My 3 month old baby is a wonderful self soother. She sucks her hands whenever she needs comfort. And while I am very thankful that she has found her own pacifier (my first baby used me as his pacifier), her constant sucking of her hands coupled with the Chicago winter humidity has left her with extremely chapped hands.
I didn’t want to use lotion or even Aquaphor (a favorite for chapped skin anywhere else) for fear the ingestion of the chemicals in these would do harm, so I scoured the internet for another answer. I needed something fast; her hands had started to bleed and I knew she had to be in pain because of it.
I eventually found a post on a discussion board (wish I could remember where – I would give credit) that said to use OLIVE OIL. I had heard that olive oil used to be used to clean babies and was even very helpful in remedying cradle cap, but I hadn’t thought to use it to soothe and heal chapped hands.
I started applying the olive oil to both hands just a few nights ago, and already her hands are MUCH better. The olive oil does go on greasy, but absorbs into the skin in minutes, leaving them much softer. She has even sucked on her hands just a few minutes after application (I do try to keep her hands out of her mouth until it soaks in), and the taste does not seem to bother her.
Thank goodness I kept looking for an answer! I felt so bad for her and didn’t think I could really do anything about it. Who would have thought something as simple as olive oil would have been the answer?
=)