You stink eczema!

You'd never know it by looking at him but Harlon has been itching and scratching like it's his job lately.  He's had little bits of eczema for a while now but recently it has gotten much worse.  He broke out all over his upper body last week which prompted me to think it has to be something more than just dry skin. So, after talking to a couple friends who have kiddos with allergies I decided to start eliminating certain foods that kids are commonly allergic to, starting with milk.  So far it has been 8 days without milk products and no change.

I also took him in to see the doctor (again) for this very problem.  We saw a different doctor this time who explained things MUCH better.  Long story short eczema is sensitive skin that can flare up due to certain foods, environmental allergens, perfumes, dies and so on.  There is no point in seeing an allergist at Harlon's age, the results to testing would be too inconclusive.  So, it boils down to this...moisturize the heck out of his skin, dress him in nothing but 100% cotton (the night he broke out he had on polyester jammies), change his clothes after he comes in from playing outside (the outside allergens will get trapped in his clothes), use no perfumes or dyes (we never have, I'm kind of a freak about that kind of thing), and use the hydrocortizone spairingly (just for flare ups).  Also, the doc supported my elimination of one food at a time for 2 weeks at a time.  The foods that kids are commonly allergic to are milk, eggs, soy, wheat, and peanuts. 

Oh!  Harlon learned a new skill, HA!  We had friends hanging out at our house one afternoon this week.  Jake was napping in Harlon's crib and I had to keep telling him to "shhhhhh."  So naturally he mimics me only he holds his hand like a gun and blows on it!  SO CUTE!