Exhale, and Q&A: baby acne

Well. That was a significantly less traumatic process than it could have been. And the concession and acceptance speech were both amazing, and made me proud of my country.

So on to baby-related stuff. Anon wrote to ask if I knew how to get rid of baby acne.

As far as I know, baby acne is caused by all the hormones cycling out of the baby's system. Which means that there are going to be certain times when the hormones are surging more than others, and there's no real way to stop the acne except waiting it out.

There are definitely folk remedies that you can try. If nothing else, they'll give you something to do while you wait for the acne to go away on its own.

If you're breastfeeding, try squirting some on the affected area. (I just said "affected area" like I'm a medical person. Heh.) Breastmilk has antibiotic properties, and cures a number of random things, from rashes to pinkeye. Plus, it's free. So it's worth a shot.

If you're not nursing, or breastmilk doesn't do anything, you can try unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider vinegar. Make sure you get the kind with the "mother" still in it (like Mrs. Braggs brand). Cut the vinegar with a little water, and dab it on.

Does anyone else have any harmless folk remedies for baby acne? If your child had it, when did it peak?

Comments

[suzanna]

Yay Obama!!

Baby acne- one boy had it for a few weeks, probably around the 4-6 week mark. It was mild. I didn't do anything about it, just washing with water and a bit of photo re-touching.

Cradle cap- my pedi first told me to use 'baby soap', just put it on, and leave it on. Well, that made no sense. Then I realized she meant 'baby oil', and that cleared it up in one application.

[Karen]

Evie *just* got over her baby acne and she is 6.5 weeks old (maybe it'll come back, I dunno). It peaked at 5-6 weeks, just in time for her baptism. Heehee. We didn't do anything special, I just made sure I was washing her face every day with our "sensitive" baby bath wash because one of our baby books recommends washing hands, face, ears and neck every day, even though the baby doesn't need a full bath every day. I have no idea if face washing helped or not. (we didn't scrub, of course)

[hedra]

@M, I'm with you on Prop 8. On the plus side, support seems to still be slipping - a few years ago, it was 4-to-1 against gay marriage in CA, wasn't it? I'm really disappointed, in part because my sister only just got married out in CA in August, I think. After 28 years together with her partner, we were all thrilled. And now this. It's not like it would force any church to provide services that are against their theology, which some people seem to think would happen (hello, separation of church and state?).

Sigh. That really dampened my joy, too. But we've moved on to 'where does our money go to fight that?' - the legal battle should be interesting.

[caramama]

I was also really disappointed about the passing of Prop 8 and other anti-gay marriage votes. It also dampened my mood about the election.

I talked about it with my husband over dinner. He pointed out that enough people just aren't ready yet. That it will just take some more time. People need to adjust to societal changes like this over time. Like hedra pointed out, this vote was already closer than the last one. So I'm trying to consentrate on that as a good thing.

I was pretty happy about how the other social issues voted on by different states went. So I'm trying to focus on the positive.

[Goddess Babe]

Breastmilk, breastmilk, and more breastmilk for just about everything.

If I hadn't been able to produce breastmilk, I'd have been screwed. I would not have known what else to do.

[Sacha]

The baby acne just kind of went away on its own, but if it looked really angry, I used a paste of aquaphor and hydrocortisone, which is still my go-to balm for any red or itchy spots. My son had terrible cradle cap, and I used an aquaphor baby wash and would gently scrub his scalp with one of those super-soft baby hairbrushes. Worked great. Olive oil worked for my oldest - we would just grease up her head before the bath.

[LC]

@Shalini - I noticed worse flareups if she was overheated etc (she was born in August)...

sounds more like heat rash than baby acne.

And in general, since it seems mentioned in passing - esp. for new moms - there's baby acne, there's allergic rash, there's heat rash, and there's eczema. Don't know how many pediatricians pay real attention unless blatantly asked. But different solutions for different problems.

[caramama]

I love LC's list. I would like to add there there is also teething rash that can be around the mouth when babies/toddlers start teething and stick their hands in their mouth all the time, keeping the area moist.

[ckbphoto]

For cradle cap, we used California Baby's Tea Tree and Lavender Shampoo and Body Wash. The tea tree oil in it works for cradle cap, dandruff, eczema and lice. I am a big fan of all of the California Baby products; they are chemical free, are made with organic/pesticide free ingredients and smell great. Highly recommend them.

[Cloud]

Expanding on caramama's comment- our toddler has had a minor rash around her mouth for a week or so and nothing was clearing it up. I took the idea of one of the PP's and put some diaper cream on it (we use the Lansinoh stuff that rubs in clear) and it almost went away over night. Pretty cool.

[ck]

baby acne can also be a bit temperature dependant. Our baby's acne would flare after being overheated (like in the sling for hours at a time) and significantly cleared up when autumn came.

[Ajs mom]

My daughter had the WORST baby acne. It was kind of alarming. Started at 3 to 4 weeks and lasted about 6 weeks; just kind of cycled starting on her forehead, moved to her cheeks, and then chin/neck. I used zink diaper cream because it looked painful! Oatmeal bath. Then on of the nurses was worried about staph infection so I eventually used a very week cortisone cream which cleared it up in 1 day.

I hadn't heard of the breastmilk option; I will keep that in mind for this next baby. We certainly put a lot of breastmilk in her gunky newborn eyes, which worked really well for those plugged ducts.

[acne treatments]

I got it few days back,but i have taken Aquaphor lotion on my face.Then its totally cleared up within few days.

[diet supplements]

there is an urgent need for more awareness about acne

[glendora dermatology]

this is right baby acne is caused by all the hormones cycling out of the baby's system unlike other acne its easy to remove than others.

sphin

[Acne Treatment]

Johnson's baby cream stops baby acne and cures it!

[what is the best fat burning supplement]

That's really very nice blog, I am impressed.

[forehead acne]

my baby suffer from forehead acne and i know how it feels :(
its a really pain in the a.. :)
anyway, thanks for posting.

[Vivian Chen]

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Vivian
Marks Web
www.imarksweb.net

[Reader's Guide]

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