[redbonec]

I posted another please help question, and I have one more. Both have been big to-do's in our house, and I am hoping for suggestions!
Since about 2 weeks old, (daughter is 3 months old now) we were doing massage on our daughter after the bath, before we put her to bed. Really enjoyed it, it was a whole family time together. I massaged, husband layed next to baby and told her about his day, and our two dogs would even come lay right beside her or nearby. It was my favorite time of day.
Now for about the last two weeks she seems to have developed an aversion to the massage. She would start crying after doing the legs, and we thought she was just tired and the massage was too stimulating. Now, it appears that she doesn't want any of it, or only the legs are okay.
I tried the other day during daytime, when I was sure she wasn't tired, and had to stop early again, she became so upset.
So now we no longer do massage, but I still need to put lotion on her after the bath, which is basically the same thing as a massage almost. She hates that too.
I tried to do it fast tonight, but she gets upset so quickly--she can go from crying to ear piercing screaming in seconds. She gets so upset her eyes are swollen and red, and my husband even says she looks like Rocky after a fight. After dressing her, it can take at least 10 minutes for her to calm down.
Anyone ideas or suggestions? Lotion is a must for her to have.
Thanks!

[jillned]

This might be a dumb question, but is the lotion warm? SOme people, without even thinking, will put the lotion directly on baby. I pour it in my hands first and let it warm up a bit. I've also heard of some people setting the bottle in the bath water to warm it up. That's the only thing I can think of.

[ChristieS]

My son is four and I have always warmed his lotion while he is in the bath. I just fill the bathroom sink with hot water and place the lotion bottle in it to warm while he bathes.

Also, you may want to try (if she likes a bath) putting the lotion on in the bath as the water drains.

Regarding your other post: my son HATED to ride in the car. He would scream as if he was in severe pain from the time we backed out of the driveway until he was taken out of the car. This lasted for one year and then he was fine. Needless to say he didn't go many places his first year.

[redbonec]

I usually rub the lotion in my hands to warm it, but maybe that is not enough. I will try the warming it in the water tonight!

[traceyk]

Could you put oil in the bath, that way you could skip the lotion because she would already be moisturized?

[OregonCoast]

My son (10 yo) who has excema, claims lotion "stings" when I put it on him. The doc tells me he could have a sensitivity to aloe & lanolin. We've tried several brands, all with the same result: he squirms around, flaps his arms so the wind cools him off and almost tears up. Same goes for the various perscriptions ointments we've tried. The latest, which seems to be the most successful, is using Bag Balm. It comes in a green tin can. It's actually a medicated ointment originally used on the udders of cattle, but here in cow country, we use if for LOTS of things. lol Might not solve the problem of full body moisturizing, but perhaps if there's just a few spots, you could give it a try. Good luck!

[allanacw]

Does her crying usually escalate so quickly? It sounds like it may be an I'm-in-pain cry. As someone with a lot of allergies and sensitive skin, I can relate to the stinging sensation after putting lotion on. Maybe try switching the brand up, possibly a few times, and using a really light touch on her skin when applying it?

I hope things improve for you...it must be so frustrating!

Allana

[StorkWatcher]

My babe did the same thing! Legs were fine, but he didn't like the rest of him massaged (althought if I could do it really quickly, he'd be fine w/ some lotion.)

He also now still has eczema, so we use special prescription compounded Eucerin cream on the patches of it, and I use Lubriderm on the other parts. No more sweet smelling baby lotions or bath gels/shampoos. It's better now.

[traceyk]

Drihan sees a ped. allergist for her food allergies and excema and we have had luck using Cetaphil and Aquafore. I use the Aquafore after bath to seal in moisture and the Cetaphil in between baths. i have to be careful because she has a soy allergy and we have to make sure all her skin and hair products don't have soy in them.

[redbonec]

Cetaphil is what we are using now. I read just recently in another post that Aquafor is also excellent.
I have tried warming the container in water, but it didn't do much. That idea, though, reminded me of something our SW said--put the towel in the dryer for a few minutes before she gets out of the tub.
We have done this, and that seems to help, and my husband talks to her as he smoothes the warm towel over her as I do the lotion. Basically, distracting her some.
I also think maybe she is getting really tired at that point, and the lotion rubbing/massage is too stimulating then. I backed up her bathtime a bit tonight, seemed a little better.
Thank you!

TraceyK--it must be tough to have a soy allergy in your house! Can Drihan be around soy products but just not ingest them or be put directly on her skin?

[traceyk]

We still take in soy as we are all vegan, but we have to be EXTREMELY careful she doesn't touch or ingest it. She was using a hair butter that had soy in it and she got excema really bad and was very sick so we had to take her to her ped. allergist and that's when we realised just being on her scalp made her ill. We got off lucky so now we are even more cautious.