Eczema, I despise you.

Malachi developed eczema soon after we arrived in China, when he was about 3 months old. We didn't get too worried, figuring it would go away quickly. Well, it hasn't. It has gotten worse and worse and worse. It started on his cheeks, but has spread to patches on his shoulders, elbows, tummy, side, thighs, knees, backs of knees, and ankles. My poor baby!

We took him to a dermatologist in Thailand. He gave some wimpy cream and an oral liquid to take for itching (wasn't about to give that to him!) I asked why he had it. He claimed it was the dry air. Thailand is just about the furthest thing from dry. The doc was about 80..so I shrugged him off as perhaps too old to think straight.

Then we got some special lotion "specially made" for eczema. Nope. Nothin. Well, it would get a little better, then flare up badly again.

We gave him an oatmeal facial.

We switched soap/shampoo. Still no improvement.

Then we thought..hmm...he didn't have it until he arrived here. Maybe it's the detergent! So I started using the natural detergent we use to wash his cloth diapers in to wash all of his clothes. It got worse. Seriously?

We stuck with the detergent thought. So we ordered the exact baby detergent I used in America. One thing after another has happened with that order. We're still waiting on it! It's been at least 2 weeks of detergent turmoil.

All the while, poor Malachi is in more distress than ever. He's scratching whenever he has the chance. We have to put gloves on his little hands because I've found him more than once with a bloody face (where he has it the worst--his cheeks) because he scratched and scratched. Talk about a scary discovery for a momma.

We just did a bit more research tonight on the whole detergent thing. Oh, man. We may have to have an overhaul in our household. We found some interesting sites that link all "soaps" (funny thing is, most things we use to wash are not actually soap--pure soap) to eczema. Laundry. Shampoo. Body wash. Dish soap. Cleaning supplies. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.

I thought it would be a simple solution of finding what he's allergic and sensitive to, and eliminating that. But, if he's really that sensitive, we have to eliminate it on everything he touches! We don't know this yet. We have to experiment to figure it out.

Time to don our detective hats. And loads of patience. And even more time on our knees for healing. It breaks my heart to see him so miserable every day. It has truly affected him. He sleeps terribly and isn't as happy as I think he could be if he wasn't so uncomfortable. But, I'm thankful we serve a big Father that can heal it all in an instant!