How I Keep Track of my Toddler's Eczema

When my son was 4 months old, I decided it was best for my family if I went back to work and it was at that point, I (regrettably) stopped breast feeding. We first switched my son over to regular formula and he all of the sudden had eczema AND he had a dairy allergy, so we had to feed him the soy formula.

Well now he is 16 months old and we have his eczema down most of the time, but I notice, when things change in his life (like recently starting pre pre school) it tends to break out. So this last time was pretty difficult to get under control... but I've come up with a routine that has been making his skin 100% better.

Here is what we did:

NOT Coconut Oil 

Surprisingly, coconut oil wasn't helpful to my son's skin. I wouldn't say it made it worse, but it definitely didn't make the eczema better despite what everyone told me.

Magnesium Sponge Baths 

I noticed a big improvement after we starting doing sponge baths every other day, alternating quick 2 minute baths one day (using a natural baby soap, like this one here) and a full on sponge bath with a magnesium tablet broken up into a bowl of warm water on the other day.

Pycnogenol (very small amounts) 

Pycnogenol is the US registered trademark name for a product derived from the pine bark of a tree known as Pinus pinaster.
I started putting just a tiny bit of this supplement into his morning oatmeal (no, my son is not 100% paleo).

Vitamin D drops

Vitamin D is very beneficial to everyone's skin, but vitamin D deficiency is so common now, that it is now recognized as a pandemic.The major cause of vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure in moderation is the major source of vitamin D for most humans. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D, and foods that are fortified with vitamin D are often inadequate to satisfy either a child's or an adult's vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency causes rickets in children and will precipitate and exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, and fractures in adults. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, hypertension, and infectious diseases.
Everyone should be taking a vitamin D supplement unless you spend the majority of your day outside in the sun for long periods of time.

Natural Products + Creams 

Here are my favorite:
Desert Essence
Honest Organic Healing Balm
Vaseline