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National Eczema Association – 8 Survival Tips for Caring for Baby

My eczema survival tips shared on NEA

My eczema survival tips shared on NEA, experience gained from caring for my daughter

Here’s another article that I shared on National Eczema Association website which is a great resource. Read my 8 survival tips for caring for eczema baby, and the many more by other eczema friends around the world.

Eczema Blues

Caring For Bettas – Top 5 Mistakes That Betta Owners Make

Caring properly for Bettas involves a fairly large learning curve. There’s a lot of things to learn and watch out for, but that’s also the same for any other pet. When first caring for a new pet, most owners will make mistakes, but the point is to learn from them. Are you making any of the following errors with your Betta? If so, continue reading to find out what you can do to fix the mistake.

1. The Betta’s tank is too small

Many new Betta owners keep their Betta in a small goldfish bowl or something similar. This is mostly because pet stores perpetuate this kind of thing by selling these right around the places they sell Bettas. Small bowls that hold only 2 or 3 cups of water aren’t enough for Bettas. These fish prefer large, open spaces and warm water. Consider, instead, a tank size of 2.5 gallons or even 5 gallons. These sizes will give your fish more room to swim and space to add a heater, decorations, or even a filter.

2. Not changing the tank water often enough

This is a common mistake that many Betta owners make. Without frequent water changes, waste and ammonia build up in the water and can cause diseases such as fin rot in your fish. A good guideline to go by is if the aquarium isn’t cycled and is under 2 gallons, plan on two full water changes a week. The smaller the size, the more often a water change is necessary. Larger than 2 gallons, and a complete change once a week is sufficient. If the tank is cycled, then 25% water changes are usually enough.

3. Feeding too much and too often

Although Bettas are well-known for constantly begging for food, it doesn’t mean you have to feed them every time you see them beg. Overfeeding your fish can lead to health problems such as bloat or swim bladder disease. When figuring out how much to feed, try imagining that your Betta’s stomach is as big as one of its eyes, and base how much you feed around that. For instance, if you feed pellets, put in three or four (depending on the size). As far as how often, most adult tropical fish do best when fed once daily, or even every second day. Feeding twice or even three times a day is too much.

4. Keeping a Betta in water that’s too cold

Bettas are tropical fish and need warm water to be at their peak. Bettas are more active in warmer temperatures, as opposed to hovering in one place if the water’s too cool. A good temperature range to keep Bettas at is between 78 – 82 degrees Fahrenheit. Usually, this means that a heater will be necessary, and you can buy a good quality heater fairly easily which should last for years.

5. Not having a cover on the tank

Despite their flowing fins, Bettas are extremely good jumpers. So make sure that their tank has a snug fitting cover. They can easily take advantage of any gap or hole present and jump their way to ‘freedom’. Finding a dried-up Betta on the floor is no fun at all, so make sure its home has a lid.

Making mistakes when caring for pets is common, but finding out and correcting those mistakes is what makes for a great pet owner. Bettas are fantastic fish and deserve to be cared for properly.

For the past several years, Angela Marie has had multiple aquariums which have housed several types of tropical fish, including catfish, cichlids, and Bettas. She loves to educate other fish owners on the proper care of tropical fish.

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Caring for a child with eczema: Jasper’s story

Looking after a child with severe eczema can be exhausting for parents as well as the child. There’s so much to consider, environment, clothes, weather, treatments, financial implications – the list goes on. Sorrel Ronan faces a relentless battle every day to keep her son’s skin healthy and pain-free.  She has kindly shared her story with the British Skin Foundation to help raise awareness of the impact the condition can have on both children and their families.

Jasper very clearly had dry skin since birth which was treated with olive oil as advised by health professionals. It wasn’t until around two months old that I noticed the coin sized patches were not going away, even after he moved on to stronger medications.

For four years we pretty much never detoured from the circle we were traveling around. Jasper’s eczema worsened so we went to the doctors. We’d be prescribed a new cream, the cream didn’t work and his skin became infected. Next we’d be prescribed antibiotics and wet wraps to treat the infection. Around and around we went… we were on first name basis with all the receptionists!

You name it, Jasper, now six years old, has tried every cream possible for his age. Creams that themselves have turned his skin red raw, stained the bedding and ruined clothes. And that’s just the prescribed treatments. I’ve spent hundreds over the years buying each and every ‘miracle’ cream and/or oil.

That’s the thing with eczema – someone always has a friend or family member who swears by a certain cream. There is so much out there that it’s very hard sifting through all of the ingredients to see which ones can actively help contain a flare up. The only respite he has ever experienced was one of the many times he was prescribed Prednisone.

Every single day we have to consider ‘How will what we are doing today affect Jasper’s skin?’

Can he play that game because he may get to hot? Who can he sit near in case strong scents irritate him? Will he sweat and scratch if he doesn’t get fresh air? Will an adult be watching him, and I mean really watching him so he wasn’t secretly scratching away his skin? Will there be a new trigger to add to the list? The mental checklist is never ending.

Starting school introduced a whole new batch of issues for Jasper and I believe the biggest one was how his eczema affected him emotionally. Children pointed and stared for a while, but I taught my son to explain that it was eczema and as children do, their minds moved on. The adults in the playground were a different story, with one man declaring in front of Jasper and I that his skin looked like road rash.

We see the dermatologist every three months or so. On his last visit Jasper’s skin was the best it’s ever been in his life. This is due to a combination of being moved on to Protopics, alongside me having two weeks off work so I could cream him almost hourly. It was also probably the sunniest two weeks he’s ever experienced, so shorts and sunshine helped.  

As soon as the cold weather set in I began to see his skin worsen each day. Nothing I do prevents his skin from deteriorating. I’m currently saving up to buy a special washing machine, one I read about online as it helped another family with their child’s eczema. Her story is very similar to Jasper’s, down to him having a server house dust mite allergy.

As well as the pain that eczema causes Jasper, it also has a huge impact on us financially. I feel the guilt that comes with me being unable to afford private care for him, the air purifiers, DermaSilks and all of the fancy bedding. I buy cheap and often, I just throw bedding and uniforms away weekly.

Sometimes I feel guilty when I think it is just eczema and things could be so much worse… but then I’m angered when people who do not live with this daily refer to it as ‘just eczema’. Unfortunately, we are yet to find the ‘right’ combination of creams to help with his eczema, and as I’m told, he’ll probably grow out of it. But that does not help right now.

The best way I have found to explain life of being a parent of eczema is this; just visualise a character, usually a comical one, moving to fetch an item up from the floor, only to kick it further away each time. That is life with eczema.

At the British Skin Foundation we believe that research is the key to fighting skin disease. We’re the only UK charity dedicated to raising money for all types of skin disease, including eczema. Our unwavering commitment to funding quality research means we won’t stop until we’ve found cures for common skin problems like eczema and acne, through to potential killers like malignant melanoma. To date we’ve raised £15 million to fund projects since 1996. For more information about eczema, visit the British Skin Foundation here.

Are you caring for a child who has a skin condition? British Skin Foundation experts will be answering your questions in a unique one-day clinic on Wednesday 18th January. Submit questions from Monday 16th January – more information here.

talkhealth Blog

Baby Eczema Care – Information & Tips For Caring For Your Little One

Eczema is a very frustrating condition for anyone to have but when it’s your child suffering, you really want a cure! Unfortunately, there is no real cure for eczema and all cases are a little different, so it’s very hard to find the right things to use to actually relive the irritation. Avoiding the use of a steroid cream is important for most parents.

From our research, eczema could really stem from environmental toxins – so here are a list of things to consider:

It’s really important to avoid any highly fragranced products around your eczema sufferer 
Laundry detergent – use fragrance free and made for sensitive skin, use it for all of your laundry ( bedding, clothes, the whole household) 
Personal fragrances – if you or any member of your household wears perfume –  it can contribute to and possibly bring on flare ups
Cleaning supplies – use simple things to clean your household such as vinegar and water in a spray bottle/ baking soda and water for hard to clean things. (commercial brands tend to have tons of  fragrance and again can bring on irritation) 
Try to keep your baby off of your carpets/hardwood floors – dust can aggravate the skin so try laying a blanket down washed in fragrance free detergent when the baby is playing on the floor
Family pets can also have dander that may also contribute
Try to keep an even temperature in your house – extremes can cause flare-ups
Having a humidifier in the baby’s room will aid in the dryness

If you have exhausted all these methods around your home, you may want to have a good look your little one’s diet. It appears that many eczema sufferers have reactions and flare-ups to things such as dairy (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc..) wheat (bread, pastas, etc..) and highly acidic foods (eggs, chicken, dairy, etc..) This of course requires diligence and a process of elimination as to what foods bring the flare-ups on. Luckily these days there are many options for gluten free and lactose free items as an alternative. 

Keep in mind there is no real cure and all cases of eczema are different. The common thread is that they all need to be dealt with in a gentle and soothing manner by keeping the area clean and well moisturized with a natural baby skin care cream. 

Tawna Hill is the Founder of Tawna Hill Baby – Natural Baby Care. A mother who only wanted to use the purest ingredients to soften and soothe her baby’s delicate skin, after dealing with a life altering illness while she was pregnant. Tawna Hill Baby donates 25 cents from the sale of each product to the search for a cure. 

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