Hi there,
It sounds like your lo has eczema. My son has eczema on his face, neck, hands, elbows, knees, and ankles, and has had it since he was about 1 week old. He too constantly scratches/rubs his face, hands and ankles in his sleep to the point of waking up. Eczema is generally a chronic condition, so it's more about managing it than curing it. We have a regime that has really helped, but it took a lot of trial and error to get here (it's only been really well managed in the last month or so). You may have to experiment to find what works for you. Here's what we do:
- when we first get him dressed in the morning I put aveeno baby cream (specifically for eczema) all over his body. I also put Spectro EczemaCare cream on all of his dry patches.
- at every diaper change I put the two creams on every area that I can easily get to (I don't get him naked every time, but I put it wherever I can)
- whenever we go out I put Vaseline on his cheeks (they are the worst) to protect them from drying out further
- at night when we put him in his sleeper I repeat my morning routine and put Vaseline on his cheeks and behind his ears, as these are where be scratches the most
- I use hydrocortisone cream (1%) to control flareups only. If I notice that a patch has gone bright red or that he's scratching at it more than usual, I put it on morning and night before the other creams until the redness goes away (this takes at most 4 or 5 applications, sometimes only 1)
That's it! It's a bit of a pain, and he doesn't much like being greased up all the time, but his skin looks a million times better than it did. If I took close up before and after pics, you wouldn't even believe it's the same kid. He does still wake himself up, but it's gone from every hour or so to only 3 or 4 times a night.
I hope that helps, and good luck!