Georgie suffers from eczema. Since he was a baby, dry, flaky, sensitive and itchy skin is something he has had to live with. It’s torture at the worst of times and bearable at the best. But a few weeks ago he went through a nightmare. One that was brought to a standstill the moment he stepped foot in a warm bath of oats and coconut oil.
What started off as another flare up, brought on by who-knows-what this time, soon turned into a full-on and highly aggressive skin infection. That’s the problem with kids and eczema. They can’t help but scratch. And scratch. And scratch some more. Their skin soon ends up broken and vulnerable and that’s when all sorts of nasties -they usually carry on their hands- enter and all hell breaks lose. He ended up needing a course of antibiotics and a week away from school.
During that week I did everything within my power to make sure he was as comfortable as can be. I held him when he cried barely able to control myself and baked banana bread and cookies when he asked for a snack. I researched like a crazy person desperate to find something that would offer my child some form of relief.
Oats kept coming up during my search for an itchy relief bath. So I tried it. And Oh. My. God. As the water turned milky-white, he lay down in the bathtub, looked up at me and said ‘thank you mummy.’
The first time I drew him an oats and coconut oil bath I let him soak in it for 20 minutes. I then patted him down and watched while he lay on the couch watching MOUK, still and silent. No cries, no scratching like crazy. His skin glistened, it was clean and calm and I couldn’t believe it was all because of two ingredients I had in my pantry.
While the antibiotics did their job, I continued to give Georgie baths with oats and coconut oil. What I do is fill a net bag with oats and tie it to the bath tap allowing the water to wash over them sometimes even squeezing the bag to get more of that milkiness and then I add some coconut oil. That’s it. The relief is instant and the benefits are plenty.
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Do you swear by any natural remedies for skin conditions? What are they?
