Eczema Solution

[Tao]

Anna,

I'm really glad to hear that Stan's pox are almost gone. Hugs to you!

[hrk]

http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SD0604/OrganicShikakaiBabyMildBodySoap.htm  I used this the first time we used Dr. Bronner's.
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/BAB.htm  Am using this.  I decided to go back to the website, and I realized the two products are different.  I examined them closer, and I noted grape juice is one of the ingredients in the first.  We KNOW he can not tolerate grapes at all; one weekend of him eating grapes from our grapevines and his behavior was CRAZY!  Oh, and the refluxy nwings were ridiculous.  We tried it before knowing about the grapes...

His skin is better than when using the cleure products.  But, I am using the Dr. Bronner's all over his body, so it is hard to tell the difference, iykwim.  The one with the vaseline looks looks a bit better.  His skin was so flat this morning, and when we left his room and were in the room next door for a bit, it seemed to get bumpier.  He rubs his face on his lovies a lot (which were just washed with detergent), so I was able to superwash two of them today.  I think I should I keep them just for his bedroom?

Today, I made my own laundry detergent per the recipezaar website; I had to adjust the amts for a 4 oz bar.
One 4 oz bar of Kirk's Castille bar soap (or any soap like fels naptha or ivory)
400 ml of Borax
400 ml of washing soda

Use 1-2 TBLS per load of laundry; this will be a lot cheaper if he can tollerate it well!  Just watch, he will wake up in spots tomorrow.

I shaved the soap with a grater, gave it a spin in the food processor, and put it in a clean containiner.  

Did one super wash including his bedding, lovies, a pair of pj's, and a couple of outfits.  We do not have a front load washer.  It takes so much water...

[hrk]

How are you both doing?  His skin is better.  His skin does get worse when he leaves his bedroom in the morning. I noticed that his skin felt really smooth at music class tonight.  I was surprised, as it had a strong scent of some kind of cleaner in the lobby.  But the lesson room was fine.

I made another change today; I used the recipezaar.com recipe for dishwasher "detergent".  I was skeptical that something so inexpensive would work.  I used 1.5 tsp washing soda and 1.5 tsp borax in the compartment, and I used vinegar in the rinse aid dept.  It will take a while for all the rinse aid detergent to be gone, right?  I hope sooner than later, as I haven't filled it in a while.  No residue on the dishes. 

This spring, we invested in a water softener system (that also removes chlorine) and a reverse osmosis water cleaning system.  Our city has really hard water, so we decided to take the leap. I do think it is making a difference with our laundry and dishwasher, and the homemade soaps are working well.

The other thing I read was that you can use the Bronner's in a one to six ratio (soap to water) in a foaming soap dispenser.  The bottle says it will not work and gum up, but the poster said that it may do that every 3 to 4 times you refill it.  I would like a bunch of them, and I am having trouble finding the dispensers.  I see that Pampered Chef sells them for about $12 new.  Buying foaming soap with dispensers from the store would be the cheapest, and then emptying it out.  Funny that filled ones are cheaper than unfilled.  What do you both think?  Maybe that is one of those questions for the author of the website.

Sorry for sounding so cheap!  We spent a lot of money going to "greener/safer" products when H was born, and then the expense of continually trying products for H's skin.  I can't even count how many abandoned sunscreens, lotions, meds there are in the closet.  My last purchase of Cleure products was about $80.  ugh  The good news is that this is so much less expensive (until we decide to get a steam cleaner, a new vac, clean the air ducts, and probably more).

I copied this from amazon regarding the uses for Dr. Bronner's.  I think I may start using it to clean the house.

Product Features
All Natural Organic Certified Ingredients; Bio-Degradable;Packaged In 100% Post Consumer Recycled Bottles; No Animal Testing And Cruelty Free
Top Selling Natural Soap In The USA
Cleans Body; Floors; Bathrooms; Counters; Walls; Dishes; Pets; Fruits & Vegetables; Great For Shaving
Mild And Gentle For Babys; Sensitive Skin; Chemically Sensitive People
Great For Camping; Backpacking; Traveling
 
Sorry for the brain dump; I figure it will easy to go back and see what I did when.  XXXXX

[Tao]

Hi Jean,

I think it's great that you found an inexpensive alternative. I completely understand what you mean about costs. We've spent so much on Sophie already..it's funny because my girlfriends and I will chat and while they spend money on the cute clothes, I'm buying odd things like a vacuum tube etc. All in all, we want the best for our little ones, right? I will look into the Dr. Bronner's items. I don't think we have them in our town but I will see where I can find it.

Yesterday I noticed SOphie's hands getting red again and I'm not sure if it's from being out or from our carpet. We really need to get the rest of the carpet steam cleaned!!!

[hrk]

I know what you mean about the cute clothes.  We tend to do the same like saving our money for the safer water, saving to tear out this carpet, or replace our OLD ratty sofa (that happens to be nicnamed "the rat").  We have waited so long to replace it looking for prducts that have safer glues, fabric finishes, and are particle board free, etc.  BTW, what is a vaccum tube?  :-)

I saw that even Target is selling Dr. Bronner's soap,now.  But you have to look in the more "organic" section of the make-up aisles.  It is on the bottom, here.  I have seen it at Trader Joes and our local natural food store.  It is harder to track down the baby variety, but I found that at Target. 

XXXX

[Tao]

Thanks for sharing Jean. I will go check it out. We have a Target here too. Today I noticed red bumps on some parts of Sophie's body. I think maybe I gave her something she couldn't eat and it was from food becasue they looked like mini hives...Poor thing, if it isn't one thing it's another!

[hrk]

Poor baby!  I hope she is over it soon, and you are able to track it down.  XXX

[Tao]

Hi Jean,

I was thinking about your Heath today. How are things going? Also, you know what's crazy...we went to visit a friend yesterday and Sophie was barefoot walking around on her carpet. Her skins been clear lately and the minute we got into the car both feet were red and bumpy and she was scratching them like crazy. I was thinking...hmm..I wonder if she'll react to whatever's on her carpet and boy did she!

[hrk]

WOW, that is interesting.  Poor dear!  I hope all it takes is a bath to clear it all up, so she is feeling better! 

We still have massive amounts of cleaning to do.  We were so busy over the weekend, and we did not have time to work on cleaning the house.  Nap times seem to get so short.  I think we need to do a lot of the cleaning when I have extra hands on the weekend.  His skin is always better if he bathes frequently.  If we do not catch a bath at night, it takes two days to get it back to where it was.  It is always better after sleeping in his room, too.  I am not sure if he is tollerating the laundry soap I made, but we are also on a run of using a lot of sunscreen (making it really difficult to tell).  I am going to steer the course and go detergent-free; it is making a difference, and it is more healthy anyway.  I wonder if I could really use the Bronner's as dishsoap as the description on amazon suggests.  That would help, too.

Sending hugs your way, and hoping Sophie is back to normal tomorrow.  XXXXXX

[hrk]

How are things going?  I had to fish a ways back to find this.  Been meaning to post for some time. :-) 

I started a post on making my own soap.  I ordered the Vermont Soap, and we have been using that to clean.  Using Bronner's on the skin.  We are on a bad run lately.  We skipped a bath for several days, and we haven't still gotten back to where we were after a couple of weeks.  Hmmmm....

[princessbbn]

Christine, you just superwash the clothes once, yes?

I have got soap flakes for laundry. It's so confusing to me, what products are OK and what are not. Stan's eczema is pretty bad right now. The main problem here is baths - Stan makes SUCH a fuss if there is not bubbles in his bath. Burts Bees makes an SLS free bubble bath, but I don't know what ingredients are and are not OK.

I'm not sure if you ended up finding a non-irritable bubble bath for Stan, but as I was reviewing my order from Cal Ben today, I noticed that their pure soap shampoo can also be used as a bubble bath. Since the shampoo is detergent-free, I think it would be okay to use it as both shampoo and bubble bath. I just thought I'd throw that idea out there. Hope you're having better luck controlling his eczema. I just ordered a bunch of soap products today, so we'll be ridding our house of detergents once they come in. We're also thinking about trying wet wraps today, and I also ordered Melaleuca's Intensive Skin Therapy lotion (which should come in approximately next week). All other treatments...you name it, we've probably tried it - well, except the bleach baths, we're holding off on those as long as possible. But for some reason, I feel particularly hopeful about these three new treatment plans we have in store for Landon. Wish us luck!