I have a 5 week old baby boy. Last week I noticed that the skin on his face started to dry above and below the lips and on his ears. He has also developed 'white heads' on his face which are red and has made his skin feel quite rough. I took him to a baby clinic yesterday and the health visitor said it was nothing to worry about, that is the white heads or milk spots as she called then and the dry skin. I'm just worried that it may not clear up and turn into some skin condition that will be hard to treat withour ointments. Has anyone else had a baby suffereing with the same thing?

For a while he started to sleep 5 hours at night, taking a night feed at 11, in bed by 12 and awake at 5 for the next feed, somehow things have chnaged and he sleeps during the day and stays awake till 5am, has done that for the past week, which is having its effect on me, I'm shattered. When can I start to change his routine and try to keep him up during the day, which at the moment is hard because ehrn he has had enough to eat, nothing will keep him up unless he has trapped wind.

hi, congratulations a little boy!!! what did you call him? it does sound like a baby eczema my son was the same when he was a baby and they said he would grow out of it and he did so try not to worry i creamed him daily in my routine of bathing or washing him so it helped to keep it soft and so it didnt bother him you need a good oil based cream, soothing cream like sudocrem it worked for mine so should help as for the milk spots they are quite common and will go in there own time. sorry about the sleepless nights have to tried to give him a bath and creaming him before bed? it might just knock him out for a while!! try not to worry at 5 weeks its early days and youll soon get all your routines in time...hugs becky

Hi

Both my daughters had milk spots and they do clear up on their own. I'm reliably told (sister in law is a midwife) that these are very common in babies, especially across the nose.

Dry skin - again both my daughters suffered from this particularly on their cheeks, which ended up looking redish. My pharmacist was great and recommended an aqueous cream which is just a water based moisturiser - more gentle on the skin than some other baby creams. If you ask your local chemist/pharmacist they usually sell it in large tubs for about £3.00.

Sleepless nights - there is no easy answer to sleep patterns. My youngest daughter (13 months) still wakes up two or three times during the night. Mostly just for reassurance that someone is there. With you little boy it might be wind that is disturbing him or perhaps he is having a growth spurt so he is hungrier sooner. All I can suggest is that you try and get some sleep during the day when he sleeps. Forget the housework etc, it's more important for you to rest especially in these early weeks when your body is still recovering.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Good Luck and I hope things start to settle for you soon.:\)

Hi, firstly congratulations!

My lo suffered really badly with her 'milk spots'. I saw one doc who said that they were newborn spots because when you press them they go red and that they appear to move around (some would go and others appear.) I was recommended to put diprobase on them when they started to get dry by my hv, either my lo had a reaction to it or it was the infection but it made her face swell up - I took her to a walk in centre as it was a saturday where the doc said some of her spots were infected so prescribed antibiotics.

I'm not saying that your lo has an infection, but to watch for white heads on the spots as these can be an infection and you need to take him to the docs.

Even though my lo had the worst spots my hv has ever seen (she said this after my trip to walk in centre so wonder if she could have spotted infection earlier as was only a few days after we had to take her) they did clear up and now has lovely soft skin on her face. I think I was told they usually last 2 weeks. Tip I was give were to keep face clean by washing with cotton wool and cooled boiled water and change bed sheet every day.

sleeping - cant help there as my lo does not not have a good track record for nights! But, just try and keep nights dark, calm and quiet to try and teach your lo the difference bewteen day and night. You could start to indroduce a bedtime routine of bath, feed, bed, with all further cuddles/feeds in the dark. (I leave hall light on so not total dark but consistant darkness) Night patterns change whether lo is going through a growth spurt, teething etc unfortunatly

Is your lo breastfed or formula fed? Either way cluster feeding at night can help to get lo to settle for a big sleep at night.

Good luck! And yell on here for any advice, everyone is really friendly and usually there is someone else who has been through or is going through the same thing!

hi and congrats on your little boy

at around 6 weeks my little boy had dry skin and a rash on his face which looked awful. E45 didn't work but i tried Advent Magic cream and it really is magic his face totally cleared up in a day or 2. i swear by it now. can't help much with the sleep issue but i'm sure things will get better soon xx

Hello, i am in a really similar position to you...Neva has had a rash all on her face and chest and back of neck..i panicked and took her to doctors. He was totally calm and said it is milk spots, very common and will clear on their own, without using anything on her skin. Her face has started to clear up....bless it made her look like a spotty teenager! She still has spots on her chest / nape of neck which i wish i could get rid of but the doctor said to just leave them to go on their own. At 6 wk check this morning and doc didnt even comment on them so i have decided to stop worrying. Apparently getting hot can make the spots flare up....after baths for example.

Sleep is also a nightmare - Neva is waking every 2 hours all day and night. She is like a little alarm clock, on the dot. I am shattered. Cannot see a routine or sleeping through in sight! Worst thing is everyone asking me " how is her routine" I'm like...its non existent! Have tried hungry baby feed etc but gave her worse wind and tummy ache. I have decided to just live with it for now and figure she cannot (!) possibly continue to feed this often!

If you figure anything let me know!!
Good luck x