should be used for bathing, and then the baby’s skin must be thoroughly dried. A good solution is to remove the diaper for a few to several minutes, several times a day. Diaper rash is treated with proper skin care and the use of disinfectant and anti-inflammatory preparations. A doctor recommends them when the changes are severe. When they are light, creams that can be purchased at any drugstore work well.
Phew, how hot
Some grandmothers take great care that the baby does not get cold and dress him too warmly. Such clothing may also cause skin irritation as the baby sweats excessively. A visible sign of this is prickly heat, or red spots the size of a pinhead. They are not serious, but can be annoying. To prevent them, the grandmother must make sure that the baby does not sweat too much. To check if your baby is too hot, touch his or her neck, not the hands or feet (they are usually much cooler than the rest of the body).
The skin of a small allergy sufferer
It occurs in children, most often between 3 months and 5 years of age, and is a disease associated with the body’s excessive response to allergens. The role of the grandmother, if she is taking care of the child, will be to observe the child’s skin, check if there are spots that flake off and ooze, and if the skin is too dry. This ailment may also be accompanied by itching, as well as hay fever, atopic asthma, and allergic conjunctivitis.
Atopic dermatitis is treated symptomatically. It is also necessary to minimize the contact of a sick child with allergens. You should also use hypoallergenic cleansers, and as cosmetics, the so-called emollients (e.g. Oliatum, Emolium), which can be bought at the pharmacy.
In kindergarten
It would seem that such “embarrassing” skin problems such as head lice or scabies are a distant history. Well, no, they happen all the time and not rarely at all. It is enough for the child to start contact with other children, e.g. in a nursery, kindergarten.
Head lice is a disease caused by head lice, clothing lice and pubic lice. They feed on human blood and are transmitted most often due to the joint use of combs, hats, and clothing. You can tell if your child is scratching if they are scratching their head lice, and when their hair is parted, you can see white balls attached to the hair – these are lice eggs (nits). The lice themselves, on the other hand, are hard to spot. If a child develops head lice, other household members and those who have come into contact with them are at risk. Therefore, everyone should prophylactically undergo a treatment, which consists in rubbing a preparation against head lice into the hair, and then combing the hair with a thick comb. Usually only hair combing is used in children up to three years of age. You have to remember about hygiene and frequent change of linen.
Scabies is a disease caused by tiny mites – the human scabies mite. It is transmitted to a person through contact with a sick person or with things that they used. In children, parasites can be found between the fingers, skin folds, around the perineum, in the skin of the soles of the feet and hands. The symptom is itching, which usually gets worse at night. When you notice that your child is scratching a lot, see a dermatologist. The doctor will select the appropriate creams or ointments. The effectiveness of the therapy depends on the systematic application of the preparations and leaving them on for the whole day.
Piotr Janczarek
Source: Domowe Kuracje, Let’s live longer
Heat rash in an infant