Scratches Till He Bleeds

Yesterday, Jamie and I went to pick up my bike. I tripped--on the curb on the way into the store and scratched up both hands and one of my knees. I felt like an idiot--like something out of a movie for complete nerds. I was bleeding. Later, Ben would bleed.

Someone asked me yesterday morning if we had Ben's itching under control now that we knew what he was allergic to. I didn't know what to say, but, now that I've thought about it, I can say that it's not that simple. As the allergist said, his scratching isn't always related to what he eats. Sometimes, he scratches when he put him down in his crib. I think that's because he hates being there. Sometimes, he scratches in his car seat. Yesterday, while we were in route to the bike store or there or on the way back, he scratched the scab off the side of his face. That is the worst problem area. But I had hoped that, this time, he would finally heal.

Maybe we didn't put enough lotion on him while we were out. We had left his diaper bag in the car, and he had an eczema flareup. Maybe the lotion isn't working as well as it used to, though we gave him a bath last night, and most of him, except where he scratched himself last night in his crib looks good.

Ben fell asleep around 9 or 10, and we took him upstairs. He woke up around 12ish. He was only crying for a few minutes I think, because Jamie had just checked him and said he was asleep. I went to check on him and his right arm was covered in blood. It looked worse than it was, but it was nonetheless alarming. What caused him to be so itchy? Was it the new shampoo--we tried Neem? Was it the fact that he had not yet had his allergy medication. He was on track to get it just at that time that he woke up.

We will change the time that he gets it so that he gets it before he goes to bed. Somehow, the schedule got off track. His allergist appointment is this Friday. We'll ask what we can do. And his appointment with the other dermatologist is coming up soon.

After I found him like that, we cleaned his face with water and put only Vaseline on that spot, just in case the lotion was irritating him.

I checked him this morning and his skin looked good, except for that spot. We're trying a different diaper Huggies Pure and Natural. We couldn't use Huggie's when he was younger because of blowouts and leaking, but unlike most Pampers I've seen these are fragrance free.

Ben is in a good mood this morning. He's playing in his Exersaucer, and he's already had some tummy time. After he scratched himself, I stayed up with him for about an hour to make sure he was okay and he wouldn't scratch again. We really need to do something about that spot. For now, we'll only put on Vaseline, give his allergy medicine earlier and hope that one of his doctors has a good solution.