Have you ever felt sure DCFS (Department of Child and Family Services) was going to show up at your door to rescue your child? Oh…me neither. I might have to worry about such a thing if I had ever ignored my baby’s crying for almost an hour because I thought she was trying to get out of taking a nap but she had actually acid-pooped her pants. I mean, surely I’m not that kind of mother?

Unfortunately, I was—but I’m learning. In my defense, I think Little Miss’ eczema issues make her skin super sensitive. (As in sometimes food she smears on her face will leave big red spots.) It is my opinion that this sensitivity plays a hand in her ability to go from healthy, happy bum cheeks to burning, bleeding bum cheeks in a matter of moments. (Am I the only one surprised that diaper rash involves bleeding? Just little spots but I had no idea poop could eat all the way through the skin. Ouch.) And once that diaper rash shows up it is almost impossible to get rid of. Little Miss and I cried through a lot of diaper changes before I found a solution that worked for us. (Side note: I think the muscles-clenched, shivering-in-pain look babies get is the most heartbreaking thing on earth.)

When Little Miss was a few months old we were all sitting together in a quiet church meeting and right in the middle she produced some impressively noisy gas. When the family of teenage boys in front of us glanced back to check out the source of the noise (it was pretty loud), Mr. Goldman looked at one of the boys (as only he can) and whispered, “Was that you?” Holy cow that poor kid turned red. The rest of us burst into very non-churchy giggles while his mom helped him figure out what had really happened. I don’t know if he’ll ever recover.

Amanda S. has requested a guided tour of the children's cough and cold aisle--and you all get to come along! Step lightly here--this aisle is full of craziness.

If you’ve been paying attention you may have noticed the FDA making some serious changes to the labeling of kid’s cough and cold medicines. Almost every box on the aisle says it should not be used in children under 2 and a doctor should be consulted before using it in children under 4 (sometimes 6). For the most part, the parents I have explained this to quickly realize this is a conspiracy by the FDA to make children suffer thereby keeping their parents up all night thereby turning them into zombies the FDA can test anti-zombie vaccines on. Or something like that. As much as I would love for this to be true the real reason is slightly less interesting. 

When Little Miss was about two or three months old, I noticed a weird (i.e. reddish and rough) patch of skin on the back of her arm and that weird patch got progressively worse over the next few weeks. I suspected (and her pediatrician confirmed) it was a mild case of eczema. It is common for babies to develop eczema and, luckily, it often fades by their second birthday. But, in the meantime, it is a bit of a battle to keep it under control. (Why battle you ask? Eczema = itchy spots = baby scratching = open sores = possible infections. You can see the problem. In fact, look there it is.)