Hannah has redeveloped a bad habit she had as a baby. Scratching her face when she is tired. Most babies do that when they are newborns, but Hannah has just started doing it again this past week.
However now, even with her nails cut and filed very short, she is gashing up her forehead. I mean, really bad. We started putting mittens on her at night again while she sleeps. She only does it when she is tired, and she really just digs at her face. With her low platelets, it takes a bit longer than normal to clot as well.
We don’t think she is in pain, because she only does it when she is really tired.
Any parents out there have their kids do this past the newborn stage? Outside of mittens, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions?
Brendan did this, starting when he was a newborn…and probably now as an almost-four-year-old. As a baby, he’d scratch his face and pull his eyelids when he was falling asleep. He’d also scratch his eczema-y parts while he slept. Best I could do was keep his nails very short and the rest moisturized so it wasn’t itchy. I think part of it was sort of a self-soothing thing for him. Hope your sweetie grows out of it soon!
Once Hannah figures out how to get those mittens off (and if its still an issue) there are companies that sell pjs etc with covered hands, for kids with eczema and things like that. One company is http://www.eczemacottoncomfort.com but I know there are lots more companies out there. But hopefully Miss Hannah will grow out of it soon!
I need to check out that information Jane left because sometimes I still have that problem with Anna ’cause she does it in her sleep. When she was smaller I had the same problem. I feel so bad that she still has little marks from where she scratched. I guess her skin doesn’t heal well like her dad’s. After I clip and file her nails I run my finger along them until I find that one point or edge that I can’t see and, like they used to do in “olden” times, I bite it off. It works pretty good. Not the most practical and hard to trap the wiggly little babies down… sorry I don’t have better advice.
BTW: Thanks for your encouraging words! I really appreciate it.