The dandruff on my shoulder is not my own.

My baby has a bad BAD case of baby acne.

It’s been so dry here this season.  Way dryer than when Eleanor was battling her baby acne.  Over the last few days I was worried that Saralyn was either going to flake to pieces or scar for life.  My dad said that she has inherited the family’s dry skin, then suggested all kinds of lotion baths for the baby.  “Always works for me!”  Yea.  But you are not a baby.

The problem is potential allergies later in life. (That, and most lotions will just make the problem of baby acne worse.) Most lotions, creams and ointments are right out.  A friend suggested Neosporin, but the docs have said no-no.  Not for babies.   Then I got to thinking.

Lanolin.

For breastfeeding, one smears lanolin on chapped nipples, and it doesn’t get wiped off for the next feeding.  It all goes right in the kid’s mouth.  It’s hypoallergennic.   It’s for chapped, delicate skin.  I was desperate…

And it worked.

I put the smallest bead of lanolin on Saralyn’s forehead, and let it warm up there for a minute.  When it was good and soft, I gently smeared it all over her face – as thinly as possible.  The only problem with lanolin is that it leaves greasy yellow stains on fabrics, so you want to be sure that you aren’t wearing your nicest clothes.   But a few stains don’t mean much to me anyway.  I live in clothes that have been horked on repeatedly.  At least now, the flakes on my shoulder might just be mine!

In less than 12 hours, her skin stared to improve.  This morning her skin is just fine.  Hardly a bump in sight, and the big weepy patches are nowhere to be seen.  Wow, am I relieved.