When your kids can’t stop scratching, you need itchy skin relief! Whether it happens from a bug bite or eczema, helping kids stop itchy skin is a must!
When my son was little, he had bites and scabs all over his legs from the mosquito bites he scratched and picked. Drove me crazy. Some would look at his legs in horror and I always found myself explaining his obsessive-compulsive behavior.
My oldest son had horrible eczema on the backs of his knees, that just flat out drove him crazy. The ointment the doctor gave him didn’t really work that well, so I ended up with calamine lotion as a substitute.
By the time my special needs son came along, I was a bit savvier and looked for home remedies that would help with itchy skin.
What causes itchy skin?
Well, if you are talking about eczema, there are a whole bunch of reasons that range from food intolerances, food allergies, and even just plain genetics.
Anyway, as we all know, the more you scratch, the more it just seems to itch! If you are dealing with autistic children especially, they just keep at it, becoming more and more obsessed over their itchy skin.
Start with what you think may be the cause of your child’s itchy skin and work from there. It may include:
- Changing your child’s diet
- Eliminating foods, one at a time until the itchiness stops.
- Try new soaps or shampoos, focusing especially on hypoallergenic.
- Trying specialized hypoallergenic lotions to see if that helps.
- Push hydration
Topical remedies to stop itchy skin
Mix some of these oils together in a roll-on bottle. You can actually purchase roll-on bottles on Amazon for about $15 to make your own itchy skin combinations
Further, you make a cool compress or a salve with herbal tinctures. Some even use wet tea bags as a topical itchy skin relief.
These are all effective anti-itch natural remedies that are safe to use on children. You can skip the use of toxins and chemicals with these methods to help alleviate itchy skin.
Lavender oil
Lavender oil is the first oil that comes to mind when you want to treat inflammation. Not only does it smell nice, but lavender works well on skin abrasions or wounds. It helps to heal damaged skin tissue, even from itchy skin.
Peppermint oil
The cooling effects of peppermint oil brings an immediate sensation of relief to the skin. When applied in a roll-on form with lavender, this duo treats the inflammation and cools the skin. I have also used eucalpytus in place of peppermint for the same purpose.
Oatmeal
While oatmeal never worked on our family, I know many people have had great relief with this treatment. Aveeno makes an oatmeal lotion, and you can also make up a homemade oatmeal bath before bedtime to alleviate itchy skin.
Aloe vera
I always keep a bottle of aloe vera around for itch relief. It is cooling and soothing on the skin. Smoothing aloe vera onto your child’s eczema or itchy skin helps heal it while bring relief.
Calendula
Calendula is an all-around natural remedy for wound care and is my typical wound treatment on people as well as animals. I add it to coconut oil to make a salve, or make a tea compress. I typically take a rag and dip it into a calendula tea. Squeeze the water out and let my child hold it on his bites or scratches. Works like a charm!
For long-term itchy skin relief
While the topical remedies work well to bring immediate relief, getting to the cause really does make things better. Making changes in diet and the lotions you use can help itchy skin from the inside out.
Coconut oil
When applied, coconut oil can be a bit greasy, but it does help bring itchy skin relief. I like Palmer’s coconut oil lotion as a high quality lotion, that doesn’t cost a ton of money. They have a coconut oil lotion that works well.
Shea butter
When it comes to skin rashes from diet or genetics, shea butter works the best. Palmer’s shea butter lotion works well on scars, stretch marks and skin rashes.
Drop the top allergen foods
Do you know the five major food allergens in children? They are milk, wheat, eggs, oats and peanuts.
While your kid may not be allergic or intolerant to those foods, I would at least try dropping one of these five at a time. And, I would start with milk and wheat.
At least, if you try dropping these foods, you will know if they are causing itchy skin.
Skip the sugar
You wouldn’t believe just how bad sugar is for you. Whether you are a kid or an adult, it is far wiser to skip the sugar to reduce sinus and ear infections, skin rashes and tons of mystery illnesses.
Even adults lose weight when they drop sugar from their diet!
Try changing soaps
While the problem that causes itchy skin is a bigger one, sometimes, changing soaps or shampoos helps bring relief. People with eczema or other systemic skin problems have sensitive skin that requires hypoallergenic or all natural ingredients.
Even if you find the source of your itchy skin problem, using more natural soaps may bring much-needed relief.
Try hypoallergenic laundry detergent
You might not think it is possible, but some people do get rashes from laundry soaps and dryer sheets. Choose ones that are unscented or hypoallergenic.
If only one person is suffering, wash their clothes separately. Itchy skin is miserable to anyone who cannot get relief.
