Chapped Skin Caused by Sleeping and Drool

My son used to sleep on his tummy and get horrible rashes on his cheeks when he slept...due to drooling as well. I would apply a thick layer of aquaphor on his cheeks at bed time..it worked great!

You could definetly try giving his bedding an extra rinse or switching detergents, Or try getting him a sleeping wedge to keep him from rolling to his belly. this is advised for a child under one for the most part anyhow. Red and chapped does sound like a reaction to an irritant more than just drool so I would try the extra rinse on the laundry. Good luck.

My son has eczema. At times severe. I swear by Eucerin and Aquaphor. Before you put it on, get his face a little wet. "Moisturizers" do not moisturize. They are created to hold in moisture. The best kind of product for anyone to use, is something that leaves a greasy feeling. So wet the skin and apply product. You can buy Eucerin and Aquaphor at just about any store, although you may have to ask. Sometimes its hard to find. I get large tubs of Eucerin for around $8-$10 and they last forever. They seem to be a little diff/better than the kind that comes in the tubes. (could just be me) Hope this helps.

aquaphor always works very well for dry chapped skin and any other irritations like diaper rash. just dry the area before applying it and it should protect the skin from the drool and help heal the skin too.

Just a thought..after having a daughtter with ultra sensitive skin I would probably ask what are you washing his bedding in? or maybe do an extra rinse cycle. Do you have a humidifier? I live in Alaska and it is SUPER dry up here. Hope it helps!
Hugs,
G.

My kids always preferred their tummies too! I discovered that we would have the same problem when there wasn't enough padding between my children's cheek and the waterproof mattress pad. I made sure to put and extra layer of something absorbent under the sheet and it really helped. I also discovered that those tie-on "sheet saver" things were terrible for my kid's faces. Hope this helps!

As lots of people here have said, petroleum jelly helps relieve the chapped skin. However, I always found that that left a gooby mess on everything.

But I found a super-easy, much cleaner workaround for when my baby had drool-chapped skin: regular lip balm. It's actually based on petroleum jelly anyway, just a thicker form of it, with some added softeners and sunscreen depending on which type.

I used Chapstick brand, the blue kind, because that's what I had around for myself anyway.

Any time I noticed her skin being chapped, I just scribbled on some lip balm and it'd clear up really fast, no gooey mess.

And another hint: it works on sore noses from blowing so much during colds too. I use it on my own sore nose when I get a cold!

My daughter is now 2 but she had the same problem. Just let him sleep the way he wants to and when he wakes up wipe off any drool still on his face and then put just a dime size amount of alavera on his face where it is chapped. It worked for her. We did check with our doctor to make sure it was okay first so make sure to do the same is you want. Good luck.

Simply just put a thin layer of pretoleum jelly around his mouth before he gets to bed. Its non-toxic, it will heal the skin already chapped and it will protect from further chapping....

I bet it has turned into exema. I would keep something petroleum based on the skin at night. My daughter has really sensitive skin as well and it helped alot till she gave up the binky.

D.

from personal experience, i believe hydrocortisone cream is the best, it clears my daughters rashes in only a day or two. it is okay for him to sleep on his stomach. my pediatrician told me that once they start turning over on their own, then there is no need to worry about what position they are in because they have developed the muscle control to handle their own bodies. if your comfortable with the idea, maybe you could put a clean diaper under him at night to obsord the drool, that may help to keep it from pooling up and his face will stay dryer.

Try vaseline. I put it on my baby's skin, under her pacifier before she goes to sleep. It definitely helped with the chapped and irritated skin.

My daughter has this problem also, her skin also chaps from cold weather, so winter is kind of a pain. There is a great lotion that I heard about from a friend of my mom (who is a pedi dermatologist) and its supposed to be the BEST! It works great on my daughters cheeks, so I highly recommend it--its called Aquaphor--and it has kind of a vaseline-type texture, but it works way better than vaseline. Good luck!

My son's skin was very sensitive in the winter and fall at that age. I just used a little vasoline on it and it seemed to help the chapping.

Maybe you did not raise your other kids in the same climate? We are in Vegas and it seems that this time of year is so dry this often happens to my son.

Anyway, my vote would be for the vaseline, esp. since your baby is so young. It will act as a protectant to the skin.

When my son got older (2 yrs+), I started to use moisturizer on him like I do on my own skin. He just gets it from running around outside on these dry winter-ey days.

Hope it helps. Also, if it persists for a long time, ask the doc. about it. It could be some type of fungal infection.

Aveeno baby products work really well and are safe for their delicate skin.